New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Co. (Nickel Plate Railroad, Buffalo, NY)
Files, 1915-1962
Collection Number: 5537
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Co. (Nickel Plate Railroad, Buffalo, NY)
Files, 1915-1962
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5537
Abstract:
Grievance files, arbitration files, correspondence, and transcripts from the US Board
of Mediation regarding a dispute between the New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad
[Nickle Plate Road] and the Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks,
Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employes.
Creator:
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Company
Nickel Plate Railroad
Quanitities:
1 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
The New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway Company, more commonly known as the Nickel
Plate Road [NKP], was founded in 1881. It ran along the southern shore of the Great
Lakes, connecting Buffalo to Chicago, running through Cleveland and Fort Wayne. The
Nickel Plate Road was a successful railroad, operating over 1600 miles of track in
the Midwestern region of the United States at its peak.
In 1916, the Van Sweringen brothers purchased the Nickel Plate; they then expanded
their railroad through the acquisitions of the Lake Erie and Western Railroad and
the Toledo, St. Louis and Western Railroad, which was known as the Cloverleaf. These
purchases expanded the reach of the Nickel Plate to Peoria, Illinois and to St. Louis
and Toledo, respectively. The three lines were consolidated into one company in 1923.
An additional consolidation with the Pere Marquette Railway and the Chesapeake and
Ohio railroad was proposed in 1924, but was ultimately rejected by the Interstate
Commerce Commission in 1926. In 1949, the Nickel Plate Road signed a ninety-nine year
lease for the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad, granting it access to the mid-Atlantic
states and the coal fields located there.
The Nickel Plate remained a solvent business through the 1950s, but in 1964 due to
the increasing financial pressures on the railroad industry, it merged with six other
railroads into the Norfolk and Western Railroad.
Inclusive date range: 1890-1962
Bulk dates: 1921-1948
The collection contains records from the Nickel Plate Road. The bulk of the records
are grievance reports filed by the employees' unions, and then the resulting correspondence
between company managers, superintendents, union representatives, and the employees.
Extensive internal communication between various divisions of the Nickel Plate is
also documented. The correspondence also contains documentation of the various rules
and regulations that are were agreed upon between the management and unions in their
contracts. Other agreements include those between various railroad unions and both
the Pere Marquette Railway Company and the Lake Erie and Western Railroad, both of
which were controlled by the then owners of the Nickel Plate Road. Of particular interest
is the twenty-six year grievance process regarding the types of seating present in
the train engines, and which class of employee had rights to which particular seat;
these records include hand-drawn renderings of the types of seats thought to be appropriate
by various interested parties.
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference
archivist for access to these materials.
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and
Procedures for Document Use.
INFORMATION FOR USERS
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Co. (Nickel Plate Railroad, Buffalo, NY)
Files #5537. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell
University Library.
Names:
New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad Company
United States. Railway Labor Act
United States. National Mediation Board
Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen
Brotherhood of Railway, Airline, and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express,
and Station Employes
Pere Marquette Railway
Order of Railway Conductors of America
Subjects:
Railroads--United States.
Seniority, Employee -- United States
Grievance arbitration -- United States
Arbitration, Industrial -- United States
Wages Arbitration, Industrial -- United States
CONTAINER LIST
|
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
| Box 1 | Folder 1a |
Correspondence re grievances [folder 1 of 3]
|
1890-1941 |
| Box 1 | Folder 1b |
Correspondence re grievances [folder 2 of 3]
|
1890-1941 |
| Box 1 | Folder 1c |
Correspondence re grievances [folder 3 of 3]
|
1890-1941 |
| Box 1 | Folder 2 |
Correspondence re grievances
|
1919-1932 |
| Box 1 | Folder 3 |
Correspondence re grievance about seats for brakemen in engines
|
1922-1948 |
| Box 1 | Folder 4a |
Correspondence with Pere Marquette Railway Company re memoranda of agreement with
various unions
|
1933-1944 |
| Box 1 | Folder 4b |
Lake Erie and Western Railroad, Switchmen, seniority jurisdiction, grievances
|
1921-1924 |
| Box 1 | Folder 4c |
Statement by F. S. Hales, President, at Annual Shareholders' Meeting
|
1962 |
| Box 1 | Folder 5a |
US Board of Mediation. File c-100. Volumes 1-3 [folder 1 of 2]
|
1929 |
|
Scope and Contents
Between the Brotherhood of Railway, Airline, and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers,
Express, and Station Employes and the New York, Chicago, and ST. Louis Railway Systems.
October 21 1929 - October 23 1929
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 5b |
US Board of Mediation. File c-100. Volumes 1-3 [folder 2 of 2]
|
1929 |
|
Scope and Contents
Between the Brotherhood of Railway, Airline, and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers,
Express, and Station Employes and the New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway Systems.
October 21 1929 - October 23 1929
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 6a |
US Board of Mediation. File c-100. Volumes 4-7 [folder 1 of 2]
|
1929 |
|
Scope and Contents
Between the Brotherhood of Railway, Airline, and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers,
Express, and Station Employes and the New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway Systems.
October 24 1929 - October 31 1929
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 6b |
US Board of Mediation. File c-100. Volumes 4-7 [folder 2 of 2]
|
1929 |
|
Scope and Contents
Between the Brotherhood of Railway, Airline, and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers,
Express, and Station Employes and the New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway Systems.
October 24 1929 - October 31 1929
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 7 |
US Board of Mediation. File c-100. Volumes 8-12
|
1929 |
|
Scope and Contents
Between the Brotherhood of Railway, Airline, and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers,
Express, and Station Employes and the New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway Systems.
November 1 - 13 1929
|
|||