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On This Date in Railroad History:

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Tuesday, February 6, 2007 6:58 AM

FEBRUARY 06, 1815

First American railroad charter obtained by inventor and steamboat designer, John Stevens to build a railroad from Trenton to New Brunswick, New Jersey. The railroad was never built.

FEBRUARY 06, 1891

First great train robbery by Dalton Gang. They robbed Southern Pacific's train #17.

FEBRUARY 06, 1951

The Pennsylvania Railroad's "Broker" derails in Woodbridge, New Jersey, killing 84.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Monday, February 5, 2007 6:30 AM

FEBRUARY 05, 2005

A Moroccan family of four was charged in Spain in the March 11 Madrid train bombings  that killed 191 people.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Monday, February 5, 2007 6:14 AM

FEBRUARY 05, 1836

4-4-0 American type steam locomotive patented by Henry R. Campbell.

FEBRUARY 05, 1950

Passenger service ends on the Baltmore & Annapolis Railroad.Sad [:(]

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

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Posted by PBenham on Sunday, February 4, 2007 8:14 AM
LV's Maple Leaf was a New York (Penn)/Philadelphia-Buffalo/Niagara Falls/Toronto train with connections provided by Reading (Philadelphia-Bethlehem),and CN (Niagara Falls/Suspension Bridge-Toronto, with connections at Hamilton for London, Windsor, Sarnia and Chicago). I was too young to have seen it. (DRAT!) Mom and Dad would never have understood why I'd want to be up and at Depew's Niagara Junction  around midnight to see the through consist out of the Falls, pick up the Buffalo coach or vise versa at seven AM. Well, the joke's on me. I have to be at work at 7AM, and for a while way back when, Midnight was when I'd be starting another night of futility, and I'd be praying I'd last to 7AM when I could vanish from there.  
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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Sunday, February 4, 2007 7:52 AM

FEBRUARY 04, 1887

President Grover Cleveland signs the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 creating the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). The ICC regulated rates, service and abandonment of railroads and insures that all the interests of farmers and businessmen are represented.

FEBRUARY 04, 1930

First tieless, soundless, shockless streetcar tracks installed in New Orleans.

FEBRUARY 04, 1941

Santa Fe #100 becomes the  first diesel-electric locomotive to be used in road freight service.

FEBRUARY 04, 1961

With the last run of the Buffalo to New York Maple Leaf, Lehigh Valley becomes freight only.Sad [:(]

FEBRUARY 04, 1963

Chesapeake & Ohio acquires control of the Baltimore & Ohio.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Saturday, February 3, 2007 2:44 PM

FEBRUARY 03, 2005

More than 50 people died when a train slammed into trailer carrying a wedding party at a railroad crossing in India.

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Saturday, February 3, 2007 6:57 AM

FEBRUARY 03, 1898

In a blinding snow storm on the New Haven Railroad, engine #684, pulling a two-car milk train to Fitchburg, Massachusetts, colides with engine #823 which was pushing a snow plow. Fortunately, engine #684 ran up the plow and ended up on top of #823 and no one was seriously hurt. Later, engine #823 carried #684 piggyback to the depot. (I'm thinking that must have been a wild sight to have been a witness to back then!)

FEBRUARY 03, 1973

Providence & Worcester resumes independent operation.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Friday, February 2, 2007 7:57 AM

FEBRUARY 02, 1886

Representatives from the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, Cincinnati Southern, and other southern railroads meet in Atlanta, where they agree to a mass conversion of 13,000 miles of track to a standard gauge of 4' 8 1/2" on May 31 to June 1, 1886.

FEBRUARY 02, 1910

Oregon Electric (OR) acquired by Hill interests.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

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Posted by CShaveRR on Thursday, February 1, 2007 8:21 PM
 CANADIANPACIFIC2816 wrote:
 CShaveRR wrote:
 CANADIANPACIFIC2816 wrote:

January 31, 1948

Norfolk & Western becomes freight only.

Now this one's definitely false--N&W had some trains that lasted until Amtrak Day in 1971.  Names like the Powhatan Arrow and Pocahontas were still around into N&W's diesel age (which was much later than almost everyone else's!).

So, could it possibly be the original Norfolk Southern that lost passenger service about 1948?

This is my goof-up. When did the Norfolk & Western merge with the Southern take place? If there was an "original" Norfolk Southern, I didn't know about it. I assumed it was a typographical error when I read it at railwaystation.com.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

The old Norfolk Southern became a subsidiary of the Southern by 1980.  The current Norfolk Southern merger took place in 1991, IIRC.

