JULY 26 1847Moses Garrish Farmer builds First miniature train for children to ride.JULY 26 1877Railroad strike expands from coast to coast, becoming the first nationwide strike against the railroads.JULY 26 1884The East Cleveland Street Railway becomes the first electric streetcars as it begins operations in Cleveland, Ohio.JULY 26 1972Erie Lackawanna declares bankruptcy
JULY 25 1832A cable chain breaks while demonstrating Granite Railway's incline to several visitors resulting in the first railroad fatality.JULY 25 1922President Harding orders federal rail and coal controls to ensure distribution of food and fuel.JULY 25 1953First use of subway tokens in New York City.JULY 25 1967Construction begins on San Francisco's Market Street subway.
EDIT: July 25, 1948, Singer/songwriter Steve Goodman, was born.
JULY 24 1870The first railroad car to travel from the Pacific to Atlantic coasts, arrive in New York.JULY 24 1877Patent # 193,357 issued to Joel Tiffany for the first really successful refrigerated car design.JULY 24 1986ICC rejects merger of Southern Pacific Railroad and Santa Fe Railway.
July 23, 1981 - Last ICG train leaves Sioux Falls, South Dakota eastbound for Cherokee Iowa. The consist is one rebuilt Geep, one empty Rock Island box car, one empty TTX pig flat, one snowplow and one side door caboose. About 15 miles of the Sioux Falls District would be operated as an industrial lead out of Cherokee for a number of years following the removal of track in South Dakota and Minnesota.
Matt
JULY 23 1877Passenger service begins on the first municipal railroad in the U.S., the Cincinnati Southern, between Cincinnati, Ohio and Ludlow and Somerset, Kentucky.JULY 23 1945Vista-dome cars introduced to service on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad between Chicago and Minneapolis on the Twin Cities Zephyr.JULY 23 1959Last regular Union Pacific revenue freight run to use steam. UP 4-6-6-4 #3713 to Cheyenne Wyoming.JULY 23 1963Last run for the Chicago & Northwestern Twin Cities 400.JULY 23 1966New York Central tests jet-powered RDC in Ohio.
JULY 22 1906Chicago's last cable car route, the State Street Line, ends operation.JULY 22 1909Construction begins on the Oregon Trunk.
JULY 21 1836The first steam railroad in Canada, the Champlain and Saint Lawrence Railroad opens from Laprarie on the St. Lawrence River to St. John on the Richelieu River (16.5 miles).JULY 21 1873Jesse James and his gang hold up their first train, a Rock Island express at Adair, Iowa and escapes with $3,000. The train's engineer is killed when the train is derailed prior to the robbery.JULY 21 1877After a violent clash between railroad strikers and State troops in Pittsburgh, a battle and riot ensues in which 2000 freight cars are burned and $10,000,000 in railroad property is destroyed.JULY 21 1898Alaska's first railroad, the narrow gauge White Pass & Yukon Railway, opens.JULY 21 1952Earthquake forces closesure of Southern Pacific mainline at Tehachapi, California for 25 days.
JULY 19 1860First railroad reaches Kansas.JULY 19 1967First air-conditioned New York City subway car.JULY 19 1968Santa Fe discontinues Dallas connection of the Texas Chief.JULY 19 1987Red River Valley & Western begins operation over 667 miles of ex-Burlington Northern trackage in North Dakota. ' a+='lto:' b+='' e='' f='Ron Paludan' b+='railwaystation.com' g='' if (f) d=f else if (h) d=g+h+i else d=b document.write(a+b+c+d+e) } escramble() //-->
JULY 18 1846First international trains between the U.S. and Canada run from Portland, Maine to Montreal on the Atlantic & St. Lawrence Railroad.JULY 18 1858The Pennsylvania Railroad introduces the smoking car on its first through run from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh.JULY 18 1959Last steam run on the Nickel Plate.JULY 18 1968Last Santa Fe California Special trips.
JULY 17 1856Sunday school excursion train collision kills 60, including 46 children, near Philadelphia, PA.JULY 17 1879First railroad opens in Hawaii.JULY 17 1966Last Chicago, Burlington & Quincy steam excursion.
