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110-686: NKP may refer to: The abbreviation and identifying marks of the Nickel Plate Road NetKernel Protocol New Korea Party , a political party in South Korea New Komeito Party , a Japanese political party New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad , the Nickel Plate Road Communist Party of Norway ( Norges Kommunistiske Parti ) Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base , which

220-528: A "... double-track, nickel-plated railroad." The railroad adopted the nickname and it became better known as the Nickel Plate Road. It was decided that building would start along the surveyed route between Cleveland and Buffalo rather than build the branch to St. Louis. Five hundred days later, the Nickel Plate's 513-mile (826 km) single-track mainline from Buffalo to Chicago was complete. The railroad

330-504: A coastline is impossible to measure exactly . Canada borders approximately 5,200 miles (8,400 km) of coastline, while the remaining 5,300 miles (8,500 km) are bordered by the United States. Michigan has the longest shoreline of the United States, bordering roughly 3,288 miles (5,292 km) of lakes, followed by Wisconsin (820 miles (1,320 km)), New York (473 miles (761 km)), and Ohio (312 miles (502 km)). Traversing

440-721: A couple of fruit trains during the day. Vanderbilt consolidated many of his railroads into the New York Central Railroad . Over time, the Nickel Plate was reduced as a serious threat to the New York Central and other competing lines. Unlike many railroads that established a primary repair shop site, the Nickel Plate maintained several "back shops" that were more or less equal in size. By the late 1800s, facilities that could handle major locomotive and car rebuilding were located at Stony Island Yard (outside of Chicago); Frankfort, Indiana ; and Conneaut and Bellevue, Ohio . By

550-523: A large watershed via many rivers and contain approximately 35,000 islands. There are also several thousand smaller lakes, often called "inland lakes", within the basin. The surface area of the five primary lakes combined is roughly equal to the size of the United Kingdom, while the surface area of the entire basin (the lakes and the land they drain) is about the size of the UK and France combined. Lake Michigan

660-498: A little over $ 500,000 (equal to $ 14,000,000 today) but they controlled 75% of Nickel Plate's voting stock. The Van Sweringens had no intention of running the Nickel Plate. Alfred Smith was happy to give the Van Sweringens a vice-president of the New York Central, John J. Bernet , and some of his top men. Smith wanted to show that the Van Sweringens were not New York Central puppets, and the Nickel Plate needed to earn money to retire

770-405: A national basis. The total surface area of the lakes is approximately 94,250 square miles (244,100 km )—nearly the same size as the United Kingdom, and larger than the U.S. states of New York , New Jersey , Connecticut , Rhode Island , Massachusetts , Vermont , and New Hampshire combined. The Great Lakes coast measures approximately 10,500 miles (16,900 km), but the length of

880-468: A natural route to the proposed terminal for the Van Sweringen's rapid transit and the other traction lines. Between 1890 and 1913, Cleveland had a fourfold increase in population. Civic and political leaders wanted to clean up the city and started many projects. One was a desire to consolidate all of Cleveland's railroad stations. The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway , Pennsylvania Railroad , and

990-456: A nuisance to industries by clogging pipes. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated in 2007 that the economic impact of the zebra mussel could be about $ 5 billion over the next decade. The alewife first entered the system west of Lake Ontario via 19th-century canals. By the 1960s, the small silver fish had become a familiar nuisance to beach goers across Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Erie. Periodic mass die-offs result in vast numbers of

1100-681: A possible reason for a decrease in population of various whitefish , important because of their culinary desirability and, hence, economic consequence. Moreover, between 1879 and 1899, reported whitefish harvests declined from some 24.3 million pounds (11 million kg) to just over 9 million pounds (4 million kg). By 1900, commercial fishermen on Lake Michigan were hauling in an average of 41 million pounds of fish annually. By 1938, Wisconsin's commercial fishing operations were motorized and mechanized, generating jobs for more than 2,000 workers, and hauling 14 million pounds per year. The population of giant freshwater mussels

1210-429: A problem: he could not run the business into the ground or it would fall into receivership and someone else would buy it. He could not close the Nickel Plate either because it cost a fortune to buy. So, the Nickel Plate Road did business, but just enough to keep it solvent. By the advent of the 1920s, the Nickel Plate was an obscure line that earned its keep through the transfer of freight from other rail connections. During

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1320-560: A relatively small area of southeast Lake Michigan where savanna or prairie occasionally intruded). Logging, urbanization, and agriculture uses have changed that relationship. In the early 21st century, Lake Superior's shores are 91% forested, Lake Huron 68%, Lake Ontario 49%, Lake Michigan 41%, and Lake Erie, where logging and urbanization has been most extensive, 21%. Some of these forests are second or third growth (i.e. they have been logged before, changing their composition). At least 13 wildlife species are documented as becoming extinct since

1430-483: A season, and can survive poor water quality conditions. The influx of parasitic lamprey populations after the development of the Erie Canal and the much later Welland Canal led to the two federal governments of the United States and Canada working on joint proposals to control it. By the mid-1950s, the lake trout populations of Lakes Michigan and Huron were reduced, with the lamprey deemed largely to blame. This led to

