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February 13, 1849 The Vermont Central Railway opens from White River Junction south to Windsor VT.

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February 13, 1855 The Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad (later GTW) is formed by the merger of the Detroit & Pontiac and Oakland & Ottawa Railroad. This will create a continuous line from Detroit to Lake Michigan. (Some sources say February 12)

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Mark Tomlonson

Railroad & Shortlines Club of Chicago

7:30 pm Central Standard Time
Friday, February 16, 2024

Please do not arrive before 7:15 pm. Also, if you are joining us on Zoom, please do not join the meeting before 7:15 pm on the day of the meeting. This Zoom account is used for various meetings throughout the week but just one meeting can occur at a time.

Zoom codes are at the end of this message.

Our next meeting will be both an in-person meeting and a Zoom meeting. If enough people from outside the Chicago area attending Zoom meetings become Club members, this will encourage the Club to make hybrid meetings a permanent feature. Dues are $20 which includes four glossy newsletters sent by mail. The dues renewal is sent with the fourth newsletter. We still have slide shows which will not be presented via Zoom.

Here are details about joining Railroad & Shortlines Club of Chicago:


In-person meeting location
Chicago Union Station
Room 107A
500 W Jackson Blvd (enter between Clinton and Canal)
Chicago, Illinois

Rondout and vicinity, part 2
by Bill Edwards

Bill Edwards will show us more action at Rondout. We'll take a look at the original branch of the Milwaukee Road predecessor toward Liberty, which due to an obvious geographic feature could not be extended straight west. We'll see freight on the North Shore in the final days of the railroad. Bill will present a bit of history about the Rondout Train Robbery of 1924. We'll see 100 mph trains through Rondout, tower operations, Amtrak over the years, and current day preservation efforts.

Upcoming programs:

March 15, 2024: Chicago to Freeport on the G&CU by William Shapotkin
April 19, 2024: to be announced
May 17, 2024: Batavia, IL: three railroads, six lines by Leo Phillipp
June 21, 2024: to be announced

Railroad & Shortlines Club of Chicago meets at Chicago Union Station at 7:30 pm Central on the third Friday of the month except in July and August.

For program announcements, please subscribe to our groups.io mailing list. Send a blank email message
To: [email protected]

To obtain Zoom meeting credentials for future programs given by Zoom, the best way is to subscribe to our groups.io mailing list.

Web site:
Email: shortlinechicagoHS@...
Facebook:

Phone number answered during the program: 312 725-0432. At other times, leave message with your name and telephone number to receive a call back.

Join Zoom Meeting


Meeting ID: 893 0850 3955
Passcode: 072004

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February 10, 1851 The Illinois Central Railroad receives its charter. It is the first land-grant railroad in the United States.

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February 10, 1950 Canadian National Railway gains control of Temiscouta Railway, operating in Quebec and New Brunswick.

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February 11, 1998 Canadian National purchases the Illinois Central for $2.4 billion (US - $4.55 billion in 2024 dollars) in cash and shares.

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Mark Tomlonson

February 8, 1855 The first passenger train leaves Halifax NS.

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February 8, 1918 The USRA announces that it will standardize rolling stock for all new equipment orders.

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February 8, 1986 A Canadian National freight runs a red signal in Dalehurst AB, possibly because the crew was asleep, and crashes head-on into VIA's train No. 4. Twenty-three people are killed; 71 are injured. Most of the first responders come from Hinton, just over 11 miles (18 kilometers) away.

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Mark Tomlonson

February 7, 1880 The first Grand Trunk passenger train leaves Chicago for points east.

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Mark Tomlonson

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According to sources, it's a Republic RL1000 and is headed for K&K Oshawa for scrap.

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February 2, 1927 Canadian National opens Spadina Yard in Toronto. It is built on a former Grand Trunk yard that dates back to the 1850's. Construction on the yard will continue for at least two more years.

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February 3, 1862 Thomas Edison becomes the first newspaper publisher to distribute his paper on a train. He sells his one-page Weekly Herald on a Grand Trunk train between Port Huron and Detroit.

