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March 19, 1851 The Illinois Central Railroad is organized in New York City.

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March 19, 1917 The railroads accept President Wilson's proposal for an 8-hour workday to stave off possible strikes. Later in the day the U.S. Supreme Court in Wilson v. New, upholds the eight-hour workday for railroads.

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March 19, 1918 The U.S. Congress adopts Standard or "Railroad" time, in use since 1884, as the national standard.

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March 19, 1928 The New York Central opens a new, 31-stall roundhouse at Harmon NY.

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March 19, 1933 Cincinnati Union Terminal opens.

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March 19, 1948 The Lakefront Terminal & Dock Company opens its new terminal at Toledo. The terminal will be used jointly by the New York Central and Chesapeake & Ohio. The terminal has two Hulett-type unloaders and three McMyler coal dumpers.

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March 19, 1964 Passenger service ends on the New York Central between Detroit and Bay City MI. This ends intercity passenger service to Bay City and Saginaw.

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March 19, 2007 Demolition begins on the Pennsylvania Railroad roundhouse at Crestline, OH. Built around 1918, the facility had enlarged stalls to accommodate the Pennsy's T-1 and S-1 steam locomotives.

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March 19, 2011 The Amtrak station in Wilmington, DE is named for Vice President Joe Biden, who as a Senator departed from the station on a regular basis to travel to Washington DC.

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March 19, 2020 Amtrak suspends the “Pere Marquette” between Chicago and Grand Rapids MI due to declining ridership caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. “Wolverine” service between Chicago and Pontiac MI is cut back from 6 daily trains to 4, and will be cut back to 2 on March 21. Other Chicago regional trans are affected as well.

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March 20, 1880 The Southern Pacific reaches Tucson AZ, the first train arriving on this date.

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March 20, 1896 The Grand Trunk Railway purchases the Central Vermont Railway and begins operating it as a wholly owned subsidiary.

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March 20, 1909 The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Company is formed. When the track is built this summer, the Peoria & Eastern will haul most of the materials. Later, when the original surface is found to be unsafe, the P&E will haul the bricks for "The Brickyard".

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March 20, 1949 The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy/Denver & Rio Grande Western/Western Pacific "California Zephyr" makes its first run.

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March 20, 1950 The Baltimore & Ohio introduces its "Time-Saver" service for LCL freight.

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March 20, 1959 Last sailing of the Weehawken ferry, connecting New York Central's West Shore line with Manhattan.

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March 20, 1960 The Pioneer Zephyr makes its final revenue run from Lincoln NE to Kansas City MO. It then continues to Chicago for its final disposition.

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March 20, 2017 Canadian National announces it will be closing the ore dock at Escanaba MI by the end of April. Ore has been shipped form Escanaba since 1852.

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March 21, 1837 Today and tomorrow, the Michigan Legislature will pass the Internal Improvements Act, authorizing the Central Railroad of Michigan (later MC) to build across the state. It will follow the route charted by the largely unbuilt Detroit & St. Joseph Rail Road. Also authorized: The Southern Railroad of Michigan (later LS&MS), the Northern Railroad of Michigan (never built), canals and plank roads.

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March 21, 1853 The Baltimore, Carroll & Frederick Railroad is renamed the Western Maryland Railroad.

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March 21, 1874 The first meal is served on board a British train.

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March 21, 1906 Fifty striking women car cleaners, who have been denied a meeting with Pennsylvania Railroad Division Superintendant S.C. Long, force their way into his home at 9:00 p.m. to present their grievances.

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March 21, 1918 President Wilson signs the Railroad Control Act, setting terms for operation of the railroads by the United States Railroad Administration (USRA). Railroads are to be paid rent for use of their lines and equipment.

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March 21, 1937 Southern Pacific's "Daylight Limited" debuts the new red/orange/black "Daylight" paint scheme.

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March 21, 1950 The State of New York forms its New York Thruway Authority to construct a network of toll roads and superhighways.

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March 21, 1953 The Chesapeake & Ohio carferry "Badger" makes her maiden voyage.

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March 21, 1968 The Louisville & Nashville/Monon merger is announced. The merger will be accomplished in July, 1971.

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Mark Tomlonson

March 18, 1834 One track of the Allegheny Portage Railroad opens for revenue service. The railroad will not operate between December and March when canals are closed by ice. Included in the construction: The first railroad tunnel in the United States.

