June 21, 1869 The last rail is laid on the second 20 miles of the Grand Rapids & Indiana between Cedar Springs and Morley, MI, beating the deadline imposed by the Michigan Legislature. It will open for revenue service by the fall, operated by Pennsylvania Railroad-controlled Continental Improvement Company.
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June 21, 1878 The first passenger train on the Toledo & Ann Arbor arrives in Ann Arbor.
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June 21, 1880 The Wabash Railroad contracts with General Jack Casement to build its new line between Butler IN and Detroit. Casement is famed as the builder of the Union Pacific transcontinental line.
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June 21, 1903 Samuel Dunkley offers his first Sunday Kalamazoo to Chicago excursion. Passengers ride the Kalamazoo & South Haven Railroad to South Haven and then sail on the Dunkley & Williams Steamship Line to Chicago. The all-day excursions are half the cost of a comparable all-rail trip on the Michigan Central. They prove so popular that a Kalamazoo minister will preach a sermon against them two years from now, decrying their desecration of the Sabbath.
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June 21, 1903 The "Northland Limited" is established on the Grand Rapids & Indiana as a summer-only train between Cincinnati and Mackinaw City, replacing the earlier "Northland Express". The train carries sleepers from Cincinnati, Louisville and Chicago. The Chicago sleepers are carried over the Michigan Central to Kalamazoo where they are added to the train.
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June 21, 1925 The Baltimore & Ohio begins the "Detroit-Washington Limited", its first train to Michigan using Pere Marquette trackage between Toledo and Detroit.
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June 21, 1935 The Pennsylvania's Michigan resort train "Northland" is renamed "The Northern Arrow" and given air-conditioned equipment.
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June 21, 1941 The last sleeper runs between Chicago and Grand Rapids MI on a Pennsylvania Railroad/Michigan Central routing.
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June 21, 1951 The Pennsylvania Railroad reports that 79% of its passenger service is dieselized, along with 56% of its freight trains and 76% of its switching locomotives.
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June 21, 1959 Soo Line #2719 closes out steam for that carrier as it hauls an excursion from Minneapolis MN and Ladysmith WI.
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June 21, 1970 Penn Central declares bankruptcy, at the time the largest bankruptcy in U.S. corporate history.
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Mark Tomlonson
