June 9, 1865 Author Charles Dickens survives a railway accident at Staplehurst, UK in which 10 are killed and 49 injured. The incident is believed to have inspired his short story "The Signalman".
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June 9, 1866 The Kalamazoo & Schoolcraft Railroad is incorporated. [Later K&WP, LS&MS, NYC, PC, CR, NS, GDLK]
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June 9, 1891 Electric streetcars begin in Grand Rapids MI.
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June 9, 1903 First day of service, Indiana Union Traction Company, Muncie to Indianapolis through Anderson.
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June 9, 1905 The Detroit River Tunnel Company, built for the Canada Southern, leased by the Michigan Central and owned by the New York Central, is formed.
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June 9, 1913 First train over the Kenova Bridge, spanning the Ohio River between South Point OH and Kenova WV. The bridge is 4,000 feet long and 82 feet above normal water level. The Kenova Bridge is currently (2017) owned by Norfolk Southern.
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June 9, 1927 The Pennsylvania Railroad announces it will rename "The St. Louisian/New Yorker" "The Spirit of St. Louis" in honor Charles Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic. One of the observation cars will be named "Colonel Lindbergh".
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June 9, 1940 The Hammond, Whiting & East Chicago Electric Railway, known as the "Green Line" due to the color of its cars, ends operations.
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June 9, 1953 Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-6 "Allegheny" No. 1642 suffers a boiler explosion. All three head-end crewmembers are killed when the cab is blown in one piece 200 feet in the air and 900 feet off the mainline into the adjacent river. The boiler is blown off the running gear and flips end for end, coming to rest 600 feet ahead of the train. The blast is blamed on a faulty feedwater injector and/or cold-water pump.
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June 9, 1977 Budd completes the first order of Amtrak "Amfleet" cars as the last car in the order leaves the factory.
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June 9, 2009 A half-mile segment of the former New York Central's elevated line on the west side of Manhattan is opened as a park. The rails remain in place in a rail bank, even though no train has used the line since 1980.
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June 9, 2010 The last ticket agent on the MARC Brunswick Line retires. Commuters will buy all their tickets from machines.
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June 9, 2011 Workers this week begin clean up work on Detroit's Michigan Central depot in anticipation of future restoration.
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Mark Tomlonson