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March 18, 1845 The Pittsfield & North Adams Railroad (later WRR, B&A, NYC, PC, CR, B&M) is incorporated.

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March 18, 1850 The American Express Company is formed.

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March 18, 1852 Henry Wells and William G. Fargo of the American Express Company organize Wells, Fargo & Co. in California to engage in express business between New York and California.

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March 18, 1869 The Pennsylvania Railroad buys the last of seven tracts of land on the relocated line of the Philadelphia Division near Whitehall Station. The land is subdivided as an exclusive commuter suburb called "Bryn Mawr". The name is Welsh for "beautiful hill".

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March 18, 1881 The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe line from Kansas City and the Southern Pacific line from California reach Deming, New Mexico, forming the second rail route to the Pacific and the first direct rail route to southern California. (Some sources put this event on March 8.)

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March 18, 1884 The Mexican Central Railway [English translation] opens between Mexico City and Ciudad Juarez [modern name].

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March 18, 1907 The first all steel 12-1 sleeper is placed on exhibit in Pennsylvania Railroad's Broad Street Station. It will travel to New York tomorrow before being placed in service.

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March 18, 1915 The Pennsylvania Railroad stages its first test of MP54 MU cars between Overbrook and Bryn Mawr.

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March 18, 1920 Fruit Growers Express is created to serve shippers in the East and South. The Atlantic Coast Line, Baltimore & Ohio, Pennsylvania Railroad and the Southern Railway are the original stockholders.

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March 18, 1930 The New Haven introduces the "Yankee Clipper" between New York and Boston on a 4 hour, 45 minute schedule.

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March 18, 1939 The "Coronation Scot", a British train normally in service between London and Glasgow, begins its tour of 38 U.S. cities. At the end of the tour it will be displayed at the New York World's Fair.

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March 18, 1952 The New Haven installs ticket vending machines in Grand Central Terminal.

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March 18, 1960 British Railways take delivery of their last steam locomotive: 2-10-0 #92220, named "Evening Star".

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March 18, 2020 The Las Vegas NV monorail is forced to shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Mark Tomlonson

March 17, 1869 A Michigan law takes effect confirming a land grant along the first 20 miles of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad but forcing the GR&I to forfeit the rest of the land grant unless it competes an additional 20 miles north of Grand Rapids by July 1, 1869, and 100 miles by January 1, 1873.

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March 17, 1954 Steam ends on the Erie behind 4-6-2 #2930.

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March 17, 1956 Trailer-Train Corporation begins operations. Stockholders include the Pennsylvania Railroad, Norfolk & Western, Frisco and Missouri Pacific.

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March 17, 1975 With only $300 cash on hand ($1,473 in 2020 dollars), the Rock Island enters bankruptcy for the third time.

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March 17, 2009 CSX Corporation officials in Chicago, decked out in green neckties, take advantage of the St. Patrick's Day holiday to announce the purchase of 4 "green" National Railway Equipment Corporation 3GS21B-DE gensets. The units, purchased with Federal pollution reduction funds, will serve in Barr Yard in south suburban Chicago.

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March 17, 2014 Passengers boarding a TGV train in Mulhouse, France are horrified to discover the remains of a bicyclist embedded in the front of the locomotive. The remains of the bicycle were discovered at a grade crossing near Petit-Croix, the previous stop.

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Mark Tomlonson

March 16, 1910 The New York Central’s electrification project reaches White Plains NY.

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March 16, 1922 The Aurora, Elgin & Chicago is reorganized into the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin.

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March 16, 1957 The Milwaukee Road draws the curtain on steam operation as 4-6-0 #1004, class G8, makes a round-trip passenger run from Austin to La Crosse WI. The steamer was substituted when the regular motor-car broke down.

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March 16, 2011 Former Santa Fe PA-1 59L is transferred from the Smithsonian Institute to The Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco TX.

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March 16, 2016 Washington DC’s Metrorail closes to allow safety inspections of jumper cables. Failure of these cables is suspected in an incident that filled a station with smoke and another that resulted in one death. Metrorail has not completely shut down for any cause other than weather since it started operations in 1976.

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Mark Tomlonson

March 15, 1831 The Mohawk & Hudson Railroad orders its first locomotive as well as two 12 Horsepower stationary engines for inclined planes from the West Point Foundry Association.

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March 15, 1868 The Columbus, Chicago & Indiana Central Railway (later PRR) opens between Union City and Anoka Jct., completing a new, direct route between Bradford, OH and Chicago via Logansport, IN.

