Nickel Plate Road 587 is a 2-8-2 type USRA Light Mikado steam locomotive built in September 1918 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Lake Erie
and Western Railroad as its No. 5541. In 1923, the LE&W was merged into the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, commonly referred
to as the "Nickel Plate Road", and allocated 587 as its new number in 1924.
(RattlerJones, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
LAKE ERIE AND WESTERN RAILROAD
Not to be confused with New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad.
The Lake Erie and Western Railroad was a railroad that operated in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. The Lake Erie and Western Depot Historic District at Kokomo, Indiana, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
Map of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad system.
(Wikimedia maps | Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors)
The beginning
The Seney Syndicate linked several short railroads in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to form the Lake Erie and Western Railroad in 1879 and 1880. The Lake Erie and Western extended from the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway at Fremont, Ohio, 350 miles (560 km) westward through Fostoria, Ohio, to Bloomington, Illinois and Peoria, Illinois.
Postcard photo of the Lake Erie and Western Railway depot at Argos, IN.
(Public Domain, via W. Lenheim Collection)
Acquisitions
In 1900, the Lake Erie and Western came under the control of the New York Central Railroad. After operating it as a separate entity for two decades, the New York Central sold the Lake Erie and Western to the Nickel Plate Road in 1922.
Nickel Plate Road 2-8-2 587, locomotive still in Lake Erie and Western Railroad livery.
(Internet photo, Fair use, Title 17, Section 107)
Overview
Locale: Midwestern United States
Dates of operation: 1879–1922
Technical
Track gauge: 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
A river scene on the Lake Erie and Western Railway at North Frankfort, Indiana, ca. 1910.
(Indiana News Company, Indianapolis, IN, Public domain, via W. Lenheim Collection)