Arizona, June 9th:
In 1901, the first spike was driven on the narrow gauge railroad of the Greene Consolidated Copper Company from Naco to the mines in Cananea.
In 1904, a fire of incendiary origin in Nogales destroyed the Southern Pacific Station, U.S. Customs building, Wells Fargo Depot and several freight cars.
What are we to think of Jay Gould? In his day he was reviled as satan incarnate. Today we have the benefit of historical perspective.
He is well known for fighting and winning the Erie Wars with Cornelius Vanderbilt in the 1860's. Gould quickly adopted Vanderbilt's tactics; both men bribed judges and legislators. Before we judge either man too harshly, though, I think we should bear in mind that they were simply following the rules of their day. Most of all, after Vanderbilt, Daniel Drew and their cronies stripped the Erie of all of its resources Gould picked up the pieces, got it running again and substantially increased the value of its stock. Never the less he was secretive to the point where stockholders eventually pushed him out of the Presidency with a Federal lawsuit.
While he was President of the Erie he also is known for the Gold Corner. He saw that President Grant's policy of maintaining the price of 100 gold dollars at 135 greenback dollars would cause great losses to wheat farmers in harvesting the bumper crop of 1869. He persuaded President Grant to hold gold from Fort Knox off the market to let the price rise so wheat farmers could make a profit. To obtain Grant's cooperation he made "loans" which were really bribes to Grants's brother in law, Abel Corwin, Grant's sister, Virginia Grant Corwin and Grant's wife Julia. Gould testified to the Congress that his interest, as President of the Erie, was in freight revenue from shipping wheat. Gould had bought gold on his own account. Ultimately, when the price of gold was above $160 in greenbacks Grant released gold from Fort Knox and over night the price dropped to $135 in greenbacks for $100 in gold. Whether Gould made money, lost money or came out even is not known.
He went on to become President of the Union Pacific and then the Missouri Pacific as well as being involved in New York rapid transit and the telegraph business. When he died in 1892 he had the second largest fortune in America.
My own sources of information are Maury Klein The Life and Legend of Jay Gould and T. J. Stiles The First Tycoon, a biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt.
From Arcamax History & Quotes for May 27th:
Financier and railroad developer Jay Gould in 1836 was born
1830 The first passenger railroad in the United States began service between Baltimore and Ellicott Mills, Md.
This is from whas11.com's Today in History.
On May 22,1868, seven members of the Reno gang stole $98,000 from a railway car at Marshfield, Ind. It was the original Great Train Robbery.
Arizona, May 17th:
In 1900, an Arizona and New Mexico Railroad freight train crashed through a bridge near Clifton. Three people were killed and nine injured.
Arizona, May 16th:
In 1930, outlaws set fire to the railway trestle between Miami and Globe in an effort to wreck the Southern Pacific train, but the engineer opened the throttle and raced through the flames.
Arizona, May 15th:
In 1922, outlaws attempted the holdup of the Southern Pacific Golden State at Jayne's Station near Tucson. One was killed and the others fled as the express messenger used his shotgun.
The strike began when George Mortimer Pullman, during the depression of 1893, decided to cut wages by 25 per cent and, at the same time, refused to lower the rents in the houses he owned and required his workers to live in. The strike spread throughout the railroad industry. Then President Grover Cleveland sided with Pullman. He called out the United States Army. 30 strikers were killed and many more were injured but the Army broke the strike for Pullman. It is hard to overstate the bitterness that was left behind.
May 11th: 1894Workers at the Pullman Palace Car Co. in Illinois went on strike. (The job action spread and crippled railroad service nationwide before the federal government intervened to end the strike in July.)
If you look at a map of Utah, you will see that Promontory Point is right on the Great Salt Lake; when the Lucin Cutoff was built on the early 20th century, rails reached Promontory Point. Promontory Summit, now called Promontory, is the location of the ofiicial joining of the two roads. Promontory Point is the southern end of the Promontory Mountains.
Johnny
May 10, 1869. A golden spike driven into a laurel wood cross tie marked the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Point, Utah. As the spike was driven home the telegraph sent out a single word: "Done." The Central Paciic's Jupiter and the Union Pacific's Number 19 rolled up and touched cowcatcher to cowcatcher. At 1800 miles this was by far the longest railroad in the world and guaranteed the integrity of the United States against the powers of Europe. It was the beginning of the creation of the United States as we know it today.
PS. Is there a link between 1908 legislation about water transportation and railroads?
I suspect that E. H. Harriman was behind he. By forcing the steamboats to buy all those bells he hoped to improve the competitive positions of the Southern Pacific and the Union and Central Pacific.
cacole Arizona, May 6th: In 1908, the federal government ordered all river steamers to be equipped with fog bells, including those that travel on the Colorado River where there are no fogs. River Capt. Jack Mellon said that the order would be followed, but said, "It's like the order that snow plows be attached to all trains on the Yuma-Tucson division of the Southern Pacific."
Arizona, May 6th:
In 1908, the federal government ordered all river steamers to be equipped with fog bells, including those that travel on the Colorado River where there are no fogs. River Capt. Jack Mellon said that the order would be followed, but said, "It's like the order that snow plows be attached to all trains on the Yuma-Tucson division of the Southern Pacific."
Never say never. http://pics.tucsonnewsnow.com/Media/View/3151729
Arizona, May 5th:
In 1910, Tucson citizens celebrated the opening of the Tucson-West Coast of Mexico Railroad.
And May 1, 1971 is an important day in passenger rail history, Cherokee Woman. It rivals the beginning of the Charleston and Hamburg, the nation's first railroad to offer regularly scheduled passenger service.
In 1971, Amtrak, the national passenger rail service that combined the operations of 18 passenger railroads, went into service.
Arizona, April 30th
In 1922, the Phoenix-Miami-Globe railroad, connecting the Salt River Valley with the Gila Valley was opened at a celebration attended by hundreds in Miami.
In 2005, the crash of a Japanese commuter train near Osaka killed more than 70 people and injured more than 300 others.
Arizona, April 14th:
In 1927, the first passenger train of the Southern Pacific of Mexico Railroad left Nogales for Guadalajara.
Arizona, April 6th:
In 1920, Mexican strikers abandoned a freight train loaded with tomatoes 25 miles south of Nogales, Mexico, and every truck in the twin towns was requisitioned to salvage the freight and unload it in Nogales, Arizona.
Tomorrow, March 23, a marker will be put in place at Baltimore's Camden Station to memorialize the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. I understand this was the first of what would be many strikes against US railroads. More information is available here:
http://www.baltimoreheritage.org/2013/03/new-historic-marker-commemorates-the-1877-railroad-strike-at-camden-station/
From WHAS.com's Today in History for March, 20th:
1995 A doomsday cult released sarin nerve gas in five Tokyo subway stations, killing 12 people and injuring more than 5,500.
Arizona, March 20th:
In 1880, the first Southern Pacific train arrived in Tucson.
1917The Supreme Court upheld the eight-hour work day for railroads.
March 17, 1870. Mercer and Somerset Railroad is chartered by the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Companies. The M&S was created to block the National Railway. It ultimately resulted in the Great Frog War in 1876. The NR won and shortly thereafter the M&S went bankrupt.
- Railroad engineer and hero of the ballad Casey Jones, whose real name was John Luther Jones, in 1864. Happy Birthday, John Luther.
Arizona, March 12th:
In 1895, thousands celebrated the arrival of the first Santa Fe train into Phoenix.
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