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March 15, 1875 A North Carolina act prohibits any railroad in that state from changing its gauge away from 56.5". The gauge of the North Carolina Railroad is changed to 5'-0" anyway to create a through line with the Richmond & Danville Railroad.

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March 15, 1899 London’s Marylebone Station opens, serving the Great Central Railway.

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March 15, 1910 The Ann Arbor Railroad depot at Temple MI burns to the ground.

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March 15, 1911 The first contract with a railroad specifying an eight hour work day is signed with the Denver & Rio Grande by the American Federation of Labor's Railway Employees' Department.

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March 15, 1916 For the first time, the electrified lines of the Long Island Railroad are paralyzed by the effects of an ice storm.

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March 15, 1926 The Pennsylvania Railroad assigns coach train porters, similar to Pullman porters, to principal east-west and Midwest corridor trains.

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March 15, 1926 The Toledo & Ohio Central Railway (a New York Central Subsidiary) places a new coal dumper in service at the mouth of the Maumee River at Toledo. The dumper will handle lake coal moving through the Cincinnati gateway. The dumper is capable of handling the new 150-ton coal gondolas used by the Virginian Railway.

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March 15, 1938 The Pennsylvania Railroad takes delivery of its first lightweight Pullman, the 18-roomette "City of New York".

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March 15, 1949 A fire breaks out in the cable house at South Cable on the Michigan-California Lumber Company. This will start a chain of events that leads to the end of logging by rail two years later.

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March 15, 1949 The "Broadway Limited" is given new equipment. The new cars, designed by Raymond Loewy, feature plastic laminates in place of exotic wood veneers.

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March 15, 1955 The first section of Cleveland's "Rapid" opens from Cleveland Union Terminal to Windermere.

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March 15, 1972 "The Godfather" premiers in New York City. The room where Marlon Brando as Don Corleone negotiates an end to the Five Families War is actually the boardroom of the New York Central Railroad, which explains the train mural seen in back of Richard Conte's head throughout the scene.

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March 15, 1977 Conrail exits commuter service on the former Boston & Albany.

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March 15, 1980 The last Milwaukee Road Train departs Tacoma WA, as "Lines West" are abandoned.

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March 15, 1999 The "City of New Orleans" crashes into a steel truck at a protected grade crossing in Bourbonnaise, IL. Eleven are killed. The wreck is blamed on the truck driver, who was driving on a suspended license and had only 3 hours sleep in the previous 24.

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March 15, 2007 The first train runs on France's highest speed rail line, TGV-Est, between Paris and Strasbourg. Top speed on the line is 320 km/h (200mph). The line will open to the public on June 10.

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March 15, 2010 The "Angel's Flight" funicular in Los Angeles resumes operations following a 2001 accident in which the two cars collided. The funicular was built in 1901.

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March 15, 2011 The United States Postal Service unveils a stamp honoring "Owney", a dog that in the late 19^th century was famous for hitching rides on RPO cars. In the days of frequent injuries to mail clerks, Owney seemed to bring good luck, as no RPO car on which he rode was ever damaged in an accident.

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Mark Tomlonson

March 12, 1845 The Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railway (later CCC&StL, NYC) is chartered.

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March 12, 1857 The locomotive, mail car and two first class coaches of a Great Western Railway train from Toronto to Hamilton, Ontario plunges 60 feet into the frozen Desjardins Canal after the bridge collapses. Seventy persons die from trauma, drowning, or exposure. Only 20 passengers survive. (Some sources say 59 people killed in total.)

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March 12, 1883 Norfolk & Western hauls its first load of coal.

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March 12, 1892 Anderson [Indiana] Electric Street Railway is electrified. (Some sources say March 14).

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March 12, 1895 The Epworth League Railway, later the Ludington Northern (MI), is organized.

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March 12, 1899 The Southern Railway inaugurates the “Piedmont Limited”.

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March 12, 1914 George Westinghouse, inventor of the air brake, passes away at his summer home in Lennox MA.

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March 12, 1957 The Pennsylvania Railroad begins using snack carts designed by Coca-Cola Company instead of dining or café cars on some Washington-New York trains.

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March 12, 2009 BNSF accepts delivery of four ES44C4 locomotives. The locos revive the A-1-A truck, once popular for passenger diesels. “A-1-A” trucks consist of three axles of which only the first and third axles are powered. BNSF hopes that the factory-modified ES44AC will give it the reliability of a DC locomotive and the reduced maintenance of AC motors.

