AUGUST 11, 1950
General Motors opens it's plant in London, Ontario, Canada for the building of diesel electric locomotives.
AUGUST 11, 1955
The last Wabash steam locomotive in use, #573, is retired at the St. Louis Museum of Transportation.
CANADIANPACIFIC2816
AUGUST 12, 1879
Canada's Intercolonial Railway gains access to Quebec by purchasing the Grand Trunk line between Quebec and Riviere du Loup.
AUGUST 12, 1882
Canada's Great Western Railway, controlling 1,009 miles of track, is merged into the Grand Trunk System.
AUGUST 12, 1988
The operations of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (Katy) were taken over by the Union Pacific Railroad.
AUGUST 13, 1886
Sir John A. MacDonald drives the last spike at mile 25, Cliffside, on the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway on Vancouver Island. The line became a part of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1905.
AUGUST 13, 1939
24 people were killed in a train accident at Carlin, Nevada.
AUGUST 13, 1960
The East Broad Top Railroad was reopened as a tourist railroad.
AUGUST 13, 1965
Pacific Electric Railway merges with parent Southern Pacific Railroad.
April 29, 1874
The Chicago & Northwestern's Lyons & Lucifier are wrecked on what is now Union Pacific trackage at Franklin Grove, IL.
They were pulling freights when they met head-on. The meet was the result of a signaling error.
AUGUST 14, 1868
In the Canadian province of Ontario, a formal ground breaking ceremony was held for the Canada Central Railway section between Ottawa and Carleton Place at the Hyde Property on Richmond Road, three miles west of Ottawa. This ceremony was repeated at Carleton Place on the 26th of August.
AUGUST 14, 1900
Railroad Tycoon Collis P. Huntington died.
AUGUST 15, 1870
The Kansas Pacific Railroad reaches Denver.
AUGUST 15, 1900
Regular service is commenced over the 3'0" gauge White Pass and Yukon Railway between Skagway, Alaska and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.
AUGUST 15, 1947
The Rock Island completes a $15 million, five-site Iowa relocation project.
AUGUST 16, 1851
International rail service opens from Laprarie, Quebec to Rouses Point, New York.
AUGUST 16, 1918
The freight sheds at Grand Trunk's central station in Ottawa were destroyed by fire which started with the explosion of a tank car loaded with gasoline, August 16. The loss was placed at:
-freight shed, $15,000
-twenty-eight freight cars, $20,000
-contents of freight shed and cars, $50,000
AUGUST 16, 2001
Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 steam locomotive #2816 operates under her own power for the first time in over 40 years.
AUGUST 19, 1914
In the Canadian province of Ontario, Canadian Northern Ontario passenger trains commence using the Grand Trunk Railway Central Station with the opening of services to and from Toronto. Trains from Hawkesbury continued to use the Henderson Avenue station until the inauguration of through service between Ottawa and Quebec on August 24.
AUGUST 19, 1916
President Wilson demands that railroads grant an 8 hour workday.
AUGUST 19, 1964
Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway's train #2 collides with a log truck near Stevenson, Washington.
AUGUST 20, 1852
The first steam locomotive to operate west of the Mississippi River, the pacific of the Pacific of Missouri RR, was delivered at the Pine Street Wharf by river barge.
AUGUST 20, 1894
The first Heisler-type steam locomotive was completed by Stearns Manufacturing Company in Erie, Pennsylvania.
AUGUST 20, 1935
In Washington, D.C., the Baltimore & Annapolis electric inter-urban railroad abandons all operations.
AUGUST 20, 1997
Hudson Bay Railway, owned by Omnitrax of Denver, Colorado, takes over the former Canadian National lines between The Pas, Flin Flon, Lyn Lake and Churchill, Manitoba.
AUGUST 21, 1935
Union Pacific's Challenger begins service as the second section of the Los Angeles Limited.
AUGUST 22, 1883
The Northern Pacific Railway was completed with the driving of a gold spike at Gold Creek, Montana, forming, in conjunction with the Oregon Railway & Navigation Co., a transcontinental line from the Great Lakes to Portland, Oregon.
AUGUST 22, 1905
Portland & Seattle Railway (P&S) incorporated.
AUGUST 22, 1910
The first passenger train to run over the entire line of the Western Pacific Railroad arrives in San Francisco from Salt Lake City.
AUGUST 22, 1935
The Baltimore & Ohio places the first diesel locomotives into service to haul long-distance passenger trains.
