Today in RR History:
January
1: 1872 – The Denver and Rio Grande begins service between Denver and Colorado Springs.
1952 – The first gas-turbine-electric locomotive in the US begins service on the Union Pacific.
1986 – The Soo Line merges with the Milwaukee Road. Soo SD60 6-28358_2786
3: 1967 – The Chesapeake and Ohio acquires the Chicago South Shore and South Bend. C&OLegacy s-2
6-38472_7076
4: 1877 – Cornelius Vanderbilt dies. Originally a steam boat captain, he is most remembered for his role
in the development of the New York Central. He was 83.
1987 – Conrail locomotives run a red signal at Chase, MD and collide with Amtrak’s Colonial, killing
16. Toxicology results indicate that marijuana use likely played a role in the disaster. CR GP30 634604_8768
5: 1885 – The Long Island railroad loads farm wagons onto flatcars and creates the first Piggyback
service. In addition to the wagonloads of market goods, horses are also transported by flatcar and a
coach is provided for the teamsters.
1905 – The first electric freight locomotive operates on the B&O.
1956 – GM introduces the Aerotrain – a lightweight passenger train based on GM bus designs. GM
and railroads hoped it would revitalize railroad passenger service. The two prototypes toured many
railroads but found no buyers.
1984 – One of America’s oldest railroads, the Delaware and Hudson, becomes part of Guilford
Transportation. DH GP38-2 88CA_6-28578
6: 1866 – The first en-route train robbery occurs in New Haven, Conn. Great Train Robbery Set 409_631939
1893 – The last American transcontinental line, the Great Northern Railroad, is completed at Everett,
WA. GN 2-6-0 6-11270_7852
7: 1830 – The first 1.5 miles of track open on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The coaches are pulled by
horses. Commemorative AC60006-38403_5184
8: 1863 – Construction begins on the Central Pacific Railroad in Sacramento, CA.
10: 1853 - First meals served on a train. Napa Valley diner 6-15549_2726
12: 1877 – Railroad labor strike begins on the B&O over wage reductions.
1929 – The Great Northern completes the 7 mile-long Cascade Tunnel in Washington. It is the
longest tunnel in North America. GN Boxcab w. horn 6-22286_5011
1962 – Merger is first proposed between the New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroads. The illfated merger is finalized in 1968. PC GG1 6-18356_2224
1977 – VIA rail is created as a subsidiary of Canadian National to operate Canadian intercity
passenger trains.
13: 1857 – Thaddeus Fairbanks receives a patent for the first track scale. These scales allow accurate
reading of car weight for billing customers.
14: 1878 – The Supreme Court rules that states cannot forbid racial segregation on transportation
vehicles. The argument posed was that segregation was not a state issue and that such a restriction
posed a burden on interstate commerce.
1981: President Reagan transfers ownership of the Alaska Railroad to the state of Alaska.
15: 1953 – A closed brake valve on the Federal Express causes the train to speed out of control and crash
into the concourse of Washington D.C.’s Union Station just days before President Eisenhower’s
inauguration. Amazingly nobody is killed and a temporary floor is built over GG-1 No. 4876. Most
attendees to the celebration know nothing of the accident.
16: 1952 – Passengers aboard the City of San Francisco are finally rescued after being snowed in for 3
days in the Yuba Gap of the Sierra Mountains. The train itself remained encased in the snow for three
more days.
1969 – Metroliner high-speed service begins on the Penn Central’s Northeast Corridor between New
York and Washington D.C.
17: 1871 – Andrew Halliday issued a patent for the first commercially successful cable car.
1968 – First run of the Santa Fe Super C – an all piggyback hotshot from Chicago to L.A. in 34.5 hours.
1981 – UP Challenger No. 3985 is steamed up for the first time in 22 years.
18: 1978 – Budd introduces the SPV200, a self-propelled passenger car designed as a replacement for
the amazingly successful RDC.
19: 1938 – General Motors begins mass production of diesel engines.
1944 – Railroads are returned to private ownership after being seized by the Federal government
during wage disputes.
21: 1941 – First of two Eletroliners delivered to the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee.
22: 1912 – The Florida East Coast Railway opens railroad service to Key West via an amazing series of
viaducts across the Florida Keys.
23: 1890 – A Santa Fe train sets a new American speed record – 78.1 mph.
24: 1854 – Rails reach Chicago from the East. The city will quickly grow into one of the largest railroad
centers in the world.
1900 – Mayor Van Wyck breaks ground on New York City’s first subway.
26: 1901 – The Great Western Railway begins operation in Colorado. The sugar-beet hauling line became
famous in the 1960s when it continued operation of its steam locomotives. One of those engines, No.
90, is still in service on the Strasburg Railroad in Pennsylvania today.
27: 1948 – A locomotive carries 1,000,000 pounds for the first time.
28: 1935 – The first GG-1 electric locomotive is placed in service on the Pennsylvania Railroad. 139 GG1’s were built, hauling both passengers and freight for the PRR and its successors until final retirement in
the 1980s.
29: 1873 – C&O completed from Richmond to the Ohio River.
1884 – Patent issued to Wilson Page for an “Animal Chaser.” The device sprayed water from the
boiler ahead to clear livestock from the track.
1956 – Last passenger train on the Virginian Railway.
31: 1935 – Union Pacific’s M-10000 streamliner starts daily operation between Salina, KS and Kansas
City, MO.
February
1: 1968 – Penn Central created from the merger of the Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads. It is
the world’s largest merger to date and doomed to bankruptcy from the beginning.
1979 – Southern Railway turns over the Crescent service to Amtrak. Southern had maintained this
service independently since Amtrak’s creation in 1971.
2: 1886 – Representatives from several southern railroads convene and agree to a massive conversion to
standard gauge on all of their lines to take place May 31-June 1.
4: 1830 – The Camden and Amboy Rail Road Transportation Co. is founded
1887 – President Cleveland signs the Interstate Commerce Act, creating the ICC.
1941 – Santa Fe no. 100 is the first diesel electric locomotive used in road freight service.
1961 – Lehigh Valley operates its last passenger train, the Maple Leaf, for the last time.
1963 – C&O acquires control of the B&O. Actual merger remains decades away.
5: 1836 – The American 4-4-0 is patented by Henry R. Campbell.
10: 1935 – GG1’s placed in passenger service.
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Files\Content.IE5\HTS5RDO3\6-30171_1806[1].jpg GG1 set
11: 1861 – President-elect Abraham Lincoln takes a circuitous and often secretive train trip from
Springfield, IL to Washington D.C.
12: 1934 – UP M-10000 delivered.
14: 1854 – Pennsylvania Railroad’s mainline from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh completed with the opening
of Horseshoe Curve near Altoona.
15: 1870 – Ground is broken for construction of the Northern Pacific in Duluth, MN.
16: 1881 – Canadian Pacific Railway Company chartered.
18: 1947 – Pennsylvania’s Red Arrow derails near Gallitzin, PA killing 24.
20: 1852 – Completion of the Michigan Southern brings rails into Chicago from the East. The Michigan
Southern would later become part of the New York Central.
C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet
Files\Content.IE5\OSQMWC1T\6-29973_9703[1].jpg NYC Pacemaker box.
1877 – The first cantilever railroad bridge is completed over the Kentucky River and spans 1,125
feet.
1893 – The Philadelphia and Reading declares bankruptcy, forshadowing the Panic of 1893.