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March 12, 2015 In a comic syndicated today, “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” reports that Dutch Railways are fitting lasers to their locomotives to remove leaves from the top of the rails.

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March 13, 1833 The Western Railroad is chartered in Massachusetts to connect the Boston & Worcester to the Hudson & Berkshire Railroad. (all later B&A)

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March 13, 1872 The Baltimore, Pittsburgh & Chicago Railway (the Chicago extension of the Baltimore & Ohio), is incorporated separately in Ohio and Indiana.

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March 13, 1883 The Allegan & Southeastern Railroad becomes the Toledo & Milwaukee Railroad.

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March 13, 1884 "Standard Time" takes effect for the railroads, with four time zones across the United States. Standard time will not be official in the U.S. until 1918.

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March 13, 1912 Thawing roadbed wrecks the 20th Century Limited at Hyde Park NY. The New York Public Service Commission advises both the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad to reduce speed on all of their New York-Chicago trains scheduled at 18 hours.

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March 13, 1929 In a move to modernize its passenger fleet, the New Haven Railroad authorizes the purchase of new equipment, including 90 coaches, 10 combines and 6 diners.

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March 13, 1973 The Michigan State Highway Department is reorganized giving it jurisdiction over all state transportation programs, including railroads.

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March 13, 2019 High winds blow 26 cars of a Union Pacific Stack Train off the 173-foot tall Canadian River Trestle onto the ground. No one is hurt.

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March 14, 1836 The Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad (later NYC) is incorporated in Ohio.

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March 14, 1836 The Ohio Legislature authorizes a loan of $200,000 to the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad (later Big Four, NYC). This is the first time state aid has gone to a private railroad company.

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March 14, 1864 John Luther "Casey" Jones is born.

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March 14, 1926 A vastly overloaded passenger train near El Virilla, Costa Rica turns a rail on a bridge and derails. The accident kills 248 and injures 93 who were riding the train to visit a shrine and raise funds for the care of the elderly. Three days of national mourning follow the accident.

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March 14, 1938 Charlotte NC holds a "Good-Bye To Trolleys" festival to mark the end of service. Participating in the ceremonies is car no. 85. Car 85 will be turned into an Air National Guard office, a snack bar and a private residence before being restored to operational status in the 21st century.

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March 14, 1940 Streetcar service draws to a close in Lafayette IN.

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March 14, 1949 The Nickel Plate tests General Electric's gas turbine demonstrator, #101.

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March 14, 1955 The Pennsylvania Railroad announces it has ordered a model 705 "Giant Brain" computer from IBM. It will be the largest computer used by a railroad, used for billings and tickets. It will work along with an IBM 650.

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March 14, 1957 The New York Central dedicates its new Frontier Yard in East Buffalo NY. It is the first of four planned large, electronic hump yards to go into service. Frontier Yard replaces eight older NYC yards in the Buffalo area.

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March 14, 1974 Inter-city passenger rail service returns to Dallas with the start of Amtrak's "Inter-American".

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March 14, 2005 Canadian Pacific becomes the first bulk purchaser of RailPower Technology's "Green Goat" switching locomotive as they announce an order for 35 environmentally friendly units to be purchased over the next four years.

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Mark Tomlonson

March 11, 1836 The Little Miami Railroad (later PC&St.L. PRR), Ohio’s second, receives its charter to connect the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad to the Ohio River at Cincinnati. Construction will not begin until 1843.

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March 11, 1851 The State of Pennsylvania enacts a law requiring all railroads built east of Erie to be either 4' 8.5" or 6' gauge and all railroads west of Erie to be built to a 4'10" gauge, also known as "Ohio Gauge". It is thought at the time that the gauge change and the resulting loading and reloading of railroad cars will help Erie become a major terminal. (Some sources say 1852)

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March 11, 1854 To reduce on-duty drinking by employees, the Pennsylvania Railroad Road Committee considers ordering a ban on the sale of all liquor and beer on any PRR property and to prohibit stopping trains at any public house where liquor is sold. The order is toned down by amendment to simply prohibiting the sale of liquor on PRR property.

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March 11, 1872 Jay Gould's attempts to control both the Erie and the New York Central Railroads are halted as a new Board of Directors is installed in the Erie.

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March 11, 1904 The first tunnel under the Hudson River is holed through.

