Finding aid for the New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad Co. Records
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Title: |
New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad Co. Records |
Repository: |
Western Reserve Historical Society
Phone: 216-721-5722
http://www.wrhs.org
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Creator: |
New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad Company |
Dates: |
1846-1961 |
Quantity: |
8.90 linear feet (13 containers and 22 oversize volumes) |
Abstract: |
The New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad Company was founded in 1881 to connect Buffalo and Chicago via Cleveland, Ohio.
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. The collection consists of articles of
incorporation, reminiscences, financial records, memoranda, notebooks, ticket stubs, newspaper and magazine clippings, and
oversize volumes containing documents and clippings.
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Identification: |
MS 3575 |
Location: |
closed stacks |
Language: |
The records are in English |
History of the New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad Company
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.
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the Nickel Plate Railroad
Scope and Content
The New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad Co. Records, 1846-1961 and undated, consist of articles of incorporation, reminiscences,
financial records, memoranda, notebooks, ticket stubs, newspaper and magazine clippings, and oversize volumes containing documents
and clippings. Most of the material was accumulated by Mr. H. H. Hampton, a vice president of the Nickel Plate, who hoped
to use it as part of a railroad museum.
This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of the railroad industry in the United States and in Cleveland,
Ohio. Those studying the business history of the Nickel Plate Railroad will find this collection useful. Since the materials
in this collection were randomly accumulated, they do not present a continuous record of the railroad's operation. Rather,
they provide information about various day-to-day activities, including employee pay schedules and various operational procedures.
The newspaper clippings present an overall view of railroading in the Midwest in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Statement of Arrangement
The collection is arranged in three series.
Series I: Administrative Records is arranged by document type and then chronologically.
Series II: Newspaper Clippings is arranged alphabetically by newspaper name and then chronologically.
Series III: Oversize Material has been retained in original order.
Restrictions on Access
None.
Related Material: Related Material
The researcher should also consult PG 96 Nickel Plate Railroad Photographs; MS 3468 New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad
Company, McComb, Ohio, Station Records; and MS 3114 Material on the Nickel Plate Road.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects:
New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad Co.
Nickel Plate Road.
Railroads -- United States.
Preferred Citation
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3575 New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad Co. Records, Western Reserve Historical Society,
Cleveland, Ohio
Acquisition Information
Gift of Mr. H. H. Hampton in 1966.
Processing Information
Processed by Steven W. Gelston and Francis J. Wardega in 1975.
Detailed Description of The Collection
Series I: Administrative Records, 1846-1961; undated
Box 1 / Folder 1
Railroad histories and articles of incorporation, 1846-1943
Box 1 / Folder 2
Personal reminiscences and a bound volume listing special events, 1881-1940
Box 1 / Folder 3
Miscellaneous financial records and stock certificates, 1852-1928
Box 1 / Folder 4
