December 31, 1853 Canada's Great Western Railway opens between Hamilton and London Ontario.

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December 31, 1870 The Vermont Central Railroad leases The Rutland Railroad.

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December 31, 1887 Michigan's only international railroad bridge, the 1.2-mile series of spans across the rapids of the St. Mary's River at Sault Ste. Marie is opened. The double bascule spans are, at the time, the largest of this type of in the world.

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December 31, 1955 Grand Trunk Western drops passenger service between Pontiac and Caseville MI. The last run carried one passenger: a reporter covering the event.

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December 31, 1968 The Pullman Co., owned by the railroads to provide sleeping car services, ceases all operations, primarily due to Penn Central's insistence that it staff its own cars.

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December 31, 1983 All running boards are to be removed from box cars and refrigerator cars.

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December 31, 2011 The Canadian National fully absorbs the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range and the Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific railroads. The two roads are placed in the CN-controlled Wisconsin Central Ltd. family.

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December 31, 2012 The Canadian National reorganizes its holdings in the former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern and places them in CN’s Wisconsin Central Ltd.

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Mark Tomlonson

December 27, 1902 During a raging blizzard, the “Pacific Express” slams into a freight train near Wanstead ONT. The two Grand Trunk trains collide as the freight was pulling into the siding for the meet. Thirty-one people are killed.

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December 27, 1906 Michigan Central buys the Chicago, Kalamazoo & Saginaw (later NYC, PC, CR; one branch GTW, CN) to thwart plans by the Pere Marquette to make it a link in a shorter Chicago-Detroit route. The MC has little interest in operating the line and the Sergeant family continues to run it much as they had before the purchase.

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December 27, 1941 The U.S. Office of Price Administration begins the rationing of rubber. The lack of rubber for automobile tires will lead many travelers to choose the train.

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December 27, 1943 The War Department takes possession of all U.S. railroads.

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Mark Tomlonson

December 26, 1896 The Lake Manitoba Railway and Canal Company operates its first train from Dauphin to Portage la Prairie. Within two years the company is renamed the Canadian Northern Railway Company.

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December 26, 1917 President Wilson announces that the U.S. federal government will be taking over operation of the railroads under the authority of the Army Appropriations Act of 1916. The railroads will be administered by the United States Railway Administration (USRA).

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Mark Tomlonson

December 24, 1878 The Grand Trunk and the Chicago & Lake Huron Railroads reach an agreement shaping the consolidated railroad, which will eventually be known as the Grand Trunk Western.

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December 24, 1954 Last steam on the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton.

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December 24, 2008 The United States Surface Transportation Board approves the sale fo the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern to Canadian National.

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Mark Tomlonson

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December 23, 1968 Canadian National Railways begin using Turbos in revenue service.

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Mark Tomlonson

December 20, 1869 The Michigan Central begins joint operations with the Great Western Railway of Canada.

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December 20, 1918 "Canadian National Railways" is approved as the new name for Canadian Government Railways.

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December 21, 1948 Grand Trunk Western opens a new passenger depot in Grand Rapids MI. The structure and associated trackage costs $250,000. ($2.6 million in 2018 dollars.)

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December 22, 1886 The Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railroad is created from the merger of the Sault Ste. Marie & Marquette, Mackinaw & Marquette and Wisconsin, and Sault Ste. Marie & Mackinac Railroad Companies.

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December 19, 1881 The land grant railroad Detroit, Mackinac & Marquette (later DSS&A, SOO, WC, CN) reaches St. Ignace, spanning Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

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December 19, 1919 The Canadian National Railways is created by an Order in Council. The creation is meant to unite and rescue five bankrupt railroads: the Grand Trunk, Grand Trunk Pacific, Canadian Northern, Intercolonial and Canadian Government Railways. The new CNR is the longest railroad in North America, with over 50,000 km (31,000 miles) of track in Canada and the United States.

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December 17, 1859 The first train crosses the Victoria Bridge in Montreal. The multiple-span bridge, now serving Canadian National trains, is the first to span the St. Lawrence River.

