March 11, 1836 The Little Miami Railroad (later PC&St.L, PRR), Ohio¡¯s second, receives its charter to connect the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad to the Ohio River at Cincinnati. Construction will not begin until 1843.
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March 11, 1851 The State of Pennsylvania enacts a law requiring all railroads built east of Erie to be either 4' 8.5" or 6' gauge and all railroads west of Erie to be built to a 4'10" gauge, also known as "Ohio Gauge". It is thought at the time that the gauge change and the resulting loading and reloading of railroad cars will help Erie become a major terminal. (Some sources say 1852)
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March 11, 1853 The New Albany & Salem Rail Road (later CIL, L&N) reaches Lafayette IN.
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March 11, 1854 To reduce on-duty drinking by employees, the Pennsylvania Railroad Road Committee considers ordering a ban on the sale of all liquor and beer on any PRR property and to prohibit stopping trains at any public house where liquor is sold. The order is toned down by amendment to simply prohibiting the sale of liquor on PRR property.
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March 11, 1872 Jay Gould's attempts to control both the Erie and the New York Central Railroads are halted as a new Board of Directors is installed in the Erie.
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March 11, 1904 The first tunnel under the Hudson River is holed through.
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March 11, 1908 The final spike is driven in the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railroad, at Lyle WA.
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March 11, 1908 The Strang gas-electric car "Irene" built by Brill is tested between Philadelphia and Washington DC.
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March 11, 1947 The Budd Company tests its first dome car.
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March 11, 1952 The Pennsylvania Railroad shows off its newly-equipped "Congressional" to the press. "The Senator" is also receiving new equipment at this time.
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March 11, 2004 Three days before the Spanish national election, terrorists believed to be inspired by al-Qaeda, bomb the Cercanias commuter trains near Madrid, Spain. The explosions kill 191 people and injure another 1,800.
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March 11, 2005 A Union Pacific rail grinder working westbound at Rochelle IL sideswipes an eastbound BNSF intermodal, There is no derailment, but a few containers are destroyed. They incident is captured on the ¡°Trains¡± magazine webcam.
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Mark Tomlonson
