Nickel Plate Road St. Louis Division

Quick Overview

Owner

Tony Koester

Prototype

Based on the Nickel Plate Road (NKP) St. Louis Division of the Clover Leaf District in Indiana and Illinois

Era

October 1954

Physical Location

50 miles northwest – About 1:25 travel time

Layout Dimensions

30’ x 60’, multideck

Mainline Run

8 scale miles

Scale

HO

Scenery

100%

Pets

One large and very friendly dog

Handicap Accessible

No

Description

The Third Sub of the St. Louis Division of the NKP’s Clover Leaf District operated one first class passenger train, three scheduled fast freights, and two scheduled through freights each way every day. But that’s only half of the story. Each fast freight normally ran in two or more sections, and the DS occasionally called an extra. The only local was westbound No. 45, but eastbound Second 98, “Old Maude,” did a lot of set-out and pickup work but did not work industries or interchanges. No. 45 did not work interchanges, nor did the fast freights unless they got a message to do so.

Because of the many sections, it’s important to watch for a green flag and listen for a long and two shorts on every superior train you meet; that means at least one more section with its same schedule and rights is following. A train loses its schedule if it is more than 12 hours late at any place time is shown in the Employee Timetable (ETT).