May 21, 1836 The Troy & Schenectady Railroad (later NYC) is incorporated. Construction will begin in 1841. (Some sources list this company as the Schenectady & Troy Railroad)
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May 21, 1852 The Michigan Central runs its first train from Detroit to Chicago.
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May 21, 1876 The Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan Railroad (later Big 4, NYC, PC, CR, NS) opens its 111-mile line between Goshen and Anderson IN.
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May 21, 1877 At Altoona, Pennsylvania, tests begin which result in the permanent installation of telephones in the Pennsylvania Railroad shops, the first trial and use of the telephone for railroad purposes.
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May 21, 1884 The Wheeling & Lake Erie opens new ore docks at Huron OH.
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May 21, 1905 First revenue run, South Bend to St. Joseph on the Southern Michigan Railway (interurban)
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May 21, 1920 Canadian National is assigned the management of the Grand Trunk.
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May 21, 1927 The Chicago South Shore & South Bend formally opens a new station in Michigan City IN.
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May 21, 1930 Streetcar service ends in Oshkosh WI.
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May 21, 1932 The Houghton County Street Railway (MI) calls it quits.
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May 21, 1966 The last trolley runs in St. Louis.
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May 21, 2014 French railway and government officials confirm that the platforms and track spacing on nearly 1,300 French stations is too narrow to accommodate new equipment scheduled for delivery through 2016. The French weekly La Canard Enchaine reports that it will take $68 million (2023: $87 million) to fix the problem.
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May 21, 2017 Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey Circus closes and with it the last circus train, a railroad tradition that goes back to 1872.
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May 21, 2024 Plans are announced in Kalamazoo MI to turn the former Lawrence & Chapin Ironworks building into 82 apartments and a restaurant. The building has also been used for offices, a furniture store, and the terminal for Michigan United Railways. With the completion of this plan, two former MUR stations in Kalamazoo will have been converted into living space.
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May 21, 2024 Amtrak begins its ¡°Borealis¡±, conventional equipment running on a Chicago ¨C Milwaukee ¨C Minneapolis/St. Paul route.
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Mark Tomlonson