1894 – The Southern Railway is chartered in Virginia.
21: 1968 – Last run for the SP / Rock Island Golden State Limited.
22: 1854 – The Chicago and Rock Island is the first railroad to reach the Mississippi River.
1856 – The first railroad service on the West Coast begins between Sacramento and Folsom, CA.
1867 – The Pullman Palace Car Company is chartered.
23: 1902 – JP Morgan meets with President T. Roosevelt in hopes of averting anti-trust action against his
Northern Securities firm. Northern Securities holds controlling interest in the Northern Pacific, Great
Northern and CB&Q and is deemed a monopoly.
1947 – The Great Northern’s Empire Builder returns as the first post-war streamliner.
26: 1973 – Chessie System is incorporated from B&O, C&O and WM.
1979 – Amtrak’s hilevel Superliner cars debut on western long distance trains.
27: 1928 – D&RGW opens Moffat Tunnel replacing the line over Rollins Pass.
1948 – GE delivers a 6800 hp electric locomotive to the Virginian Railway. No. 125, class EL-2B has 16
drive axles and is 150 feet long.
1965 – The Buffalo Creek and Gauly ends operations.
28: 1827 – The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is chartered in Baltimore, MD
1920 – The Esh-Cummins Act returns railroads to private control after the Federal Government
takeover during WWI.
29: 1948 – Santa Fe introduces the Super Chief – premier train between Chicago and Los Angeles.
1980 – Milwaukee Road (CMStP&P) ceases operation.
1988 – ICG retakes the Illinois Central name.
March
1: 1863 – UP adopts standard gauge for its construction.
2: 1877 – Rutherford B. Hayes learns he has been elected President while traveling aboard a train. He is
probably the only President to do so.
1893 – The Railway Safety Appliance Act is passed. The law requires interstate common carriers to
adopt automatic couplers, continuous brakes, grab irons and driving wheel brakes for locomotives. The
act is credited with saving untold thousands of lives.
1970 – Burlington Northern is created from the CB&Q, NP, GN and SP&S railroads. The mega-railroad
is similar to the monopoly once proposed by James Hill but denied by the ICC.
3: 1831 – George Pullman born in Brooklyn, NY.
1863 – President Lincoln signs a bill favoring standard gauge for the construction of the
Transcontinental RR.
1871 – The Texas and Pacific is incorporated by act of Congress.
1968 – The Santa Fe retires its Alco PA’s. 4 are later sold to the D&H.
5: 1872 – George Westinghouse patents his triple air brake. It is the forerunner to the airbrakes still in
use today.
8: 1904 – The Lucin cut-off across the Great Salt Lake opens on the Southern Pacific.
1982 – Amtrak operates the last train heated with steam – the Silver Star.
9: 1949 – The IC places the first all-electric dining car in service. The Café St. Louis operates between
Chicago and St. Louis.
1954 – The Santa Fe is completely dieselized.
11: 1908 – Golden Spike on the Spokane Portland and Seattle at Sheridan’s Point, WA.
12: 1914 – George Westinghouse dies.
13: 1967 – Last run of the Twentieth Century Limited.
14: 1977 – Wm Graham Claytor retires as Chairman of the Southern Ry. and becomes Secretary of the
Navy.
15: 1974 – The fully automated and electrified Black Mesa and Lake Powell RR in Arizona becomes
operational. The 73-mile line carries coal from the Black Mesa mine to the Navajo Power Station near
Page, AZ.
17: 1853 – The New York Central Railroad is formed. The railroad will continue to evolve and grow
through the acquisition of additional feeder lines over the coming decades.
1881 – The first train covers a mile in less than a minute.
1975 – The Rock Island declares bankruptcy.
18: 1834 – First RR Tunnel in US completed.
1858 – Rudolph Diesel born.
20: 1949 – The California Zephyr is launched by the Chicago Burlington and Quincy, Western Pacific and
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroads.
22: 1967 – CNJ files for bankruptcy.
1970 – California Zephyr service ends on the WP – the last passenger service on that line. Zephyr
service ends completely on all roads the following day.
24: 1828 – The Pennsylvania Legislature authorizes construction of the Commonwealth-owned
Philadelphia and Columbia Railway. The line will be part of the Main Line of Public works which uses rail,
canal and inclined plane to connect Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Much of this road later becomes part of
the mainline of the Pennsylvania RR.
1932 – The first radio broadcast from a moving train is made aboard the B&O in Maryland by New
York station WABC.
1967 – Soo Line ends regular passenger service.
25: 1961 – The railroad used in the filming of Disney’s The Great Locomotive Chase and the 1950 film I’d
Climb the Highest Mountain – the Tallulah Falls Railway – shuts down.
1986 – Conrail, created and operated by the government since 1976 to rescue bankrupt railroads of
the Northeast, is sold to the public in the largest stock offering in history. Shares sell at $28.
26: 1884 – High winds push 8 coal cars along the CB&Q east of Denver – for a distance of 100 miles!
1891 – 4-6-0 No. 4493 rolls out of the Rogers Locomotive Works. The locomotive is better known as
Sierra RR #3 and has been filmed more than any other staring in movies such as; High Noon, Dodge City,
Duel in the Sun, and Back to the Future III and TV classics like The Lone Ranger, Rawhide, Bonanza,
Petticoat Junction, Gunsmoke and Little House on the Prairie.
1987 – N&W 2-6-6-4 Class A No. 1218 is returned to service by Norfolk Southern for excursions.
28: 1975 – The American Freedom Train begins a 2 year 17,000 mile cross country trip. The train carries
artifacts from the Smithsonian and leaves from Washington behind former Reading T-1 No. 2101. In
western areas of the country, the larger and more streamlined Southern Pacific GS-4 No. 4449 pulls the
train.
29: 1839 – The Railway Express Agency is established. The REA becomes the leading hauling of packages
and “LCL” freight in the country in a fleet of dark green wagons, trucks and rail cars.
1957 – The New York Ontario and Western is abandoned. At the time it is the largest rail
abandonment in history (541 miles) and is a harbinger to the crumbling stature of America’s railroads.
31: 1946 – Nearly 80 years after completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad, the first through
sleeping car service coast-to-coast is established. Previously, a connection and change of trains had to
be made somewhere mid-route.
1980 – The Rock Island becomes the largest railroad abandonment in US History – 7500 miles.
April
1: 1976 – The Consolidated Rail Corporation, Conrail, assumes control of Penn Central, Erie Lackawanna,
Reading, Lehigh Valley, Jersey Central, and Lehigh and Hudson River Railroads.
2: 1834 – The first state-owned railroad, the Philadelphia and Columbia, runs its first train.
3: 1883 - Humphrey H Reynolds was the first black inventor to patent an improved window ventilator for
railroad cars. His invention was adopted on all Pullman cars, but as an employee, he received no
payment from the Pullman Company. Reynolds quit his job as a porter and successfully sued Pullman for
$10,000.
1900 – The Vanderbilts take over the Reading, Erie and Lehigh Valley.
1972 – The Lehigh and Hudson River files for Bankruptcy.
4: 1976 – Amtrak receives its first F40PH from EMD. The 414 locomotive fleet would be the backbone of
America’s passenger service for the next 20 years.
1993 – After an extension to Miami, Amtrak’s Sunset Limited becomes the first true coast-to-coast
transcontinental train.
5: 1887 – First meeting of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
7: 1991 – Amtrak moves all of its passenger operations to Penn Station in New York, leaving Grand
Central Station to commuter rail operations.
