Nickel Plate Road 190

Nickel Plate Road #190 is a preserved ALCO PA diesel locomotive, currently undergoing restoration at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center. Built in 1948 by the American Locomotive Company, No. 190 is a member of the six surviving PA/PB locomotives, as well as one of only two examples remaining in the United States, the other being Delaware & Hudson 16, which is also undergoing restoration.
History
NKP No. 190 was one of the locomotives purchased by the Delaware and Hudson Railway from the Santa Fe Railway. First built in 1948 as an ALCO PA-1 for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, it was renumbered as D&H No. 18 and sent it to Morrison-Knudsen for rebuilding in 1975. Following rebuilding, it was classed as a Morrison-Knudsen PA-4.
In 1978, this locomotive was sold to the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México, along with the other three surviving PAs. It and the former D&H 16 were both out of service by 1981, and spent 19 years stored in Empalme, Sonora, Mexico. The Smithsonian Institution and rail preservationist Doyle McCormack obtained the damaged and gutted unit and brought it back the United States in 2000, along with the former ATSF 59L/D&H 16, which was donated in 2011 to the Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco, Texas. The other two units, DH-17 and DH-19, are preserved at a museum in Puebla, Mexico.
McCormack began restoring the locomotive in 2002, and has chosen to restore the locomotive as a Nickel Plate Road PA-1, the first unit he ever rode in. In 2012, the near-fully restored NKP 190 was moved to the new Oregon Rail Heritage Center, in Portland, Oregon. Most of the needed replacement components have since been installed, including an ALCO 251 prime mover, which was successfully started for the first time in 2013. McCormack is working to make NKP 190 fully operational in 2018.

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