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

Narrow gauge

A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...

 lines connecting the Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

 cities of Toledo

Toledo, Ohio

Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

 and Cincinnati

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

 with St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

. 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 widened its lines to standard gauge

Standard gauge

The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

.

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

New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad

The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad , abbreviated NYC&St.L, was a railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. Commonly referred to as the Nickel Plate Road, the railroad served a large area, including trackage in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois...

(the "Nickel Plate") on December 28, 1922.