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February 3, 1930 The Detroit, Toledo & Ironton ends freight service between Tecumseh and Dundee MI. Passenger service to Dundee was dropped last month.

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February 3, 1958 Railway Age Magazine reports 1,377 active steamers on U.S. rails and 1,709 in Canada. Mikados (2-8-2) are the most common type still steaming. The editors add, "The future of steam is in a museum."

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February 3, 1995 Canadian National sells the former Central Vermont line from New London CT to East Alborg VT to RailTex. RailTex will operate the line as the New England Central Railroad.

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February 4, 1887 The Interstate Commerce Act is signed into law, setting up a commission to regulate rates on the railroads and ensure that the interests of farmers and small businessmen are represented. Thomas Cooley of Michigan is the commission's first Chairman.

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February 4, 1911 In honor of the work being done on the canal, Illinois Central names its premier passenger train the "Panama Limited".

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Mark Tomlonson

February 1, 1890 Canada Atlantic Railway (later GT, CN) bridges the St. Lawrence River.

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February 1, 1971 Canadian National again withdraws the Turbos from service to begin a rebuild program.

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February 1, 1990 CN Rail begins running trains without cabooses (aka “vans”).

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Mark Tomlonson

January 31, 1932 Railway unions in the United States accept a 10% pay cut in hopes of easing the effects of the Depression on the railroads which will in turn allow them to keep their jobs.

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January 31, 1957 Last passenger service on the Illinois Central to Paducah KY.

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January 31, 2009 Canadian National takes control of most of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern. CN has acquired the line to connect its Wisconsin Central, Illinois Central and Grand Trunk lines while avoiding the congestion of Chicago.

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Mark Tomlonson

January 30, 1923 The Grand Trunk is absorbed into the Canadian National. The Grand Trunk within the United States is spun off and becomes the Grand Trunk Western. CN will operate the GTW as a subsidiary.

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Mark Tomlonson

Grain train CN 878 entering the Port of Montreal on Wednesday afternoon.




Michael Berry

January 26, 1967 A major blizzard in the Great Lakes states shuts down many railroads.

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January 26, 1978 Over 2 feet of snow falls on the Midwest. High winds with the snow snarl all forms of transportation, including rail. Several railroads use wedge plows and snow blowers to clear the rails after the blizzard passes.

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January 27, 1854 The Great Western Railway (later GT, CN) opens between London and Windsor Ontario.

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Mark Tomllonson

January 25, 1973 Canadian National Railways expands the Turbos to 9-car sets, eliminating two Turbos. The remaining equipment is stored and will eventually be sold to Amtrak.

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January 25, 2011 The Association of American Railroads announces that the car defect card, in use for almost 125 years, is discontinued. Instead of using the 3.5 x 8 inch card, problems with freight cars will now be reported and tracked using AAR's Raillinc car-tracking program.

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Mark Tomlonson

IC 9628 & CN 4912 in Montreal on Sunday morning.



Michael Berry

January 22, 1858 The directors of the Great Western take control of the Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad (later GT).

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Mark Tomlonson

January 20, 1874 The Chicago lakefront depot used by the Michigan Central, Illinois Central and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroads is destroyed by fire.

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January 20, 1880 The Illinois Central completes its purchase of the New Orleans, St. Louis & Chicago Railroad, which it has controlled since 1877.

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January 20, 1923 Canadian Government Railways incorporate as Canadian National Railways. Railways affected are Canadian Northern, Intercolonial, National Transcontinental, Grand Trunk Pacific Branch Lines, New Brunswick & Prince Edward Island, International Railway of New Brunswick, Salisbury & Albert, Elgin & Havelock, St. Martin's, Lotbiniere & Megantic, Caraquet & Gulf Shore and the New Glasgow Iron, Coal & Railway.

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January 21, 1903 The Grand Trunk moves into a new depot at Lansing MI. Grand Trunk officials tout the station as "the handsomest between Portland ME and Chicago".

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Mark Tomlonson

CN 324 in Longueuil, Qc on Sunday morning.



Michael Berry

January 17, 1854 The Great Western of Canada is completed to Windsor ON.

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Mark Tomlonson