1540-707: A second fault line, the Saint Lawrence rift , formed approximately 570 million years ago, the basis for Lakes Ontario and Erie was created, along with what would become the Saint Lawrence River. The Great Lakes are estimated to have been formed at the end of the Last Glacial Period (the Wisconsin glaciation ended 10,000 to 12,000 years ago), when the Laurentide Ice Sheet receded. The retreat of

1650-673: A small percid fish from Eurasia, became the most abundant fish species in Lake Superior's Saint Louis River within five years of its detection in 1986. Its range, which has expanded to Lake Huron, poses a significant threat to the lower lake fishery. Five years after first being observed in the St. Clair River, the round goby can now be found in all of the Great Lakes. The goby is considered undesirable for several reasons: it preys upon bottom-feeding fish, overruns optimal habitat, spawns multiple times

1760-414: Is "new" water, originating from rivers, precipitation, and groundwater springs. In the post-glacial period, evaporation , and drainage have generally been balanced, making the levels of the lakes relatively constant. Intensive human population growth began in the region in the 20th century and continues today. At least two human water use activities have been identified as having the potential to affect

1870-604: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Nickel Plate Road The Nickel Plate Road was constructed in 1881 along the South Shore of the Great Lakes to connect Buffalo and Chicago , in competition with the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway . At the end of 1960, NKP operated 2,170 miles (3,490 km) of road on 4,009 miles (6,452 km) of track, not including

1980-621: Is flat according to the International Joint Commission. Reports about this issue on the U.S. side highlight five large municipal systems (those of Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Milwaukee and Gary ) as being the largest current periodic sources of untreated discharges into the Great Lakes. The fish of the Great Lakes have anti-depressant drugs meant for humans in their brains, which has caused concerns. The number of American adults who take anti-depressant drugs rose from 7.7% of all American adults in 1999–2002 to 12.7% in 2011–2014. As

2090-546: Is heavy. Pleasure boats can enter or exit the Great Lakes by way of the Erie Canal and Hudson River in New York. The Erie Canal connects to the Great Lakes at the east end of Lake Erie (at Buffalo, New York ) and at the south side of Lake Ontario (at Oswego, New York ). The lakes were originally fed by both precipitation and meltwater from glaciers which are no longer present. In modern times, only about 1% of volume per year

2200-424: Is measured, by surface area, either Lake Superior or Lake Michigan–Huron is the second-largest lake in the world and the largest freshwater lake. Lake Michigan is the largest lake, by surface area, that is entirely within one country, the United States. The Great Lakes began to form at the end of the Last Glacial Period around 14,000 years ago, as retreating ice sheets exposed the basins they had carved into

2310-510: Is the only one of the Great Lakes that is entirely within the United States; the others form a water boundary between the United States and Canada. The lakes are divided among the jurisdictions of the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. states of Michigan , Wisconsin , Minnesota , Illinois , Indiana , Ohio , Pennsylvania , and New York . Both the province of Ontario and the state of Michigan include in their boundaries portions of four of

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2420-635: The Attorney General of the United States advised the New York Central that its control of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern and the Nickel Plate was in violation of the Federal antitrust laws . On February 1, 1916, Alfred Smith called his friends, the Van Sweringens, and offered them the Nickel Plate. They bought it for $ 8.5 million on April 13, 1916, equal to $ 238,000,000 today. In return for operating concessions and access to certain stations, they put up only

2530-603: The Canadian province of Ontario on more than 7,000 miles (11,000 km) of railroad. In 1982, the profitable N&W was itself combined with the Southern Railway , another profitable carrier, to form Norfolk Southern Corporation (NS). In the 25 years after the American Civil War , railway track mileage in the United States more than doubled, changing the face of America. Rail transportation meant that products made in

2640-944: The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to the Gulf of Mexico via the Illinois River (from the Chicago River ) and the Mississippi River. An alternate track is via the Illinois River (from Chicago), to the Mississippi, up the Ohio, and then through the Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway (a combination of a series of rivers and lakes and canals), to Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Commercial tug -and- barge traffic on these waterways

2750-832: The Door Peninsula , the Peninsulas of Michigan , and the Ontario Peninsula . Some of these peninsulas even contain smaller peninsulas, such as the Bruce , Keweenaw , Leelanau , Niagara , and Thumb peninsulas. Population centers on the peninsulas include Grand Rapids , Flint , and Detroit in Michigan along with London , Hamilton , Brantford , and Toronto in Ontario. Although the Saint Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway make

2860-516: The Environmental Protection Agency have shown that when the mercury comes in contact with many of the bacteria and compounds in the fresh water, it forms the compound methyl mercury , which has a much greater impact on human health than elemental mercury due to a higher propensity for absorption. This form of mercury is not detrimental to a majority of fish types, but is very detrimental to people and other wildlife animals who consume

2970-669: The Finger Lakes region of New York, as well as in Prince Edward County, Ontario , on Lake Ontario's northeast shore. The Great Lakes have been observed to help intensify storms, such as Hurricane Hazel in 1954, and the 2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado , which moved onshore as a tornadic waterspout . In 1996, a rare tropical or subtropical storm was observed forming in Lake Huron, dubbed the 1996 Lake Huron cyclone . Rather large severe thunderstorms covering wide areas are well known in