Carl

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CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Thursday, February 1, 2007 5:51 AM

FEBRUARY 01, 1908

P&S name changed to SP&S.

FEBRUARY 01, 1910

Oregon Electric Railway (OE) Woodburn Branch service begins.

FEBRUARY 01, 1918

U.S. Senate limits government control of railroads to 18 months.

FEBRUARY 01, 1935

New York City's first trolley line on Fourth Avenue, is converted to buses.

FEBRUARY 01, 1968

The Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central System merge to form the Penn Central Railroad.Sad [:(]

FEBRUARY 01, 1979

The Southern Railway's Southern Crescent service is transferred to Amtrak.Sad [:(]

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

 

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 3:54 PM
 CShaveRR wrote:
 CANADIANPACIFIC2816 wrote:

January 31, 1855

Western railroads blocked by snow..

Keep in mind that there were not too many railroads west of the Mississippi River at this date!

 CANADIANPACIFIC2816 wrote:

January 31, 1948

Norfolk & Western becomes freight only.

Now this one's definitely false--N&W had some trains that lasted until Amtrak Day in 1971.  Names like the Powhatan Arrow and Pocahontas were still around into N&W's diesel age (which was much later than almost everyone else's!).

So, could it possibly be the original Norfolk Southern that lost passenger service about 1948?

This is my goof-up. When did the Norfolk & Western merge with the Southern take place? If there was an "original" Norfolk Southern, I didn't know about it. I assumed it was a typographical error when I read it at railwaystation.com.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

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Posted by CShaveRR on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 3:40 PM
 CANADIANPACIFIC2816 wrote:

January 31, 1855

Western railroads blocked by snow..

Keep in mind that there were not too many railroads west of the Mississippi River at this date!

 CANADIANPACIFIC2816 wrote:

January 31, 1948

Norfolk & Western becomes freight only.

Now this one's definitely false--N&W had some trains that lasted until Amtrak Day in 1971.  Names like the Powhatan Arrow and Pocahontas were still around into N&W's diesel age (which was much later than almost everyone else's!).

So, could it possibly be the original Norfolk Southern that lost passenger service about 1948?

Carl

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CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 7:03 AM

January 31, 1855

Western railroads blocked by snow.

January 31, 1874

Jesse James gang robs train at Gads Hill, Missouri.

January 31, 1932

U.S. railway unions accept 10% wage reduction.

January 31, 1935

The Union Pacific's streamliner M-10000 is placed in daily operation between Salina, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri.

January 31, 1948

Norfolk & Western becomes freight only.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Tuesday, January 30, 2007 7:55 AM

January 30, 1905

The San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake completes line from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City, Utah.

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Monday, January 29, 2007 6:28 AM

January 29, 1873

The Chesapeake & Ohio is completed from Richmond, Virginia to the Ohio River.

January 29, 1884

Patent #292,504 is granted to La Fayette Wilson Page of Shreveport, Louisiana for an Animal Chaser. Page's device was designed to allown an engineer to divert water from the boiler through a nozzle on the front end of the locomotive to clear livestock from the track.

January 29, 1956

Last passenger train on the Virginian Railway.Sad [:(]

January 29, 1980

Milwaukee Road ends revenue service west of Miles City, Montana.Sad [:(]

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Sunday, January 28, 2007 6:07 AM

January 28, 1935

The first streamlined electric locomotive, the GG1, is placed in service on the Pennsylvania Railroad.

January 28, 1962

Washington D.C.'s last streetcar routes, 14th Street and U Street are closed.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Saturday, January 27, 2007 5:39 PM
 CShaveRR wrote:
 CANADIANPACIFIC2816 wrote:

January 27, 1948

First locomotive to carry 1,000,000, pounds operates.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

I'd be interested in knowing the significance of this.  Pulling 500 tons isn't very much; weighing that much might be.  If that's the case, what would it be--C&O's M-1 turbines?

Carl, I have no idea what kind of a locomotive this would have been. My source of information is www.railwaystation.com and it does not give any information as to what the locomotive was or which railroad was involved.

Ray                                                                                                           CANADIANPACIFIC2816

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Posted by CShaveRR on Saturday, January 27, 2007 5:14 PM
 CANADIANPACIFIC2816 wrote:

January 27, 1948

First locomotive to carry 1,000,000, pounds operates.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

I'd be interested in knowing the significance of this.  Pulling 500 tons isn't very much; weighing that much might be.  If that's the case, what would it be--C&O's M-1 turbines?

