NYC: New York Central System

Richard C. Leonard posted
A system map of the NYC, scanned from the 1951 Annual Report.
Doug Anderson Interesting that a railroad named “New York Central” seems to have had a much bigger presence in the Midwest than in the northeast. Never knew that.
Keith Pomroy Doug Anderson, the PRR, its arch-competitor, had a similar profile—Fanning out across Ohio and Indiana and up to Michigan and then funneling everything across the home state to terminals on the Atlantic Coast. As did the B&O, the much smaller third party in the area. The original business plans of the Central, the B&O and the Pennsylvania were to grab as much Midwestern traffic as possible and direct it to their respective hometowns (New York, Baltimore and Philadelphia).

David H. Nelson There is a secondary line in the center that drops down intot he lower half of the map. I think that's down into West Virginia. Was that the primary source of the NYC originated coal ladings or was that commodity spread out over a much larger geographic area?
Keith Pomroy David H. Nelson, the Central’s locomotive coal was sourced from the Clearfield district in Pennsylvania. I believe the West Virginia line carried industrial fuel for Ohio and Michigan.
Michael Schwiebert That's the Toledo & Ohio Central. http://nycshs.blogspot.com/2009/05/toledo-ohio-central.html

Keith Pomroy Interesting that the Cairo line went further south than the B&O, C&O and PRR.
[It doesn't have the Kankakee and Seneca Railroad, which was jointly owned by Rock Island and Big Four.]

[Whoops, I see I forgot to document the source.]

Richard C. Leonard posted
Stylized NYC system map from the 1956 Annual Report. Interesting which parts were printed in heavier lines, as though they were major main lines -- like the line to Cairo, Illinois or the Peoria & Eastern.
Justin Cutietta Passenger service on the thick lines maybe?
Matthew Hintz There are passenger stations on the line between Elyria (Cleveland) Ohio and Millbury (Toledo), Ohio.
Richard C. Leonard In 1956 there was still passenger service on the Mackinaw line, the Grand Rapids branch, between Jackson and Bay City, and maybe the "Old Road" through southern Michigan.