June 30, 1841 The Central Railroad of Michigan reaches Dexter from the east.
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June 30, 1841 First passenger train on what will be the Erie Railroad, Piermont Ferry to Ramapo.
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June 30, 1876 The first railroad in China begins formal operations.
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June 30, 1889 The Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad (The Big Four) is formed from the merger of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway, the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis & Chicago Railway and the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railway.
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June 30, 1895 America's first electrification of a "steam" railroad: the 7-mile Nantasket Branch of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad.
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June 30, 1896 The Aurora, Elgin & Fox River (interurban) begins operations between Elgin and Geneva IL.
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June 30, 1908 Last day steam trains could legally operate south of the Harlem River in New York City.
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June 30, 1915 Belvidere IL loses its streetcars.
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June 30, 1918 Streetcars quit in Madison IN.
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June 30, 1922 The "Washington-Bar Harbor Express" runs northbound with a record four sections with a total of 29 extra sleeping cars.
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June 30, 1923 Ft. Wayne Union Railway begins construction. It is jointly owned by the Pennsylvania, Nickel Plate, New York Central and Wabash railroads, each with a 25% share in the company. It will serve primarily the International Harvester plant.
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June 30, 1931 The remaining routes of the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern are incorporated into the Indiana Railroad.
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June 30, 1931 The last passenger interurban runs between Alexandria and Tipton IN.
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June 30, 1931 Passenger service ends on the Madison (IN) incline.
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June 30, 1932 Last interurban, Lima OH to Ft. Wayne IN.
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June 30, 1934 the 12 lines comprising Southern Pacific operations in Texas and Louisiana are consolidated under SP¡¯s Texas & New Orleans Railroad.
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June 30, 1937 Last day of mail service on the former Kalamazoo & South Haven as the Post Office shifts the contract to motor freight.
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June 30, 1940 Last day "archbar" freight trucks could legally operate in U.S. interchange service, and then only on empty cars returning to their home roads.
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June 30, 1947 Under court order, Pullman Inc. sells its sleeping car operation, The Pullman Co., to a consortium of 59 railroads. This separates the company's manufacturing and operating divisions.
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June 30, 1951 Last day of operation, The Milwaukee Rapid Transit & Speedrail Company to Waukesha and Hales Corners, spelling the end of Rapid Transit service out of Milwaukee, WI.
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June 30, 1951 Ft. Collins CO converts its streetcar lines to bus.
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June 30, 1952 The Ann Arbor Railroad's new diesel shop at Owosso MI is completed.
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June 30, 1954 For the first time an airline racks up more passenger miles than any railroad: American Airlines during the first half of 1954.
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June 30, 1958 The Pennsylvania Railroad holds a meeting with representatives of the Budd Corporation and Curtiss-Wright. Curtis-Wright proposes to enter the high-speed rail market with Pioneer III-type coaches powered by a 10-foot aircraft propeller and aircraft engines. Curtiss-Wright expects these cars would be able to attain 165 mph, running between New York and Washington non-stop in 2 hours 17 minutes.
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June 30, 1962 Norfolk & Western ends heavy electric operation on their ex-Virginian Railway lines.
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June 30, 1965 Last run of Katy's "Texas Special".
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June 30, 1977 A Railway Post Office runs for the last time in the United States, New York City to Washington DC.
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June 30, 1983 The Kent-Barry-Eaton Connecting Railway (MI) ends operations. It had been the first railroad in the U.S. operated by African-Americans.
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June 30, 1983 The Boston & Maine is taken over by Guillford Industries.
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June 30, 2006 The Rockland ME passenger station is opened for the first time since 1959. The station will serve a tourist line running from Rockland to Brunswick, where the Governor of Maine hopes to make a connection to Amtrak.
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June 30, 2007 CSX announces it is abandoning the centralized dispatching concept. It will shift up to 300 dispatching jobs over the next two years to existing offices in Baltimore MD, Nashville TN, Huntington WV, Cincinnati OH, Florence SC and Atlanta GA. Once the transfer is completed in August 2009, the Jacksonville FL office will have about 54 train dispatchers.
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June 30, 2019 Last run of Amtrak¡¯s ¡°Hoosier State¡±. The Indiana Legislature declined to continue the train¡¯s $3 million state subsidy.
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?Mark Tomlonson
