The Toledo, St. Louis and Western Railroad, often abbreviated TStL&W and commonly known as the Clover Leaf, was a railroad company that operated in northwestern Ohio, north central Indiana, and south central Illinois during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

History

The TStL&W originated with the Toledo, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad, a company formed in February 1881 as a consolidation of several smaller,

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

lines connecting the

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

cities of Toledo and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

with St. Louis, Missouri. Soon in financial difficulties, the company dropped its Cincinnati arm and reorganized in June 1886 as the Toledo, St. Louis and Kansas City Railroad and over the next two to three years

converted Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

its lines to . The following constituent companies formed the Toledo, St. Louis and Kansas City Railroad: * Toledo, Dupont and Western Railway of Ohio * Bluffton, Kokomo and Southwestern Railroad of Indiana * Toledo, Charleston and St. Louis Railroad of Illinois The Toledo, St. Louis and Kansas City was reorganized in 1900 and renamed as the Toledo, St. Louis and Western Railroad. It operated 450.72 miles of line between Toledo and East St. Louis. The Clover Leaf became part of the larger New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (the "Nickel Plate") on December 28, 1922, which eventually became part of

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

References

Defunct Illinois railroads Defunct Indiana railroads Defunct Missouri railroads Defunct Ohio railroads Former Class I railroads in the United States Predecessors of the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Railway companies established in 1900 Railway companies disestablished in 1923 {{US-ClassI-rail-transport-stub