8: 1997 – CSX and Norfolk Southern agree on a division of Conrail’s assets
10: 1869 – President Grant signs a resolution designating Promentory Summit as the official meeting
point of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific. This settled a dispute between the two companies who
were now building past each other. The Transcontinental Railroad would be joined 30 days later.
12: 1862 – A group of 22 Union soldiers capture the locomotive The General on the Western and
Atlantic Railroad in what would become the most famous railroad raid of the war popularized in song
and early motion pictures.
1987 – Pennsylvania K4s 1361 makes its first excursion run on the Nittany and Bald Eagle RR near
Altoona.
13: 1846 – The Pennsylvania Railroad is incorporated by the state legislature.
1869 – Westinghouse patents his improvements for “steam power brake devices.”
1910 – The Pennsylvania begins running trains through the Manhattan Tunnels.
14: 1960 – The longest motorcar or “doodlebug” run in the US – The GM&O’s Kansas City to
Bloomington, IL run comes to an end. The trip is 362 miles long.
15: 1954 – Patrick McGinnis wins control of the New Haven. The novel “McGinnis” paint scheme
subsequently applied to the New Haven’s locomotives was designed by his wife.
16: 1953 – Fairbanks Morse introduces the 2400 hp Train Master. It is the first high-horsepower road
switcher.
18: 1934 – The Budd Company delivers the Pioneer Zephyr to the CB&Q.
19: 1891 – A fatal collision near Cleveland caused by a broken timepiece prompts legislation requiring
strict standards for railroad timekeeping. New General Railroad Timepiece Standards went in effect in
1893.
20: 1866 – Representatives from several railroads approve general rules for the interchange of freight
cars. These rules invoke standards in reporting marks, off-line car repair and more.
1932 – The B&O operates the first completely air-conditioned passenger train.
21: 1856 – The first railroad bridge across the Mississippi opens from Rock Island, IL to Davenport, Iowa.
1865 – Lincoln’s funeral train departs Washington, D.C.
22: 1833 – The inventor of the first steam locomotive, Richard Trevithick, dies at age 62.
1884 – A patent is awarded to Orange Jull for the first practical rotary snow plow.
1942 – Baldwin delivers the prototype T-1 4-4-4-4 to the Pennsylvania.
24: 1834 – Long Island RR incorporated.
1955 – The transcontinental “Canadian” introduced.
1970 – Budd puts its railcar division up for sale.
1983 – The Rio Grande ends independent passenger operations with the last run of the Rio Grande
Zephyr. It is the last major railroad to hold onto independent passenger operations.
25: 1960 – Canadian National retires all steam,
26: 1954 – A new trailer-on-flatcar service introduced by Pullman Standard who calls the technology
“piggyback.”
1956 – The C&O introduces RoadRailers on the back of Pere Marquette passenger trains. The
highway trailers carry mail and feature special railroad wheels and can be attached to the train without
a flatcar.
1960 – GE enters the domestic diesel locomotive market with the U25B.
28: 1869 – Central Pacific workers lay more than 10 miles of track in a single day, winning a bet with the
Union Pacific and setting a record which stands to this day.
29: 1851 – The B&O tests the first battery-powered electric locomotive.
1873 – Eli Janney patents his knuckle coupler. It is eventually the design chosen as the standard for
American railroads and is still in use today. Desperate for funds and convinced the idea would never
catch on, Janney sold his patent for practically nothing before railroads were forced to adopt a new
standard.
1900 – First run of the North Coast Limited on the Northern Pacific.
1960 – Last run of Southern Pacific narrow gauge operations.
30: 1900 – John Luther “Casey” Jones dies in a rear-end collision at Vaughn, MS on the Illinois Central.
1987 – The Baltimore and Ohio is officially merged into the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, finally
ending the 160 year independence of America’s oldest railroad.
May
1: 1888 – Santa Fe completes its route from Chicago to California.
1888 – The first electric freight locomotive, built by Pullman Car Co., is tested on the Ansonia, Derby
and Birmingham.
1908 – The Hepburn Law goes into effect, prohibiting railroads from hauling products in which they
have a controlling interest. The law is targeted at northeastern railroads like the Reading and Lehigh
Valley which own substantial coal mining operations captive to their rail lines.
1942 – The Panama Limited – the first lightweight passenger train – enters service on the Illinois
Central.
1971 – Amtrak assumes operation of nearly all intercity passenger trains in the United States.
Notable exceptions include the Rio Grande and Southern Railway which maintain independent
passenger operations.
3: 1865 – Lincoln’s funeral train arrives at Springfield, IL.
1881 – A patent is issued to Leonides Woolley for the first electric locomotive headlight.
4: 1845 – The first iron-truss bridge is opened on the Philadelphia and Reading.
6: 1960 – Last steam on the Norfolk and Western – the last major railroad to build and run steam.
1983 – Last mixed trains run on the Georgia Railroad.
7: 1964 – Railroads begin eliminating firemen from locomotives. As firemen are promoted or retire, their
positions will not be filled.
1977 – The Chessie Steam Special begins excursions to celebrate the B&O Sesquicentennial.
8: 1837 – The first American type locomotive is completed in Philadelphia.
10: 1869 – A Golden Spike completes the first Transcontinental Railroad at Promentory Summit, Utah.
1893 – New York Central Empire State Express breaks the 100 mph barrier.
11: 1892 – The first industry owned locomotive enters service at the Whitin Machine Works in
Whitinsville, MA.
1893 – New York Central 999 sets a speed record of 112.5 mph.
12: 1936 – First run of the Santa Fe Super Chief.
13: 1829 – The Stourbridge Lion arrives from England in Honesdale, PA for the Delaware an Hudson.
1968 – Last run of the Santa Fe Chief.
14: 1851 – The Erie Railroad is opened, with President Fillmore presiding. With its 6 foot gauge, it is both
the longest and widest railroad in the country at this time.
16: 1956 – New York Central debuts the Xplorer lightweight experimental streamliner.
17: 1853 – The New York Central System is created from the merger of 10 railroad companies.
19: 1955 – A planned celebration by the Dept. of Transportation for the passage of steam locomotives is
protested by the National Coal Association – noting that there were still 6500 in service.
20: 1830 – The first railroad timetable is published by the B&O.
21: 1877 – Alexander Graham Bell’s assistants begin tests with the Pennsylvania Railroad resulting in the
installation of telephones in the company’s Altoona shops.
1927 – The Milwaukee Road’s Pioneer Ltd becomes the first Pullman train completely equipped with
roller bearings. MILW pass cars 6-25622_1451 2011Sig 65
1932 – To promote ticket sales, the Missouri Pacific sells Mystery Excursions. Passengers purchase
tickets out of St. Louis, MO for an unknown destination. The train ends up in Arcadia, MO.
22: 1868 – Seven members of the Reno gang hold up a Jefferson Madison and Indianapolis train in what
becomes known as The Great Train Robbery, making off with $98,000.
23: 1891 – The first chapel car is dedicated. The Evangel is a traveling church and is used on the
Northern Pacific.
24: 1961 – Last run for the Milwaukee Road Olympian Hiawatha.
25: 1865 – The first Bessemer steel rails are manufactured in Chicago.
1903 – The Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley RR in Scranton is the first to be powered by an electrified
third rail.
1945 – The New York Susquehanna and Western becomes the first US railroad to completely
dieselize.
