November 22, 1858 The Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad (later GT) opens a new depot across the river from Grand Haven MI. Serving only freight at first; passenger service to the new depot will begin on January 1.
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November 22, 1865 The St. Louis, Vandalia & Terre Haute Railroad (later PRR) is organized.
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November 22, 1869 The Ft. Wayne, Jackson & Saginaw Railroad opens between Jackson and Reading MI.
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November 22, 1882 The Belt Railway of Chicago is incorporated.
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November 22, 1902 Alfred E. Perlman is born in St. Paul MN. He will be the last President of the New York Central and the first President of Penn Central.
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November 22, 1926 The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul is sold at auction for $140 million ($2.4 billion in 2022 dollars).
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November 22, 1944 Nine different railroads pool $335,000 ($5.97 million in 2024 dollars) to finance General Electric's development of a coal-burning turboelectric locomotive.
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November 22, 1950 Two Long Island Railroad commuter trains collide near Richmond Hill NY. Seventy-nine are killed and hundreds injured.
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November 22, 2023 Part of Union Pacific’s Heritage Fleet are delivered to Railroading Heritage of Midwest America’s shops in Silvis IL. The group will perform needed work on the boiler of 4-6-6-4 #3985, and bring 2-10-2 #5511 and Centennial DDA-40X 6936 to operable condition.
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November 23, 1832 Baldwin Locomotive Works' first full-size locomotive, "Old Ironsides" is delivered to the Camden & Amboy Rail Road.
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November 23, 1840 The Southern Railroad of Michigan reaches Adrian.
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November 23, 1845 The Central Railroad of Michigan reaches Battle Creek.
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November 23, 1857 The Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad files a map of its route from Grand Rapids to Little Traverse Bay with the State of Michigan.
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November 23, 1863 The Atchison & Topeka is reorganized and becomes the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe.
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November 23, 1867 First train into Bay City MI.
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November 23, 1868 First train into Allegan MI on the Kalamazoo, Allegan & Grand Rapids Railroad (later LS&MS, NYC, PC).
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November 23, 1874 The Baltimore & Ohio begins through service to Chicago, with trains terminating at the lakeshore Illinois Central station.
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November 23, 1882 Horsecar service begins in Muskegon MI, operating on a 42” gauge. (Some sources say November 25)
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November 23, 1897 Former slave Andrew J. Beard patents improvements on the “Janney” automatic railroad coupler of 1873. Beard’s improvements allow cars to couple and uncouple with no need for trainmen to stand between the cars.
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November 23, 1912 The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern installs ABS, or Automatic Block Signals between Elkhart IN and White Pigeon MI.
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November 23, 1926 Greyhound Lines, Inc. are incorporated in Indiana to operate bus routes parallel to the Pennsylvania Railroad. The routes form feeders to the railroad's stations.
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November 23, 1937 Raymond Loewy sends a memo to the Pennsylvania Railroad Chief of Motive Power that he is designing a new exterior color scheme for PRR passenger equipment. The two-tone red scheme will be known as "The Fleet of Modernism".
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November 23, 1938 The Baltimore & Ohio adds some lightweight equipment to its "Capitol Limited" along with streamlined heavyweight equipment. It also removes steam locomotives from its "Royal Blue".
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November 23, 1968 The Denver & Rio Grande Western makes its last passenger trip between Durango and Alamosa, a railfan special. Part of the line will later become the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railway.
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November 23, 1990 The last rail is removed from Newfoundland Island. Revenue service had quit about two years earlier.
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November 23, 2003 The PATH station at the World Trade Center Site re-opens in temporary quarters.
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November 23, 2004 The Wisconsin Northern Railroad begins operations, using tracks formerly operated by Chicago & North Western/Union Pacific and Canadian National/Wisconsin Central.
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November 23, 2007 Charlotte, NC's "Lynx" 9.5 mile light-rail line opens with a free-ride demonstration. So many riders take advantage of the promotion that some have to be taken by bus back to their starting point. Regular service will begin on November 26.
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November 24, 1862 The first locomotives built for the U.S. Military Railroad are delivered.
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November 24, 1892 First railroad in the Philippines.
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November 24, 1902 The Cleveland Short Line Railway, a bypass around the south side of Cleveland OH, is incorporated. The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern is the major stockholder.
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November 24, 1905 The Canadian Northern Railway completes its line to Edmonton Alberta. Alberta’s Lieutenant Governor drives the last spike.
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November 24, 1912 The Pennsylvania Railroad's premier Chicago to New York train is christened the "Broadway Limited". The name comes from a concurrent PRR advertising campaign "One Step from Broadway" promoting the new Pennsylvania Station in New York City. After the train is reinstated following the USRA demise, advertising will connect the name with the PRR's "Broad Way" 6-track main line.
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November 24, 1912 The running time of the 20th Century Limited increases to 20 hours.
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November 24, 1925 Pontiac IL streetcars make their final run.
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November 24, 1929 The Pere Marquette carferry "City of Saginaw 31" is placed into Lake Michigan service.
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November 24, 1936 The Rexall Drug train, a promotional train pulled by redecorated New York Central “Mohawk” #2873, ends its tour in Atlanta. It had visited 47 of the 48 states, leaving out only Nevada.
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November 24, 1964 The Canadian National Railway opens the Great Slave Lake Railway, connecting Pine Point in the Northwest Territories with Roma Junction in Alberta.
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November 24, 1967 The Iowa Terminal Railroad [IA Interurban] carbarn at Mason City burns, destroying much equipment. Most of the loss will be made up by equipment form the line’s abandoned Charles City Division.
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November 24, 1995 The last Canadian National transcontinental freight train runs through Algonquin Park.
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November 24, 1997 Some Canadian National lines in Alberta are transferred to RailLink-Lakeland and Waterways.
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Mark Tomlonson