3080-463: The Great Lakes of North America , are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border . The five lakes are Superior , Michigan , Huron , Erie , and Ontario . (Hydrologically, Michigan and Huron are a single body of water, as they are joined by Straits of Mackinac .) The Great Lakes Waterway enables modern travel and shipping by water among

3190-523: The Mississippi River and he was considered the most ruthless financial operator in America. Gould's major railroad east of the Mississippi River was the 335-mile (539 km) Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway (Wabash). The Wabash mainline ran from St. Louis, Missouri , to Toledo, Ohio , where it was forced to deliver its railroad traffic to William H. Vanderbilt's Lake Shore Railroad for delivery to

3300-513: The Niagara Escarpment precludes all natural navigation, the four upper lakes are commonly called the "upper great lakes". This designation is not universal. Those living on the shore of Lake Superior often refer to all the other lakes as "the lower lakes", because they are farther south. Sailors of bulk freighters transferring cargoes from Lake Superior and northern Lake Michigan and Lake Huron to ports on Lake Erie or Ontario commonly refer to

3410-539: The Van Sweringen brothers proposed a stub-end terminal on Public Square in downtown Cleveland. The Cleveland interurbans and traction companies were in favor of the new terminal and right-of-ways leading to it. The Nickel Plate was the key. It traversed Cleveland from east to west, had a high level crossing of the Cuyahoga River Valley , and was adjacent to the proposed terminal. The Nickel Plate also provided

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3520-497: The biosphere . Since the 19th century, an estimated 160 new species have found their way into the Great Lakes ecosystem; many have become invasive; the overseas ship ballast and ship hull parasitism are causing severe economic and ecological impacts. According to the Inland Seas Education Association, on average a new species enters the Great Lakes every eight months. Introductions into the Great Lakes include

3630-414: The zebra mussel , which was first discovered in 1988, and quagga mussel in 1989. Since 2000, the invasive quagga mussel has smothered the bottom of Lake Michigan almost from shore to shore, and their numbers are estimated at 900 trillion. The mollusks are efficient filter feeders, competing with native mussels and reducing available food and spawning grounds for fish. In addition, the mussels may be

3740-579: The " snowbelts " receive regular snow fall from this localized weather pattern, especially along the eastern shores of the lakes. Snowbelts are found in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario. Related to the lake effect is the regular occurrence of fog, particularly along the shorelines of the lakes. This is most noticeable along Lake Superior's shores. The lakes tend to moderate seasonal temperatures to some degree but not with as large an influence as do large oceans; they absorb heat and cool

3850-512: The $ 6.5 million in notes owed to the New York Central. During Bernet's reign, the Nickel Plate grew substantially. In 1922, the Nickel Plate purchased the Lake Erie and Western Railroad , giving it access to Sandusky, Ohio , and Peoria, Illinois . Later that year, on December 28, the Nickel Plate purchased the Toledo, St. Louis and Western Railroad , also known as the "Clover Leaf Route", finally giving

3960-462: The 1920s the shops had been consolidated primarily to Fort Wayne, Indiana ; Conneaut, Ohio; Bellevue, Ohio; and Stony Island. The Van Sweringen brothers of Cleveland, Ohio, were the next owners of the Nickel Plate. Oris Paxton Van Sweringen and his younger brother Mantis James Van Sweringen were real estate developers who had constructed a rapid transit line from their development at Shaker Heights, Ohio , to downtown Cleveland. As early as 1909,

4070-454: The 25 miles (40 km) of Lorain & West Virginia. That year it reported 9.758 billion net ton-miles of revenue freight and 41 million passenger-miles. In 1964, the Nickel Plate Road and several other midwestern carriers were merged into the larger Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W). The goal of the N&;W expansion was to form a more competitive and successful system serving 14 states and

4180-582: The Big Four Railroad shared a crowded lakefront Union Station. The Erie Railroad , Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , Nickel Plate Road, and the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad all occupied separate stations on the north bluff of the Cuyahoga River, just south of downtown. The city also encouraged the railroads to build grade separation throughout the city. The Nickel Plate started a grade separation project on

4290-617: The Canadian side, Toronto , Hamilton and Mississauga . Though the five lakes lie in separate basins, they form a single, naturally interconnected body of fresh water, within the Great Lakes Basin . As a chain of lakes and rivers, they connect the east-central interior of North America to the Atlantic Ocean. From the interior to the outlet at the Saint Lawrence River, water flows from Superior to Huron and Michigan, southward to Erie, and finally northward to Lake Ontario. The lakes drain

4400-489: The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in order to keep several species of invasive Asian carp out of the lakes. These fast-growing planktivorous fish have heavily colonized the Mississippi and Illinois river systems. Invasive species, particularly zebra and quagga mussels, may be at least partially responsible for the collapse of the deepwater demersal fish community in Lake Huron, as well as drastic unprecedented changes in

4510-611: The East Side of Cleveland in 1909 and finished in 1913. Cleveland approved a bond issue in 1910 to "depress" the Nickel Plate through the most congested part of the West Side. The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway was controlled by the New York Central Railroad's Alfred Holland Smith , a close friend of the Van Sweringens. He had guided the Van Sweringens and even financed their rapid transit to Shaker Heights. In late 1915,

