January 14, 1878 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the federal government has no power to overturn state laws creating segregated accommodations in railroad cars, opening the way for Southern states to impose "Jim Crow" segregation. Many northern railroads with branches in the south are also affected.
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January 14, 1905 Pennsylvania Railroad's Enola Yard opens. An urban legend arises that the name of the yard comes from an early operator at the site who felt all "alone", but the truth is that it is named after the daughter of the owner of the land on which the yard is built.
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January 14, 1923 In the Pennsylvania Railroad Timetable for its Southwest Region issued today, many branch-line and rural passenger trains are removed due to competition from buses and private automobiles.
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January 14, 1939 The last scheduled Southern Pacific commuter ferry run sails on San Francisco Bay. Other SP ferry service will continue in the bay until 1958.
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January 14, 1942 German U-Boats begin attacking United States coastal shipping. At first, the lack of blackouts on the east coast makes the ships easy targets. Attacks by U-Boats will force much cargo from ships onto the railroads.
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January 14, 2015 A bus carrying 12 prison inmates and 3 guards slips off a highway bridge near Odessa TX and strikes a Union Pacific freight train. Eight inmates and 2 guards are killed. The incident is blamed on black ice on I-20.
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January 14, 2017 Serbia attempts to send a train painted in Serbian national colors and lettered ¡°Kosovo is Serbia¡± to Kosovo. Kosovo refuses to let the train cross the border, saying that it antagonizes existing conflicts between the two countries.
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Mark Tomlonson
