Nostalgia & History > Nickel Plate name source?

Why was the Nickel Plate Railroad named that? Thanks in advance.

Proper name for the railroad was New York, Chicago and St. Louis. The story goes that when the mainline was finished somebody important riding an excursion to celebrate the completed route commented that the tracks were so good they were "Nickle Plated" and it stuck. At least that is the story.

I heard that when the railroad was first being laid out, several communities were trying to entice the company to locate it's shop facilities in their respective towns. One of the towns (Bellevue?) had a newspaper that began running editorials referring to the "great nickel plated road" or something to that effect, in an attempt to get the railroad to locate there. In those days, calling something "nickel plated" was roughly the same as saying "state of the art." The name stuck.

When the railroad was purchased by a financier, he quipped "For the price I paid for it, it should have been Nickel Plated." And thus the nickname stuck.

Or so I read in an issue of TRAINS magazine from 1950 just the other day.

The version I heard attributes the nickname to the Norwalk, Ohio, newspaper, which commented at the time of the road's completion that the road must be "nickel plated" given the high construction cost. Whatever the origin of the phrase, the NYC&StL surely earned the title in the great era of the Berkshire-powered hotshots, when both performance and profits really were "nickel plated."

Check Rehor's book. I believe it was in that book where he noted one of the Vanderbilts (might even have been the Commodore himself) was attempting to purchase the little road to get rid of competition for the NYC. The price quoted solicited the response that at the asking price, the road should be nickel plated. The name stuck.

Interesting side note: story floating around about NYC executives on a business car on the rear of one of the Water Level Route passenger trains watched from the rear platform as a 700 and her freight began to overtake them at high speed on the parallel route. Orders went out to the NYC engine crew that no NKP freight was going to pass a NYC passenger train, and if the crew liked their jobs, it had best not happen now. Don't know what the outcome was, but I'll bet that old 700 gave those EMD's a run for their money.....

Thanks to all. Several interesting variants around the general notion that "nickel plate" is a good thing. I love the story about the freight overhauling the execs.

Funny, I always thought it was just the initials spelled out (almost)
New York, Chicago and St. Louis NYCL (leaving the St. out).

It's hard to know exactly where it started, but the Norwalk newspaper was responsible for popularizing it. Taylor Hampton's 1947 book, The Nickel Plate Road: History of a Great Railroad, devotes an entire chapter to the subject. It was a common slang expression of the era, but there was much debate at the time as to who originated the name in print. It boils down to Mr. F.R. Loomis, editor of the Norwalk (Oh.) Chronicle, in the March 10th, 1881 edition. Loomis was awarded NKP Pass #1 by the road's Passenger Agent, Henry Monett. The book can often be found at train shows, and has much detail of the road's early years.

I found a very good copy of the book in a Lima, OH, bookstore a couple of years ago. I think I paid ten dollars. If you come across a copy, check to see if the business card of the NKP Pres., J.W. Davin, is inside. My copy has the card, and I'm told this is fairly common. There is also a great night shot of engine 700 on the dust jacket.

> no NKP freight was going to pass
> a NYC passenger train, and if the crew liked their
> jobs, it had best not happen now.

My family has members from Lorain, and more than one of them (the old man included) have told about watching eastbound NKP meat trains give lessons in speed to NYC varnish.