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4620-594: The East could be shipped West for far less than previously. This allowed for economies of scale and larger, more efficient factories. The agricultural heartland of America was no longer confined to a market of a single day's wagon ride. Railroad and railroad construction became one of the largest industries. By 1881, one out of 32 people in the United States was either employed by a railroad or engaged in railroad construction. Starting about 1877, two great railroad developers, William H. Vanderbilt and Jay Gould , began competing for

4730-458: The Great Lakes accessible to ocean-going vessels, shifts in shipping to wider ocean-going container ships —which do not fit through the locks on these routes—have limited container shipping on the lakes. Most Great Lakes trade is of bulk material, and bulk freighters of Seawaymax -size or less can move throughout the entire lakes and out to the Atlantic. Larger ships are confined to working within

4840-459: The Great Lakes during mid-summer; these Mesoscale convective complexes or MCCs can cause damage to wide swaths of forest and shatter glass in city buildings. These storms mainly occur during the night, and the systems sometimes have small embedded tornadoes, but more often straight-line winds accompanied by intense lightning. Historically, the Great Lakes, in addition to their lake ecology , were surrounded by various forest ecoregions (except in

4950-441: The Great Lakes each year. Plastics in the water break up into very small particles known as microplastics . Microplastics can also come from synthetic clothing washed down our drains. Plastic waste found in the lakes include single-use plastics , plastics used in packaging, takeout containers as well as pre-production pellets produced by plastics industry . High concentrations of microplastics were discovered in 100 percent of

5060-438: The Great Lakes region include: Plant lists include: Logging of the extensive forests in the Great Lakes region removed riparian and adjacent tree cover over rivers and streams, which provide shade, moderating water temperatures in fish spawning grounds. Removal of trees also destabilized the soil, with greater volumes washed into stream beds causing siltation of gravel beds, and more frequent flooding. Running cut logs down

5170-550: The Great Lakes. A number of self-operating floating devices called Seabin, were put in the Great Lakes to capture plastic trash as part of the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup project. The project captured 74,000 pieces of trash using this technology between 2020 and 2021; however, it does not claim to catch up with 22 million pounds (10.0 kt) of plastic that ends up in Great Lakes every year. The production, consumption, and throwing away of plastics seems to remain

5280-530: The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway's Ashtabula River trestle , where 64 people had been injured and 92 were killed or died later from injuries. Another reason for the popularity of the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railway was the positive economic impact on any cities that a new railroad went through. During a newspaper war to attract the NYC&;St.L, the Norwalk, Ohio , Chronicle Newspaper referred to it as

5390-478: The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company on February 3, 1881. The original proposal for the NYC&StL was a 340-mile (550 km) railroad west from Cleveland, Ohio, to Chicago, Illinois, with a 325-mile (523 km) branch to St. Louis, Missouri . On April 13, 1881, the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company bought the Buffalo, Cleveland and Chicago Railway , a railroad that had been surveyed from

5500-435: The Nickel Plate access to the St. Louis area , as well as to the port in Toledo, Ohio . Bernet also doubled the railroad's total freight tonnage and average speeds system wide, while cutting fuel consumption in half. Bernet left the Nickel Plate in late 1926. Bernet returned to the Nickel Plate in 1933. In 1934, Bernet ordered 15 Berkshire locomotives, which would become legendary with the Nickel Plate. Bernet remained as

5610-618: The Nickel Plate for one million dollars, equal to $ 31,600,000 today. He realized if he allowed Gould to gain control of the Nickel Plate, his monopoly on rail traffic from Toledo, Ohio to the east would be broken. He decided he would do anything to keep the Nickel Plate out of Gould's hands. On October 25, 1882, (a few days after the first trains ran) the Seney Syndicate sold the Nickel Plate to Vanderbilt for $ 7.2 million, equal to $ 227,300,000 today. Vanderbilt transferred it to his Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway. However, Vanderbilt had

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5720-432: The Nickel Plate, they could end the threat to their railroads. If the Nickel Plate remained independent it would be able to create a substantial dent in both entrepreneurs' railroad earnings. Vanderbilt tried to lower the value of the Nickel Plate by organizing a campaign to smear its reputation before a train ever ran on its tracks. If Vanderbilt was successful, he could scare the Seney Syndicate into selling to him or drive

5830-500: The Straits of Mackinac. The straits are five miles (8 km) wide and 120 feet (37 m) deep; the water levels rise and fall together, and the flow between Michigan and Huron frequently reverses direction. Dispersed throughout the Great Lakes are approximately 35,000 islands . The largest among them is Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, the largest island in any inland body of water in

5940-427: The U.S. A variety of steps taken to process industrial and municipal pollution discharges into the system greatly improved water quality by the 1980s, and Lake Erie in particular is significantly cleaner. Discharge of toxic substances has been sharply reduced. Federal and state regulations control substances like PCBs . The first of 43 " Great Lakes Areas of Concern " to be formally "de-listed" through successful cleanup

6050-495: The air in summer, then slowly radiate that heat in autumn. They protect against frost during transitional weather and keep the summertime temperatures cooler than further inland. This effect can be very localized and overridden by offshore wind patterns. This temperature buffering produces areas known as " fruit belts ", where fruit can be produced that is typically grown much farther south. For instance, western Michigan has apple orchards, and cherry orchards are cultivated adjacent to