Revenue reports and freight and passenger mileage reports, 1916-1917
Box 1 / Folder 5
Memoranda, circulars, and announcements from offices of the railroad to its divisions and departments, 1875-1883
Box 1 / Folder 6
Memoranda, circulars and announcements, 1883-1936
Box 2 / Volume 1
Passenger department, inter-office memoranda and circulars, 1898-1917
Box 2 / Volume 2
Track division, inter-office memoranda and circulars, 1898-1917
Box 3 / Folder 1
Material concerning claims and repairs, 1883-1902
Box 3 / Folder 2
Waybills, memorandum waybills, and other freight records, 1882-1911
Box 3 / Folder 3
Record of telegrams, 1888-1889
Box 3 / Folder 4
Car equipment and supply requests and reports, 1879-1897
Box 3 / Folder 5
Auditor's notebook listing railroad cars and engine companies, and a record of the employees of the Chicago Freight Office, 1881-1904
Box 3 / Folder 6
Notebooks containing copies of orders issued by the 1st and 2nd eastern divisions, 1883-1884
Box 3 / Folder 7
Handwritten requisition books of the Lake Erie and Western Railroad, 1901-1924
Box 4 / Folder 1
Journal of T. J. Madigan, paymaster, undated
Box 4 / Folder 2
Comparison book consisting of data on payrolls and mileage of engines and rolling stock, 1894-1897
Box 4 / Folder 3
Notebooks showing time worked by employees, 1877-1878
Box 4 / Folder 4
Time book with hours worked by employees of the Lafayette, Muncie and Bloomington Railroad, 1878
Box 5 / Folder 1
Logbooks showing hours worked by employees of the Nickel Plate and other identified railroads, 1880-1905
Box 5 / Folder 2
Requests for ticket refunds, 1894-1902
Box 5 / Volume 1
Tickets returned by agents, 1906
Box 6 / Folder 1
Ticket sales statistics sheets, 1882
Box 6 / Folder 2
Ticket stubs of the Nickel Plate Railroad, undated
Box 6 / Folder 3
Ticket stubs of other railroads, undated
Box 6 / Volume 1
Ticket invoices showing tickets received by station agents, 1882
Box 6 / Volume 2
Ticket commutation invoices showing tickets receipted by agents, 1882-1883
Box 7 / Folder 1
Scrapbook of ticket stubs of the Nickel Plate and other railroads, undated
Box 7 / Folder 2
Computing tables and special passenger rate notices, 1884-1903
Box 7 / Folder 3
Analysis of the freight traffic of the Nickel Plate, 1923-1925
Box 7 / Folder 4
Freight classifications and percentage sheets consisting of data used in figuring freight rates, 1883-1905
Box 7 / Folder 5
Time tables for the Toledo, St. Louis and Western Railroad, 1901-1922
Box 7 / Folder 6
Railroad slips consisting of Nickel Plate forms reporting the status of individual trains at different points along the line, 1884-1910
Box 7 / Folder 7
Geographical material consisting of distance tables, a list of stations and agents, maps, and a district profile of the Cloverleaf
Railroad, dates vary
Box 8 / Folder 1
Locomotive specifications for the Nickel Plate and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, 1898-1913
Box 8 / Folder 2
Blueprints of rail equipment, undated
Box 8 / Folder 3
Train order ledger and stock reports, including train orders issued by an unidentified station, scrap metal on hand at the
station at Lima, Ohio, and a general stock report for the Lake Shore and Michigan Railroad, 1882-1905
Box 8 / Folder 4
Material relating to Terminal Tower in Cleveland, Ohio, including brochures and correspondence, 1930-1950
Box 8 / Folder 5
Correspondence relating to railroad museum donations, 1939-1961
Box 12 / Folder 5
Handbills and posters, undated
Box 12 / Folder 6
Certificates, programs, and invitations, 1889-1932
Box 12 / Folder 7
Scrapbook, dates vary
Box 13 / Volume 1
Scrapbook of Nickel Plate material, undated
Box 13 / Volume 2
Scrapbook of general railroad material, undated
Box 13 / Folder 1
Minute book of the Veterans Association of the Nickel Plate, 1907-1911
Box 13 / Folder 2
Miscellaneous documents of the Veterans Association of the Nickel Plate, 1909-1951
Box 13 / Folder 3