26: 1934 – The Zephyr makes a 1000+ mile non-stop run from Denver to Chicago in 13 hours 5 minutes.
1946 – Southern Railway gets its first EMD F unit.
27: 1794 – Cornelius Vanderbilt born.
1836 – Jay Gould born.
29: 1935 – Milwaukee Road begins Hiawatha’s.
1976 – Santa Fe ends the Super C intermodal service.
31: 1950 Last run on Nevada’s Virginia and Truckee.
June
1: 1891 – The Manitou and Pike’s Peak Railway opens. It is North America’s highest railroad at a height
of 14,109 feet.
1947 – The GM&O acquires the Alton.
1982 – Norfolk and Western and Southern merger to form Norfolk Southern Corporation.
2: 1873 – Construction begins on the world’s first cable railroad on Clay Street in San Francisco.
3: 1891 – The Duluth Missabe and Northern Railroad is incorporated.
1947 – GM’s Train of Tomorrow begins national tour in Chicago.
5: 1919 – Canadian national Railways incorporated.
1947 – C&O acquires Pere Marquette.
1950 – Supreme Court rules that segregation on Southern Ry. dining cars is illegal.
1979 – A Long Island Railroad train is the first to be operated exclusively by women.
6: 1833 – Andrew Jackson becomes first sitting U.S. president to travel by rail on the B&O between
Ellicott’s Mills and Baltimore, MD.
7: 1870 – Thomas S. Hall receives a patent for the first automatic electric block signal.
1905 – The first steel Railway Post Office car enters service on the NY, Salamanca and Chicago.
8: 1900 – The White Pass and Yukon opens service from Skagway to Whitehorse, Alaska. Today the line
is the busiest tourist railroad in the country. NW2 6-28594_7482
1905 – The Pennsylvania announces 18-hour service from New York to Chicago. The train debuts on
June 11 as the fastest train in the world. PRR coach 6-15558_2674
1953 – The first propane gas turbine enters service on the Union Pacific.
10: 1973 – Amtrak receives its first new diesel locomotives from EMD – SDP40Fs. The locomotives are
prone to derailment and see limited service.
11: 1927 - The International Newsreel Company hires the Pennsylvania Railroad to race footage of
Charles Lindberg’s Presidential Reception in Washington to New York. The Lindberg Special sets a new
speed record on the Northeast Corridor and, thanks to footage developed en route in the baggage car,
its films beat the competitions plane-delivered footage to theatres by more than an hour. PRR 460 611224
12: 1899 – Butch Cassidy and his gang rob a Union Pacific train of $60,000 in Wilcox Station, WY.
1905 - The Pennsylvania Special, behind locomotive No. 7002 sets an unsubstantiated speed record
of 127.1 mph. If correct, the official record has never been broken. 7002 RCK photo
13: 1928 – Elmer Ambrose Sperry tests the first rail detector car at Beacon, NY. The car checks for
internal flaws in rails that can cause cracks and derailments.
1957 – Central of New Jersey retires the first diesel-electric locomotive, No. 1000. The locomotive is
preserved at the B&O Railroad Museum. CNJ boxcab 6-22140_4587
14: 1929 – The first combination rail-plane transcontinental passenger service begins between New
York and Los Angeles. The New York Central took passengers to Cleveland where they boarded a
Universal Air Express plane to Garden City, Kansas. The remainder of the 62 hour 15 minute journey
took place on the Santa Fe.
1936 – The streamlined City of San Francisco enters service.
1951 – EMD delivers its 10,000th locomotive – an E8 – to the Wabash. WAB Bluebird set 630159_6861
15: 1905 – First run of the 20th Century Limited on the New York Central from New York to Chicago. The
train’s famous fluorescent tail sign debuted on the same date in 1938. 20th sign 6-21298_3840
1927 – GE demonstrates the first two-way radio communication between a locomotive and caboose.
1938 – Mail is transferred from an Air Corps blimp to an Illinois Central train near Belleville, Il. Not
surprisingly, this form of air mail didn’t catch on.
1973 – The B&O, C&O and Western Maryland form the Chessie System. Although a common paint
and operating scheme is applied, the railroads remain separate corporate identities. Chessie caboose 617648_139
16: 1949 – GE demonstrates a gas-turbine electric locomotive at Erie, PA.
1974 – The Milwaukee Road ends use of its electric locomotives. MILW Bipolar 6-18384_4881
17: 1831 – The locomotive Best Friend of Charleston explodes after its fireman ties down the safety
valve. He becomes the first railroad fatality in the US.
1953 – Last regular run of a steam locomotive on the Southern Railway. 2007-1 Stand Steam Sou
6535 6-11119
18: 1831 - Robert Stephenson and Co. builds the John Bull in England for the C&A.
1886 – Transcontinental service begins in Canada on the Canadian Pacific. CP freight set 630026_3346
1910 – Congress expands the powers of the ICC through the passage of the Mann Elkins Act.
19: 1872 – The first Narrow Gauge convention begins in St. Louis, MO. The convention leads to the
promotion of narrow gauge railroads in several states in an era of standardization. Notable narrow
gauge lines constructed in this period include Pennsylvania’s East Broad Top and the Colorado narrow
gauge systems of the Denver and Rio Grande, Rio Grande Southern, and Colorado and Southern.
General Set 6-30168_7498
1954 – Train collectors are invited to a meeting in the barn of railroad historian and modeler Ed
Alexander in Yardley, PA. At this meeting on the 19th and 20th, it is decided that a national association for
train collectors should be formed. At a follow up meeting on October 17, the Train Collectors
Association is founded. From the original 68 members, the organization has grown to over 30,000
worldwide.
20: 1841 – Samuel F.B. Morse patents the telegraph.
1862 – Senate approves the Pacific Railway Act – setting the way for the construction of the
Transcontinental Railroad.
1893 – Eugene Debs is elected as the first president of the first railroad union, the American Railroad
Union.
21: 1970 – The largest railroad in the world, the Penn Central Company, declares bankruptcy. PC Hopper
– 2010-1, 53 6-27424_1001
22: 1956 – The last steam locomotive on the SP&S, no. 910, operates. SPS 900 Challenger – 648094_2070
1972 – Amtrak’s first SDP40F’s enter service on the Super Chief.
24: 1886 – The first special train of fruit departs Sacramento for eastern markets. PFE 3pack 611657_3750
1980 – Detroit Toledo and Ironton is acquired by Grand Trunk Western.
1994 – MG tower closed MG Tower 6-37933_3665
27: 1974 – Amtrak debuts a new computerized ticket system. HHP 2010-1,39 6-31779_6382
28: 1895 – First electric train service in the US begins on the New Haven on the Nantasket Branch. NH
EP5 88B3_6_48075
29: 1906 – President Roosevelt signs the Hepburn Act which gives the ICC rights to investigate and set
railroad rates.
1935 – Last day of operation on Maine’s 2-foot gauge Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes RR.
30: 1831 – The B&O is the first railroad to transport troops, carrying about 100 to stifle rioting railroad
workers in Sykesville, MD.
1947 – Pullman sells sleeping car service to 57 railroads after an anti-trust suit. Prior to this time,
most Pullman cars carried the “Pullman” name on the letterboards above the windows. After the sale,
railroads which owned the equipment put their own name on the cars. PullPass Exp. Pack 6-30111_1388
1952 – The SP&S puts its first stretch of welded rail in service.
