New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad

Railroad founded in 1881 to connect Buffalo and Chicago via Cleveland. It was nicknamed the Nickel Plate Road. After it failed it was taken over by the newly organized New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad in 1887. It merged into the Norfolk and Western Railroad in 1964.

From the description of Records 1846-1961. (Rhinelander District Library). WorldCat record id: 17725622

Nickel Plate Road on Oct. 16, 1964 was absorbed via merger by the N & W, or Norfolk and Western Railway Company.

From the description of Train ticket envelope, c. 1943. (Ohio Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 41410092

In 1880 a survey was made from St. Louis to Fort Wayne, Indiana to connect with the Lake Erie & Western Railroad. The survey was purchased by a group of men known as the Seney Syndicate. Two additional surveys were made, one from Chicago to Fort Wayne, the other from Fort Wayne to Cleveland. The latter, originally intended as the eastern terminus of the New York, Chicago & St. Louis, adopted the nickname Nickel Plate Road. In April 1881, railroad builder Major Henry L. Merill, assumed charge of construction. The first rails for the NPR were laid between Arcadia and McComb, Ohio, and the first train was run over the road 22 October 1882. The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, quickly realized the value of the NPR as a competitor and purchased the road and held controlling interest in it until July 1916. By June 1922 the NPR operated 523 miles of track between Chicago and Buffalo. In July 1922 the NPR more than doubled the miles of track it operated on by securing control of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company; 707 miles of track were added, reaching from Sandusky, Ohio to Peoria, Illinois, with two branches in Indiana. Another 453 miles were added when an affiliation with the Cloverleaf, the Toledo, St. Louis & Western railroad, was started. The Lake Erie & Western's mainline started in Ohio with the Fremont & Indiana Railroad Company in April 1853. The F & I was incorporated to build a line from Fremont southwest towards the Indiana State line. As years passed more track was laid and the line was completed in 1888. Crossing the LE & W at Tipton, Indiana was a line that extended from Indianapolis to Michigan City, Indiana. This line became part of the LE & W in April 1887. Built by the Peru & Indianapolis this was the oldest track on the Nickel Plate System. Another LE & W line extended from Fort Wayne, through Muncie to Connersville. The line at New Castle that split off to Rushville was acquired by the LE & W in 1890. In 1949, the Nickel Plate Road leased the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway, giving the NPR a financially stable railroad that was a consistent money maker. In the late fifties NPR found itself in a precarious competitive position. The potential merger of the New York Central and the Pennsylvania forecast competitive and financial disaster for the NPR. The Nickel Plate needed to find a powerful ally to assure itself a strong position in the merger conscious east. The Norfolk & Western Railway, looking for a way to extend its coal carrying to the Midwest, became that ally. The merger of the Nickel Plate and the Norfolk & Western could be a benefit to both railroads and develop a strong Midwest to tidewater rail systems carrying a broad base of commodities. With the ultimate acquisition of the Pennsylvania's Sandusky Line as the connection between the Nickel Plate and the Norfolk & Western, the Akron, Canton & Youngstown and the Pittsburgh & West Virginia railroads were forced to ask for inclusion in the new system. After more than four years of hearings and planning, the merger became a reality on 16 October 1964.

From the description of Collection, 1934-1949. (Indiana Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 57571578

Formed in 1887 through the consolidation of New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway Company; Cleveland and State Line Railroad Company; Fort Wayne and Illinois Railroad Company; and Erie and State Line Railroad Company; popularly known as the "Nickel Plate Road"; ran from Buffalo, N.Y., to Indiana-Illinois border.

From the description of Records, 1887-1952. (Virginia Tech). WorldCat record id: 28420443