Roll of Honor listing the names of employees of the Nickel Plate who served in the armed forces during World War I, undated
Box 13 / Folder 4
Miscellaneous documents, dates vary
Series II: Newspaper Clippings, 1879-1951; undated
Box 8 / Folder 6
Ashtabula Telegraph and Bellevue Gazette, 1880-1937
Box 8 / Folder 7
Bellevue Local News, 1881-1883
Box 9 / Folder 1
Buffalo Courier, 1881-1883
Box 9 / Folder 2
Chicago Times, 1881-1887
Box 9 / Folder 3
Cincinnati Enquirer, 1881-1883
Box 9 / Folder 4
Cleveland Herald, 1882
Box 9 / Folder 5-7
Cleveland Leader, 1881-1882
Box 9 / Folder 7
Cleveland Plain Dealer, 1882-1926
Box 10 / Folder 1
Cleveland Press, 1925
Box 10 / Folder 1
Cleveland Recorder, 1898
Box 10 / Folder 1
Cleveland West Side Sun, 1926
Box 10 / Folder 1
Conneaut News Herald, 1951
Box 10 / Folder 1
Conneaut Reporter, undated
Box 10 / Folder 2
Daily Stockholder, 1881-1883
Box 10 / Folder 2
Erie Gazette, 1881-1882
Box 10 / Folder 3
Erie Morning Dispatch, 1881-1882
Box 10 / Folder 4-6
Fort Wayne Daily News, 1881-1882
Box 10 / Folder 7
Fostoria Review, 1880-1883
Box 11 / Folder 1
Muncie Daily News, 1879-1881
Box 11 / Folder 1
Frankfort, Indianapolis, and Lafayette newspapers (Indiana), 1879-1943
Box 11 / Folder 1
New York Times and New York Tribune, 1881-1882
Box 11 / Folder 2
Norwalk Chronicle, 1881-1882
Box 11 / Folder 3
Seneca Advertiser, 1881-1882
Box 11 / Folder 4
Tiffin Tribune, 1881-1882
Box 11 / Folder 5
Toledo Daily Blade, 1881-1947
Box 11 / Folder 6-7
Miscellaneous, 1882-1922
Box 12 / Folder 1
Miscellaneous, 1894-1927
Box 12 / Folder 2
Financial Chronicle, 1880-1916
Box 12 / Folder 3
Railway Age, 1879-1882
Box 12 / Folder 4
Magazines, 1937-1945
Series III: Oversize Material, 1879-1931; undated
Volume 1
Waybill carbons for Toledo, Cincinnati and St. Louis at Edwardsville, Illinois, 1884-1885
Volume 2
Register of freight received at Edwardsville, Illinois for Toledo, Cincinnati and St. Louis, 1883-1885
Volume 3
Train register for the Nickel Plate, 1894-1895
Volume 4
Train register for the Nickel Plate at Conneaut, Ohio, 1882-1883
Volume 5
Index to railroad data, 1928
Volume 6-7
Record of coal received, Nickel Plate, 1893-1895
Volume 8
Mileages and expenses for engine no. 1-213 of the Nickel Plate, 1882-1885
Volume 9
Mileage of rolling stock for the Nickel Plate, 1883-1886
Volume 10
Stock book number 6 for the Lake Erie and Western Railroad, Lima, Ohio store house, undated
Volume 11
Compendium of passenger rates and excursions, 1902
Volume 12
Newspaper clippings, Bellevue Gazette, 1881-1907
Volume 12
Newspaper clippings, Ashtabula Telegraph, 1880-1882
Volume 12
Newspaper clippings, Norwalk Daily Reflector, 1898-1906
Volume 13
Newspaper clippings, Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, 1881-1882
Volume 13
Newspaper clippings, Chicago Times, 1881-1882
Volume 13
Newspaper clippings, Chicago Daily Tribune, 1897
Volume 13
Newspaper clippings, Buffalo Daily Courier, 1881-1883
Volume 13
Newspaper clippings, Bellevue Local News, 1881-1883
Volume 14
Newspaper clippings, Cleveland Leader, 1881-1882
Volume 15
Newspaper clippings, Conneaut Reporter, 1881-1883
Volume 15
Newspaper clippings, Cleveland Herald, 1882
Volume 16
Newspaper clippings, Erie Gazette, 1881-1882
Volume 16
Newspaper clippings, Erie Morning Dispatch, 1881-1882
Volume 17
Newspaper clippings, Fort Wayne Daily News, 1881-1882
Volume 18
Newspaper clippings, Fostoria Review, 1880-1883
Volume 18
Newspaper clippings, Lafayette Daily Journal, 1879-1880
Volume 19
Newspaper clippings, New York Daily Tribune, 1882
Volume 19
Newspaper clippings, New York Times, 1881-1931
Volume 19
Newspaper clippings, Seneca Advertiser, 1881-1882
Volume 19
Newspaper clippings, Toledo Blade, 1881-1900
Volume 20
Newspaper clippings, Norwalk Chronicle, 1881-1882
Volume 20
Newspaper clippings, Daily Stockholder, 1881-1883
Volume 20
Newspaper clippings, Muncie Daily News, 1879-1881
Volume 21
Newspaper clippings, miscellaneous, undated
Volume 22
Scrapbook of the Nickel Plate, undated