The Nickel Plate Road, High Speed Service

The New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, historically known as simply the Nickel Plate Road, was a medium sized Class I operating in the Midwest from Buffalo and Pittsburgh in the east to Chicago and St. Louis in the west. Although this railroad is usually associated as another David among Goliaths in the Northeast-Midwest rail market it held its own and operated excellent freight service throughout its area of operations. The NYC&StL gained its name, Nickel Plate Road, from a Norwalk, Ohio newspaper columnist as a compliment for the railroad’s high standard of construction when it was completed and opened in 1881 calling it a "double-track nickel-plated railroad."

Although not wanting to let go of any, the NYC settled on the Nickel Plate and the little railroad would go on to be a thorn in its former owner’s side for the rest of its life until it was purchase by the Norfolk & Western in 1962. Sold to the renowned Van Sweringen brothers of Cleveland, Ohio (of C&O, Erie and Rio Grande fame, just to name a few of their railroad interests) they quickly upgraded the dilapidated system and formed a strong Midwestern competitor when they merged the Lake Erie & Western and Toledo, St. Louis & Western into the Nickel Plate, giving the new system a territory which extended to places such as Pittsburgh (through later subsidiary Wheeling & Lake Erie), St. Louis, Peoria, and Indianapolis.

An upgraded physical plant and locomotive fleet by the mid-1930s allowed the Nickel Plate Road to become quite a force to be reckoned with (although its total system barely broke 2,000 miles at its peak) as its bridge line status was nearly perfect for the region and the cities it served, as it had several connections with large eastern and western roads. By the end of the 1940s the railroad was introducing centralized traffic control (CTC), diesels, and even more bridge traffic to its system when it began to haul W&LE traffic to Lake Erie ports at Huron, Ohio.

Aside from the railroad’s underdog status, which continues to make it an interesting study even today, it is also remembered for a number of other things including its famous 4-8-4 Berkshires and its beautiful blue and gray “Bluebird” passenger livery (albeit the railroad never had a strong market for passenger service). The famous Berks, which was a diverse and extremely capable locomotive for the railroad (it was used for everything from heavy freight to speedy passenger service), soldiered on for the Nickel Plate as late as the summer of 1958.

The end for the Nickel Plate began in the late 1950s when, as competition became more and more fierce and mergers began pick up momentum, management knew it had to act and align itself with one of the larger eastern carriers to assure its survival (particularly as, during this time, the Pennsylvania and New York Central were contemplating merger and the C&O and B&O had already merged along with the Virginian having become part of the N&W in 1959).

This new marriage resulted in a strong Midwest-Tidewater system and resulted in other smaller railroads scrambling for some way to remain competitive. These roads included the Wabash; Akron, Canton & Youngstown; and Pittsburgh & West Virginia, all three of which asked to become part of the new system as, which was granted. And, after four years of negotiations, hearings, and planning the new, larger N&W became a reality (all three additional railroads were merged into the N&W) on October 16, 1964.

The Nickel Plate itself never lived long enough to own many diesels, especially since it was late to dieselize, and only contributed a little over 400 units to the N&W, almost all of which were first generation power. In spite of this the railroad’s main lines continue to serve successor Norfolk Southern quite well today as high-speed routes to the cities the NKP served. As mentioned above, several of the Nickel Plate’s steam and diesel locomotives continue to not only survive but also are fully restored and operational, most notably Berkshire #765 and sister 763, which was just recently purchased by the Ohio Central and is expected to be fully restored to operation as well. Also, while not originally of Nickel Plate heritage, the only soon-to-be-operating Alco PA in the country is adorned in NKP's beautiful Bluebird passenger livery and numbered #190 just like the original.

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For an all-time diesel locomotive roster of the Nickel Plate Road please click here. Also, for an excellent listing of EMD-built diesel locomotives, including those owned by the NKP please click here. Lastly, please click here to locate preserved New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad diesel locomotives.

The American Locomotive Company

The Baldwin Locomotive Works/Lima Locomotive Works

Electro-Motive Division

Fairbanks Morse

General Electric

For a more complete roster of Nickel Plate Road steam locomotives please click here. Also, for information regarding surviving New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad steam locomotives please click here.

Notable Nickel Plate Road Passenger Trains

Blue Arrow: (Cleveland - St. Louis)

Blue Dart: (St. Louis - Cleveland)

City of Chicago: (Buffalo - Chicago)

City of Cleveland: (Chicago - Buffalo)

Commercial Traveler: (Toledo - St. Louis)

New Yorker: (Chicago - Buffalo)

Nickel Plate Limited: (Chicago - Buffalo)

Westerner: (Buffalo - Chicago)

For more information about the Nickel Plate's passenger trains please click here.

(A deep thanks to the Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University for allowing Ron Nixon's historic collection of the Nickel Plate Road to be featured here. Please note that the photos featured on this page feature their corresponding image number so that you may quickly and easily find more information about it from their website. To view Ron Nixon's entire collection please click here.)

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