6160-459: The anti-depressant drugs pass out of human bodies and through sanitation systems into the Great Lakes, this has resulted in fish in the Great Lakes with twenty times the level of anti-depressants in their brains than what is in the water, leading to the fish being exceedingly happy and hence less risk-averse, to the extent of damaging the fish populations. Researchers have found that more than 22 million pounds (10.0 kt) of plastic end up in

6270-432: The arrival of Europeans, and many more are threatened or endangered. Meanwhile, exotic and invasive species have also been introduced. While the organisms living on the bottom of shallow waters are similar to those found in smaller lakes, the deep waters contain organisms found only in deep, cold lakes of the northern latitudes. These include the delicate opossum shrimp (order mysida ), the deepwater scud (a crustacean of

6380-427: The core of Great Lakes trash problem. Algae such as diatoms , along with other phytoplankton , are photosynthetic primary producers supporting the food web of the Great Lakes, and have been affected by global warming . The changes in the size or in the function of the primary producers may have a direct or an indirect impact on the food web. Photosynthesis carried out by diatoms constitutes about one fifth of

6490-750: The cyanobacteria ... will produce toxins", said Michael McKay, of the University of Windsor. Water quality testing was underway in August 2019. Until 1970, mercury was not listed as a harmful chemical, according to the United States Federal Water Quality Administration. In the 21st century, mercury has become more apparent in water tests. Mercury compounds have been used in paper mills to prevent slime from forming during their production, and chemical companies have used mercury to separate chlorine from brine solutions. Studies conducted by

6600-655: The east side of the LS&;MS line to LaSalle Street Station , just north of 12th Street (now Roosevelt Road ). By 1928 it used LaSalle. In an address given to the Newcomen Society of the United States in Erie, Pennsylvania , on November 11, 1954. Lynne L. White (a former president of the Nickel Plate) said: To continue the tradition and preserve the history and name of the Nickel Plate Road, HGR Industrial Surplus, current owner of

6710-484: The eastern United States to form a more competitive and successful system serving 14 states and a province of Canada on more than 7,000 miles (11,000 km) of road. The profitable N&W was itself combined with the Southern Railway , another profitable carrier, to form Norfolk Southern Corporation (NS) in 1982. By 1897 the Nickel Plate had obtained trackage rights over the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway from Grand Crossing to its own terminal on

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6820-472: The eastern United States. Jay Gould and William Vanderbilt together oversaw all east–west rail traffic in the mid-west. The Seney Syndicate , owners of a 350-mile (560 km) railroad, the Lake Erie and Western Railroad , were interested in tapping new sources of revenue. The stage was set for the creation of the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad. The Seney Syndicate, headed by banker George I. Seney , met at Seney's New York City bank and organized

6930-455: The fish that were studied by researchers from the Rochman Lab. About 50 million pounds (23 kt) of fish is harvested each year from Great Lakes which has raised concerns on how this might affect human health. Microscopic pieces of plastic have also been found in drinking water coming from Great Lakes. It is estimated that nearly 40 million people in the region rely on drinking water from

7040-443: The fish washing up on shore; estimates by various governments have placed the percentage of Lake Michigan's biomass which was made up of alewives in the early 1960s as high as 90%. In the late 1960s, the various state and federal governments began stocking several species of salmonids, including the native lake trout as well as non-native chinook and coho salmon; by the 1980s, alewife populations had dropped drastically. The ruffe ,

7150-443: The fish. Mercury has been known for health related problems such as birth defects in humans and animals, and the near extinction of eagles in the Great Lakes region. The amount of raw sewage dumped into the waters was the primary focus of both the first Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and federal laws passed in both countries during the 1970s. Implementation of secondary treatment of municipal sewage by major cities greatly reduced

7260-552: The former General Motors Fisher Auto Body site in Euclid, Ohio , on the Nickel Plate Road line dedicated its site as "Nickel Plate Station" on October 1, 2015. On March 28, 2012, Norfolk Southern unveiled NS 8100, a GE ES44AC locomotive painted in the paint scheme found on Nickel Plate Road's diesel locomotives. It was the third of twenty units to be painted in the colors of Norfolk Southern's predecessors. Great Lakes The Great Lakes ( French : Grands Lacs ), also called

7370-417: The glaciers "rebounded" as it was uncovered. Since the glaciers covered some areas longer than others, this glacial rebound occurred at different rates. The Great Lakes have a humid continental climate, Köppen climate classification Dfa (in southern areas) and Dfb (in northern parts) with varying influences from air masses from other regions including dry, cold Arctic systems, mild Pacific air masses from

7480-625: The highway system improved and the US Interstate system was built. The Nickel Plate Road, together with the Wabash and several smaller carriers, merged with the profitable Norfolk and Western (N&W) on October 16, 1964. N&W had merged with long-time rival Virginian Railway in the Pocahontas coal region in 1959, and grew through the mergers with other rail carriers including the Nickel Plate and Wabash railroads with operations in adjacent areas of

