January 1, 1838 The United States Government contracts with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad to carry mail. The B&O is the first railroad in the U.S. to get a mail contract.
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January 1, 1850 The Vermont Central opens between Waterbury and Burlington.
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January 1, 1853 The Baltimore & Ohio reaches the Ohio River at Wheeling, Virginia.
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January 1, 1866 The first train arrives in Schoolcraft on the Schoolcraft & Three Rivers Railroad. [Later K&WP, LS&MS, NYC, PC, CR, NS, GDLK]
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January 1, 1867 A third rail for standard gauge equipment is placed in service on the broad-gauge Great Western Railway of Canada, opening a continuous standard-gauge line from Chicago to New York with the new train ferry Great Western between Detroit and Windsor. The Great Western is the largest iron or steel vessel on the Great Lakes. Through sleeping car service is inaugurated between Suspension Bridge (Niagara Falls) and Chicago.
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January 1, 1870 The first train into Kalamazoo on the Kalamazoo & South Haven Railroad. [Later MC, NYC, PC, CR]
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January 1, 1870 Grand River Valley Railroad completed from Jackson to Grand Rapids via Charlotte and Hastings [later MC, NYC, PC, KBECR].
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January 1, 1872 The Denver & Rio Grande Railway opens from Denver to Colorado Springs, a new town founded by General William J. Palmer.
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January 1, 1872 The Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore Railroad (later PM, C&O, CSX) reaches Pentwater MI from the south. Also today, the Grand Rapids & Holland Railroad completes a branch between its namesake cities for the C&MLS.
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January 1, 1874 Horsecar service begins between Belding and the Ionia & Lansing Railroad in Kiddville.
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January 1, 1874 The Michigan portion of the Mansfield, Coldwater & Lake Michigan Railroad between Allegan and Monteith is leased to the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad.
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January 1, 1876 The North Brookfield Railroad (later B&A, NYC) is opened.
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January 1, 1877 The Toledo, Wabash & Western Railway reorganizes as the Wabash Railway.
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January 1, 1879 The Pennsylvania Company begins operating the Indianapolis & Vincennes Railroad. The line was leased on December 28.
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January 1, 1888 Tracks of the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic Railway (later Soo Line) reach Sault Ste. Marie.
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January 1, 1899 South Central Station (now South Station) in Boston opens.
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January 1, 1900 The Pere Marquette Railroad is formed from the Chicago & West Michigan, Flint & Pere Marquette and Detroit, Grand Rapids & Western. It is Michigan's largest railroad. (Some sources say December 31, 1899)
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January 1, 1900 The Pullman Palace Car Co. buys out its major competitor, The Wagner Palace Car Co.
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January 1, 1900 The Pennsylvania Railroad establishes a company pension, with 70 set as the mandatory retirement age.
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January 1, 1902 The Wabash Railroad ceases operation of the Logansport & Toledo (later PRR, PC, CR) between Logansport and Butler. It is taken over by the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad.
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January 1, 1907 The Pennsylvania Railroad discontinues its practice of publishing train schedules in daily newspapers.
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January 1, 1907 The Ft. Wayne & Springfield makes its first trip from Decatur to Ft. Wayne. Only the first 7 miles of the trip are run under wire, the remainder of the trip to Ft. Wayne is made attached to the construction train. Once in Ft. Wayne, the car enters street car track and again runs under wire to the depot.
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January 1, 1910 The Winona & Warsaw Railway, operating 3 1/3 miles between Warsaw and Winona Lake, begins operations under lease of the Winona Interurban Railway.
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January 1, 1913 To avoid buying new steel cars for service into Grand Central and Penn Station, the New Haven contracts with the Pullman Company to operate its lounge and sleeping cars.
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January 1, 1914 The world's first commercial airline with a regular schedule begins operation between St. Petersburg and Tampa FL. It will fail within four months.
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January 1, 1917 The Vandalia Railroad is merged with other Pennsylvania Railroad properties to become the PCC&StL Railroad.
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January 1, 1917 The Pennsylvania Railroad begins screening "The Americanization of Tony", a company film designed to teach citizenship to Italian employees.
