Nickel Plate Road 34' wood sheathed caboose #56

Nickel Plate Road 34' wood sheathed caboose with straight cupola #56

This caboose was inherited by the Nickel Plate Road from the Lake Erie & Western fleet after the 1923 takeover. This car features an offset cupola and was rebuilt extensively from the original LE&W design. The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, known as the Nickel Plate Road, served Ohio, Indiana and several adjacent states. Founded in 1881, it eventually had over 4,000 miles of track. By 1964, the post WWII economy financially impacted a number of railroads. In October of that year, the railroad merged, along with Wabash, into the Norfolk & Western Railway.