开云体育

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

?

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

?
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. At 705 miles it is the longest railroad line in the world. (Some sources say September 21)

?
Mark Tomlonson

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

?

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.

?
Mark Tomlonson

September 23, 1975 A CN Turbo catches fire at Coteau, QC. As a result, all the Turbos are pulled from service to correct the problem. The event will end Turbo service between Ottawa and Montreal.

?

September 24, 1897 A new double-track steel arch bridge, Grand Trunk’s "Whirlpool Rapids" is opened at Niagara Falls. The new bridge carries a road on its lower deck. The former bridge is closed and demolished.

?

September 24, 1955 Canadian National discontinues passenger train service on the Detroit River carferries. After this date connecting passengers are bused through the tunnel.

?

September 24, 1958 The Buffalo & Lake Huron Railway, Atlantic & St. Lawrence Railroad, St. Clair Tunnel Company, Champlain & St. Lawrence Railroad, United States & Canada Railroad and the Vermont & Province Line Railroad are all merged into Canadian National Railways.

?

September 24, 2002 Although required on certain classes of trains on earlier dates, ditch lights now become mandatory on all Canadian trains.

?

September 25, 1905 The Durand (MI) Union Depot is re-opened after a disastrous fire the previous April.

?

September 25, 1937 Canadian National begins work on a new line between Rouvyn and Senneterre QC, 100 miles (160 km). The line will serve gold and copper mines.

?
Mark Tomlonson

September 20, 1850 In the United States, the first Federal Land Grant is approved, for the Illinois Central.

Mark Tomlonson

?

September 17, 1933 Grand Trunk Western carferries move their home port from Grand Haven to Muskegon.

?

September 17, 1958 The “Schoolroom Progress U.S.A.” train begins its 5-day stop in Grand Rapids MI. Pulled by Grand Trunk Western 4-8-2 #6040, the train, consisting of two baggage cars, will make a nationwide tour showing the progress in classroom technology from frontier days to 1958. The display is presented by the Henry Ford Museum and Encyclopedia Britannica, and started in 1955.

?

September 18, 1958 ICC examiner Howard Hosmer presents his findings on United States passenger service to the Interstate Commerce Commission. His report states that if the current rate of decline continues, first-class passenger service will end by 1965 and coach service by 1970. The report makes no formal recommendations, but will have a great influence on transportation planners.

?
Mark Tomlonson

September 13, 1918 The USRA orders that skilled American railroad workers will be given draft deferments.

?

September 13, 1940 The merger of the Gulf, Mobile & Northern and Mobile & Ohio railroads forms the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad. (later ICG, IC, CN)

?

September 13, 1961 Canadian National Railways opens Montreal Yard. It will later be named Taschereau Hump Marshaling Yard.

?

September 13, 1974 Amtrak shows off its new Chicago-Port Huron route in a run for the press. Regular service, which will return inter-city passenger trains to the Grand Trunk Western, will begin on 9/15.

?
Mark Tomlonson

Railroad & Shortlines Club of Chicago

7:30 pm
Friday, September 18, 2022

Please do not arrive before 7:15 pm.

Chicago Union Station
Room 107A
500 W Jackson Blvd (please enter between Clinton and Canal)
Chicago, Illinois

Follow the Flag
by William Shapotkin

Bill Shapotkin will offer a photographic trip from Chicago to St. Louis on the Wabash. This railroad saw passenger rail service till Amtrak weekend in 1971.

Railroad & Shortlines Club of Chicago meets at Chicago Union Station 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]

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

Phone number answered during the program: 312 725-0432. Leave message to receive a call back if you hear the program announcement.

September 11, 1916 During its second construction attempt, the center section of the 987 metre (3,239 ft.) Quebec Bridge collapses. It falls into the river as it is being raised into position, killing 13 workers (some sources say 11). At first, German sabotage is suspected but later investigation will show it was a construction-related accident.

?
Mark Tomlonson

September 6, 1918 The Canadian Northern Railway is nationalized. Later it will become part of Canadian National.

?
Mark Tomlonson

September 5, 1960 Grand Trunk drops its year-round passenger service to Portland ME. Summer only service will continue through 1967.

?
Mark Tomlonson

September 2, 1857 The Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad (later GTW) is completed from St. Johns to Ionia MI.

