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Nickle Plate Road Set


When someone writes to tell me they have a Nickel Plate Road set the chances are less than 1 out of a thousand that it will be this set. Nearly all NKP sets use the seven-inch tender (measure it), which is very commonplace unless red, and the unnumbered 994 pressed steel engine. This Nickle Plate Road Set, however, is extremely rare. The engine is a common, ribbed riveted pilot, 999. The cars are all common, but the tender is quite rare, and to have it in a boxed set is more rare.

I remember finding this at a show in Baltimore, about 1992, in a stack of Marx sets piled on a table. As always I opened each box to examine the contents. This box was at the bottom of the pile. I immediately saw the tender and tried desperately not to let my excitement show. The dealer was asking $125 for the set so I knew he didn't know what he had (he was a Lionel guy). It was still somewhat common in those days for dealers to off their Marx sets without really evaluating them. This was a complete boxed set so $125 seemed like the upper limit of what to expect and still leave some room to negotiate the price a little. I, on the other hand, knew that few Marx collectors had ever seen the NKP wedge tender much less a boxed set! I offered $100 for the set and the dealer hesitsted, then agreed to the price. (An interesting little song and dance but that's the way the game is played!) Later in the show my friend Trip Riley came by and I showed him the set. His response was sort of "ho-hum" until I told him to look at the tender again. His knees buckled when he realized what he was looking at. He had been collecting Marx for more than twenty years and had never even seen an NKP wedge tender. He offered me $105 for the set but I declined!

Nickle Plate Road Box Detail
This is the ordinary box for the set.


Nickle Plate Road Box Detail
This is the end of the box showing the number.