While I am not sure how to go about finding significant items for this particular date in history, I remember a time when a lot of people were playing the game "Trivial Pursuit". I have often thought that it would be fun to create a game like this just for us railroad enthusiasts. Has anyone else out there had basically the same thought??
CANADIANPACIFIC2816
Cherokee Woman, I did some digging into today's date in railroad history and I have come up with a few more entries.
September 27, 1835
Phineas Davis, inventor of the first practical coal burning locomotive, is killed when his invention, the York, derails.
September 27, 1864
Jesse James gang surprise attack train: 150 killed.
September 27, 1890
Farmers Transportation Company is renamed the Columbia Railway & Navigation Company (CR&N).
September 27, 1923
37 killed in train accident in Casper, Wyoming.*
*I am guessing this happened on the CB&Q, although I could be wrong.
CANADIANPACIFIC2816 wrote:September 27, 1923 37 killed in train accident in Casper, Wyoming.* *I am guessing this happened on the CB&Q, although I could be wrong. CANADIANPACIFIC2816
RJ
"Something hidden, Go and find it. Go and look behind the ranges, Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go." The Explorers - Rudyard Kipling
http://sweetwater-photography.com/
September 28, 1956
C&O completes dieselization.
September 28, 1981
Illinois Central becomes first RoadRailer operator.
yippinyahoo wrote:Jesse James killed 150 people in a train robbery??? I had no idea
rrandb wrote:I beleive in there attempt to stop the train they caused a catastrophic train wreck that resulted in a huge loss of life. Not hard to do with wooden coaches, telescoping and the ensuing fires.
videomaker wrote:150 Killed ! That has to be a misprint ...I dont hink the James Gang killed that many people in their whole carrer! I could be wrong tho...Danny
September 29, 1849
New Haven Railroad provides first passenger train service to Peekskill, NY.
September 29, 1890
Railroads forfeit unused land grants, which had been granted as inducement for constructing new lines.
September 29th 1913
Rudolph C.K. Diesel, inventor of the diesel engine, dies at 55.
September 29, 1957
0-3 #539 moved to Ester Short Park, in Vancouver, Wa (SP&S Ry).
September 29, 1962
Last steam-powered run on the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range.
September 29, 1967
Last RPO run on the Southern Pacific.
Monon becomes freight only.
September 29, 1978
VIA Rail Canada takes over Canadian Pacific passenger operations.
September 29, 1988
Washington, D.C.'s Union Station returns to service as passenger terminal.
CANADIANPACIFIC2816 wrote: September 28, 1981 Illinois Central becomes first RoadRailer operator.
Somebody obviously forgot about the C&O's use of RoadRailers in the late 1950s and early 1960s!
Where do you think these Johnny-come-latelies got the idea?
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)
CShaveRR wrote: CANADIANPACIFIC2816 wrote: September 28, 1981 Illinois Central becomes first RoadRailer operator. Somebody obviously forgot about the C&O's use of RoadRailers in the late 1950s and early 1960s! Where do you think these Johnny-come-latelies got the idea?
Don't worry, Ray, we're not blaming you.
As for a source, you've got the best possible source right here, with a lot of well-informed correspondents, experienced railroaders, and historians. No malice in corrections--just a desire to set the records straight whenever possible.
CANADIANPACIFIC2816 wrote: September 27, 1864 Jesse James gang surprise attack train: 150 killed. CANADIANPACIFIC2816
Actually, Quantrill's Raiders, the renegade Confederate gang that Jesse James rode with during the Civil War, ransacked Lawrence, Kansas, killing 150 people. I don't think a train was involved.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
September 30, 1877
The Southern Pacific enters Arizona at Yuma, becoming the first railroad in the Territory.
September 30, 1914
Great Northern Pacific Steamship Co. (GNPSS) incorporated.
And Cherokee Woman already covered the the detail of Amtrak discontinuing the Chicago to Dubuque, Iowa Black Hawk run, so I will not list that.
October 1, 1834
Patent issued to Ross Winans for the first locomotive with six or eight driving wheels.
October 1, 1861
Theodore Judah recommends Donner Pass route for the Central Pacific through the Sierra Nevadas.
October 1st, 1931
Cotton Belt's Blue Streak freight service begins.
October 1, 1943
T.F. Dixon becomes Vice-President & General Manager of SP&S Ry.
October 1, 1964
San Francisco cable cars declared a national landmark.
October 1, 1967
Last run of Chicago, Burlington & Quincy's Fast Mail.
October 1, 1979
Amtrak's National Limited, Lone Star, North Coast Hiawatha and Hilltopper are discontinued.
October 1, 1988
Last run of Canadian National narrow gauge in Newfoundland.
(I wasn't even aware that the CN operated narrow gauge trackage in that part of the world........interesting!)
October 02, 1872
Colorado's second largest narrow gauge railroad, the Denver, South Park & Pacific is incorporated.
October 02, 1882
Asked whether he operates his railroads for the public benefit, William Vanderbuilt answers: "The public be damned! What does the public care for railroads, except to get as much out of them for as little consideration as possible!"
October 02, 1960
Last steam run on the Illinois Central.
October 03, 1837
The Sandusky, the first locomotive equipped with a whistle, makes it's first run from Patterson to Brunswick, New Jersey.
October 03, 1937
Railroad unions win 44 cent per day pay raise.
