Am looking for info- The Lake Erie & Western was a NYCS subsidiary company. When was it finally absorbed into the NYCS? From what clues I have been able to find, I'm thinking it happened during WWII. But cannot find a date. Anyone know? Boxcab E50
I thought that the LE&W was merged into the Nickel Plate in 1923 which would have made it a part of the N&W in 1964.
Roger- In 1916, my Official Guide shows the LE&W as a subsidiary of the NYCRR. It's president, A.M.Smith. Who was also president of the NYCRR at that time. Last Spring, I traded off a train order I'd acquired many years ago from a fellow collector. He'd received it from a former LE&W/NYCRR operator. It was from a station in Ohio. (Don't remember which one.) This telegrapher had been the copying operator. And had written a note on the top that it was a former LE&W office. Seems like the date was mid-1940's. Boxcab E50
Yes, I believe that the LE&W was owned by the Central at one time, but my records show as I said. Don't confuse NYC&StL with NYCS. The one is the Nickel Plate and the other is the New York Central. I can't speak to Ohio, but I can tell you that in the 50s, the LE&W was a part of the Nickel Plate in Indiana. More than this, I cannot say. My info could always be incorrect, but my dates are later than your dates.
In the preface to Kevin Holland's "Berkshires of the Nickel Plate" he mentions that the NKP "still had to fight for it's traffic--which, after 1923, included business from St. Louis and Peoria over the merged Clover Leaf and Lake Erie and Western lines" Now, I don't know if that implies that those two lines merged with each other or with the NKP.
Further research reveals that indeed LE&W was once a part of the New York Central. (We need to consult LEW on this!). Lake Erie and Western
Roger- No confusion here between NYC, and the NYC&St.L. It's the untangling of their previous histories that baffles. Further attempts at trolling the Internet, have proven to me that most search engines are far too general in scope. Anyhow, I did find one page that gave further clues. But no dates. The LE&W was originally controlled by the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern. When the LS&MS became part of the NYCS, control passed to NYCRR. Some time thereafter, it ended up as part of the NYC&St.L. So now we have the progression. But no time line. Boxcab E50
The LE&W was formed in 1879-1880 from several short railroads in Ohio and In. From 1900 the LE&W was operated as part of NYC. Formal acquisition by the NKP April 26,1922. On Dec.28 1922 a new NKP was formed and merged the NKP and its subsidiarys. From the NKP story by John A Rehor. It was probably like the B4 it never died.Although the NYC took over in 1930 the 1944 ETT still referred to the CCC&StL and not the NYC.You never worked for the NYC but the Big4.The paper work said NYC but as far as the men were concerned it was a misprint. LEW
