December 10, 1795 Matthias Baldwin, developer and manufacturer of steam locomotives is born.
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December 10, 1850 The Michigan Southern Railroad reaches Coldwater from the east.
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December 10, 1870 The Courts rule that a state "head tax" on traffic on Baltimore & Ohio's Washington Branch is unconstitutional. The B&O reduces local fares by $0.30 (2024: $7.23) but continues to charge tax on through tickets until January 29, 1871.
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December 10, 1877 The Syracuse, Geneva & Corning Railway (later NYC&HR, NYC) begins operations.
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December 10, 1878 The first Tiffany Patent Refrigerator car, invented earlier this year in Chicago, arrives in Philadelphia from Kansas City with a load of beef halves.
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December 10, 1908 The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (later CN) completes its 846 meter (2,775 foot) bridge over the Battle River. The bridge is 60 meters (195 feet) above the water.
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December 10, 1919 The car barns of the Niagara, St. Catharines & Toronto Street Railway Company in Niagara Falls ON burn to the ground. A smaller barn and a repair shop at the same location will replace them.
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December 10, 1919 The Michigan Central opens new shops and a division point in Niles, MI.
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December 10, 1935 The Huey P. Long bridge in Metaire, LA, is completed, serving highway and rail traffic. It is 4.35 miles long, owned by the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad.
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December 10, 1939 Frisco's semi-streamlined "Firefly" enters service.
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December 10, 1947 Train telephone service is added to the "Broadway Limited" between New York and Harrisburg PA.
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December 10, 1958 National Airlines begins the first domestic jet airliner service in the United States.
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December 10, 1968 The Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, the Switchmen's Union of North American and the Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen vote to merge their four unions into a single organization, the United Transportation Union.
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December 10, 1969 The first load of iron ore is shipped from Levis WI.
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December 10, 1988 Chicago & North Western sells 200 miles of trackage in Wisconsin to the Fox River Valley Railway.
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December 10, 2010 An order for the first high-speed trains in Africa is placed with Alstrom. The TGV-style cars will operate between Tangier and Morocco.
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December 10, 2014 Amtrak opens a new station in Dearborn MI, replacing an “Amshack” that had been in use for over 30 years.
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Mark Tomlonson