1977 – The last RPO run departs Washington D.C. for New York. It marks the last time mail is
processed on a train, although bulk mail still travels on board.
July
1: 1851 – The first refrigerated car carries 8 tons of butter from Ogdensburg, NY to Boston on the
Northern New York RR. The car is a wooden boxcar insulated with sawdust. 2010-2 p. 78 6-26614 Tupelo
milk car
1862 – President Lincoln signs the Pacific Railway Act into law, authorizing construction of a railroad
from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean.
1876 – The Hoosac Tunnel opens in Massachusettes. Straight O Gauge Tunnel 6-16868_1409
1901 – Work begins on Pennsylvania Station in New York.
1962 – N&W ends electrification on the Virginian
1965 – Last run of the Katy’s Texas Special. 2011Sig p. 128 AF Tex Spec. 6-48162
1967 – The Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line merge to become the Seaboard Coast Line.
1968 – Chicago Northwestern acquires Chicago Great Western.
1986 – Seabord System changes its name to CSX Transportation.
1988 – Virginia is the last state to repeal its law requiring a caboose on all trains. 2010-2 p. 47 6-27642
Virginian caboose.
2: 1881 – President James Garfield is shot in the B&O station in Washington. He dies on September 19.
1901 – Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid rob a train in Wagner, MT of $40,000. KC Fed Reserve Mint
Car 6-29648_7959
3: 1894 – President Cleveland sends a regiment of the US Army to Chicago to enforce a court injunction
against striking railroad workers.
4: 1828 – Construction begins on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. 2011Sig p. 34 6-38403 BO Heritage
AC6000
1835 – B&O completes construction of Thomas Viaduct over the Patapsco River in Maryland. It is the
oldest stone arch bridge still in operation in the US.
1869 – First railroad bridge across the Missouri River completed at Kansas City.
5: 1989 – The Santa Fe debuts its “Super Fleet” FP45’s in red and silver war bonnet paint. ATSF AC6000
6-28339_6951
6: 1961 – The New Haven files for bankruptcy. It will eventually be included into Penn Central as a
condition for merger approval. New Haven Scrap Yard 6-34145_3245
7: 1862 – The first Railway Post Office route is established on the Hannibal and St Joseph Railroad in
Missouri. Mail is picked up, sorted and delivered on board the train. Mail crane 6-22438_1998
8: 1956 – Santa Fe introduces its high level coach train, the El Capitan, from Chicago to Los Angeles.
9: 1918 – 101 people killed, 171 injured in deadliest US rail accident to date when two Nashville,
Chattanooga and St. Louis Ry. Trains collide head-on near Nashville, TN.
11: 1923 – The Pennsylvania tests locomotive cab signals that give the engineer a signal indication in the
cab of the locomotive.
1967 – The first Canadian unit train runs on Canadian Pacific. Canada cyl. Cov hopper 6-27454_5682
12: 1831 – The B&O tests the locomotive York, built by Phineas Davis of York, PA.
1902 – The NYC’s 20th Century Limited covers a 481 mile stretch of its run at an average speed of
more than 60 mph. This makes plans for a 16 hour schedule possible. Semi-scale Hudson 6-21298_3827
14: 1877 – The great railroad strike of 1877 begins on the B&O.
1959 – Last run of steam on the Pennsylvania RR. M1 6750 6-11147_2503
15: 1853 – The Grand Trunk Railway is formed F3 diesels 6-34640_9392
1923 – Golden Spike driven in Alaska Railroad by President Harding at Nenana. MP15 diesel w horn
6-22137_4581
1985 – Bombardier curtails new locomotive construction. The company’s roots trace back through
the Montreal Locomotive Works to the American Locomotive Company (ALCO).
17: 1879 – First railroad opens in Hawaii.
1966 – The CB&Q operates its last steam powered excursion train. 0-8-0 6-28700_2100
18: 1846 – The first international trains between the US and Canada begin service between Portland,
Maine and Montreal on the Atlantic and St. Lawrence RR.
1858 – The Pennsylvania introduces a smoking car on its trains between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
This is the equivalent to a lounge car today.
1959 – Steam makes its last run on the Nickle Plate. 765 6-11212_7860
1968 – Last run of the Santa Fe’s California Specials.
19: 1987 – The Red River Valley and Western takes over 667 miles of BN track in North Dakota. BN SD60
8301 6-28312_4640
20: 1948 – Chicago Railroad Fair opens. Railroads from across the country display historic railcars and
their latest technologies at what was to be the last of the great railroad exhibitions. DeWitt Clinton set
6-11164_7176
21: 1873 – Jesse and Frank James pull off their first train robbery, collecting a total of $3,000 from the
express car and passengers. Police Station 6-21379_4013
1877 – The Railroad Strike reaches a climax with riots in Pittsburgh. Over $10 million in property is
destroyed.
1952 – An earthquake closes the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe line over Tehachapi Pass for 25 days.
23: 1945 – Vista Dome debuts on CB&Q between Chicago and Minneapolis on the Twin Cities Zephyr.
1959 – Last UP freight powered by steam – Challenger No. 3713. 3710 6-48083_7033
1966 – NYC tests jet-powered RDC in Ohio. Jet RDC M-497 6-38401_1664
24: 1870 – The first rail car to travel coast-to-coast arrives in New York from California.
1877 – First patent for a successful reefer design issued to Joel Tiffany. W&A reefer 6-15029_5684
1986 – ICC rejects proposed merger of Southern Pacific and Santa Fe.
25: 1832 – Thomas B. Achuas dies in the first fatal US train wreck on the Granite Railway – a horsedrawn railway built to transport granite blocks to the Bunker Hill Monument in Quincy, Mass.
26: 1847 – Moses Garrish Farmer builds the first miniature train children’s ride.
1972 – Erie Lackawanna declares bankruptcy. RS3 w Railsounds 6-22280_4946
27: 1959 – The first revenue train crosses the Southern Pacific’s Great Salt Lake Fill in Utah. Cab Forward
– 6-11107_3368
28: 1871 – Tracklaying begins for the Denver and Rio Grande in Denver. Bunk Car 6-22150_4628
30: 1902 – The largest locomotive in the world wrecks at Denver, CO.
31: 1809 – Thomas Lieper’s railroad near Philadelphia becomes the first successful US railroad. The line
uses horses for power and wooden track.
1847 – The Monon Railroad is chartered. Operating boxcar 6-29856_3657
1956 – The Great Northern ends electrification over Cascade Pass.
1971 – Monon merged into L&N
August
1: 1836 – Sandboxes to provide extra traction are used for the first time on the Tuscumbia, Courtland
and Decatur Railroad. The cause of the slippery rails – crushed grasshoppers!
3: 1894 – The Pullman Strike is finally broken.
4: 1885 – The B&O introduces electric locomotives to pull trains through the 3.6 mile Howard Street
Tunnel in Baltimore.
1965 – The Milwaukee Road opens a new depot in Milwaukee. Hiawatha herald A2A5_MilwHead
6: 1867 – Cheyenne braves derail a UP train near Plum Creek, NE.
7: 1975 – Amtrak’s first new Amfleet cars enter service. Amfleet 2 pack 6-35433_6698
8: 1829 – The Stourbridge Lion debuts on the Delaware and Hudson Canal in Honesdale, PA. Although
the engine is successful, it is too heavy for the wooden rails and never pulls a train again. Lion 611153_4345
1865 – The first patent for a streamlined train is issued to Samual Calthrop.
