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October 25, 1854 The broad gauge (5'6") Carillon & Greenville Railway opens near Hawkesbury ON as a portage railway around Hawkesbury Rapids. On this date in 1910 it will close, having become the last broad gauge railroad in North America. From 1914 to 1988 the route will be used by Canadian National.

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October 25, 1926 The Detroit, Toledo & Ironton begins using Pullman-built gas-electric cars between Delray and Bainbrdge OH. The new equipment cuts travel time from 11 to 9 ? hours.

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October 25, 1969 The last loads of livestock are unloaded at Durand MI.

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October 26, 1874 The Grand Trunk Railway is converted from 5’ 6” (1676 mm) gauge to Standard Gauge east of Montreal.

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October 26, 1951 Quebec Light & Power Company sells its 26 mile (42 km) Montmorency Division, running between Quebec City and Joachim to the Canadian National Railway.

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October 26, 1995 The Montreal / Deux-Montagnes Commuter Train Line is modernized and reopened after being closed for three consecutive summers.

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October 27, 1854 Near present day Jeanette’s creek in Chatham-Kent ON on the Great Western Railway (later GT, CN), a gravel train that had falsely been given clearance collides head-on with a passenger train running at least 4 hours late.? The wreck kills 52 people and leaves as many as 60 injured. It is Canada’s first major train wreck and the worst train wreck in North America at that time.

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October 27, 1856 First train between Montreal and Toronto over what will become the Canadian National "Kingston" subdivision.

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Mark Tomlonson

October 23, 1959 Grand Trunk Western 4-8-4 6325 is donated to the City of Battle Creek and placed on display in a city park.

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Mark Tomlonson

October 22, 1906 William Mackenzie and Donald Mann file plans with the Government of Canada to build their Canadian Northern Railway's mainline from Edmonton through the Yellowhead Pass to the Pacific coast. The greater portion of the line remains in service as Canadian National's mainline.

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October 22, 1929 The Grand Trunk carferry "Milwaukee" is lost in a violent storm in Lake Michigan. Waves smash the seagate, which allows water to enter the lower decks through grates covering the coal chutes on the car deck. None of the 42 people aboard survive. The hull will be located in 1972.

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October 22, 2004 Canadian National Railway announces it is opening shipping offices in Shanghai and Beijing.

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Mark Tomlonson

October 21, 1918 First train on the Montreal - Deux-Montagnes line.

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Mark Tomlonson

October 19, 1878 The Detroit & Milwaukee is reorganized as the Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee. [later GTW]

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October 19, 1893 A Grand Trunk passenger train wrecks at Battle Creek MI, killing 26.

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October 20, 1881 Construction of the Pontiac, Oxford & Port Austin Railroad (later GTW) begins in Caseville, bringing rail service to Michigan's "Thumb" area.

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October 20, 1920 The Association of American Railroads issues standards for stenciling reporting marks on the sides of freight cars.

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October 20, 1978 Vicksburg MI loses its agent, the last person working in the passenger depot. The structure, located at the crossing of the former Grand Rapids & Indiana and Grand Trunk Western, is now home to the Vicksburg Historical Society.

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Mark Tomlonson

October 17, 1960 In the United States, five operating unions and the railroads agree to the creation of a Federal Commission to study work rules and "featherbedding". The railroads have agreed, believing that their viewpoint will prevail.

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Mark Tomlonson

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October 15, 1870 Service on the Chicago & Lake Huron, Western Division (later GT, GTW, CN) between Climax Prairie (now Climax) and Battle Creek MI begins.

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October 15, 1949 The Gulf, Mobile & Ohio retires its last steam locomotive, 2-8-2 #404, becoming the first major U.S. railroad to dieselize. The event is covered in a "Life" magazine feature.

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Mark Tomlonson

October 14, 1958 Gulf, Mobile & Ohio passenger service south of St. Louis ends with the withdrawal of its "Gulf Coast Rebel".

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Mark Tomlonson

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Happy Thanksgiving!

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October 13, 1902 Professor Ernest Rutherford of McGill University, who would earn the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1908, is the first to demonstrate wireless communication between a station and a moving train. His test subject was a special Grand Trunk passenger train running between Toronto and Montreal.

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October 13, 1914 The Algoma Central & Hudson Bay Railway [later AC, WC, CN, GDLK], building north from Sault Ste. Marie Ontario, opens its northernmost section between Oba and Hearst, Ontario.

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Mark Tomlonson

October 9, 2001 The Canadian National absorbs the Wisconsin Central. Purchase price: $2.1 billion. [2024: $3.78 billion]

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Mark Tomlonson

October 8, 1908 The Grand Trunk buys carferry “Manistique, Marquette & Northern 1” and rechristens it “Milwaukee”.

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Mark Tomlonson

October 4, 1922 Canadian National Railways becomes a corporate entity.

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October 4, 1978 The diamond at Vicksburg MI, crossing the Grand Trunk with the former Grand Rapids & Indiana, is taken out of service and removed. A Conrail switch job earlier in the day was the last to use the former PRR Crossing.

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Mark Tomlonson

October 3, 1873 Grand Trunk railway begins converting its 421-mile (678 km) Montreal-Stratford main line from broad (5 foot 6 inches) to standard gauge. The job is finished in less than 24 hours.

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October 3, 1973 Amtrak acquires a new Turbo set from Canadian National Railways.

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Mark Tomlonson

October 2, 1855 The Detroit & Milwaukee (later GTW) is completed from Detroit to Fentonville, a distance of 50 miles.

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Mark Tomlonson

October 1, 1860 The bankrupt Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad is reorganized as the Detroit & Milwaukee Railway (later GT).

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October 1, 1903 Durand Union Depot is dedicated.

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October 1, 1905 The Grand Trunk Railway assumes control of the Canada Atlantic Railway.

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October 1, 1937 This month’s issue of “Railroad Magazine” carries an item on the Canadian National station at Callander, ON. The station, originally just a passenger coach, has been replaced by a larger, permanent structure due to the extra rail traffic generated by the Dionne Quintuplets.

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October 1, 1981 Grand Trunk Western acquires the Detroit & Toledo Shore Line Railroad.

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Mark Tomlonson

September 27, 1856 The Illinois Central Railroad is completed between Galena and Cairo with a "branch" from Centralia to Chicago at a cost of over $25 million [2024: $926 million]. At 705 miles it is the longest railroad line in the world. (Some sources say September 21)

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September 29, 1849 The Vermont Central Railway opens between Middlesex and Waterbury.

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September 29, 1930 The conversion of track on Prince Edward Island from 3 feet six inch gauge to standard gauge is completed.

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September 29, 1946 The Illinois Central Railroad dieselizes all passenger trains running between Chicago and St. Louis.

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Mark Tomlonson

September 26, 1942 Due to the war, U.S. passenger service levels are frozen in place as of October 4. No new trains or sections are allowed. Seasonal and excursion trains are forbidden.

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September 26, 2007 Canadian National Railway Company and United States Steel announce that CN will attempt to acquire a major portion of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern. This will link CN's Wisconsin Central, Illinois Central and Grand Trunk Western properties in the Chicago area. Transtar, US Steel's railroad company, will retain some trackage around the Gary Works and be re-named the Gary Railroad.

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Mark Tomlonson