Bernet remained as 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. World War II and post-war era 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 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 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. Passenger service 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. No. 5 City of Chicago (westbound) / No. 6 City of Cleveland (eastbound) (Chicago-Cleveland-Buffalo) No. 7 Westerner (westbound) / No. 8 New Yorker (eastbound) (Chicago-Cleveland-Buffalo) No. 9 Blue Arrow (westbound) / No. 10 Blue Dart (eastbound) (St. Louis-Muncie-Cleveland) Merger with N&W, Norfolk Southern The financial situation of American railroading continued to decline after World War II as 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 the eastern United States to form a more competitive and successful system serving 14 states and a province of Canada on more than of road. The profitable N&W was itself combined with the Southern Railway, another profitable carrier,