9: 1831 – The DeWitt Clinton makes the inaugural train run between Albany and Schenectady, New
York. DeWitt Clinton 6-11164_7176
1893 – Rudolf Diesel receives a patent for his engine.
1945 – 34 are killed when the second section of the Empire Builder rear-ends the first that had
stopped for a hotbox at Michigan, ND.
1988 – Rio Grande Industries buys the Southern Pacific for $1.8 billion. Although the Rio Grande’s
parent company is the purchaser, the Southern Pacific name survives.
10: 1972 – The Illinois Central and Gulf Mobile and Ohio merge to form Illinois Central Gulf. ICG GP30 628388_3080
11: 1955 – Wabash steam locomotive 573 is retired to the National Museum of Transportation in St.
Louis. Wab 2-6-0 6-38018_1386
12: 1988 – Union Pacific absorbs the Katy (Missouri – Kansas –Texas). UP Katy sd70 6-28263_4132
13: 1960 – Narrow gauge East Broad Top RR reopens as a tourist line.
1965 – Pacific Electric Railway merged into parent Southern Pacific. RS3 6-21316_3915
14: 1900 – One of the “Big Four” of the Central Pacific, tycoon Collis P. Huntington dies.
15: 1863 – The submarine HL Hunley arrives in Charleston on flatcars,
17: 1897 – An electric switch is patented by WB Purvis. O36 L-H turnout 6-12045_1982
18: 1883 – The Canadian Pacific reaches Calgary. CP 4-6-0 6-11202_6924
19: 1916 – President Wilson demands railroads grant an 8 hour workday.
20: 1894 – The Stearns Manufacturing Co. in Erie, PA completes the first Heisler-type steam locomotive.
Pickering Lumber 5 6-38092_1909
21: 1935 – The UP’s Challenger enters service on the second section of the Los Angeles Limited. UP
Challenger 3976 6-11211_4376
22: 1910 – The first passenger train to traverse the entire Western Pacific arrives in San Francisco from
Salt Lake City.
1935 – The B&O puts its first diesels on long-distance passenger trains. E7 set 6-34505_4135
1968 – The Magma Arizona drops steam.
1998 – STB approves CSX NS split of Conrail. NS Heritage SD70ACE 6-28318_1242
23: 1882 – First CP train arrives at Regina, Saskatchewan.
24: 1835 – B&O opens line to Washington D.C.
1945 – Last run of the Yosemite Valley RR.
1946 – B&M replaces Hoosac Tunnel electrics with diesels. Straight tunnel 6-16868_1409
25: 1830 – Peter Cooper demonstrates the Tom Thumb on the B&O between Baltimore and Ellicott’s
Mills, MD in a race against a horse-drawn train.
1943 – Last narrow gauge train on the Denver South Park and Pacific.
1970 – The last common carrier steam operation in the US, the Mobile and Gulf, ends.
27: 1867 – First patent given for a railroad crossing gate to J. Nason and JF Wilson of Boston. 612714_5887
1946 – Last Pennsylvania T1 enters service. 6-11207_7500
1957 – Last steam operation on the Santa Fe.
28: 1864 – First RPO in service on the Chicago and Northwestern.
1894 – First manganese steel rail manufactured in High Bridge, NJ.
29: 1866 – First public demonstration of the Mount Washington Cog Railway.
1979 – The Bangor and Aroostock stops hauling potatoes. The road’s red-white-and-blue boxcars
and reefers were a trademark of eastern railroading. 6-27876_5309
30: 1830 – The B&O ends horse-operations in favor of steam locomotives.
1957 – The Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis is merged into the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.
LN caboose 6-22177_4597
1968 – The last train on the Tennessee Central operates.
31: 1831 – John Bull delivered to Camden and Amboy RR. John-bull-spread
1948 – Sumpter Valley Ry abandoned.
1964 – Duluth and Northeastern dieselizes.
September
1: 1859 – George Pullman’s first sleeping car, Chicago and Alton 9, makes its first run from Bloomington,
IL to Chicago.
1941 – Last Rio Grande narrow gauge train leaves Santa Fe, NM.
1968 – The Illinois Central assumes control of the Tennessee Central.
1981 – NW takes over Illinois Terminal. NW boxcar 6-22168_4589
2: 1935 – FEC Key West route closed after hurricane damage. FEC dump car 6-22142_4625
1938 – New York Central coach 1472 first to be illuminated using fluorescent lights.
1987 – The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad merges into CSX Transportation.
3: 1883 – Mainline of the Northern Pacific completed from Minneapolis to Tacoma. NP RS11 628545_1393
1916 – Adamson Act, which mandates an 8 hour workday for all RR employees, is implemented.
1919 – President Wilson begins using a railroad office car for business during travel.
1930 – Thomas Edison tests his first electric passenger train from Hoboken to Montclair, NJ.
4: 1872 - The New York Sun exposes Credit Mobilier Scandal. Directors of the Union Pacific and
lawmakers had created the Credit Mobilier company as a front to garner lucrative contracts for
themselves during construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. The barons then distributed shares of
the company to congressmen, cabinet members and even the Vice President as hush money to avoid
investigation.
1941 – The first Big Boy is delivered to the Union Pacific from ALCo. Big Boy 4011 6-11208_7102
1999 – Pittsburgh closes its last remaining trolley line.
5: 1900 – Joshua Cowen and Harry C. Grant found Lionel Manufacturing Company – all they need now is
something to manufacture.
1961 – Bangor and Aroostook ends passenger service.
1986 – Dakota Minnesota and Western purchases 965 miles of track from Chicago North Western.
6: 1869 – The first westbound passenger train arrives in San Francisco.
1960 – Maine Central suspends passenger service.
7: 1980 – Auto Train Corp., who operate a passenger train with auto carriers attached for passengers
vehicles, declares bankruptcy. Four of the original locomotives are sold to Conrail. Amtrak assumes
operation of the rest of the train and continues to have success with the Virginia to Florida train today.
8: 1883 – President Chester Arthur presides over the opening of the Northern Pacific Railroad at Gold
Creek, MT.
1987 – The North Louisiana and Gulf is purchased by MidSouth.
9: 1909 – Railroad builder E.H. Harriman dies. Harriman’s dreams of uniting the Southern Pacific and
Union Pacific railroads were thwarted by the ICC but ultimately realized in 1996.
1929 – First air-conditioned Pullman cars enter service between Chicago and Los Angeles.
10: 1995 – Amtrak discontinues the Broadway Limited between New York and Chicago after 93 years of
service. It is replaced by the Three Rivers.
11: 1950 – The last locomotive built by the Lima Locomotive Works, a center-cab transfer diesel, is
delivered to the Pennsylvania Railroad.
1972 – Regular service begins on San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).
12: 1850 – The first rails of Milwaukee Road predecessor Milwaukee and Mississippi are laid.
13: 1928 – Sperry demonstrates his rail detector car for the American Railway Association at
Poughkeepski, NY.
1980 – The Crescent is the last US passenger train to be pulled by multiple EMD E-units. Crescent set
472_6-31713
1982 – The combined Union Pacific, Western Pacific, Missouri Pacific system receives approval by the
ICC. MP 70ACE 6-28261
14: 1891 – New York Central’s Empire State Express makes a record setting 7 hour and 6 minute run
between New York and Buffalo (436 miles). Hudson 6-22105_4545
1974 – America’s longest underwater tunnel opens between San Francisco and Oakland for BART.
