March 28, 1836 Michigan Territory charters seven railroads in a single day.
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March 28, 1846 The Central Rail Road of Michigan is sold by the state to a group of New York investors for $2 million [2025: $82.52 million] and becomes the Michigan Central.
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March 28, 1857 The Memphis & Charleston Railroad (later L&N, CSX) opens between Memphis and Stevenson, AL, on the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad. This completes a continuous route of uniform gauge between Charleston, SC, and Memphis. It is the first trunk line between the Atlantic and Mississippi south of the Potomac and Ohio Rivers.
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March 28, 1883 The defunct Black River & St. Lawrence Railway is reorganized as the Carthage & Adirondack Railway (later NYC).
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March 28, 1885 First use of a Leslie snowplow.
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March 28, 1888 San Francisco's Powell Street cable car line opens.
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March 28, 1901 The Atlantic, Quebec & Western Railway (later CNR) is incorporated in Quebec.
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March 28, 1905 The Paramaribo-Dam railway is opened in Suriname. It never sees a revenue train, and slowly returns to the jungle.
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March 28, 1909 The Pennsylvania Railroad begins serving complimentary tea and coffee to parlor and sleeping car passengers at any time of the day.
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March 28, 1909 Chicago Banker Frank Vanderlip hires a New York Central & Hudson River train to rush him to his dying Mother in New York. The trip takes 16 hours and 30 minutes. Regular schedules take around 24 hours.
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March 28, 1955 A new rail speed record of 331 km/h (206 mph) is set by the French National Railways, but the track is severely damaged in the process. (Some sources say March 29)
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March 28, 1958 A 2-4-4T narrow gauge locomotive, built by Baldwin in 1894 is christened the “Fred Gurley” and begins service on the Disneyland Railroad in Anaheim CA. As of 2025, the locomotive is the oldest piece of operating railroad equipment in any Disney theme park.
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March 28, 1959 Last revenue run of the last interurban in Canada: The Niagara, St. Catharines & Toronto.
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March 28, 1961 Erie-Lackawanna begins New York to Chicago piggyback service.
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March 28, 1977 The ICC approves the Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad’s petition to end all passenger service.
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March 29, 1839 American Railway Express Agency (later Railway Express Agency) is founded.
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March 29, 1869 The Kalamazoo, Allegan & Grand Rapids Railroad (later LS&MS, NYC, PC) is completed from Allegan to Grand Rapids MI. (Some sources say March 1.)
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March 29, 1909 The Pennsylvania Railroad places an order for 24 examples of a new class of electric locomotive: the DD1.
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March 29, 1919 A narrow-gauge Canadian National train reaches Alberton PE, after taking 10 days to travel the last 2 miles in the worst blizzard locals can remember. The train has a plow, locomotive and 4 coaches.
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March 29, 1929 The Pennsylvania Railroad completes a program of painting town names in 10-foot high letters on railroad buildings to aid pilots of Transcontinental Air Transport. The lettering appears in 36 different cities.
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March 29, 1931 Great Northern's "Oriental Limited" makes its last run, having been superseded by the "Empire Builder". The name will be used again by GN, and then dropped for good with the creation of the "Western Star".
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March 29, 1936 10,000 people gather in Indianapolis to watch the 200-inch mirror blank for the Palomar observatory pass through on its cross-country trip aboard well-hole flat car NYC 499010.
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March 29, 1957 The New York, Ontario & Western is abandoned, the first Class I railroad to quit and the first railroad to be abandoned in its entirety.
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March 29, 1957 The Central Vermont dieselizes.
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March 29, 1960 Revenue steam ends on the Grand Trunk Western as 2-8-2 4070 pulls a 50 car freight from Pontiac to Durand MI.
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March 29, 2018 Florida’s “Brightline” commuter rail makes its first test run into the unfinished Miami station.
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March 30, 1847 The Pennsylvania Railroad is organized and a Board of Directors elected.
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March 30, 1856 The Chicago Burlington & Quincy and the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad (later C&NW) begin using the Illinois Central Terminal in Chicago.
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March 30, 1872 The Texas Pacific Railroad absorbs the Southern Trans-Continental Railway.
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March 30, 1886 Executives from several southern railroads meet and agree to change their gauge from 5’ 0” to 4’ 8 ?” by June 1, 1886.
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March 30, 1901 The Chicago Short Line Railway is incorporated.
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March 30, 1909 The Queensboro Bridge opens between Manhattan and Long Island City. The top deck of the bridge carries two elevated railway lines, and the bottom deck carries two streetcar lines. A streetcar station in the middle of the bridge allows passengers to take an elevator or stairs to Welfare Island (later Roosevelt Island).
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March 30, 1952 The last freight delivered by an Indiana Public Service Company freight motor is made to the company's Ft. Wayne power plant by motor 817. Future deliveries will be made by the New York Central.
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March 30, 1954 The first segment of the Toronto Subway (Yonge Street) begins operation, replacing streetcars.
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March 30, 1959 The New York Central agrees to pay the Illinois Central $5 million (2025: $55.2 million) for breaching its contract to have Michigan Central trains terminate at Central Station in Chicago. NYC has moved them to LaSalle Street station.
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March 30, 1972 The Milwaukee Road discontinues its “Limburger Special”, running to New Glarus WI.
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March 30, 1973 Toronto’s Yonge subway is extended to York Mills station.
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March 30, 1982 Last day of Milwaukee Road operations in Montana.
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March 30, 2021 CN and Watco announce an agreement for Watco to buy 900 miles of rail lines in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ontario owned by Wisconsin Central Railroad and Algoma Central.
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March 30, 2024 A hydrogen-powered electric train beaks a world’s record by travelling 1,741 miles, nonstop. The train, operating at a Colorado test track is a Stadler FLIRT-H2, It has two passenger cars with a hydrogen power pack in the middle. California has ordered four of the trainsets.
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Mark Tomlonson
