Historic steam locomotive no. 765 is a high-stepping, fourteen-wheeled, time machine that stands 15 feet tall, weighs 404 tons and can go over 70 miles an hour. It was one of famous class of steam locomotives called the Berkshire; one known for its “superpower” technology and aesthetic charm.

Once a fast-freight and passenger engine for the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad - more commonly known as the Nickel Plate Road - the 765 is now a celebrated icon of American innovation and goodwill ambassador.

Powered exclusively by volunteers as part of the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society's educational programs, the locomotive has been restored to the way it looked and sounded when it was originally built by the Lima Locomotive Works in 1944. The 765 is remains one of only a handful of mainline steam engines that still operate in North America.


The railroads were the backbone of the United States. They won wars, built cities, and carried citizens from coast to coast. They touched nearly every aspect of American life.

Throughout the 19th and early 20th Centuries, railroad’s greatest icon was the steam locomotive. Built to be stronger, sleeker and faster, they were no match for more efficient, modern diesel-electric technology that took hold after World War II. With this in mind, it’s worth asking: Why are they important now? Why do they matter?

The steam locomotive was a precision machine forged from solid steel and crafted by the human hand. They lived and breathed, had voices and moods and hummed with an audible heartbeat. So often romanticized by railroaders, books, films and myth, these iron horses took hard, unwieldy work to corral and maintain.

For many, they were the most human of all our inventions.