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January 1, 1919 The Lebanon & Franklin Traction Company of Ohio quits.
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January 1, 1919 The Columbus, Magnetic Springs & Northern Railway (OH, Interurban) is abandoned.
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January 1, 1922 The New York Central leases the Toledo & Ohio Central.
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January 1, 1923 Britain's railroads are rationalized into four geographic groups.
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January 1, 1930 The Cincinnati & Lake Erie is organized out of the remnants of the Ohio Electric Railway et al. It offers through service between Cincinnati and Detroit on frequent headways. It is perhaps most famous for staging a race between one of its cars and a biplane, and winning.
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January 1, 1930 The Toledo & Ohio Central begins operations into Columbus Union Station.
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January 1, 1935 The Voroshilovgrad Locomotive Works delivers an Aa20-1 class locomotive. It is the first and only seven-coupled steam locomotive on a rigid frame. Designed by engineering students, the 4-14-4 engine is quickly withdrawn from service after it chews up miles of track and has to be nursed through any crossover or switch.
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January 1, 1936 The Pennsylvania Railroad marks the completion of its Philadelphia-Harrisburg electrification project with the arrival of GG1 4859 pulling the “Metropolitan” into Harrisburg.
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January 1, 1938 Railroads in the Netherlands are nationalized.
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January 1, 1948 British railways are nationalized, forming British Railways.
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January 1, 1949 The Pennsylvania Railroad begins using "Wassell Units", installing 2 for passenger reservations. They are consoles with 9 rotating drums holding reservation boards, and are operated by clerks who are in communication with ticket agents. PRR will install 8 more units at a later date.
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January 1, 1950 The Chicago Rock Island & Pacific acquires the Pullman Railroad, a short line operating in Calumet IL.
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January 1, 1953 Ten Pullman-Standard "Super Domes" join Milwaukee Road's "Hiawatha" fleet. They are the first Pullman-Standard dome cars to use curved glass.
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January 1, 1954 "K" style air brakes are banned
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January 1, 1954 EMD introduces its 567-C engine and the "9" line of diesels: GP-9, F-9 and SD-9, all rated at 1750 horsepower.
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January 1, 1955 The Pennsylvania Railroad drops the traditional free pass on its trains for officials and employees of other railroads.
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January 1, 1957 The Chicago & North Western Railroad leases the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway, aka "The Omaha Road".
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January 1, 1959 The Pennsylvania Railroad retires "Queen Mary", its last open-platform observation car in regular revenue service.
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January 1, 1960 The New York Central drops its membership in the Railway Express Agency, citing large losses from the express business.
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January 1, 1961 The Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic, and Wisconsin Central merge with the Soo Line.
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January 1, 1967 In honor of the Canadian Centennial, singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot debuts his "Canadian Railroad Trilogy". The work has been commissioned by the CBC.
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January 1, 1969 The New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad is added to Penn Central. The fomer lines become the New Haven Division with headquarters in New Haven CT.
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January 1, 1969 A 98-car Penn Central freight train traveling at 42 mph splits and breaks in two while passing another PC freight. The accident, at Dunreith IN, will burn and release toxic fumes for 10 hours. The fires spread to Dunreith, causing the evacuation of the town and the closing of US Route 40.
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January 1, 1971 Free transfer service between Chicago railroad stations ends.
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January 1, 1982 The Burlington Northern absorbs the Colorado & Southern.
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January 1, 1983 The Seaboard System is created with the Louisville & Nashville, Seaboard Coast Line and several smaller railroads.
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January 1, 1984 The Grand Trunk Western fully absorbs the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton.
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January 1, 1986 Remnants of the Milwaukee Road as well as the Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern become part of the Soo Line.
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January 1, 1990 The Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad is sold. The passenger operations are taken over by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transit District.
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January 1, 1994 The former East and West German railroad systems are united.
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January 1, 1996 Canadian National absorbs the operations of Grand Trunk and the Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific. Both roads remain as "paper" companies.
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January 1, 1998 In the United States, ditch lights are required on all locomotives operating over public crossings at more than 20 mph.
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January 1, 2005 General Electric begins production of its Evolution Series locomotives.
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Mark Tomlonson
