April 12, 1831 Construction begins on the Staple Bend Tunnel, located 4 miles east of Johnstown PA. It is the first railroad tunnel in the United States. (Some sources say November 21)
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April 12, 1842 The Erie & Northeast Railroad (later NYC) is chartered.
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April 12, 1848 The Buffalo & State Line Railroad (later NYC) is chartered.
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April 12, 1861 Confederate forces fire upon Federal forces, which have retreated to Fort Sumter, SC, beginning the US Civil War. In addition to, as historian Ken Burns put it, "changing the nation from united States to The United States", the war will also advance railroad technology and operating practices from the lessons learned transporting troops and material.
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April 12, 1862 Andrew's Raiders steal "The General".
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April 12, 1880 The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Chicago Union Station is held.
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April 12, 1898 Union Traction Company of Indiana opens its line from Alexandria to Summitville.
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April 12, 1944 The Pennsylvania Railroad Mechanical Engineer approves drawings for a proposed class V1 2-D-D-2 steam turbine. While this locomotive class will not be built, the Chesapeake & Ohio will build 3 examples almost identical to this proposal.
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April 12, 1947 The Pennsylvania Railroad places its first Baldwin "Centipedes" in freight service on its Philadelphia Division.
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April 12, 1950 The New York Central adds 250 boxcars to its "Pacemaker" fleet.
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April 12, 1953 Last run of the "Orange Blossom Special".
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April 12, 1960 Chrysler makes its first shipment of automobiles using New York Central auto racks designed to fit on a Flexi-Van chassis.
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April 12, 1976 GG-1 locomotive number 4800 appears in a "Bicentennial" paint scheme.
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April 12, 1987 Last train runs on the Michigan Northern.
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April 12, 2016 A train is delayed 19 minutes at Japan¡¯s Hiroshima station when a cat decides to perch on top. The cat is eventually coaxed down and the train proceeds without further incident. The image of the cat resting on the train is tweeted over 1,500 times.
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Mark Tomlonson