15: 1830 – The world’s first passenger railroad, the Liverpool and Manchester, opens in England,
powered by George Stephenson’s Rocket. The event is marred by casualty when William Huskison is
killed by the steam locomotive.
1831 – The John Bull makes its first run on the Camden and Amboy. John-bull-spread
1896 – At the “Great Train Wreck” show, two locomotives are crashed into each other head-on
before a crowd of 30,000. Boiler explosions kill two men and injure many more.
16: 1838 – Great Northern builder James J Hill is born.
1872 – Construction begins on the East Broad Top.
1875 – Fast Mail departs Grand Central Station for the first time.
1985 – Pennsylvania K4s Pacific 1361 comes down from Horseshoe Curve for restoration in Altoona.
Conrail places GP9 7048 in its place. 1361 6-11264_5332
17: 1989 – The Grand Canyon Railway returns steam passenger service to the Grand Canyon from
Williams, AZ.
18: 1893 – The Great Northern completes its transcontinental line near Everett, WA. GN 2-6-0 611270_7852
1937 – A Jubilee class 4-4-4 sets the Canadian speed record at 112.5 mph.
20: 1853 – The first Union passenger station opens in Indianapolis IN.
22: 1851 – The first railroad use of the telegraph takes place on the Erie Railroad, ushering in a new era
of railroad communications and operations.
1946 – Alco delivers its 75,000th locomotive, an A-B-A set of PA’s for the Santa Fe, no. 51. ATSF PA 634568_4049
1950 – A new Central Union Terminal opens in Toledo.
1995 – Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Pacific Corp (AT&SF Ry) merger to create Burlington
Northern Santa Fe (BNSF). BNSF MP15 6-22516_7114
23: 1874 – East Broad Top railroad runs its first train.
24: 1869 – An attempt by speculators Jay Gould and Jim Fisk to corner the gold market fails. Mint car 619698_2269
25: 1866 – George W. Richardson patents the pop safety valve for locomotive boilers.
27: 1903 – The wreck popularized by the song Wreck of the Old ’97 occurs at Stillhouse Trestle near
Danville, VA on the Southern Railway. 11 are killed.
28: 1956 – C&O retires its last steam locomotive. CO Allegheny 6-38081_2911
1981 – Illinois Central operates the first of a new generation of RoadRailer truck trains.
29: 1913 – Rudolph Diesel dies at 55.
1962 – Last steam powered train on the Duluth Missabe and Iron Range.
1967 – Southern Pacific operates its last RPO.
1967 – Monon drops all passenger service
1978 – VIA Rail takes over CP passenger operations.
1988 – Washington D.C. Union Station reopens as a passenger terminal.
30: 1877 – Southern Pacific becomes first railroad in Arizona Territory at Yuma.
October
1: 1834 – Ross Winans awarded the patent for the first locomotive with six or eight driving wheels.
1931 – The Cotton Belt begins its Blue Streak Merchandise priority freight service.
1967 – The CB&Q’s Fast Mail makes its last run.
2: 1882 – William Vanderbilt makes the famous comment in response to a query about the public use of
railroads, “The public be damned.”
1960 – Last run of steam on the Illinois Central.
3: 1837 – The first locomotive equipped with a whistle, the Sandusky, makes its first run between
Patterson and New Brunswick, NJ.
4: 1980 – The Smithsonian steams the John Bull for the first time in nearly a century. The 1831 Camden
and Amboy locomotive becomes the oldest operating steam locomotive in the world. Interestingly, the
Smithsonian had denied a request to steam the engine in 1939 citing preservation concerns. The
Pennsylvania built a replica of the locomotive for the World’s Fair instead. John-bull-spread
7: 1826 – America’s first railroad, the Granite Railway begins operations in Quincy, Mass. This horsedrawn tramway is used to haul granite blocks over 3 miles of track for the construction of the Bunker Hill
monument.
1834 – The Staple Bend Tunnel, the first American railroad tunnel, opens on the Allegheny Portage
Railroad near Johnstown, PA.
1948 – The B&O demonstrates television aboard its passenger train, the Marylander, between
Washington and New York.
1949 – The GM&O becomes the first major railroad to completely dieselize. GMO DD Box 6-17283
9: 1900 – Nashville, TN Union Station opens.
1995 – Amtrak’s Sunset Limited derails in the Arizona desert as a result of sabotage. The case remains
open.
11: 1987 – Wisconsin Central purchases 2002 miles of track from Soo Line. WC log car 6-36898_7241
12: 1934 – Association of American Railroads is formed.
1954 – Erie Railroad retires its last 8 steam locomotives. Erie Texas 6-11308_2305
14: 1980 – The Staggers Rail Act is passed. The legislation strips away many of the government
regulations which had crippled the industry.
15: 1960 – Erie Lackawanna created out of merger of Erie and Delaware Lackawanna and Western
railroads. EL 2-Bay covered 6-22155_4615
1966 – US Dept. of Transportation is created.
1976 – Missouri Pacific absorbs the Chicago and Eastern Illinois and Texas and Pacific.
16: 1859 – John Brown leads his raid on the US arsenal at Harpers Ferry and on the B&O’s Wheeling to
Baltimore Express.
1950 – Last train on the narrow gauge “Tweetsie” – East Tennessee and Western North Carolina.
1964 – The Norfolk and Western merges the Nickel Plate Road. NKP DD box 9E7B_6_27229
1973 – Michigan’s Ann Arbor RR declares bankruptcy.
17: 1962 – Union Pacific tests the first coal-burning gas-turbine-electric locomotive on the road.
17: 1954 – Modelers and collectors convene in historian Ed Alexander’s Yardley, PA train barn to found
the Train Collectors Association. Today the TCA boasts more than 30,000 members world wide.
18: 1886 – The Cotton Belt converts 418 miles of track to standard gauge in 13 hours with 2000 men. It
is the largest one-day conversion in history. Caboose – 6-22298_5015
1961 – GM unveils the first GP30. PRR 2206 6-28859_3315
19: 1897 – George Pullman dies.
20: 1940 – 1st issue of Trains magazine is published.
1969 – Alco ends locomotive production. Seaboard 6-28219_1967
1980 – Over 1600 miles of Rock Island track is sold to the Cotton Belt and Oklahoma Kansas and
Texas.
21: 1918 – Canadian Northern (later part of Canadian National) opens Mount Royal Tunnel.
22: 1925 – CNJ purchases the first production diesel locomotive.
1934 – UP’s streamliner M-10001 makes a complete journey from Los Angeles to Grand Central
Station in New York in 56 hours and 55 minutes.
1974 – The longest recorded train in Canada runs, carrying 250 cars of grain. Govt of can 2pac 611866_2686
1993 – Amtrak’s worst accident occurs when the Sunset Limited careens off a bridge near Mobile
Alabama in the night. 47 are killed.
23: 1825 – John Stevens demonstrates the first locomotive to pull a train on tracks in the US on his
Hoboken estate.
1936 – The CB&Q Zephyr averages 91.6 mph on a 12 hour 12 minute dash from Chicago to Denver.
The feat is retold in the movie Silver Streak. Pioneer Zephyr 6-51008
24: 1861 – Replaced by railroads, the Pony Express ends.
1866 – The Central Pacific completes the first Bucker snowplow.
26: 1985 – Burlington Northern tests a GP-9 rebuilt to run on propane.