7590-410: The historical average level. Although "true tides—changes in water level caused by the gravitational forces of the sun and moon—do occur in a semi-diurnal (twice daily) pattern", such changes are quite small and generally obscured by other forces. The lake levels are affected primarily by changes in regional meteorology and climatology. The outflows from Lakes Superior and Ontario are regulated, while

7700-488: The ice sheet left behind a large amount of meltwater ( Lake Algonquin , Lake Chicago , Glacial Lake Iroquois , and Champlain Sea ) that filled up the basins that the glaciers had carved, thus creating the Great Lakes as they are today. Because of the uneven nature of glacier erosion , some higher hills became Great Lakes islands. The Niagara Escarpment follows the contour of the Great Lakes between New York and Wisconsin. Land below

7810-545: The key indicators even in the current era of sophisticated analyses and measuring instruments. According to the bi-national (U.S. and Canadian) resource book, The Great Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book : "The largest Great Lakes fish harvests were recorded in 1889 and 1899 at some 67,000 tonnes (66,000 long tons; 74,000 short tons) [147 million pounds]." By 1801, the New York Legislature found it necessary to pass regulations curtailing obstructions to

7920-597: The lake and causing blooms," said Michael McKay, executive director of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER) at the University of Windsor . The largest Lake Erie bloom to date occurred in 2015, exceeding the severity index at 10.5 and in 2011 at a 10. In early August 2019, satellite images depicted a bloom stretching up to 1,300 square kilometres on Lake Erie, with the heaviest concentration near Toledo, Ohio . A large bloom does not necessarily mean

8030-634: The lake shore as far north as the Grand Traverse Bay . Near Collingwood, Ontario , commercial fruit orchards, including a few wineries, exist near the shoreline of southern Nottawasaga Bay . The eastern shore of Lake Michigan and the southern shore of Lake Erie have many successful wineries because of the lakes' moderating effects, as do the large commercial fruit and wine growing areas of the Niagara Peninsula located between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. A similar phenomenon allows wineries to flourish in

8140-525: The lakes has been observed since records began in 1918. The water level of Lake Michigan–Huron had remained fairly constant over the 20th century. Recent lake levels include record low levels in 2013 in Lakes Superior, Erie, and Michigan-Huron, followed by record high levels in 2020 in the same lakes. The water level in Lake Ontario has remained relatively constant in the same time period, hovering around

8250-464: The lakes' levels: diversion (the transfer of water to other watersheds) and consumption (substantially done today by the use of lake water to power and cool electric generation plants, resulting in evaporation). Outflows through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal is more than balanced by artificial inflows via the Ogoki River and Long Lake/ Kenogami River diversions. Fluctuation of the water levels in

8360-513: The lakes. Only barges can access the Illinois Waterway system providing access to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River. Despite their vast size, large sections of the Great Lakes freeze over in winter, interrupting most shipping from January to March. Some icebreakers ply the lakes, keeping the shipping lanes open through other periods of ice on the lakes. The Great Lakes are connected by

8470-526: The lakes. The lakes connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River , and to the Mississippi River basin through the Illinois Waterway . The Great Lakes are the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total area and the second-largest by total volume. They contain 21% of the world's surface fresh water by volume. The total surface is 94,250 square miles (244,106 km ), and

8580-415: The lakes. The province of Ontario does not border Lake Michigan, and the state of Michigan does not border Lake Ontario. New York and Wisconsin's jurisdictions extend into two lakes, and each of the remaining states into one of the lakes. As the surfaces of Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, and Erie are all approximately the same elevation above sea level, while Lake Ontario is significantly lower, and because

8690-588: The land, which then filled with meltwater. The lakes have been a major source for transportation, migration, trade, and fishing, serving as a habitat to many aquatic species in a region with much biodiversity . The surrounding region is called the Great Lakes region , which includes the Great Lakes Megalopolis . Major cities within the region include, on the American side, from east to west, Buffalo , Cleveland , Detroit , Chicago , and Milwaukee ; and, on

8800-698: The last steam locomotive built by the Lima Locomotive Works . Later that year, on December 1, the Nickel Plate leased the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway . In 1960, the last steam locomotive was retired from service, officially "dieselizing" the Nickel Plate. The Nickel Plate had a few long-distance night trains, whose names varied according to whether the train was west-bound or eastbound. The trains linked at Lackawanna Station in Buffalo to continue to Hoboken, New Jersey . The financial situation of American railroading continued to decline after World War II as

8910-468: The latter as the lower lakes and Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Superior as the upper lakes. This corresponds to thinking of lakes Erie and Ontario as "down south" and the others as "up north". Vessels sailing north on Lake Michigan are considered "upbound" even though they are sailing toward its effluent current. Lakes Huron and Michigan are sometimes considered a single lake, called Lake Michigan–Huron, because they are one hydrological body of water connected by

9020-494: The launch of the bi-national Great Lakes Fishery Commission . Several species of exotic water fleas have accidentally been introduced into the Great Lakes, such as the spiny waterflea, Bythotrephes longimanus , and the fishhook waterflea, Cercopagis pengoi , potentially having an effect on the zooplankton population. Several species of crayfish have also been introduced that may contend with native crayfish populations. More recently an electric fence has been set up across

