May 2, 1845 A Baltimore ordinance allows the Baltimore & Susquehanna to operate steam locomotives in the central city only between 9:00 pm and 5:00 am. They are further prohibited from burning wood and must be preceded by a man carrying a lantern.
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May 2, 1879 The Bay View, Little Traverse & Mackinaw Railroad (later GR&I, PRR, MIGN) is incorporated in Michigan to build from Bay View to Harbor Springs, serving resort traffic.
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May 2, 1887 The Leamington & St. Clair Railway (later NYC, CASO) is chartered.
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May 2, 1906 The Danville & Indiana Harbor Railroad (later CI&S, NYC) is organized.
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May 2, 1914 The President of the Pennsylvania Railroad rejects a suggestion by one of his Vice Presidents to rename the "Broadway Limited" the "National Limited".
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May 2, 1917 The Drayton-Ackworth Report recommends the Canadian Government take over the operations of the Grand Trunk, Grand Trunk Pacific and Canadian Northern Railways and operate them as one system with the Intercolonial and National Transcontinental Railways. The report is accepted.
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May 2, 1922 The Pennsylvania Railroad begins examining the possibility of electrifying Horseshoe Curve and other locations on the system.
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May 2, 1957 The last steam locomotive operates on the New York Central as 2-8-2 Class H-7a #1977 drops its fires at Riverside Yard in Cincinnati.
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May 2, 2002 An eastbound Canadian National train collides with a semi trailer near Firmdale, MB. The resulting spill of plastic pellets, benzene, glycol, and hexane catches fire and forces the evacuation of nearly 200 local residents.
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May 2, 2010 In Springfield IL, Union Pacific decommissions Ridgely Tower, the last manual or "Armstrong" interlocking in the United States. In an "Armstrong" interlocking mechanical rods and levers operate the signals and switches.
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May 3, 1825 Congress alters the route of the National Road, currently building to St. Louis, between Zanesville, OH and Jefferson City MO creating a route through Columbus, Richmond, Indianapolis, Terre Haute, and Vandalia IL. This alteration will influence the route of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
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May 3, 1830 The first regularly scheduled steam-powered passenger train service begins in Kent, England on the Canterbury & Whitstable. The first train is hauled by the Robert Stephenson engine "Invicta". It is also the first railroad to run in a tunnel.
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May 3, 1848 Ground is broken at New Albany IN for the New Albany & Salem Rail Road (later CIL, L&N).
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May 3, 1851 The city of Harrisburg PA puts a 4 mph speed limit on trains, after reports trains were speeding though town at 20 mph.
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May 3, 1863 The Atchison & Topeka Railroad changes its name to become the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe.
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May 3, 1867 The first Kalamazoo & Schoolcraft Railroad train arrives in Kalamazoo. (Later K&WP, LS&MS, NYC, PC, CR, NS, GDLK)
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May 3, 1875 The New York Central & Hudson River Railroad opens the first portion of its Fourth Avenue Improvement in New York City for full revenue service. The section from 56th to 94th Street has been placed in a combination cut-and-cover and tunnel with smoke vents in center of Park Avenue.
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May 3, 1880 The Mt. Gilead Short Line Railway (OH, later NYC) is chartered.
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May 3, 1881 A Mendon MI man, Leonidas Woolley receives a patent for the first electric locomotive headlight. Mr. Woolley has suspended the lamp assembly in a harness made of strings to minimize shaking.
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May 3, 1886 The Shenango Valley Railroad (later LS&MS, NYC) is incorporated.
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May 3, 1914 Canadian Pacific begins Montreal-Toronto-Detroit-Chicago service in cooperation with the Michigan Central.
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May 3, 1930 CBS Radio broadcasts directly from the Pennsylvania Railroad's ?"Cincinnati Limited" while on route to the Kentucky Derby.
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May 3, 1933 A group of six boys from a Passaic NJ orphanage check on their baseball field after a heavy rain. They discover a 10-foot deep washout under the adjoining rail line. They flag down an approaching rush hour commuter train carrying 500 passengers. When asked about a reward, they say ¡°just let Babe Ruth know what we did¡±. Ruth subsequently visited the boys and gave them batting tips.
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May 3, 1947 Detroit Street Railways ends operation between 8 Mile Road and the City of Royal Oak.
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May 3, 1951 EMD produces its first six-axle freight diesel, an SD-7. It tours as demonstrator 990 before being sold to the Southern Pacific, which numbers it 1518. It is preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum.
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May 3, 1952 ¡°Wallace¡± station on the Chicago El¡¯s Stock Yards Branch is closed.
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May 3, 1962 One hundred sixty people are killed in a three-train collision north of Tokyo.
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May 3, 1977 Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams cancels Amtrak's "Mountaineer". Running between Cincinnati and Norfolk, it averages 35 passengers between any two points. Its last day of service will come about a month later. Most of the route will be taken over by the Catlettsburg KY-Washington "Hilltopper".
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May 3, 2014 Florida¡¯s ¡°SunRail¡± begins operations.
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May 3, 2019 Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 #4014 makes its first test run from Cheyenne WY to Nunn CO and back. It had moved under power for the first time yesterday.
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May 3, 2021 A section of the Mexico City elevated railway, ¡°Metro¡± collapses, killing at least 24. An investigation reveals the collapse was do to faulty welds and missing support bracing.
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May 4, 1841 The Western Railroad (later B&A) is completed from the New York state line to Pittsfield MA.
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May 4, 1845 The first iron truss bridge (Howe type) in the U.S. is placed in service on the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad. The bridge has been designed by civil engineer Richard B. Osborne.
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May 4, 1852 The Madison & Indianapolis Railroad begins building a road to bypass the steep grade of the Madison incline. The project will end three years later with only a partial grade, two tunnels and a $300,000 [2025: $12,459,000] drain on the company funds to show for it.
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May 4, 1859 The Cornwall Railway opens across the Royal Albert Bridge, linking Devon and Cornwall counties in England.
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May 4, 1861 An armored railroad car equipped with a swivel gun and rifle loopholes is built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for the beleaguered Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore. The PW&B has suffered much destruction by Maryland secessionists.
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May 4, 1870 Horace F. Clark, son-in-law of Cornelius Vanderbilt, is elected President of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, tightening the bonds between the LS&MS and the Vanderbilt empire.
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May 4, 1918 Horsecar service ends in Middletown OH. The routes will be taken over by motorbuses.
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May 4, 1952 Service ends on the Chicago El¡¯s Humboldt Park Branch.
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May 4, 1958 The Nickel Plate #765 is placed in Lawton Park in Ft. Wayne IN.
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May 4, 1959 Railway Express Agency begins moving express via piggyback on the Pennsylvania Railroad between Philadelphia and Chicago.
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May 4, 1989 CP Rail opens its Rogers Pass project. Included in the project is the 9.1-mile Mount MacDonald Tunnel, the longest in the Western Hemisphere.
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Mark Tomlonson