AUGUST 22, 1950
In Canada, the railway system is paralyzed by a nationwide railway strike. Services were resumed on August 31.
AUGUST 22, 1968
Steam power is used for the final time on the Magma Arizona Railroad.
AUGUST 23, 1882
The first Canadian Pacific Railway train arrives at Regina, Saskatchewan.
AUGUST 24, 1835
The Baltimore & Ohio opens a line to Washington, D.C.
AUGUST 24, 1905
The Trustees of the Portland & Seattle Railway met for the first time. J.C. Flanders elected as first President.
AUGUST 24, 1920
Pacific & Eastern Railway sold.
AUGUST 24, 1945
The last run was made on the Yosemite Valley Railroad.
AUGUST 24, 1946
The Boston & Maine replaces the electrification at Hoosac Tunnel with diesels.
FROM ARCAMAX HISTORY & QUOTES:
August 25, 1877:
Joshua Lionel Cowen, inventor of the electric toy train, born in 1877
AUGUST 25, 1829
The locomotive, Tom Thumb, races with a horse drawn train, but loses when the engine breaks down.
AUGUST 25, 1911
27 people were killed in a train accident at Manchester, New York.
AUGUST 25, 1919
A Canadian Pacific special train conveys the Prince of Wales from Montreal to Toronto, returning to Montreal over the same route on November 2nd, 1919. Locomotives 2225 and 2231 were used. The Prince ran one of the locomotives on the return trip from Flavelle to Trenton (20.9 miles).
AUGUST 25, 1943
The Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad operated it's last narrow gauge train.
AUGUST 25, 1970
The Mobile & Gulf ends the last U.S. common carrier steam operation.
AUGUST 26, 1878
The 3rd Avenue El in New York City opens. Of Manhattan's elevated railroads, the 3rd Avenue El remained in service the longest, running for nearly 80 years.
AUGUST 26, 1929
Canadian National Railways placed into service it's first diesel electric passenger locomotive. It was placed into service hauling the second section of the "International Limited" between Montreal and Toronto. This locomotive, #9000, consisted of two units, weighing a total of 335 tons.
August 26, 1998
Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) has expanded the intermodal Equipment Management Program (EMP) to include the Minneapolis market through an agreement with Canadian Pacific Railway.
The EMP service extension provides domestic shippers daily, expedited service between Minneapolis and Atlanta, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Fla., and Miami. At Minneapolis, EMP operates through Canadian Pacific Railway's Shoreham intermodal facility.
Norfolk Southern's previously announced EMP service to New England through Guilford Rail's newly constructed terminals at Ayer, Mass., and Waterville, Maine, also has begun.
Ryan BoudreauxThe Piedmont Division Modeling The Southern Railway, Norfolk & Western & Norfolk Southern in HO during the merger eraCajun Chef Ryan
AUGUST 27, 1838
Eastern Railroad opens for traffic from Boston to Salem, Massachusetts.
AUGUST 27, 1867
The first patent for a railroad crossing gate was issued to J. Nason and J.F. Wilson of Boston.
AUGUST 27, 1928
16 people would die in New York City's 2nd worse subway accident.
AUGUST 27, 1946
The last Pennsylvania Railroad T1 class steam locomotive entered service.
AUGUST 27, 1957
Steam power was used for the last time on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway at Belen, New Mexico.
AUGUST 27, 1993
Wisconsin Central acquires the Green Bay & Western and C&NW spinoff Fox Valley Railroad.
AUGUST 28, 1830
Peter Cooper's locomotive, Tom Thumb, pulls a regular trip on a round-trip over the Baltimore & Ohio, making the return trip in record time, and becoming the first American-built locomotive to transport revenue passengers.
AUGUST 28, 1864
The first car specifically constructed as a United States Railway Post Office (RPO) is placed into operation between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa on the Chicago & Northwestern. Shortly afterward, a New York and Washington RPO route is established, running on the Camden & Amboy, the Baltimore & Ohio and the Philadelphia, Washington & Baltimore.
AUGUST 28, 1894
The first manganese steel for railroad track is manufactured in High Bridge, New Jersey.
AUGUST 28, 1979
Clerks strike against the Rock Island, followed shortly by UTU members on the 29th, effectively shutting down the troubled railroad.
AUGUST 29, 1866
The first public demonstration of the world's first cog railroad, the Mount Washington Cog Railway, was made on a half-mile section at the base of Mount Washington.
AUGUST 29, 1882
The New York, Lake Erie & Western's viaduct over Kinzua Creek in McKean County, Pennsylvania was completed. It was 301 feet high and 2000 feet in length.
