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Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway

The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway system as of 1914
Overview
Locale	Buffalo, NY toChicago, IL
Dates of operation	1869–1914
Successor	New York Central Railroad
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge
Previous gauge	6 ft (1,829 mm)

TheLake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, established in 1869, and sometimes referred to as theLake Shore, was a major part of theNew York Central Railroad'sWater Level Route fromBuffalo, New York, toChicago, Illinois, primarily along the south shore ofLake Erie (inNew York,Pennsylvania andOhio) and across northernIndiana. The line's trackage remains a major rail transportation corridor used byAmtrak passenger trains and several freight lines; in 1998, its ownership was split atCleveland, Ohio, betweenCSX Transportation to the east andNorfolk Southern Railway in the west.

On April 22, 1833, theErie and Kalamazoo Railroad was chartered in theTerritory of Michigan,^[1] to run from the former Port Lawrence, Michigan, nowToledo, Ohio, nearLake Erie, northwest toAdrian, Michigan, on theRiver Raisin. TheToledo War soon gave about one-third of the route to the state of Ohio.Horse-drawn trains began operating on November 2, 1836; the horses were replaced by a newly arrivedsteam locomotive,Adrian No. 1, in August 1837.

TheBuffalo and Mississippi Railroad was chartered inIndiana on February 6, 1835, to run fromBuffalo, New York, to theMississippi River. The name was changed on February 6, 1837, to theNorthern Indiana Railroad, which would run from the eastern border of Indiana, west toMichigan City, Indiana, onLake Michigan. Some grading between Michigan City, andLa Porte, Indiana, was done in 1838, but money ran out.

Around 1838, the state ofMichigan started to build theSouthern Railroad, running fromMonroe, Michigan, on Lake Erie, west toNew Buffalo, Michigan, on Lake Michigan. The first section, from Monroe, west toPetersburg, Michigan, opened in 1839. Extensions opened in 1840, to Adrian, and 1843, toHillsdale, Michigan. On May 9, 1846, the partially completed line was sold to theMichigan Southern Rail Road, which changed the planned western terminal toChicago, using the charter of the Northern Indiana Railroad. The grading that had been done was not used, as thegrade was too steep, and instead the original Buffalo and Mississippi Railroad charter was used west of La Porte. The Michigan Southern leased the Erie and Kalamazoo on August 1, 1849, giving it a branch to Toledo, and a connection to planned railroads to the east.

Due to lobbying by theMichigan Central Railroad, a competitor of the Michigan Southern, the latter's charter prevented it from going within two miles (3.2 km) of the Indiana state line east ofConstantine, Michigan. However, the most practical route went closer than two miles, west ofWhite Pigeon, Michigan. To allow for this, Judge Stanfield, ofSouth Bend, Indiana, bought theright-of-way from White Pigeon to the state line, and leased it to the railroad company for about 10 years, until the charter was modified to allow the company to own it.

TheNorthern Indiana and Chicago Railroad was chartered on November 30, 1850. Its initial tracks, from the Michigan Southern at the state line running west-southwest toElkhart, Indiana, then west throughOsceola, Indiana, andMishawaka, Indiana, to South Bend, opened on October 4, 1851. The full line west to Chicago, opened on February 20, 1852, (running to the predecessor ofEnglewood Union Station, together with theChicago and Rock Island Railroad). A more direct line was soon planned from Elkhart, east to Toledo, and theNorthern Indiana Railroad was chartered in Ohio, on March 3, 1851. On July 8, 1853, the Ohio and Indiana companies merged, and on February 7, 1855, the Northern Indiana and Chicago Railroad and the Buffalo and Mississippi Railroad were merged into the Northern Indiana Railroad. On April 25, 1855, that company in turn merged with the Michigan Southern Rail Road to form theMichigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad. In 1858,[1] the new alignment (Northern Indiana Air Line) from Elkhart, east to Air Line Junction, in Toledo, was completed. The company now owned a main line from Chicago to Toledo, with an alternate route through southern Michigan, east of Elkhart, and a branch off that alternate to Monroe. Also included was theDetroit, Monroe and Toledo Railroad, leased July 1, 1856, and providing a branch from Toledo, past Monroe, toDetroit, Michigan.

