New York Railroad Archive

New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad

History

The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, better known as the Nickel Plate, built a line along the south shore of Lake Erie from Buffalo to Chicago in 1881. It was built to compete with the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, which at the time had a monopoly on freight between Buffalo and Chicago via Cleveland and Detroit.

The route from Cleveland, Ohio to Buffalo had been originally surveyed in early 1881 by the Buffalo, Cleveland and Chicago Railway Company of New York. This company was merged into the Nickel Plate in April 1881 and it was the Nickel Plate that actually built the line.

The Nickel Plate Road’s role as a competitor to the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern was short lived as it was acquired by the Lake Shore in October 1882, just a few days after the first train ran the length of the line. Though controlled by the LS&MS, it continued to operate as an independent company.

There has long been debate if the investors who built the Nickel Plate had intended to build an independent railroad or if their goal from the beginning was to be acquired by a larger railroad. Taylor Hampton provides his assessment in his book “The Nickel Plate Road, The History of a Great Railroad“:

Nevertheless, the fact that the road was sold five days after its official opening, the knowledge that Gould was urged to make a trip over the Nickel Plate at its completion and requested to appear as conspicuous as possible in towns along the line, and the fact that the majority of the backers, while solid citizens of position and wealth, were still promoters, all lead us to conclude that the road was built to sell. Nevertheless, the financing was sound and had it not been sold, the road unquestionably could have been operated profitably.

The company was sold at foreclosure in May 1887 and in September of that year was reorganized as the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (note the change from “Railway” to “Railroad”). This was a change of name only and the railroad was still controlled by the Lake Shore.

In late 1915 the New York Central, which owned both the Nickel Plate and Lake Shore Railroad, was informed that owning both railroads was in violation of anti-trust laws. On July 5, 1916 the Nickel Plate was sold to the Van Sweringen brothers, successful real estate developers in Cleveland. The Van Sweringens hired experienced railroaders from the New York Central to actually operate the line, including John J. Bernet, the vice-president in charge of the New York Central operations west of Buffalo, as the president of the Nickel Plate. The Nickel Plate was primarily a freight railroad and was known for the quality of its locomotives, rolling stock, and track work.

In 1964 the Nickel Plate merged with the Norfolk and Western Railroad. In 1982 the N&W merged with the Southern Railway to form the Norfolk Southern Railroad.

NKP – PRR Cooperation

The Nickel Plate had a close relationship with the Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Western Railway (later part of the Pennsylvania Railroad). According to Hampton’s book:

The Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Western Railway paralleled the Nickel Plate from Brocton to Buffalo; therefore, an arrangement was effected—and the contract let—whereby one-half of the road was to be built by the Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Western Company (now the Pennsylvania) and the other half by the Nickel Plate. This agreement was carried out and the track so built. (Erie Morning Dispatch, May 6, 7, 1881.)

The NKP Buffalo Division and Cleveland Division Timetable No. 180, effective Sunday, October 27, 1957, at 12:01 a.m., Special Instructions governing operations of BB Double stated that the  “NKP and PRR main tracks between FY Block Station and BM Tower will be operated as double track. ” FY Block Station was located 3.0 miles from Buffalo and BM Tower, located at Brocton, New York, was where the PRR and NKP lines went their separate ways.

This cooperation extended beyond building the track and the two companies shared many passenger stations between Brocton and Buffalo.

Stations in New York

Buffalo * Buffalo Junction * Lake View * Angola * Irving * Silver Creek * Sheridan * Dunkirk * Brocton * Portland * Westfield * Ripley

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