AUGUST 29, 1907
In the Canadian province of Ontario, the southern section of the Quebec Cantilever Bridge collapsed into the St. Lawrence River. As many as 82 workers and 20,000 tons of steel were lost in this disaster.
AUGUST 29, 1916
Congress authorizes the creation of a United States Railroad Authority, intended to operate U.S. railroads in time of war.
AUGUST 29, 1943
29 people were killed in a train accident at Wayland, New York.
AUGUST 29, 1963
The Detroit, Toledo & Ironton acquires control, through the purchase of stock, of the Ann Arbor.
AUGUST 29, 1979
Bangor & Aroostock ends it's potato hauling business.
AUGUST 29, 1985
St. Louis Union Station reopens as a luxury hotel, specialty retail and entertainment complex.
AUGUST 29, 1994
The Windsor and Hantsport Railway commences operation in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
AUGUST 30, 1830
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad discontinues the use of horse drawn trains in favor of steam locomotives.
AUGUST 30, 1875
In the Canadian province of Ontario, a ceremonial turning of the first sod was held at Pembroke for the Canada Central Railway section between Renfrew and Pembroke. A civic holiday was declared so that Pembroke citizens could attend the ceremony.
AUGUST 30, 1952
In the Canadian province of Ontario, Canadian National abandons it's Westport subdivision between Lyn Junction and Westport, the last train was hauled by 2-6-0 #86. Authority had been granted by BTC order 79236 of the 18th of June 1952 but abandonment was postponed until the end of August to give local residents a chance to adjust. All moveable station equipment and surplus track material was picked up by a special train which was run on September 4, 1952. Dismantlement of the track was commenced on October 6th at Westport and was completed by July 8, 1953.
AUGUST 30, 1957
The Louisville & Nashville acquires control, by merger, of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis.
AUGUST 30, 1959
The streetcars in Montreal, Quebec make their final runs.
AUGUST 30, 1968
Tennessee Central Railway trains would operate for the last time.
AUGUST 30, 1974
Seattle Union Station, at 4th & Jackson in Seattle, Washington, is placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
AUGUST 31, 1831
The John Bull, the oldest operable steam locomotive in the U.S., was delivered to the Camden & Amboy Railroad.
AUGUST 31, 1857
Mexico's President Comonfort issues a concession to Don Antonio Escandon, granting him the exclusive right to construct a railroad from Acapulco to Veracruz via Mexico City. Escandon and his brother Don Manuel are Veracruz businessmen, active in stagecoach and mining operations.
AUGUST 31, 1868
The Virginia Central and the Covington & Ohio merge to form the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad.
AUGUST 31, 1948
Sumpter Valley Railway, Sumpter, Oregon abandoned operations.
AUGUST 31, 1954
This was the last day of regular passenger service on the Maryland & Pennsylvania.
AUGUST 31, 1955
General Motors "Powerama" opens to the public. The month-long exhibition on Chicago's lakefront highlights GM products, including Electro-Motive Division Locomotives, and it's yet-unnamed Aerotrain streamliner.
AUGUST 31, 1959
Lackawanna trains begin using the Erie mainline between Binghampton and Corning, New York.
AUGUST 31, 1964
The Duluth & Northeastern dieselizes.
SEPTEMBER 01, 1849
The first 61 miles of the Pennsylvania Railroad were opened for service between Harrisburg and Lewistown, including a 3,680-foot wooden bridge across the Susquehanna River at Rockville.
SEPTEMBER O1, 1857
Hired to defend the railroad in the Rock Isand bridge case, Abraham Lincoln visits the ruined structure to interview witnesses and gather evidence. On May 6, 1856 the steamboat Effie Afton collided with the Chicago & Rock Island bridge, resulting in a fire which destroyed the boat and part of the bridge. The railroad was promptly sued for damages by the steamboat's owner, and it was widely believed that steamboat operators encouraged the incident to test the right of railroads to bridge navagable waterways.
SEPTEMBER 01, 1859
George Pullman's first sleeping car, Chicago & Alton #9, makes it's first run from Bloomington, Illinois to Chicago.
SEPTEMBER 01, 1864
A train of Confederate wounded being evacuated from Atlanta collides head-on with a train attempting to supply the army. About 30 died in this accident on the Macon & Western near Barnesville, Georgia. Both trains had been operated "wild" or without orders.
