January 8, 1855 The first through train runs from Chicago to Cairo, IL.
?
January 8, 1855 A mob in Erie, PA tears up the tracks of the Erie & North Eastern, the last battle in the "Gauge War".
?
January 8, 1863 Ground is broken for the Central Pacific Railroad in Sacramento CA.
?
January 8, 1872 James Fisk of the Erie Railway is shot and mortally wounded by Edward Stokes, a blackmailer and rival in a love triangle.
?
January 8, 1887 The Kansas City Suburban Belt Railroad (later KCS, CPKC) is incorporated.
?
January 8, 1902 Two trains collide in a smoke-filled tunnel under Park Avenue in New York City, killing 17 and injuring 38. Public outcry following the accident will lead to the banning of steam engines in lower Manhattan and the building of Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station.
?
January 8, 1923 The van Sweringens acquire the Chesapeake & Ohio.
?
January 8, 1937 The Beech Grove (IN) Traction Company shuts down at 1:00 a.m. Its electric supplier, Indianapolis Railways, terminates electric service due to Beech Grove Traction owing almost $30,000 ($671,000 in 2025 dollars). It has been rumored that employee's pay consisted partly of BGT trolley tokens.
?
January 8, 1954 The Sunset Limited becomes the first train to use the new New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal.
?
January 8, 1956 Steam locomotive servicing at New York Central's Jackson MI shops officially ends.
?
January 8, 1957 The New Haven's "Dan'l Webster", a "Train X' built by Pullman-Standard, makes its first public appearance. During the run the trailing unit catches fire due to a problem with a third rail shoe. When the damaged cars are towed home they derail, blocking the tracks and delaying rush hour trains.
?
January 8, 1962 In the worst railway accident in the history of the Netherlands, the driver of one passenger train misses a signal and collides nearly head on with another. The accident, which kills 91 people, takes places just outside Harmelen.
?
January 8, 1962 The Interstate Commerce Commission begins hearings on the "Big John" grain rate case. The American Watercraft Operators et al. have protested the Southern Railway's proposed discounts for bulk shipments of grain. The ICC will sit in almost continuous session through August 29 to hear the case. It will be resolved with a ruling in favor of the railroad by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967. The decision is the first chink in the armor of regulated railroad freight rates.
?
January 8, 1964 New York Central sells its Church Street Tower in Kalamazoo MI to Mr. Don Gilmore for $1.00 (2025: $10.21). Mr. Gilmore moves the tower from its downtown location to his farm in Barry County, where it is now on display as part of the Gilmore Car Museum.
?
January 8, 1973 Pipe Major Gordon Speirs is asked to restrict his bagpipe playing in Liverpool Street Station, London to just one minute in fifteen. Hired by the Scottish Tourist Board, his playing is alleged to “interfere with station business”.
?
Mark Tomlonson