9130-400: The line but failed to devalue the company or scare the investors. The cost of construction was higher than expected and the Seney Syndicate began to negotiate with Gould to purchase the railroad, but unlike Vanderbilt, Gould lacked the capital. Frustrated at the failing talks, Gould broke off negotiations and gave up on his attempt to break Vanderbilt. In early 1881, Vanderbilt could have had

9240-476: The natural migrations of Atlantic salmon from Lake Erie into their spawning channels. In the early 19th century, the government of Upper Canada found it necessary to introduce similar legislation prohibiting the use of weirs and nets at the mouths of Lake Ontario's tributaries. Other protective legislation was passed, but enforcement remained difficult. On both sides of the Canada–United States border,

9350-463: The order amphipoda ), two types of copepods , and the deepwater sculpin (a spiny, large-headed fish). The Great Lakes are an important source of fishing . Early European settlers were astounded by both the variety and quantity of fish; there were 150 different species in the Great Lakes. Throughout history, fish populations were the early indicator of the condition of the Lakes and have remained one of

9460-506: The outflows of Michigan-Huron and Erie are not regulated at all. Ontario is the most tightly regulated, with its outflow controlled by the Moses-Saunders Power Dam , which explains its consistent historical levels. The Great Lakes contain 21% of the world's surface fresh water: 5,472 cubic miles (22,810 km ), or 6.0×10 U.S. gallons, that is 6 quadrillion U.S. gallons, (2.3×10 liters). The lakes contain about 84% of

9570-515: The president of the company until his death in 1935. On December 29, 1937, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway gained control of the Nickel Plate. One major factor was Frank Allen Brown, who was the assistant superintendent at this time. Brown held this position from 1937 to 1944. During World War II , the Nickel Plate, like all other American railroads, found itself helping with the war effort. The Nickel Plate ordered an additional 55 Berkshires during

9680-507: The proliferation of dams and impoundments have multiplied, necessitating more regulatory efforts. Concerns by the mid-19th century included obstructions in the rivers which prevented salmon and lake sturgeon from reaching their spawning grounds. The Wisconsin Fisheries Commission noted a reduction of roughly 25% in general fish harvests by 1875. The states have removed dams from rivers where necessary. Overfishing has been cited as

9790-471: The railroad company into bankruptcy. However, Vanderbilt's plan came with two important risks. If he slandered the line, he risked chasing the Seney Syndicate into an alliance with Gould. The other risk was that his plan to smear the Nickel Plate's reputation might fail and it could quickly grow. Vanderbilt claimed the road was being built with substandard materials and it would use unsafe practices once completed. He succeeded in creating long-standing rumors about

9900-463: The railroad traffic along the south shore of the Great Lakes . By 1878, William Vanderbilt had a monopoly on rail traffic between Buffalo, New York ; Cleveland, Ohio ; Detroit, Michigan ; and Chicago , because he owned the only railroad linking those cities - the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway . In addition, he was the richest man in America at that time. By 1881, Jay Gould controlled about 15% of all U.S. railroad mileage, most of it west of

10010-428: The routine discharge of untreated sewage during the 1970s and 1980s. The International Joint Commission in 2009 summarized the change: "Since the early 1970s, the level of treatment to reduce pollution from waste water discharges to the Great Lakes has improved considerably. This is a result of significant expenditures to date on both infrastructure and technology, and robust regulatory systems that have proven to be, on

10120-434: The same period Vanderbilt's Lake Shore and Michigan Southern prospered and expanded. Vanderbilt kept most of the rail traffic on his Lake Shore and Michigan Southern. Fewer trains on the Nickel Plate meant that they could move faster, so that is the railroad traffic they went after. By 1888 the Nickel Plate had been dubbed "The Meat Express Line." Observers at Fort Wayne, Indiana , reported six long meat trains every night and

10230-436: The shoreline of all the lakes would cover a distance roughly equivalent to travelling half-way around the world at the equator. A notable modern phenomenon is the formation of ice volcanoes over the lakes during wintertime. Storm-generated waves carve the lakes' ice sheet and create conical mounds through the eruption of water and slush. The process is only well-documented in the Great Lakes, and has been credited with sparing

10340-583: The southern shorelines from worse rocky erosion. It has been estimated that the foundational geology that created the conditions shaping the present day upper Great Lakes was laid from 1.1 to 1.2 billion years ago, when two previously fused tectonic plates split apart and created the Midcontinent Rift , which crossed the Great Lakes Tectonic Zone . A valley was formed providing a basin that eventually became modern day Lake Superior. When

10450-414: The surface freshwater of North America; if the water were evenly distributed over the entire continent's land area, it would reach a depth of 5 feet (1.5 meters). This is enough water to cover the 48 contiguous U.S. states to a uniform depth of 9.5 feet (2.9 m). Although the lakes contain a large percentage of the world's fresh water, the Great Lakes supply only a small portion of U.S. drinking water on

10560-440: The total volume (measured at the low water datum) is 5,439 cubic miles (22,671 km ), slightly less than the volume of Lake Baikal (5,666 cu mi or 23,615 km , 22–23% of the world's surface fresh water). Because of their sea-like characteristics, such as rolling waves, sustained winds, strong currents, great depths, and distant horizons, the five Great Lakes have long been called inland seas . Depending on how it