SEPTEMBER 01, 1865
Amos Densmore ships two 1,700 gallon wooden tanks filled with crude oil (about 160 barrels) from Miller's Farm, Pennsylvania to New York City. The tanks are transported on a conventional railroad flat car.
SEPTEMBER 01, 1873
The first commercially successful cable car line, the Clay Street Hill Railroad, opens for business in San Francisco.
SEPTEMBER 01, 1893
The Chicago & North Western acquired control of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western.
SEPTEMBER 01, 1894
St. Paul & Duluth's Duluth Limited flees a forest fire which killed more than 400 people in the Hincley, Minnesota area. Another passenger train was forced to retreat backwards from the fire until it's wooden coaches, engulfed in flames were abandoned. Most of the passengers and crew would survive, finding refuge in a shallow lake. This disaster claimed an estimated 500 lives before the fires burned themselves out.
SEPTEMBER 01, 1896
The Baltimore & Ohio opened it's Mount Royal station in Baltimore, at the north end of the Howard Street tunnel.
SEPTEMBER 01, 1919
The U.S. Director General of Railroads orders montly maximum limits for engine crews - 4,800 miles for passenger crews, 3,800 miles for freight crews and 3,000 miles for crews of trains operating as extras.
SEPTEMBER 01, 1921
The Toronto Transit Commission takes over the street car system in that city upon the expiration of the 30 year franchise of the Toronto Railway.
SEPTEMBER 01, 1940
M.C. LaBertew becomes Vice-President and General Manager of the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway.
SEPTEMBER 01, 1941
The Denver & Rio Grande Western operated it's last narrow gauge train to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
SEPTEMBER 01, 1947
A railroad travel installment plan, known as the Rail Traveloan Service, became effective with approximately 70 major rail lines cooperating with local banks to provide qualified applicants with rail transportation, Pullman accommodations, all-expense trips and any passenger service regularly sold through railroad ticket offices.
SEPTEMBER 01-06, 1947
The General Motors Train of Tomorrow is shown at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto.
SEPTEMBER 01, 1964
Alco C-424's #300-306 arrive on the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway in the new broad stripe pain scheme.
SEPTEMBER 01, 1966
In the Canadian province of Ontario, Canadian Pacific is authorized to abandon it's Kingston subdivision between Sharbot Lake and Snow Road.
SEPTEMBER 01, 1968
Magma Arizona dieselizes.
The Illinois Central assumed control of the Tennessee Central Railway.
SEPTEMBER 01, 1981
Norfolk & Western takes over Illinois Terminal.
CANADIANPACIFIC2816SEPTEMBER 01, 1968The Illinois Central assumed control of the Tennessee Central Railway.
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
Thanks much for the update about the Tennessee Central being devided up among three railroads, Carl. I appreciate it. I am now getting a lot of the information I am using in this thread from the historical archives of the National Railway Historical Society, and it has become apparent to me that the information I am reading is not always right on target.
Ray
SEPTEMBER 02, 1864
Confederate forces evacuating the city of Atlanta and unable to move 81 boxcars of ammunition, detonate the explosives rather than leave it for the approaching Union army.
SEPTEMBER 02, 1874
In the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, the first rail of the Western Counties Railway was laid during a ceremony near Lovitt's Warf in Yarmouth. The first spike was driven by George B. Doane, President of the Company.
SEPTEMBER 02-03, 1885
Chinese strikebreakers hired by the Union Pacific during a walkout at company-owned coal mines are attacked by striking workers and sympathizers. At least 28 Chinese die in ethnic violence at Rock Springs and elsewhere along the UP in Wyoming.
SEPTEMBER 02, 1913
21 people were killed and 50 were injured in a railroad accident on the New Haven Railroad.
SEPTEMBER 02, 1919
The United States Congress passes a bill barring railroad strikes.
SEPTEMBER 02, 1935
Florida East Coast Railway's route to Key West, Florida is closed after being damaged by a hurricane.
SEPTEMBER 02, 1938
New York Central's coach #1472 becomes the first passenger car to be equipped with flourescent lighting.
SEPTEMBER 02, 1940
Kansas City Southern introduces it's streamlined Southern Belle between Kansas City and New Orleans.
SEPTEMBER 02, 1987
Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad merged into the CSX.
SEPTEMBER 03, 1883
The main line of the Northern Pacific Railroad between Minneapolis, Minnesota and Tacoma, Washington was completed.
SEPTEMBER 03, 1900
Nashville Union Station opens for business, jointly owned by the Louisville & Nashville and the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis.
