Last week we discussed the scenic Toledo Lake Erie & Western. This tourist line runs on the old route of the Cloverleaf near Toledo and I’d like to take some time to outline the complex history behind this line.
Photo: TC&StL System Map in 1884
The Cloverleaf division of the Nickel Plate began life as the narrow gauge Toledo, Delphos, and Burlington Railroad. Astute readers will recognize this as the same company who helped finance the narrow gauge Cincinnati Northern and the connecting railway through Dayton, the predecessors of the CL&N system. In 1884 the TD&B stretched from Toledo to St. Louis, with branches stretching to Cincinnati and Ironton in eastern Ohio. In 1882 the company took on the more descriptive name of its subsidiary, the Toledo, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad. As the largest narrow-gauge system in the country the Midwestern system was often referred to as the “Little Giant”.
After bankruptcy in 1886, the CL&N went on to live its own history and the remaining railroad line to St. Louis was made standard gauge as the Toledo, St. Louis and Kansas City. This was reorganized again in 1900 as the original Toledo, Lake Erie & Western, most commonly known as the Cloverleaf Route. You can see one of their 1906 timetables here.
Photo: The Cloverleaf in 1918.
The TLE&W never quite escaped its narrow-gauge roots. The route was curvy and poorly engineered, but it provided a valuable gateway into St. Louis. In 1922, the New York, Chicago, & St. Louis Railroad Company, commonly known as the Nickel Plate line, purchased the TLE&W to add to its growing empire. The line survived through to the N&W merger but eventually the mainline through to St. Louis was abandoned in favor of straighter and more well-engineered routes. Today the line survives in a number of short stretches around cities, including the discussed TLE&W tourist line outside Toledo.
For more information about the Cloverleaf and its successor roads I recommend checking out the Nickel Plate Story by John A. Rehor (also featuring some CL&N history).
by John A. Rehor (also featuring some CL&N history).