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March 11, 1908 The final spike is driven in the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railroad, at Lyle WA.

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March 11, 1908 The Strang gas-electric car "Irene" built by Brill is tested between Philadelphia and Washington DC.

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March 11, 1947 The Budd Company tests its first dome car.

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March 11, 1952 The Pennsylvania Railroad shows off its newly-equipped "Congressional" to the press. "The Senator" is also receiving new equipment at this time.

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March 11, 2004 Three days before the Spanish national election, terrorists believed to be inspired by al-Qaeda, bomb the Cercanias commuter trains near Madrid, Spain. The explosions kill 191 people and injure another 1,800.

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Mark Tomlonson

March 10, 1858 The Pittsburgh Ft. Wayne & Chicago (later PRR) connects to the Pennsylvania Railroad in Pittsburgh, despite opposition and interference from local citizens.

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March 10, 1862 The St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (later MSt.P&P, GN) is organized.

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March 10, 1865 The State of Michigan transfers an additional land grant to the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad. This brings the total land grant to 850,960 acres although no land will actually be granted south of Grand Rapids.

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March 10, 1907 The Pere Marquette roundhouse at Traverse City MI is destroyed by fire.

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March 10, 1917 Police interrupt a former German sailor and two other men as the try to sabotage Pennsylvania Railroad telegraph lines near Wissinoming, PA.

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March 10, 1930 Near Lakehurst NJ an Army blimp succeeds in picking up 4 mail sacks from the roof of a Pennsylvania Railroad train moving at 55 mph. The trials are held to help newsreel companies speed delivery of films to theatres.

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March 10, 1933 Last run of the Kansas City, Clay County & St. Joseph Railway (Interurban)

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March 10, 1940 Missouri Pacific's streamlined "Eagles" begin operations.

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March 10, 1945 New York Central accepts its first 4-8-4 "Niagara", #6000, at the Alco factory in Schenectady NY.

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March 10, 1976 An LRC train breaks the unofficial Canadian rail speed record: 129 mph (207 k/ph) on CP Rail’s Adirondack Subdivision between St. Jean and Delson. The previous record had been set by a steam locomotive pulling a lightweight passenger train on Canadian Pacific's Winchester Sub near St. Telesphore in 1936.

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March 10, 1993 Amtrak's eastbound "Wolverine" strikes a propane truck at a private crossing between Comstock and Galesburg MI. The collision kills the truck driver and injures the engineer. The accident leads directly to the closing of all private crossings in that stretch of track and the re-routing of the adjacent county road.

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March 10, 2009 Canadian National routes its first two trains over the former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern. CN's purchase of the line was finalized on January 31. Traffic is expected to grow to six daily trains in the near future.

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March 10, 2020 Amtrak suspends Acela service between Washington and New York in an attempt to slow the spread of the Corona virus.

Mark Tomlonson

March 9, 1875 The North Brookfield Railroad (later B&A, NYC, PC, CR) is incorporated.

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March 9, 1910 The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Executive Committee authorizes the purchase of the Toledo & Ohio Central Railway from the Hocking Valley, as well as joint ownership with the Chesapeake & Ohio of the Kanawha & Michigan Railway. This will give the New York Central system access to coal fields in Southeastern Ohio and West Virginia for fuel. It will also provide the NYC System with a connection to the Virginian Railway.

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March 9, 1917 Official opening of the New York Connecting Railroad Bridge, later known as Hell Gate Bridge. It will be the largest steel arch bridge in the world until 1931.

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March 9, 1930 The Elgin & Belvidere ends interurban service between Marengo and Elgin IL.

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March 9. 1937 In a joint announcement, Pullman and the New York Central announce the order of new streamlined equipment to be NYC's "Great Steel Fleet". At the same time Pullman and the Pennsylvania Railroad announce new streamline cars to be PRR's "Fleet of Modernism".

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March 9, 1954 The Santa Fe completes its dieselization.

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March 9, 1993 Eleven Russian-built 2,000hp locomotives (Alco RS-1 copies) are imported with the hopes of cracking the low-horsepower locomotive market. They don't pass FRA inspection. Other than providing fodder for invasion conspiracies, their only accomplishment is to slowly turn to rust on the Houston docks.

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March 9, 2008 After 30 years of planning, the diesel-powered "Sprinter" light railway serving the northern suburbs of San Diego opens for business.

