The New York,Chicago and St.Louis Railroad Company

The Erie Lackawanna Limited

The New York,Chicago and St.Louis Railroad Company

Here we will cover the Nickel Plate Road as it evolved into one of the merger partners that transformed the Norfolk and Western Railway from a Pocahontas Region coal hauling railroad into a major Midwestern railroad of significent size. Freight and passenger operations will be covered here as will long time ties to the Lackawanna Railroad, its major connection east of Buffalo.

1963 Profile of the Nickel Plate Road

Mileage: 2170

Locomotives: 408

Passenger Cars: 60

Freight cars: 22,305

Company Service Cars: 700

The Nickel Plate Road's operating department was organized into the following districts, which were equal to regions by today's standards: Nickel Plate,Lake Erie and Western,Clover Leave, and Wheeling Districts in which the operating divisions were organized as follows:

Nickel Plate District

1.Buffalo Division 115.4 miles

2.Cleveland Division 132.2 miles

3.Fort Wayne Division 126.5 miles

4.Chicago Division 156.6 miles

Total Nickel Plate District: 530.7 miles

Lake Erie and Western District

1.Sandusky Division 245.0 miles

2.New Castle Division 132.9 miles

3.Indianapolis Division 158.2 miles

Total LE&W District 435.1 miles

Clover Leaf District

1.Toledo Division 207.5 miles

2.St.Louis Division 248.7 miles

Total Clover Leaf District: 456.2 miles

Wheeling District 400.3 miles

Total mileage owned: 1632.2 miles

DIESELS OF THE NICKEL PLATE ROAD
EMD NW2 1000 hp 11-22 12 units
Alco S4 1000 hp 49-83 34 units
EMD SW8 800 hp 107-114 8 units
EMD SW1 600 hp 105-106 2 units
FM H12-44 1200 hp 139-155 17 units
EMD SW7 1200 hp 230-232 3 units
EMD SW9 1200 hp 233-244 12 units
Alco RSD12 1800 hp 250-258 9 units
EMD SD9 1750 hp 340-359 20 units
EMD GP7 1500 hp 400-447 48 units
EMD GP9 1750 hp 448-534 86 units
Alco RS3 1600 hp 541-557 16 units
Alco RS11 1800 hp 563-577 15 units
EMD GP18 1800 hp 700-709 10 units
EMD GP9 psgr 1750 hp 800-814 15 units
Alco RS36 1800 hp 850-864 15 units
EMD GP30 2250 hp 900-909 10 units
EMD GP35 2500 hp 910-918 9 units

The Nickel Plate Road is best remembered for its high speed freight service, which was handled by Berkshire class steam locomotives right into 1960 at about which time the last one was retired. NKP High Speed freight service was characterized by short,fast, and frequent trains,many of which made few, if any intermediate stops between terminalls they were scheduled to serice. Schedules of a few of these trains are shown in the supporting text section down below. Like its neighbors, the Nickel Plate road got into piggyback service as part of a widerange of service products.Among the commodities handled included meat, frozen foods, vegitables and fruits,forest products, coal, and chemicals, to name most of the.The railroad did not rely on any one commodity to provide the bulk of its revenues.Some of those fruits and vegitables to deliver in the New York area were set off at Marion,Ohio to connect with Erie Train No. 74, Other connections for New York were made at Buffalo with the Lackawanna, Erie, Lehigh Valley, and Reading.

Sample Nickel Plate Road Freight Schedules

Table 1.CB-12 Chicago to Buffalo

Lv Calumet............0830 CT

Lv Osborn..............0945 CT

Ar Fort Wayne.......1315 CT

Lv Fort Wayne........1345

Ar Bellevue.............1700

Lv Bellevue.............1900 ET

Ar Conneaut...........2300

Lv Conneaut...........2315

Ar Buffalo...............0245

Table 2.CB2. Chicago to Buffalo

Lv Calumet....................1930 CT

Lv Osborn......................2030

Ar Fort Wayne...............0005

Lv Fort Wayne...............0035

Ar Bellevue....................0355 CT

Lv Bellevue....................0555 ET

Ar Conneaut..................1100

Lv Conneaut..................1135

Ar Buffalo......................1530

Table 3. CD54 Cleveland to Buffalo

Lv Cleveland (E.55th St.)..........2300

Ar Conneaut............................0200

Lv Conneaut............................0300

Ar Erie....................................0500

Ar Buffalo................................0700

Most eastbound NKP freights made connections with the following trains at Buffalo,NY:

DL&W: BH8,NE4,NE6,BH2

LVRR: BNE2,BP2

NYC: SLD6

Erie: 84,78

PRR: BNY16,BF14,BF4.