SEPTEMBER 03, 1917
President Wilson signs the Adamson Act, establishing an eight-hour day for workers on railroads in interstate commerce. The law averts a threatened national rail strike as the U.S. moves closer to entering the war in Europe.
SEPTEMBER 03, 1919
President Woodrow Wilson ignaugurates the practice of using a railroad office car for White House business on a presidential train.
SEPTEMBER 03, 1930
Thomas Edison tests the first electric passenger train, from Hoboken to Montclair, New Jersey.
SEPTEMBER 03, 1999
The New York Giants travel to Baltimore aboard a special train for a pre-season game with the Ravens. It would be the first time since 1963 that the team has traveled by rail.
SEPTEMBER 04, 1862
North Beach & Mission Railway Company organized in San Francisco.
SEPTEMBER 04, 1867
The Boston & Albany Railroad Company is organized to consolidate the Boston & Worcester and the Western Railroad.
SEPTEMBER 04, 1872
The New York Sun exposes the Credit Mobilier Scandal. During the construction of the trans-continental railroad, Massachusetts Representative Oakes Ames and other directors of the Union Pacific, created a company called Credit Mobilier of America, which was used to award themselves, rich company contracts. To avoid congressional investigation, Ames distributed shares to other congressmen, Cabinet members and Vice-President Colfax. Ames was censured by the House of Representatives on February 28, 1873.
SEPTEMBER 04, 1941
Alco delivers the first Big Boy 4-8-8-4 to the Union Pacific Railroad.
SEPTEMBER 04, 1997
RailLink-Lakeland & Waterways takes over the former Canadian National lines in northeastern Alberta from Boyle to Lynton, near Fort McMurray. Agreement was reached on the 2nd of September, operation commenced the 4th of September and formal transfer took place on November 24th.
Huron Central Railway, owned by Genessee Rail-One takes over operation of the former Canadian Pacific line between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury, Ontario.
SEPTEMBER 04, 1999
The last remaining trolley car line in Pittsburgh closes.
SEPTEMBER 05, 1867
The first train load of longhorn cattle leaves Abilene, Kansas for Chicago. This begins a period of overland cattle drives from central Texas to Abilene, and other towns along the Kansas Pacific Railroad, which mark the northern end of the Chisholm Trail.
SEPTEMBER 05, 1876
The Southern Pacific runs it's first train from San Francisco to Los Angeles, via the Tehachapi and San Fernando Mountains.
SEPTEMBER 05, 1898
In the Canadian province of Ontario, Archbishop Duhamel, at a ceremony in Embrun, blesses the Ottawa and New York Railway, it's President, the road itself, it's employees and rolling stock. Several thousand people were present and a picnic was held in the afternoon.
SEPTEMBER 05, 1911
The Oregon Trunk Line's golden spike was driven at Bend, Oregon.
SEPTEMBER 05, 1926
Denver and Rio Grande's Scenic Limited is derailed on a curve by excessive speed and the locomotive and six cars fall into the Arkansas River, killing 23 passengers.
SEPTEMBER 05, 1956
Two Santa Fe express trains collide at Robinson, New Mexico, killing 20 railroad workers.
SEPTEMBER 05, 1961
Bangor & Arrostook ends it's railway passenger service.
SEPTEMBER 05, 1986
Chicago & Northwestern sells 965 miles of it's trackage to the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern.
SEPTEMBER 05, 2002
In the Canadian province of Quebec commuter train service between Montreal and Saint-Hilaire resumes after a 14 year hiatus.
SEPTEMBER 06, 1869
The first westbound train arrives in San Francisco.
SEPTEMBER 06, 1873
Regular cable car service begins on Clay Street in San Francisco.
SEPTEMBER 06, 1898
In the Canadian province of Ontario, Two spans of the New York and Ottawa Railroad bridge over the south channel of the St. Lawrence River collapse with the loss of 15 lives.
SEPTEMBER 06, 1901
President McKinley is shot while attending an exposition in Buffalo, New York. A special train carrying surgeons, nurses and equipment races from Hoboken, New Jersey to Buffalo, over the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, covering the 395 miles in 405 minutes.
SEPTEMBER 06, 1943
79 people were killed at Frankford Junction, Pennsylvania, when a burned off journal derails the Pennsylvania Railroad's Congressional.
SEPTEMBER 06, 1960
Maine Central becomes freight only.
The last spike is driven on Canadian National's line between Optic and Chisel Lake, Manitoba. It was extended to Stall Lake on January 31, 1964.
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