In addition to streetcar lines, the Van Sweringen Brothers of Cleveland, Ohio owned a vast network of steam railroads.
They were at first only interested in the line to provide a right-of-way for their Shaker Heights Rapid Transit to downtown Cleveland.
They applied to the Interstate Commerce Commission on February 21, 1925, but were denied March 2, 1926 due to unsound financing.
Four days later the Vans announced that they would make the C&O the centerpiece of their system, selling the Erie and Pere Marquette to them.
The Alleghany Corporation was incorporated January 26, 1929 in Maryland to hold the Vans' stock in the Nickel Plate, Chesapeake Corporation, Erie and C&O, as well as a partial ownership of the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway (traded to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in March for the B&O's part of the W≤ the Vans acquired the rest of it from the NYC at the same time).
On August 31, 1965 the N&W and C&O announced a planned merger, with a holding company named Dereco to own the EL and several other lines.