JULY 16 1877Violence erupts in Martinsburg, West Virginia as striking railroad workers derail a train and seize railroad property. The local militia refuses to shoot at the strikers, but President Hayes orders the men back to work and sends in Federal Troops to break the strike.JULY 16 1939The first rack-rail diesel-electric locomotive is placed into service on the Manitou & Pikes Peak Railway, the world's highest cog railroad.JULY 16 1970Colorado and New Mexico buy 64 miles of track from Alamosa to Chama for $547,120JULY 16 1983Amtrak's Chicago to Oakland renamed California Zephyr changes route from the Union Pacific across Wyoming to the Denver & Rio Grande Western through the Colorado Rockies.
JULY 15 1853Grand Trunk Railway is formed.JULY 15 1864Troop train loaded with Confederate prisoners collides with coal train killing 65 & injuring 109.JULY 15 1913American workers attack Japanese railway laborers at Steamboat Springs, Colorado.JULY 15 1923Golden spike for the Alaska Railroad driven by President Harding at Nenana, Alaska.JULY 15 1983Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole and Gov. Bill Sheffield sign a report detailing the Alaska Railroad's property, assets and liabilities to be transferred to the state.JULY 15 1985MLW successor, Bombardier, quits new locomotive business.
JULY 14 1877The great strike of 1877 begins with a walkout by railroad workers of the Baltimore & Ohio RR. The strike speeds across the nation Railroad unions protest a 10% pay cut and demand better working conditions.JULY 14 1943Canadian National opens Montreal Central Terminal.JULY 14 1947F-3 #800 enters service on streamlined trains Nos. 1 & 2 (SP&S Ry.)JULY 14 1959Last steam run on the Pennsylvania Railroad.
JULY 09 1905Special train chartered by Walter Scott (Death Valley Scotty), departs Los Angeles and makes record run to Chicago in 44 hours, 54 minutes.JULY 09 1908Ruth Trust Company incorporated (SP&S Ry.)JULY 09 1918Worst railroad accident in U.S. history occurs when two passenger trains collide near Nashville, Tennessee killing 101. (Wasn't this in Waverly, TN?)
JULY 08 1932America's largest 2 foot gauge railroad, the Sandy River & Rangely Lakes Railroad in Maine, ceases operation.JULY 08 1956Santa Fe introduces all Hilevel coach for Chicago to Los Angeles El Capitan.
JULY 07 1862First Railway Post Office established on the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad.
JULY 04 1828Construction of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad begins.JULY 04 1835Oldest stone viaduct still in use in the U.S., the B & O's Thomas Viaduct over the Patapsco River in Maryland, is completed.JULY 04 1869First railroad bridge across the Missouri River opened at Kansas City.JULY 04 1886Canada's first scheduled transcontinental passenger train reaches Pt Moody, BC.JULY 04 191240 killed in train accident at Corning, NY.JULY 04 1912Oregon Electric extended from Salem, OR to Albany, OR
JULY 02 1867New York's first el or elevated railroad opens.JULY 02 1881President James A. Garfield is shot at a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad station in Washington, DC. Garfield dies on September 19, 1881.JULY 02 1894The U.S. government issues an injunction against railroad strikers on the grounds that it interferes with interstate commerce and the postal service. U.S. Attorney General Olney has a personal interest in the injunction as a former railroad director and still an attorney for several railroads.JULY 02 1901Butch Cassidy & Sundance Kid rob train of $40,000 at Wagner Montana.
cherokee woman JULY 01 1876Boston & Maine Railroad's Hoosac Tunnel opens in Western Massachusetts. It was the oldest of the long railroad tunnels still in use at the end of the steam era.
JULY 01 1876Boston & Maine Railroad's Hoosac Tunnel opens in Western Massachusetts. It was the oldest of the long railroad tunnels still in use at the end of the steam era.
July 1, 1876, actually marks the date the Hoosac Tunnel was accepted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The 1st freight train had passed through the tunnel on April 5, 1875, and the 1st passenger train on August 13, 1875. When the tunnel opened it was the property of the Troy & Greenfield Railroad which was in turn owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Troy & Greenfield, including the tunnel, was sold to the Fitchburg Railroad in 1887. The Fitchburg in turn was leased to the Boston & Maine Railroad in 1900.