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March 9, 2009 The Grand Elk Railroad (GDLK), a WATCO short line, begins operations between Elkhart IN and Grand Rapids MI. GDLK uses former Lake Shore & Michigan Southern tracks south of Kalamazoo and former Grand Rapids & Indiana tracks north, all most recently operated by Norfolk Southern. Grand Elk will operate the line in cooperation with Norfolk Southern until April 1, when it will assume full control.

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Mark Tomlonson

March 8, 1855 The first train crosses the suspension bridge over Niagara Falls. Before this time, goods and passengers were ferried across the river. The bridge does not end the transfer, as the change in track gauge between lines in New York and Ontario remains, although the bridge itself has three gauges (56.5", 66" and 72"). The Bridge will allow the Michigan Central via the Great Western to reach markets in the east and will be a major selling point for the line. (Some sources say March 17)

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March 8, 1884 The Mahopac Falls Railroad (later NYC) is chartered.

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March 8, 1904 The Lucien cut-off, the causeway across the Great Salt Lake that has bypassed Promontory Summit, site of the Golden Spike Ceremony, is opened for service.

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March 8, 1905 The Aurora, Elgin & Chicago (Later CA&E) begins operations from its 52nd Street terminal eastward into downtown Chicago and the Loop. (Some sources say March 9)

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March 8, 1907 The Virginian Railway is formed. It is entirely controlled by Henry H. Rodgers of Standard Oil who is looking for a new outlet from the West Virginia coalfields.

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March 8, 1910 "Ann Arbor Carferry No. 1" burns at Manitowoc WI.

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March 8, 1924 New York Central President Alfred H. Smith is killed while riding a horse in Central Park. His horse had reared to avoid hitting another rider.

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March 8, 1926 The Illinois Central installs the first electro-pneumatic car retarders in the United States at Markham Yard near Chicago.

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March 8, 1933 The New Haven temporarily suspends the "Yankee Clipper" and "Merchants Limited" due to the Bank Holiday imposed by President Roosevelt.

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March 8, 1933 The movie "42nd Street" opens at the Strand Theatre in New York City. The movie features an extended musical number taking place in the interior of a Pullman all-section sleeper, including scenes in the men's and women's dressing rooms. In addition, the studio has hired a special train, "The 42nd Street Special" to carry many of the leading actors from Hollywood to the premier.

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March 8. 1941 The Nickel Plate's "Commercial Traveler" makes its final run in Ohio from Toledo to the Ohio/Indiana state line. Once the Toledo, St. Louis & Western's premier train, it is now a daily mixed train. Operation will continue for another two years in Indiana.

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March 8, 1955 The New Haven introduces a piggyback car patterned after those on the French National Railways. It is nine inches lower than a standard car.

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March 8, 1967 New York Central FA-2 #1102 becomes the last cab unit painted at NYC's Collinwood (OH) Shops.

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March 8, 1968 The last Soo Line passenger train runs on the former Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic between Champion and Calumet.

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Mark Tomlonson

March 5, 1832 The New Castle & Frenchtown Railroad begins regular daily revenue service. Passenger boats transfer their passengers to the railroad from stagecoaches, forming a through stage-boat-rail line between Philadelphia and Baltimore. During its entire existence, the NC&F is closed from December through March when steamboats are stopped by the ice.

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March 5, 1850 The Louisville & Nashville Railroad is chartered.

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March 5, 1859 The Martinsville & Franklin reorganizes as the Franklin & Martinsville (later Big Four, NYC). Traffic is so sparse on the line that it will see no trains for the next seven years.

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March 5, 1872 George Westinghouse Jr. receives patent No. 124,405 for the automatic railroad air brake.

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March 5, 1879 The Grand Rapids & Indiana leases the Allegan & South Eastern Railroad. The line has track laid from Allegan to Monteith, and unfinished portions between Monteith and the Ohio State line. The lease is retroactive to January 1.

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March 5, 1880 The first through Cincinnati Southern (later CNO&TP, NS) passenger train departs Cincinnati OH for Chattanooga TN. In the newspaper article covering the story, the reporter dubs the train the "Chattanooga Choo Choo”, the first use of the phrase.

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March 5, 1888 The Toledo, Ann Arbor & Lake Michigan Railway is organized to build from Cadillac to Frankfort MI.

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March 5, 1920 The Milwaukee Railroad completes the electrification of its line between Othello and Tacoma, WA, 207 miles.

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March 5, 1927 Great Northern runs its first electric train using its new single-phase system, from Skykomish to the old Cascade Tunnel.