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December 17, 1954 First fully-automated railroad freight yard opens, on the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern in Gary IN.

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December 12, 1859 The Grand Trunk Railway opens the Victoria Bridge, crossing the St. Lawrence River between Montreal and St. Lambert. It is the first bridge to span the river.

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December 12, 1968 United Aircraft's "Turbotrains" are placed in regular service on the Canadian National. On the press run two days earlier, the train hit a meat truck, an accident viewed on closed circuit TV by over 300 newsmen on board.

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December 9, 1881 The "Golden" Spike is driven three miles west of Newberry MI to complete the Detroit, Mackinac & Marquette Railroad (later DSS&A, SOO, CN). For the first time, Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas have a direct rail connection.

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December 6, 1917 In the largest explosion to this date, two ships collide and explode in Halifax NS. The “Imo” is loaded with ballast, the “Mont Blanc” with explosives. Roughly 2,000 people are killed when the “Mount Blanc” explodes. The city is devastated. Included in the losses: Intercolonial Railway's station (later CN) and associated facilities.

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December 3, 1853 Illinois Central and Michigan Central railroads begin using a temporary station built on fill on the lakefront of Chicago between Randolph and Water Streets. The track has been extended north from 12th Street.

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December 3, 1919 The Quebec Bridge opens to pedestrian, rail and automobile traffic. Planning for the bridge began in 1899, and it has collapsed twice during construction, killing 89 workers. It is currently owned by Canadian National.

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December 3, 1979 The ICC grants permission to Grand Trunk Western to buy the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton, confirming a court order handed down in July. The ICC gives GTW six months to compete the sale.

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December 3, 1980 The last continuous, daily, non-fireless steam operation in the United States comes to a close as Chicago's Northwestern Steel & Wire drops the fires of its ex-Grand Trunk Western 0-8-0 switchers for the last time.

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Mark Tomlonson

December 2, 1934 Illinois Central's premier "Panama Limited" is re-instated after a two and a half year suspension due to the Depression.

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December 2, 1939 A Grand Trunk Western crewman riding on the footboards of a tender is killed as his engine backs across US-12 in Kalamazoo, striking a semi-truck that has failed to stop for the crossing. The collision is caused by the truck trying to beat the train to the crossing.

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Mark Tomlonson

November 30, 1871 The Toronto, Simcoe & Muskoka Junction Railway opens from Barrie to Orillia. CNR will abandon the line in September 1996.

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November 30, 1965 United Aircraft Corporation unveils its plans for a 160 mph train powered by aircraft engines. The train is a direct descendant of the New York Central’s "Train X".

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December 1, 1901 The Chicago Kalamazoo & Saginaw completes its Pavilion Branch running southeast from Kalamazoo. The branch will be leased by Grand Trunk Western to gain access to Kalamazoo.

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December 1, 2007 Norfolk Southern terminates its Joint Section agreement with Canadian National, initiated between the Wabash and the Grand Trunk in 1898, ending 109 years of operation into Ontario. However, NS and CN can not come to agreement to handle Fort Erie interchange traffic, and service is allowed to continue under a new temporary agreement.

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Mark Tomlonson

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November 28, 1928 Canadian National diesel-electric #9000 makes its initial test runs on the railroad.

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November 28, 1995 Canadian National Railway is privatized, no longer a Crown Corporation.

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Mark Tomlonson

November 23, 1990 The last rail is removed from Newfoundland Island. Revenue service had quit about two years earlier.

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November 24, 1995 The last Canadian National transcontinental train runs through Algonquin Park.

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Mark Tomlonson

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November 21, 1859 First Detroit-Fort Gratiot (Port Huron) train. Thomas Edison will later work on this line as a candy butcher.

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November 21, 1950 A westbound troop train and Canadian National’s “Continental Limited” crash head-on near Valemount BC. Twenty-one passengers are killed, 17 of them troops on their way to Korea.

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November 21, 1959 Mrs. John Luther "Casey" Jones passes away at the age of 92.

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