Carl

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Posted by Railfan1 on Saturday, January 27, 2007 8:29 AM
Keep up the good work CP2816
"It's a great day to be alive" "Of all the words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, It might have been......"
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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Saturday, January 27, 2007 8:20 AM

January 27, 1902

5 workers killed in explosion during subway construction in New York City.

January 27, 1903

Collision on Central of New Jersey at Graceland, New Jersey kills 23.

January 27, 1948

First locomotive to carry 1,000,000, pounds operates.

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Friday, January 26, 2007 7:05 AM

I did some research regarding Great Western Sugar Company's #75 which I had mentioned in my previous post and this is what I found out; #75 served Great Western until 1965 when it was sold to the Intermountain Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, which then sold it to Mr. Everett Roher of Denver in 1966. Following Mr. Roher's death in 1999, #75 was sold to the Heber Valley Railroad in Utah. I am glad that someone got their hands on her and that she did not end up being scrapped.

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Friday, January 26, 2007 5:47 AM

January 26, 1869

Colorado Central Railroad incorporated.

January 26, 1901

The Great Western Railway (owned by the Great Western Sugar Company) begins operation. This Colorado short line operated steam locomotives into the 1960's. One of these steam locomotives was preserved and continued to operate into the mid 1970's to early 1980's, #75, a 2-8-0 was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1907. I think #75 was privately owned by someone in the state of Colorado, and I wonder if anyone out there knows what her current disposition is. I think she might have ended up in the hands of the Colorado Railroad Museum, but I am not sure of that.

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Posted by CShaveRR on Thursday, January 25, 2007 4:42 PM

I'll stand up for you, Ray!

I remember that South Shore wreck, too.  The bridge had a gantlet track--separate rails for each track, but barely wider than a single track.  They've since replaced it with two separated tracks over the NS and former PRR rights-of-way.

Carl

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Thursday, January 25, 2007 4:37 PM
 Forty-two wrote:
 cherokee woman wrote:

FROM ARCAMAX HISTORY AND QUOTES:  (For January 18, 2007)

In 1993, seven people were killed and nearly 70 more injured, when two commuter trains collided on a bridge, in Gary, Ind.

I remember seeing this wreck while we were driving past on the Toll Road.  It was on the South Shore Line.  One train didn't stop for the signal, and the line was double-track except for the bridge.

C.W., You and "CanadianPacific2816" do a great job of keeping this up.  Others maybe can help, if they remember things on specific dates.  Then if either of you gets a life, we will still have a reference to use.

I don't know what Forty-two means when he says "Then if either of you gets a life,", but the only reason why I spend my time posting these bits of railroad historical information is because I enjoy reading about them and I enjoy having the oportunity to share them with others out there.

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Posted by Forty-two on Thursday, January 25, 2007 4:05 PM
 cherokee woman wrote:

FROM ARCAMAX HISTORY AND QUOTES:  (For January 18, 2007)

In 1993, seven people were killed and nearly 70 more injured, when two commuter trains collided on a bridge, in Gary, Ind.

I remember seeing this wreck while we were driving past on the Toll Road.  It was on the South Shore Line.  One train didn't stop for the signal, and the line was double-track except for the bridge.

C.W., You and "CanadianPacific2816" do a great job of keeping this up.  Others maybe can help, if they remember things on specific dates.  Then if either of you gets a life, we will still have a reference to use.

Forty-two
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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Thursday, January 25, 2007 7:37 AM

January 25, 1875

The Pinkerton Detective Agency bombs the home of bank and train robbers, Jesse and Frank James. Neither of the brothers is there, but their half brother, Archie is killed and their mother is injured.

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 6:25 AM

January 24, 1854

Chicago linked by rail to eastern cities.

January 24, 1900

New York City Mayor Van Wyck breaks ground for the city's first subway.

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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Tuesday, January 23, 2007 7:13 AM

January 23, 1890

A new American speed record of 78.1 MPH is set by an Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe train.

January 23, 1902

Columbia River & Northern Railway (CR&N) incorporated.

January 23, 1963

Florida East Coast is struck by 11 non-operating unions.

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Posted by cherokee woman on Monday, January 22, 2007 7:38 AM

FROM ARCAMAX HISTORY & QUOTES:

 

On January 22, 2006, more than 100,000 passengers were reported stranded by heavy snow, that paralyzed part of China's railway network, for 24 hours.

 

 

Angel cherokee woman "O'Toole's law: Murphy was an optimist."
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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Monday, January 22, 2007 5:18 AM

January 22, 1912

Florida East Coast Railway, opens overseas railroad service to Key West.

January 22, 1956

Santa Fe RDCs derail on curve in Los Angeles, killing 30.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

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