27: 1859 – The Louisville and Nashville Railroad begins operation between its namesake cities.
1870 – The Denver and Rio Grande is incorporated. Challenger 3805 6-11152
1891 – St. Clair Tunnel opens beneath the St. Claire River connecting the US and Canada.
1904 – The first part of the New York City subway opens. R27 front 6-18378_4421
28: 1956 – CB&Q introduces Vista Domes on the Denver Zephyrs.
1979 – Amtrak introduces Superliners on the Empire Builder.
1983 – New Jersey Transit GG1 pulls train #3323 for the last revenue run by a GG1 after 48 years of
service. 4912 6-18371_2953
30: 1983 – Amtrak begins Auto Train service from Lofton VA to Sanford, FL three times / week.
31: 1978 – Last train departs St. Louis Union Station, once the largest of its kind in the world.
1987 – Montana Rail Link begins operating over 907 miles of Burlington Northern (ex Northern
Pacific) rails. MRL cov hopper 6-22294_5024
November
1: 1855 – More than 30 are killed when an inaugural excursion train plunges into the Gasconade River
near St. Louis, MO.
1865 – The first oil tank car enters service at Titusville, PA, site of the first successful oil well. The car
consists of two large wooden vats on a flatcar.
1918 – 102 are killed when a Brooklyn Rapid Transit train crashes beneath Malburne Street after
taking a 6 mile per hour curve at more than 30.
1980 – Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries merge to form CSX Corporation. Ac6000 628298
1985 – Southern Pacific and Santa Fe unveil new “Kodachrome” paint scheme for locomotives in
anticipation of approval of a proposed merger. After the ICC denies the merger, SPSF is joked to stand
for “Shouldn’t Paint So Fast.” SD40T-2 6-28225
2: 1969 – The KCS Southern Belle makes its last run. ES44 6-28399
7: 1835 – Construction begins on the Erie Railroad. 0-8-0 6-11247
1885 – The Canadian Transcontinental Railroad is completed at Craigellachie, BC.
8: 2008 – Arsonists burn SO Tower in South Fork. Burning tower 6-37960
11: 1934 – CB&Q Pioneer Zephyr makes its first scheduled run between Lincoln and Kansas City. 651008
1957 – Last use of steam on the Pennsylvania Railroad. M1 front 9DBE_6-11147front
12: 1831 – The John Bull enters regular service on the C&A. john-bull-spread
1965 – A 549 ton hydrocracker reactor is hauled from Birmingham to Toledo. It is the heaviest
single-piece of freight ever carried by rail.
13: 1906 – NYC begins its New York City electrification project.
14: 1978 – CSX Corporation is formed. Actual consolidation of rail operation is still many years in the
future.
15: 1910 – NY Penn Station opens.
1957 – N&W hauls a record setting 500 car coal train from West Virginia to Portsmouth Ohio. The
train is 4 miles long and weighs 42,000 tons making it the longest and heaviest ever hauled in the US.
NW hopper 3-pack 6-11893_3102
16: 1967 – Canadian Pacific tests Canada’s first remote-controlled mid train helpers.
1972 – GE introduces the E60C electric locomotive.
18: 1883 – 4 Standard Time zones replace 100 local times in the US. The change to standard time is a
direct result of the increased speed of train travel.
1995 – Bethlehem Steel closes its main plant in Bethlehem, PA.
19: 1891 – A patent for an electrified third rail is issued to Granville T. Woods. The African American
inventor held more than 60 patents.
1986 – CNW retires its last Alco C628’s
20: 1961 – UP No. 844 makes its first excursion run. The locomotive has never been officially retired.
21: 1980 – The Frisco becomes part of Burlington Northern.
23: 1898 – Andrew Jackson Beard is awarded a patent for an improved coupler. Beard, born a slave,
worked in the railroad industry and his invention was credited with preventing countless injuries among
his coworkers.
24: 1912 – The Pennsylvania Special becomes the Broadway Limited.
26: 1867 – JB Sutherland of Detroit receives the first patent for a railway refrigerator car.
30: 1959 – Cotton Belt ends passenger service.
1968 – Clinchfield No. 1 restored for excursion service. The little 4-4-0 is equipped with a diesel
control stand in the cab to operate a diesel normally used to provide most of the power for the trains.
The locomotive is preserved today at the B&O museum.
December
1: 1903 – The Great Train Robbery – the first motion picture is released.
1959 – The N&W acquires the Virginian Railway.
2: 1856 – First patent issued for a sleeping car.
1892 – Financier Jay Gould dies.
1980 – Pullman Company dissolved.
3: 1863 – Ground is broken on the Union Pacific at Omaha, NE.
6: 1995 – SD80MAC CR 4100 dedicated at Juniata Shops
7: 1941 – The NYC streamlines the Empire State Express.
12: 1968 – CN begins Turboliner service between Montreal and Toronto.
14: 1934 – The Commodore Vanderbilt – the first streamlined locomotive – debuts on the New York
Central.
15: 1986 – VIA receives its first F40PH’s from GM.
16: 1935 – The Huey P Long Bridge opens across the Mississippi in New Orleans. It is the world’s longest
railroad bridge, spanning 23, 235 feet.
1941 – UP retires the M-10000 – the first streamliner.
1967 – Delaware and Hudson purchases 4 Alco PA diesels from the Santa Fe and repaints them in
the company’s blue and silver paint in a scheme like that of the ATSF. The engines are among the last of
their kind used in the US until being sold to Mexico.
17: 1924 – CNJ places the first diesel-electric in service.
1954 – The first fully-automatic freight yard opens on the EJ&E at Gary, IN.
19: 1977 – The Milwaukee Road files for bankruptcy. It is later absorbed by Soo Line.
20: 1919 – Canadian National Railways established. All government-owned operations are consolidated
under it.
21: 1833 – The Georgia Railroad is chartered.
1836 – The Western and Atlantic Railroad is chartered. The line will eventually be the site of the
famous Andrews Raid capturing the locomotive General during the Civil War.
1962 – Budd delivers the last RDC to the Reading.
22: 1829 – The B&O begins passenger service to Ellicott’s Mills.
1965 – The Pennsylvania sells the Long Island RR to the state of New York.
1982 – Missouri Pacific and Western Pacific are merged into Union Pacific.
23: 1851 – Construction begins on the Illinois Central RR.
1907 – The first all-steel passenger coach is completed on the Pennsylvania Railroad.
25: 1830 - The Best Friend of Charleston operates for the first time.
1848 – New Haven RR opens.
26: 1917 – President Wilson seizes possession and control of the railroads in order to regain efficiency
during WWI. The USRA is created to coordinate operations and develop new standardized designs.
Operations are not completely returned to the private sector until March 3, 1920.
1956 – Last standard gauge steam run on the Rio Grande (narrow gauge steam continues.)
27: 1943 – President F. Roosevelt seizes the railroads to avert a national emergency over a pending
strike.
1951 – Last train on the Rio Grande Southern.
28: 1972 – Amtrak announces the purchase of Turboliners for Hudson River service.
29: 1876 – 92 are killed and 64 injured when a bridge over the Ashtabula River collapses beneath the
Pacific Express.
1982 – L&N merges with SCL, changing the name to Seaboard System.
31: 1968 – Last US Pullman service.
1968 – New Haven becomes part of Penn Central.
1978 – Last run of the Rock Island Peoria Rocket.