Today in rr history: January

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 horse-drawn 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 – 1^st 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 6-11866_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 6-28298

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. 6-51008

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.