April 16, 1833 A New Castle & Frenchtown (later PRR, NS) train hits a cow. Nine of its 10 cars derail and overturn. Because of the train control problems following this incident, the NC&F introduces the first system of fixed signals on a US railroad. By September the signal staffs (about three miles apart) will be able to transmit a signal from one end of the line to the other in three minutes. The original flags will be changed to peach baskets covered with cloth and then to colored balls ("highballs") about 1837.
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April 16, 1834 The first section of the Boston & Worcester Railroad (later B&A, NYC) opens between Boston and West Newton MA. It is the first rail passenger service and first run of a steam locomotive in New England.
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April 16, 1853 The first passenger railroad opens in India, running from Bori Bunder, through Bombay to Thane.
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April 16, 1928 Back Bay Station in Boston is destroyed by fire. (Some sources say April 15.)
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April 16, 1930 The Rose City branch of the Detroit & Mackinac is abandoned.
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April 16, 1945 A group of Philadelphia businessmen (including John B. Kelly, the father of actress-turned- princess Grace Kelly) purchases the Atlantic City trolley lines from the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines. The new Atlantic City Transportation Company will officially take over the entire system on December 1.
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April 16, 1951 Last steam locomotive in passenger service on the Boston & Albany.
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April 16, 1958 The New York Central introduces "Flexi-Van" service. The first route is New York [Weehawken] to Chicago.
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April 16, 1958 The Chicago Skyway opens, completing a four-lane, limited access highway from New York to Chicago.
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April 16, 2011 A passenger excursion runs between May Pen and Linstead Jamaica to introduce a regular service scheduled to start in July. This is the first passenger train service on Jamaica since February 1992.
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April 17, 1826 The Mohawk & Hudson Railroad is chartered in New York State. Most historians consider this the first event leading to the New York Central System.
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April 17, 1853 The Evansville, Indianapolis & Cleveland Straight Line Railroad (later E&I, NYC) is chartered.
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April 17, 1869 The Athol & Enfield Railroad (later V&M, B&A, NYC) is incorporated in Massachusetts
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April 17, 1871 The Michigan Legislature passes a law requiring passenger train conductors to announce the next station in all cars "within a reasonable time before arrival".
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April 17, 1905 Durand (MI) Union Depot is almost destroyed by fire.
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April 17, 1915 Concerned by the problems caused at grade crossings by increasing automobile traffic, the Pennsylvania Railroad asks the American Railway Association to adopt a standard warning system for grade crossings.
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April 17, 1918 Interurban service between Bristol and Elkhart IN ends.
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April 17, 1932 Streetcar service ends in Kokomo IN.
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April 17, 1945 The New Haven experiments with train radio, operating at 30.66 Mc (later 30.66 MHz). A base unit is set up in New Haven station, and mobile units are placed in 2-10-2 #3205 and caboose C-580.
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April 17, 1951 The New York Central cancels its 125th Anniversary celebrations due to the Korean War and its poor financial condition.
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April 17, 1978 Michigan Northern takes delivery of two ex-D&H/Montour/NYC Baldwin RF-16 "Sharks", the last two RF-16's extant.
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April 18, 1832 The Watertown & Rome Railroad (later RW&O, NYC) is chartered.
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April 18, 1838 The Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad (later PRR) Board hears a report on a case brought against them for being the means of escape for a fugitive slave. The owner of the slave wants $500 in damages, but an investigation reveals that the slave's term of servitude was about to expire and no damages are awarded.
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April 18, 1853 First passenger train runs on the Asian continent, from Mumbai to Tanna, a distance of 36 km. (some sources say April 16)
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April 18, 1872 P.T. Barnum makes his first attempt to move his circus by rail. It¡¯s unsuccessful. He will then commission special railroad cars for his circus and it will travel by rail the remainder of the season, starting a tradition that will last until 2017.
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April 18, 1890 Electric streetcars come to Muskegon MI.
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April 18, 1906 The San Francisco earthquake destroys many of the cable car lines, allowing them to be replaced with streetcars. Also destroyed: The offices of the Southern Pacific and the palatial homes of the ¡°Big Four¡± who built the Central Pacific.
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April 18, 1911 The Long Island Railroad Board authorizes the purchase of a car to be fitted for the transportation of inmates to the State Hospital at Central Islip.
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April 18, 1928 The Grand Rapids, Grand Haven & Muskegon Railway (interurban) quits.
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April 18, 1930 Atlanta's Union Station opens, funded by the Louisville & Nashville and the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis.
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April 18, 1931 Streetcars quit in Canton OH.
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April 18, 1934 The "Pioneer Zephyr" is delivered to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy at Pennsylvania Railroad's Broad Street Station in Philadelphia and immediately begins a barnstorming tour. During testing yesterday, it is claimed to have hit speeds as high as 104 mph.
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April 18, 1976 A Turbo train, CN1, testing on Canadian National's Kingston Sub at Ingleside breaks a Canadian Speed Record set in March as it hits 138.5 mph.
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April 18, 1983 CNCP Niagara-Detroit is created by CP Rail and CN Rail to acquire the Canada Southern Railway.
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April 18, 2004 Streetcars return to Canal Street in New Orleans.
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Mark Tomlonson
