October 25, 1848 The Galena & Chicago Union Railroad (later C&NW) runs the first steam locomotive out of Chicago. Named "Pioneer" it had worked for the Michigan Central as the "Alert", constructing the line west of Kalamazoo. The locomotive has been preserved.
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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, 1873 The first train operates from Auburn Jct. to Butler IN on the Detroit, Eel River & Illinois Railroad. (later ERRR, L&T, TH&I, Vandalia, PCC&StL, PRR, PC, CR)
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October 25, 1923 The Pennsylvania Railroad's first Class M1 4-8-2 locomotive is completed at Juniata. Designed for dual service, they will be used mostly for freights.
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October 25, 1882 The Seney Syndicate sells the Nickel Plate to William H. Vanderbilt for $7.2 million [2024: $223 million]. Vanderbilt also controls the New York Central System.
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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, 1958 New York Central passenger service between Bay City and Midland MI comes to an end.
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October 25, 1959 The New York Central adds Budd Slumbercoaches (which it names "Sleepercoaches") to the "20th Century Limited". Coaches are removed, returning the "Century" to all-sleeping car status.
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October 25, 1964 Observation lounge cars with a Master Room are restored to the "Broadway Limited".
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October 25, 1969 The last loads of livestock are unloaded at Durand MI.
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October 25, 1978 The ex-Delaware & Hudson PA's leave the U.S. for Mexico.
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October 26, 1868 The Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad (later PM,C&O, CSX) opens between Midland and Averill MI.
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October 26, 1871 The first passenger train reaches Colorado City CO.
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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, 1890 The Malleco Viaduct in Chile is opened in ceremonies led by President Jose Balmaceda. With the rails 102 meters (335 feet) above the bottom of the gorge, it is the highest railway bridge in the world at the time of its opening.
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October 26, 1891 The New York Central inaugurates the westbound ¡°Empire State Express¡±, carded at 504 minutes for the 440 miles between New York and Buffalo. Crowds gather at every town along the way to see the new train. Riding in the cab: Charles Hogan, engineer on 999¡¯s record breaking 100+ mph run.
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October 26, 1905 The New York Central & Hudson River Railroad places an order for 25,000 freight cars. This breaks the record set last week by the Pennsylvania Railroad's order of 21,000 cars.
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October 26, 1933 The Pullman Railplane, an experimental self-powered car, is tested on the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton. The straight track on the DT&I allows the Railplane to reach its top speed of 90 mph. (145 km/h)
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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, 1958 The Chicago & North Western places Pullman bi-level cars on the ¡°Peninsula 400¡± and ¡°Green Bay 400¡±.
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October 26, 1959 With the exception of a single "Talgo" trainset, only Budd RDC's will run out of Boston's North Station for the next 20 years.
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October 26, 1968 Penn Central leaves LaSalle Street Station in Chicago. All of its trains move to Union Station with the exception of trains on the former "Big Four" line, which continue to use Central Station. Mail and Express remain at LaSalle Street.
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October 26, 1969 Great Northern issues its last Employee Timetable.
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October 26, 1977 Steam operations end in Germany, as locomotive 043 903 pulls steam¡¯s last regularly scheduled mainline train.
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October 26, 1986 President Reagan signs the bill authorizing the sale of Conrail stock to the public.
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October 26, 1992 California's Metrolink begins operations with 11 stations and 112 miles of track.
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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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October 27, 1859 The first train runs between Louisville and Nashville on the L&N.
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October 27, 1870 The Denver & Rio Grande Railway Company is incorporated.
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October 27, 1872 Combined boat-rail service ends on the Camden & Amboy between New York and Philadelphia.
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October 27, 1904 The first New York subway system opens on the East Side on Park Avenue South from City Hall to Grand Central and on the West Side on Broadway from Grand Central to 137th Street. Three hundred fifty thousand people ride on the 9.5-mile route. It is the first subway to run both underground and underwater.
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October 27, 1904 Informal tests are held at Schenectady of the new General Electric Locomotives bound for Grand Central Terminal.
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October 27, 1907 The first revenue train enters the unfinished Washington DC Union Station.
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October 27, 1912 The lower level of Grand Central Terminal opens.
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October 27, 1930 Electro-Motive Corporation's demonstrator number 463 runs from Philadelphia to Steelton with 10 cars. This is the first EMC diesel to run on the Pennsylvania Railroad.
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October 27, 1932 Two weeks after going on strike, streetcar conductors and motormen in Jackson, Kalamazoo, and Lansing MI ask for their jobs back. They offer to return at their previous wage but the company turns them down.
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October 27, 1956 The New York Central removes its Aerotrain from service.
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October 27, 1957 The "Aerotrains" make their last runs in mainline service on the Union Pacific. UP felt the trains were too small and had inadequate food service.
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October 27, 1957 The New York Central places its "Train X" set in commuter service between Chicago and Elkhart.
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October 27, 1964 All Baltimore & Ohio passenger trains are now terminating at Fort Street Union Depot in Detroit, save for a single RDC still at Michigan Central Station for contract reasons.
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October 27, 2014 The first train (¡°Pere Marquette¡±) departs from Amtrak¡¯s new Grand Rapids MI station, named after former Congressman Vern Ehlers.
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October 27, 2016 The former New York Central ¡°Tower 2¡± in Kalamazoo MI (later designated ¡°BO¡±), used subsequently by Penn Central, Amtrak, Conrail, and Norfolk Southern, closes.
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Mark Tomlonson