Table 4. MB98. East St. Louis to Buffalo

Lv Madison..................1100 CT

Ar Charleston...............1420

Lv Charleston................1440

Ar Fraonkfort................1800

Lv Frankfort...................1925

Ar Lima........................0020

Lv Lima.........................0050

Ar Bellevue...................0400

Lv Bellevue....................0600

Ar Conneaut..................1106

Lv Conneaut...................1120

Ar Buffalo.......................1530 connect to Erie 98 at Lima,Ohio.

Table 5. BC3. Buffalo to Bellevue

Lv Buffalo......................1500

ar Erie..........................1800

ArConneaut..................2000

Lv Conneaut.................2100

Ar Bellevue...................0300

Table 6.NS-1 Buffalo to St. Louis

Lv Buffalo......................2130

Ar Conneaut.................0130

Lv Conneaut.................0200

Ar Bellevue..................0730

Lv Bellevue..................0830

Ar Lima......................1150

Lv Lima......................1250

Ar Frankfort................1750

Lv Frankfort................1825

Ar Charleston.............2300

Lv Chaleston..............2315

Ar Madison 0400

Table 7. NC3 Buffalo to Chicago

Lv Buffalo...................2345

Ar Conneaut...............0400

Lv Conneaut...............0420

Ar Bellevue................0845

Lv Bellevue................1030

Ar Fort Wayne...........1600

Lv Fort Wayne............1630

Ar Calumet.................2300

1955 Passenger Train Schedules(condensed, only scheduled stops shown)

Table1. Chicago-Fort Wayne-Cleveland-Buffalo

8.................6.................Stations...............7.............5

0920.......2235......Lv Chicago..........Ar..1440.........0630

0935.......2249..........Englewood...........1427.........0612

1014.......2313..........Hammond.............1352........0522

1110.......0013..........Knox....................1245........0411

1123.......c...............Hibbard.................1228........0352

1230.......0146..........Fort Wayne...........1109........0235

1235.......0201......Lv Fort Wayne.......Ar.1102........0220

1416........u..............Continental............1107.........0221

1452.......0424..........North Findlay.........1028........0137

1512.......0445..........Fostoria................1013.........0118

1551.......0525.......ArBellevue..........Lv...0934........0037

1554......0530........LvBellevue..........Ar...0930........0032

1643......0620...........Lorain...................0848........2345

1730......0705.........Ar Cleveland......Lv...0805........2255

1745......0725.........Lv Cleveland......Ar...0750........2230

1826......0819..........Painesville.............0710.........2230

1853......0852.........Ashtabula..............0644..........2115

1912.....0912......Ar Conneaut.........Lv..0626...........2056

1917.....0917......Lv Conneaut.........ar..0622...........2051

-------.....1011..........Northeast..............------...........-------

2023.....1027..........Westfield..............-------..........-------

-------......1046.........Dunkirk...............--------...........1920

2135.....1140 Ar Buffalo,NY.....Lv...0420.............1830

Table2. Cleveland-St. Louis (condensed Schedule)

10..............Stations...................9

1800....L ...St.Louis.......A.....0645

1830....East St.Louis............0610

2340....A Frankfort..........L....0055

2350....L Frankfort...........A...0045

0115......Muncie...................2308

0152......Portland.................2224

0435.....South Lima.............2200

0500........Lima....................2145

0600.......Findlay..................2045

0700.......Bellevue................1928

0746.......Lorain...................1842

0830 A Cleveland..........L...1800