CANADIANPACIFIC2816 wrote: October 1, 1988 Last run of Canadian National narrow gauge in Newfoundland. (I wasn't even aware that the CN operated narrow gauge trackage in that part of the world........interesting!)
CN only took over the old Newfoundland Railway in 1949, after Newfoundland joined Canada, as part of the agreement regarding Confederation. I was recently up there, and this is the report I posted elsewhere about the trip. It includes a few links to the history of the Newfoundland Railway.
As you may remember, we made a trip to Newfoundland this summer, and I’m just now getting around to editing my photos and writing up some notes. Thought I’d share a few thoughts about the trip. I was born in Newfoundland, but not raised there. And I’ve never been all that interested in the history of the railroad there until I started preparing for this trip.
To give a quick, condensed summary of the Newfoundland Railway, suffice it to say that it was built between 1881 – 1898. It was narrow gauge, built to 3’-6” gauge. About 550 miles of mainline from the capital, St John’s to Port-aux-Basques on the southwestern coast.
Including all branch lines, total mileage was around 900 miles (depending on at what period you were measuring), making it the longest narrow gauge system in North America. After Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949, the Newfoundland Railway came under the control of Canadian National. Towards the end of its run, they changed the name to Terra Transport.
Like many railroads serving large, underpopulated regions, it was a money losing proposition. When government funds starting running low, and with the competition from the newly completed Trans-Canada Highway in 1956, traffic decreased and deficits mounted. Service was terminated in 1988. Tracks were torn up almost immediately afterwards. Very little track or equipment remains today.
For more detailed information see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newfoundland_Railway
Okay, enough background. We landed at St Johns, and spent most of our time out on the Bonavista Peninsula, so my train watching was limited to spots in between those points, which covers basically the eastern section of the island.
Here’s a map of the island:
http://home.earthlink.net/~lkstrong/NfldMap.htm
Considering that I had the wife and junior in tow, I got to see a good number of sites. We hit the Railway Coastal Museum, Avondale, Whitbourne, Clarenville, Trinity Loop, Bonavista and Pt Union.
Best Museum
Wow, they sure did a good job on restoring the old main station and railroad headquarters building in St John’s and turning it into the “Railway Coastal Museum”. Good exhibits with lots of photos and displays. Learned a lot about the Coastal Boats too. (The railroad also operated a fleet of small coastal boats providing passenger and freight service to outlying posts). Nice job restoring and/or preserving the building. Too bad they didn’t have more rolling stock outside, but the museum itself is excellent. Here’s a shot of the building.
Best preserved rolling stock
I have to hand it to Bonavista. The locomotive (#932) and cars there were in the best condition of those that we saw. The station building is nicely maintained and serves as a senior citizen center. I have no idea how much the current condition resembles the station as it was when it was in service. #932 is a class NF210 diesel, 1200 hp, built by EMD in the late 50’s.
Biggest (pleasant) surprise
I’m originally from Pt Union. Of course, the trains were gone from that particular branch long before I came along. In fact, I never associated trains with Pt Union. I knew they had recently turned the old station into a museum, but didn’t really expect to see much. Turns out that they did a very nice job of reconditioning the building. It was moved some 50-100 yards from where it originally stood. While about half the station is dedicated to the town in
CANADIANPACIFIC2816 wrote: October 03, 1937 Railroad unions win 44 cent per day pay raise.
That's about 550 percent of our most recent pay raise!
October 04, 1904
First day of New York City subway has 350,000 riders.
October 04, 1967
Santa Fe president John Reed announces that the railroad plans to drop all but a handful of first class passenger trains.
October 04, 1969
Last wooden passenger subway cars retired at Brooklyn.
October 04, 1970
First excursion train on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad.
October 04, 1980
Smithsonian reactivates 2-4-0 John Bull.
October 04, 1981
Amtrak's Chicago to East Peoria Prairie Marksman is discontinued.
October 06, 1846
George Westinghouse is born.
October 06, 1866
The four Reno brothers, hold up their first train, taking $13,000.00 from the safes on a moving Ohio & Mississippi train. This was the first robbery of a train in motion.
October 06, 1935
Market Street Railway starts using trackless trolley coaches.
CANADIANPACIFIC2816 wrote: September 27, 1864 Jesse James gang surprise attack train: 150 killed.
The Centralia Massacre was an ambush by bushwhackers under Bloody Bill Anderson during the American Civil War in which 22 Union soldiers were executed at the Centralia, Missouri train station on September 27, 1864.
Jesse James was among the bushwhackers.
In the ensuing Battle of Centralia when federals attempted to capture Anderson another 123 federals were killed.
October 07, 1826
The first American railroad is completed in Quincy, Massachusetts. Horse draw wagons carrying granite were pulled from a quarry along a 3-mile track for the Bunker Hill Monument.
October 07, 1834
First American railroad tunnel opens on the Allegheny Portage Railroad, east of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
October 07, 1948
Passengers aboard the Baltimore & Ohio's Marylander between Washington and New York saw the first practical demonstration of television reception aboard a moving train.
October 07, 1949
The Gulf, Mobile & Ohio becomes one of the first major railroads to completely dieselize after it's last steam operation.
October 07, 1960
General Manager N.S. Westergard assumes additional post of Vice-President (SP&S Ry.)
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