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March 5, 1930 The Pennsylvania Railroad holds a "Golden Spike" ceremony at 41st St. in Chicago to mark the upgrading of the New York-Chicago main line to 130-pound rail.

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March 5, 1972 The last "Birney" streetcar in regular service is retired in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.

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March 6, 1830 Colonel Stephen H. Long constructs a road bridge over the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. It is the first known road bridge to cross a railroad.

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March 6, 1834 The London & Gore Railroad in Upper Canada receives its charter; the first railroad charter in what is now Ontario. Running between Niagara Falls and Windsor, it will be later part of the Great Western, Grand Trunk and Canadian National Railways.

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March 6, 1880 The Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis & Chicago Railroad (later NYC) is incorporated.

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March 6, 1882 Regular service begins between Cincinnati OH and Dayton on the Cincinnati Northern.

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March 6, 1902 The Grand Rapids, Grand Haven & Muskegon (MI Interurban) adds service between Grand Haven Junction and Spring Lake Village.

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March 6, 1958 The New York Central dedicates its Robert R. Young yard at Elkhart, IN. It is NYC's second large, computerized yard. It has been built to pre-sort cars coming to and from the Chicago area.

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March 7, 1832 The New Jersey Railroad & Transportation Company (later PRR) is chartered to build across the state.

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March 7, 1834 The Detroit & Pontiac (later D&M, GT) receives its charter from Michigan Territory.

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March 7, 1848 The body of former President John Quincy Adams, who had died of a stroke on the floor of the House on February 21, is carried from Washington to New York via three separate railroads.

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March 7, 1850 The Toledo, Norwalk & Cleveland Railroad (later LS&MS, NYC) is chartered.

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March 7, 1865 A collision between an express train and a disabled passenger train kills five Union Soldiers and a train crewman and injures 48. The accident prompts Ashbel Welch to come up with a block system to control trains (which he had studied in England) for the Philadelphia & Trenton Railroad.

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March 7, 1873 In Prescott, AZ the last reported outbreak of the Great Epizootic devastates the horse population. The virulent equine flu has halted transportation within cities in 33 states, Canada and Cuba.

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March 7, 1887 Henry Whiting combines 7 Boston street railways into a single system, the West End Street Railway. At 1,700 cars and 200 miles of track it is the largest in the world. He is also given permission to build a subway.

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March 7, 1905 The first McKeen car, the first successful use of internal combustion on U.S. railroads, makes its first run, Omaha to Valley NE.

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March 7, 1909 The Winona Interurban Electric Railway is forced by its major creditor to begin operations on Sundays, a move resisted by its Sabbatarian founders, including H.J. Heinz and J. M. Studebaker.

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March 7, 1910 ACF builds a sleeper car with traditional sections named "Peoria" for the interurban Illinois Terminal Railroad.

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Mark Tomlonson

March 4, 1826 Granite Railway, the first incorporated company to build and operate a rail road in the United States, is chartered in Massachusetts.

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March 4, 1839 The first "express" traffic carried by rail travels between Boston and New York, carried in the pouch of a courier.

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March 4, 1869 The Spuyten Duyvil & Port Morris Railroad (later NY&H, NYC&HR, NYC) is chartered.

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March 4, 1882 Britain’s first electric trams (streetcars) run in London.

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March 4, 1889 The Grand Trunk carferry "Transit I" is destroyed by fire in its dock at Windsor.

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March 4, 1907 The first section of Philadelphia's Market Street Subway-Elevated opens from 69th Street Terminal to 15th Street. (Some sources say March 7)

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March 4, 1908 A new Hours of Service law takes effect: 9 hours for train operators and 16 hours for trainmen.

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March 4, 1913 The Great Northern places its first open observation car on its roster. This is not an open-platform observation car, but a roofless car for tourist use.

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March 4, 1913 Workers connect the main channel truss of 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.

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March 4, 1925 Films of President Coolidge's inauguration are rushed from Washington to New York on a special train chartered by International News Reel that takes three hours and forty minutes for the trip. The film is developed on the train and is shown in theatres at 4:12 p.m. This beats both Pathe and Fox who have sent their films by plane, but require developing once the plane lands.

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March 4, 1935 Raymond Lowey is given an exclusive contract with the Pennsylvania Railroad. He will not design equipment for any other railroad and PRR will use no other designer.