?

September 3, 1878 The Detroit, Mackinac & Marquette Railroad (later DSS&A, SOO, WC, CN) is incorporated to construct a line between Marquette and St. Ignace in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

?

September 3, 1916 President Wilson signs the Adamson Act, which creates the 8-hour, 100-mile standard workday for U.S. railroad employees. Railroad labor unions do not like the Act because it includes no overtime provision. Railroad Managers refuse to accept the Act and file appeals with the courts.

?

September 4, 1987 Grand Trunk Western sells its Durand to Muskegon MI line to the Central Michigan Railway.

?
Mark Tomlonson

September 1, 1856 The Detroit & Milwaukee (later GTW) is completed from Detroit to Millpoint (later Spring Lake). Lake steamers will dock at Spring Lake until track bridges and docks can be completed at Grand Haven. (Some sources say 1858)

?

September 1, 1909 In preparation for a new facility, the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada begins tearing down the Ottawa Central Station. A temporary facility has been constructed.

?

September 1, 1933 "AB" style air brakes are required on all newly built cars.

?

September 1, 1970 The International Association of Railroad Employees, a union formed for African-Americans who have been denied membership in other railroad craft unions, joins the United Transportation Union.

?
Mark Tomlonson

August 29, 1907 Due to faulty structural design, the cantilever railroad bridge over the St. Lawrence River at Quebec City collapses while being built. Seventy-eight workers are killed. It will take 10 years to restart and complete the project. Canadian National now owns the span.

?

August 29, 1916 Unable to get the railroads to agree, President Wilson goes before Congress seeking passage of legislation that would create a standard 8-hour day for U.S. railroad employees.

?

August 29, 1935 The Railroad Retirement Fund is created, allowing retirement at age 65 and pensions paid out of fund revenues.

?
Mark Tomlonson

August 26, 1929 First use of a diesel on a Canadian National Passenger train: #9000, a two unit 2660 hp locomotive that is the first large diesel seen in North America. It draws the assignment of the second section of the International Limited between Montreal and Toronto.

?

August 26, 1951 Canadian railroads adopt the Uniform Code of Operating Rules.

?

August 27, 1950 As he did in 1946, Pres. Harry Truman seizes railroads in the United States to prevent a strike, this time citing "national security" in the opening months of the Korean War. (Some sources say August 25)

?
Mark Tomlonson

August 22, 1950 A nationwide rail strike hits Canada. Only U.S. - owned companies continue to operate during the strike. Canadian-owned subsidiaries continue to operate in the United States, owing to different unions representing workers. Canadian National trains continue to operate in Maine, but the loss of connecting traffic causes steep reductions in volume.

?

August 22, 1951 The Detroit, Toledo & Ironton begins using diesels on road freights. Diesel yard switchers had been in use since just after World War II.

?
Mark Tomlonson

The current (Fall 2022) issue of "Classic Trains" has a picture of CN's "Super Continental" taken in Henry House Alberta in 1975 on the cover. Inside the issue there is a 10-page article on the train.

Mark Tomlonson

??Railway Technology in The Canadian First World War Effort

August 18 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Join us! “Railway Technology in the Canadian First World War Effort” on August 18 at 7:00 pm EST.

Explore the complexities of transportation and logistics in the forward areas of the Western Front during the First World War. Join us and presenter Andrew Iarocci on Thursday, August 18 at 7:00 PM (EST) for a free online lecture. Learn about how railway technologies and expertise were gradually integrated into the British (and Canadian) transportation system, in an effort to streamline and rationalize the movement of ammunition, supplies, and personnel.

Tickets for this event are free, although registration is required.

Attendees will get access to our exclusive Zoom meeting room, where they can engage directly with the presenter and museum historians in a post-lecture Q&A. The event will begin at 7pm Eastern Standard Time, and will end at 8:30pm EST.

PRESENTER

Andrew Iarocci teaches history at Western University. He is a former collections manager (transportation and artillery) at the Canadian War Museum. His research interests include First World War operations and logistics, the material culture of the Canadian Army, and military transportation design. He is the author of A Nation in Conflict: Canada and the Two World Wars, and Shoestring Soldiers: The 1st Canadian Division at War, 1914-1915.

?