TheFranklin Canal Company was chartered on May 21, 1844, and built a railroad fromErie, Pennsylvania, southwest to the Ohio border. TheCleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad was incorporated February 18, 1848,^[2] to build northeast from Cleveland, to join the Canal Company's railroad at the state line. The first portion from Cleveland to Painesville opened on November 20, 1851. The first trains to Ashtabula ran on June 16, 1852. The first train between Ashtabula and Erie ran on November 23, 1852. The Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula bought the Franklin Canal Company on June 20, 1854.

TheBuffalo and State Line Railroad was incorporated October 13, 1849, and opened January 1, 1852, fromDunkirk, New York, west toPennsylvania. The rest of the line from Dunkirk to Buffalo, opened on February 17, 1852. TheErie and North East Railroad was chartered April 12, 1842, to build the part from the state line west to Erie, and opened on January 19, 1852. On November 16, 1853, an agreement was made between the two railroads, which had been built at6 ft (1,829 mm)broad gauge, torelay the rails at4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge to match the Franklin Canal Company's railroad (see below) on the other side of Erie, and for the Buffalo and State Line to operate the Erie and Northeast. This would result in through passengers no longer having to change trains at Erie, and on December 7, 1853, theErie Gauge War began between the railroads and the townspeople. On February 1, 1854, the relaying was finished and the first train passed through Erie. On May 15, 1867, the two companies between Buffalo and Erie merged to form theBuffalo and Erie Railroad.

TheJunction Railroad was chartered March 2, 1846, to build from Cleveland, west to Toledo. TheToledo, Norwalk and Cleveland Railroad was chartered March 7, 1850, to build from Toledo, east toGrafton, Ohio, on theCleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad. The latter company opened on December 20, 1852,^[3] finally forming a continuous Buffalo-Chicago line. On September 1 1853, the two companies merged to form theCleveland and Toledo Railroad, with the Junction Railroad becoming the Northern Division and the Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland, the Southern Division. The Northern Division opened from Cleveland, west toSandusky, Ohio, on October 24, 1853, and the rest of the way to Toledo, on April 24, 1855. The Northern Division was abandoned west of Sandusky, due to lack of business, but the track was relaid in 1872, merging with the Southern Division, atMillbury, Ohio, east of Toledo. In 1866, the Southern Division, east ofOberlin, Ohio, was abandoned and a new line was built toElyria, Ohio, on the Northern Division, ending the use of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad.

In October 1867, the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad leased the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad. The CP&A changed its name to theLake Shore Railway on March 31, 1868, and on February 11, 1869, the Lake Shore absorbed the Cleveland and Toledo. On April 6, the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad and Lake Shore merged to form theLake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, which absorbed the Buffalo and Erie Railroad on June 22, giving one company the whole route from Buffalo to Chicago. The LS&MS name was in use as a nickname for the four component railroads as early as 1859. The main route passed through Dunkirk; Erie;Ashtabula, Ohio; Cleveland; Toledo;Waterloo, Indiana; and South Bend. An alternate route, the Sandusky Division, in Ohio, ran north of the main line between Elyria, and Millbury, Ohio, not all track was laid until 1872. From Toledo to Elkhart, the Old Road ran to the north, through southern Michigan, and the through route was called the Air Line Division or Northern Indiana Air Line. Along with various branches that had been acquired (seebelow), the Monroe Branch ran east from Adrian, to Monroe, where it intersected the leased Detroit, Monroe and Toledo Railroad. At some point the original line to Toledo was abandoned west of the branch toJackson, Michigan, thePalmyra and Jacksonburgh Railroad, with the new connection at Lenawee Junction, the crossing between that branch and the line to Monroe.^[4]

The railroad established its first significant repair shop in 1851 along Mason Street inElkhart, Indiana. These shops were occasionally expanded and upgraded in the 1800s and early 1900s until employment reached about 1,500.^[5] A second shop site was established in 1874 in Collinwood on the northeast side ofCleveland, Ohio. In 1901, the railroad bought a new property in Collinwood for $2 million to build a much larger repair center that by the 1920s employed more than 2,000 people. In 1913, a freight car repair shop was established inAshtabula, Ohio, to maintain the large roster of ore and coal cars operating at the nearby port. In 1952, as the railroad was converting its motive power from steam to diesel, the repair shops were consolidated at Collinwood.

Around 1877,Cornelius Vanderbilt, and hisNew York Central and Hudson River Railroad, gained a majority of stock of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway. The line provided an ideal extension of the New York Central main line from Buffalo, west to Chicago, along with the route across southernOntario, theCanada Southern Railway and the Michigan Central Railroad.