10670-551: The treatment plant, are temporarily overwhelmed by heavy rainstorms. Local sewage treatment authorities then must release untreated effluent, a mix of rainwater and sewage, into local water bodies. While enormous public investments such as the Deep Tunnel projects in Chicago and Milwaukee have greatly reduced the frequency and volume of these events, they have not been eliminated. The number of such overflow events in Ontario, for example,

10780-522: The tributary rivers into the Great Lakes also dislocated sediments. In 1884, the New York Fish Commission determined that the dumping of sawmill waste (chips and sawdust) had impacted fish populations. The first U.S. Clean Water Act , passed by a Congressional override after being vetoed by U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1972, was a key piece of legislation, along with the bi-national Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement signed by Canada and

10890-478: The war. After the war, in 1947, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway ended its control of the Nickel Plate when it sold off its remaining shares. That year, the Nickel Plate also ordered 11 ALCO PA diesel-electric locomotives, named the "Bluebirds". These were the first locomotives for the Nickel Plate that were not painted black since the early 1900s. In 1949, the Nickel Plate received its last Berkshire, #779 , also

11000-416: The warmer and shallower portions of the system such as Lake Erie, Saginaw Bay , Green Bay , and the southernmost portion of Lake Michigan. By the mid-1980s, most jurisdictions bordering the Great Lakes had controlled phosphate detergents . Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria blooms, have been problematic on Lake Erie since 2011. "Not enough is being done to stop fertilizer and phosphorus from getting into

11110-430: The west pick up the air and moisture from the lake surface, which is slightly warmer in relation to the cold surface winds above. As the slightly warmer, moist air passes over the colder land surface, the moisture often produces concentrated, heavy snowfall that sets up in bands or "streamers". This is similar to the effect of warmer air dropping snow as it passes over mountain ranges. During freezing weather with high winds,

11220-482: The west side of Cleveland, Ohio, to Buffalo, New York, running parallel to William Vanderbilt's Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway . The idea of an east–west railroad across northern Ohio was very popular with the people of Ohio. They wanted to break the high freight rates charged by Jay Gould and William Vanderbilt. No one was less popular in Ohio than William Vanderbilt since the December 29, 1876, collapse of

11330-427: The west, and warm, wet tropical systems from the south and the Gulf of Mexico. The lakes have a moderating effect on the climate; they can also increase precipitation totals and produce lake effect snowfall . The Great Lakes can have an effect on regional weather called lake-effect snow , which is sometimes very localized. Even late in winter, the lakes often have no icepack in the middle. The prevailing winds from

11440-480: The whole, quite effective." The commission reported that all urban sewage treatment systems on the U.S. side of the lakes had implemented secondary treatment, as had all on the Canadian side except for five small systems. Though contrary to federal laws in both countries, those treatment system upgrades have not yet eliminated combined sewer overflow events. This describes when older sewerage systems, which combine storm water with sewage into single sewers heading to

11550-552: The world. The second-largest island is Isle Royale in Lake Superior. Both of these islands are large enough to contain multiple lakes themselves—for instance, Manitoulin Island's Lake Manitou is the world's largest lake on a freshwater island. Some of these lakes even have their own islands, like Treasure Island in Lake Mindemoya in Manitoulin Island. The Great Lakes also have several peninsulas between them, including

11660-523: The zooplankton community of the lake. Scientists understand that the micro-aquatic life of the lakes is abundant but know very little about some of the most plentiful microbes and their environmental effects in the Great Lakes. Although a drop of lake water may contain 1 million bacteria cells and 10 million viruses , only since 2012 has there been a long-term study of the lakes' micro-organisms. Between 2012 and 2019 more than 160 new species have been discovered. Native habitats and ecoregions in

11770-546: Was Ontario's Collingwood Harbour in 1994; Ontario's Severn Sound followed in 2003. Presque Isle Bay in Pennsylvania is formally listed as in recovery, as is Ontario's Spanish Harbour. Dozens of other Areas of Concern have received partial cleanups such as the Rouge River (Michigan) and Waukegan Harbor (Illinois). Phosphate detergents were historically a major source of nutrient to the Great Lakes algae blooms in particular in

11880-517: Was eliminated as the mussels were harvested for use as buttons by early Great Lakes entrepreneurs. The Great Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book (1972) notes: "Only pockets remain of the once large commercial fishery." Water quality improvements realized during the 1970s and 1980s, combined with successful salmonid stocking programs, have enabled the growth of a large recreational fishery. The last commercial fisherman left Milwaukee in 2011 because of overfishing and anthropogenic changes to

11990-503: Was estimated to require 90,000 long tons (80,000 metric tons) of steel rails, each weighing 60 pounds per linear yard (30 kg/m) and 1.5 million oak crossties. Additionally, the railroad required 49 major bridges. It was characterized by long sections of straight track, mild grades, and impressive bridges. The Nickel Plate ran its first trains over the entire system on October 16, 1882. During construction, Vanderbilt and Gould had watched with great interest. If either of them could acquire

12100-715: Was used by the United States Pacific Air Forces during the Vietnam War Nitrogen , Potassium , and Phosphorus , three essential plant nutrients. Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title NKP . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=NKP&oldid=909915380 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

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