JULY 01 1851First refrigerated car in the U.S. carries eight tons of butter from Ogdensburg, NY to Boston on the Northern New York Railroad in a wooden boxcar insulated with sawdust.JULY 01 1862Transcontinental railroad from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean authorized by an act signed by President Lincoln.JULY 01 1868New York City's 9th Avenue El, the oldest elevated railroad in the world, makes its first trial run.JULY 01 1876Boston & Maine Railroad's Hoosac Tunnel opens in Western Massachusetts. It was the oldest of the long railroad tunnels still in use at the end of the steam era.JULY 01 1893Through service on the Great Northern's line from the Great Lakes to Everett, Washington, began.JULY 01 1901Work begins on Pennsylvania Station.JULY 01 1922400,000 railroad workers go on strike to protest a 12.5% wage cut ordered by the Railroad Labor Board. The strike lasts until September 15 when a Federal Judge issued an injunction banning all strike activities against the railroads.JULY 01 1962Norfolk & Western ends Virginian electrification.JULY 01 1965Last run for Missouri-Kansas-Texas Texas SpecialJULY 01 1968Chicago Great Western is taken over by Chicago & Northwestern.JULY 01 1988Virginia becomes the last state to repeal law requiring cabooses on all trains.
JUNE 30 1947After an anti-trust suit, the Pullman Company sells sleeping car service to 57 railroadsJUNE 30 1952First welded rail on the system laid in the St. John's cut (SP&S Ry.)JUNE 30 1964White Pass & Yukon Railroad phases out steam locomotives.JUNE 30 1965The Missouri-Kansas-Texas becomes freight only.JUNE 30 1977The last Railway Post Office in the U.S. departs Washington, DC bound for New York City.
JUNE 28 1834Engine explodes on Harlem Railroad in New York City shortly after first run.JUNE 28 1895First electric train service in the U.S. begins on the New Haven & Hartford Railroad on the 7-mile Nantasket Branch.
JUNE 27 1861The Central Pacific Railroad is organized in California.JUNE 27 1906Gilpin Tramway sold to Colorado & Southern.JUNE 27 1974Amtrak's computerized ticketing becomes operational.
JUNE 26 1870The Denver & Pacific becomes the first railroad to reach Denver by completing its connection to Cheyenne, WY.JUNE 26 1894Eugene Deb's American Railway Union calls on every signalman, brakeman, switchman, fireman and yardman to not handle, move or in anyway assist in running a Pullman car or any train carrying such a car in support of the Pullman Strike.
Carl, thanks for the extra information on the circus train accident. Very much appreciated.
JUNE 24 1886The first special train of fruit for eastern markets leaves Sacramento, California.JUNE 24 1980Detroit, Toledo & Ironton acquires by Grand Trunk Western.
cherokee womanJUNE 22 1918Circus train rammed by troop train kills 68 at Ivanhoe, Illinois.
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)
JUNE 23 1900A stone bridge near McDonald, Georgia on the Southern Railway is washed away in front of a work train. The train fell into the gap and caught fire, killing 35.JUNE 23 1938New York City Mayor LaGuardia assigns 21 police to patrol subway system.
FROM ARCAMAX HISTORY& QUOTES:
June 22
2009, an evening rush hour collision on Washington's Metrorail Red Line mass transit system in which a speeding train rear ended another that had stopped left nine dead. Investigators blamed a long-standing computer problem.
FROM RAILWAYSTATION.COM:
JUNE 22 1915Brooklyn Rapid Transit, begins subway service.JUNE 22 1918Circus train rammed by troop train kills 68 at Ivanhoe, Illinois.JUNE 22 1956Last regular run of steam; Z-8 #910 leaves Yardley on the Scribner Turn (SP&S Ry.)JUNE 22 1957Kansas City streetcar service ends.JUNE 22 1972Amtrak's first own locomotives, SDP40F's from EMD, debut on the Chicago to Los Angeles Super Chief.
JUNE 21 1970Penn Central files for bankruptcy.
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