Nickel Plate Road - NKP??

[Ray Dunakin]

Can someone tell me why the NIckel Plate Road is abbreviated as "NKP" rather than "NPR"?

 

 

[richhotrain]

I'll take the first shot at this one and leave it to the NKP history buffs to finish it off.

The Nickel Plate Road was officially called the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad Company (NYC&StL).

According to the Nickel Plate Road Historical Society, legend had it that  an article in the Norwalk, Ohio, Chronicle of March 10, 1881 reported the arrival of a party of engineers to make a survey for the "great New York and St. Louis double track, nickel plated railroad."   The name Nickel Plate stuck and was later adopted as the name of the railroad.

NKP is actually the railroad reporting mark (license number) used on railroad cars of the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad Company.

As for why the reporting mark NPR was not chosen instead, I can only guess.  For one thing, the Northern Pacific Railroad was created in 1870 and used NP as its reporting mark. For another, NKP has a nicer ring to it.

Rich

[Great Western]

The large scale models imported into the UK are often listed by importer and some dealers as Nickel PLATED!!    

NKP certainly does have a great 'ring' to it:   I have a model boxcar and gondola representing that road on my garden railroad.

[jrbernier]

The Northen Pacific already used NPR(Northern Pacific Refrigerator) for their reefer fleet.  NKP sort of rolls off the tongue when thinking of Nickel Plate Road...

Jim

[wanswheel]

"Since NP was the symbol for the Northern Pacific on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nickel Plate Road took the letters NKP."

Plating Volume 56 by American Electroplaters' Society (1969)

[richhotrain]

wanswheel

"Since NP was the symbol for the Northern Pacific on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nickel Plate Road took the letters NKP."

Plating Volume 56 by American Electroplaters' Society (1969)

Another example of Wall Street trumping Main Street.  LOL

Thanks for that info, wanswheel.

Rich