On December 29, 1876, a train namedthe Pacific Express suddenly had a disaster inAshtabula, Ohio, when it was passing over a bridge, and it collapsed due to a structural failure, killing 92 and injuring 64.

On December 22, 1914, the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad merged with the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway to form the New York Central Railroad. While the original main line was to the south ofSandusky Bay, between Toledo and Elyria, the northern alignment, the Sandusky Division, eventually became the main line.

In 1968, the New York Central merged with thePennsylvania Railroad and theNew York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad to form thePenn Central Transportation Company, Penn Central, which two years later, filed for bankruptcy. In 1976, it became part ofConrail. In 1976, the Southern Division, from Elyria to Millbury, was abandoned, with parts of the former right of way now in use as a recreational trail, the North Coast Inland Trail. Under Conrail, the Lake Shore main line was part of the New York City–Chicago, Chicago Line.

In 1998, Conrail was split betweenCSX andNorfolk Southern. The Chicago Line east of Cleveland, went to CSX, and was split into several subdivisions: theLake Shore Subdivision, from Buffalo, to Erie, theErie West Subdivision, from Erie, to east of Cleveland, and theCleveland Terminal Subdivision, into downtown Cleveland. From the formerCleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad junction in Cleveland, west to Chicago, the line is now Norfolk Southern'sChicago Line.

Amtrak's New York City–ChicagoLake Shore Limited runs along the full route from Buffalo west. TheFloridian joins in Cleveland, at the "Amtrak Connection" from the former Pennsylvania Railroad, C&P line, just east of the present Cleveland Station (MP 181), on its way fromWashington, D.C., to Chicago. Passenger trains along the route originally terminated atLaSalle Street Station, but now run toUnion Station, switching to the parallel formerPittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway, Pennsylvania Railroad, at a crossover inWhiting, Indiana, Indiana, (41°41′05″N87°29′43″W / 41.68480°N 87.49534°W /41.68480; -87.49534) to get there.

A major branch of the LS&MS extended from Northeastern Ohio, to the coal and oil fields of northwestern Pennsylvania, terminating near Brookville. Originally the line extended to the oil fields and refineries on theAllegheny River, atFranklin, andOil City, Pennsylvania.

The line was later extended from Polk Junction, west of Franklin, toRose, Pennsylvania, just west of Brookville. Also added was a connector south from Franklin, to the Allegheny River crossing on the new extension. This line included perhaps the most impressive engineering structures on the LS&MS, as well as the later NYC, with several large trestles, bridges, and tunnels, near Brookville, including a bridge-tunnel-bridge-tunnel-fill combination nearPiney, Pennsylvania, and two magnificent trestles west of Brookville, nearCorsica, Pennsylvania. The New York Central used trackage rights over the Pennsylvania Railroad and theB&O Railroad to connect from Rose to NYC lines atClearfield, Pennsylvania.

There were several mines on this line near Brookville, as well as a connection to the Lake Erie, Franklin and Clarion (LEF&C) atSutton, Pennsylvania, and connections to the Pennsylvania Railroad, and via the Pennsy, to the Pittsburgh & Shawmut, at Brookville.

Once coal traffic dried up in the late 1990s, this line was severed and cut back to the mine at Piney. Many of the larger trestles were taken out in the late 2000s, reportedly on orders of thePennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), although the bridge across theClarion River survived, as of 2015.

• LeGrand Lockwood, company treasurer
• John E. Gunckel, passenger agent

Competitors

• Michigan Central Railroad
• New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate Road)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toLake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway.

• Corporate History of North American Railroads
• History of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company
• Excerpts from "History of St. Joseph County, Indiana" (1880)
• Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway System and Representative Employees Biographical Publishing Company, 1900
• J. David Ingles, IC may get new Chicago entrance,Trains June 1999
• Mileposts fromCSX Transportation Timetables
• The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, Published: 1989ISBN 978-0-933449-09-1

• Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
• Predecessors of the New York Central Railroad
• Defunct Illinois railroads
• Defunct Indiana railroads
• Defunct Michigan railroads
• West Michigan
• Defunct New York (state) railroads
• Defunct Ohio railroads
• Defunct Pennsylvania railroads
• Railroads in the Chicago metropolitan area
• Former Class I railroads in the United States
• Railway companies established in 1869
• Railway companies disestablished in 1914
• Former components in the Dow Jones Transportation Average
• 6 ft gauge railways in the United States
• 1833 establishments in New York (state)
• Railroads controlled by the Vanderbilt family
• American companies established in 1833

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