The Nickel Plate Railroad

The Nickel Plate Railroad. . In 1880, the New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad, known commonly as "The Nickel Plate Road,” purchased from the Wabash and Erie Canal the right-of-way through central Fort Wayne. The construction of the railroad on the site of the old canal took place from 1881 to 1882, when William H. Vanderbilt purchased the system. , While the Nickel Plate put Fort Wayne on another major east-west trunk line, the railroad also divided the city, discouraging growth on the north side. The call to "Elevate the Nickel Plate” became a community issue throughout the first half of the twentieth century. In 1947, Mayor Harry Baals signed an agreement with the railroad to elevate the tracks, but it was not until 1953 that ground was broken for the project. Temporary tracks were laid and construction of the elevation itself began on August 27, 1954; the project was completed on July 29, 1956, inaugurating an era of expansion to the north of the city. , Nickel Plate locomotive 183 crosses Calhoun Street on the temporary street-level tracks laid next to the new elevation piers in the mid-1950s. (Ellsworth Crick Collection). , Presented by the Journal-Gazette Foundation , For more information, contact: Arch an organization for historic preservation