New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Company.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the Nickel Plate Railroad

The New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad Company, better known as the Nickel Plate Railroad, was founded in 1881. It connected Buffalo and Chicago by way of Cleveland, Ohio. When the line was completed, the company was christened the "Nickel Plated Road" by the editor of the Norwalk Chronicle . This nickname was formally adopted by the railroad for its trade name and subsequently utilized by each company that emerged from its consolidations with other railroads in 1887, 1916, and 1923.

The first consolidation occurred in 1885 when the original line failed and went into receivership. In 1887, the property of the Nickel Plate Railroad was purchased at foreclosure by a newly organized New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad. This line, also called the Nickel Plate, prospered and expanded.

In 1916, O. P. and M. J. Van Sweringen of Cleveland purchased the controlling shares of the Nickel Plate. Though the brothers had no experience in operating railroads, their investment paid off handsomely as the Nickel Plate continued to expand in size, worth, and prestige.

Following their first successful railroad investment, the Van Sweringen brothers augmented their holdings with the acquisition of the Lake Erie and Western Railroad and the Toledo, St. Louis and Western Railroad (usually referred to as the Cloverleaf) in 1922. Initially, the three Van Sweringen lines were operated as distinct companies. Later, the Nickel Plate and the Cloverleaf operated jointly although they were still separate entities.

In 1922, the Van Sweringens began construction of the Cleveland Union Terminal, a facility designed to accommodate the trains of the Nickel Plate, the New York Central and its subsidiaries, and the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit.

In 1923, a plan to consolidate the Nickel Plate, the Cloverleaf, and the Lake Erie and Western was submitted to the respective stockholders and to the Interstate Commerce Commission. These parties agreed to the consolidation and the resulting company continued the name of the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Company and the Nickel Plate. A proposal, first made in 1924, to unify the new Nickel Plate with the Chesapeake and Ohio, the Hocking Valley, and Erie and the Pere Marquette railroads, however, was rejected by the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1926.

The Nickel Plate prospered for many years. In terms of size, profit, and prospects, it ranked with the other great eastern railroads of the day, such as the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroads. While it was a strong and growing railroad, the Nickel Plate purchased stock in its competitors. By gaining control of the competition, the Nickel Plate hoped to insure cooperation among the various railroads. However, the Nickel Plate was not strong enough to carry out this plan and in 1938, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad gained control over a majority of Nickel Plate stock, and therefore received permission from the Interstate Commerce Commission to operate the Nickel Plate. Although controlled by the Chesapeake and Ohio, the Nickel Plate continued to operate as a solvent railroad until 1964 when it merged into the Norfolk and Western Railroad and assumed that company's name.

From the guide to the New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad Co. Records, 1846-1961, (Western Reserve Historical Society)