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March 4, 1946 Robert R. Young publishes his soon-to-be-famous "A hog can cross the country without changing trains, but YOU can't" advertisement as part of his fight to buy the Pullman Company on the theme of a lack of transcontinental cars.

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March 4, 1947 Ms. Friedel Klussman launches a drive to preserve San Francisco's cable cars.

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March 4, 1970 In the single largest train-off petition ever sent to the I.C.C., Penn Central seeks to drop all passenger service west of Buffalo and Harrisburg. A total of 34 trains are to be discontinued, joining 14 others already in various stages of litigation.

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Mark Tomlonosn

March 3, 1831 George M. Pullman is born in New York.

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March 3, 1842 The Pittsfield & North Adams Railroad (Later WRR, B&A, NYC) is chartered in Massachusetts to build between its namesake cities.

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March 3, 1851 The Northern Indiana Railroad (later LS&MS) is chartered in Ohio to create a better route into Chicago for the Michigan Southern and associated companies.

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March 3, 1853 Congress authorizes a survey for a trans-continental railroad.

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March 3, 1871 An Act of Congress incorporates the Texas Pacific Railroad Company to build from Texas to San Diego.

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March 3, 1921 President-Elect Harding travels to Washington DC from his home in Marion OH. East of Harrisburg PA the train makes the run in one-half hour less than the fastest schedule between Harrisburg and Washington.

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March 3, 1938 The “Mallard”, which will later set the steam speed record, is built in LNER’s Doncaster Works.

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March 3, 1944 A double-headed mixed train in southern Italy stalls in a tunnel. Carbon monoxide poisoning kills 521 people. Five people survive. One hundred ninety-three who carried no identification, most of them black marketers, are buried in a mass grave at the site.

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March 3, 1947 The Baltimore & Ohio begins its "Sentinel" freight service, offering guaranteed delivery of fast freight between major cities.

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March 3, 1949 American Car & Foundry tests the new Spanish "Talgo Train" at Berwick PA. It will later be tested on the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western.

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March 3, 1955 The Pennsylvania Railroad runs its first "TrucTrain" TOFC train from Chicago to Kearny, NJ. It is the first time the Pennsylvania has carried trailers of common-carrier trucking companies on its flatcars.

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March 3, 1966 For the first time GG-1's are retired by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Numbers 4804, 4831 and 4847 leave the fleet. 4804 has cracks in the running gear, a problem that will plague other GG-1's.

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March 3, 1970 The merger creating the Burlington Northern Railroad from the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, the Great Northern, Northern Pacific and the Spokane, Portland & Seattle takes effect.

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Mark Tomlonson

March 2, 1831 An Act of Congress authorizes the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad to extend a branch into the District of Columbia.

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March 2, 1836 In the earliest "cornfield meet" for a which a full date was recorded, a passenger and freight on the Camden & Amboy Railroad meet head on near Burlington NJ. No one was injured.

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March 2, 1863 Congress adopts a track gauge of 4' 8 ?" for the Union Pacific Railroad over the objections of ex-Illinois Central attorney and President Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln had lobbied for a 5' gauge, but the narrower, "Stephenson" gauge is adopted to make the railroad less useful to the 5' gauge railroads of the Confederacy. This action will lead indirectly to the gauge being adopted as standard throughout North America.

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March 2, 1866 The Hudson River Railroad and the New York & Harlem Railroad begin operating into Albany.

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March 2, 1893 The United States Safety Appliance Act is signed into law, mandating that all cars in interchange service be equipped with air brakes, automatic couplers and grab irons.

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March 2, 1902 The first segment of the James Bay RR (later Canadian Northern, Canadian National) is opened between Parry Sound and Canada Atlantic Junction, 3.7 miles.

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March 2, 1902 The Pennsylvania Railroad begins overnight sleeper service between Chicago and Muncie, IN.

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March 2, 1913 The New York Central’s electrification project reaches Croton, NY.

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March 2, 1925 To aid automobile and truck drivers, the Joint Board of State & Federal Highway Officials establishes a numbering system for Federally-supported highways.

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March 2, 1931 The Chesapeake & Ohio opens a new Greenbrier Hotel at White Sulphur Springs WV.

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March 2, 1936 Pennsylvania Railroad K-4s #3768 receives a streamlined tender to match its Raymond Loewy designed shroud applied a week and a half earlier. The locomotive, nicknamed "The Torpedo" by crews, begins an exhibition tour.

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March 2, 1939 The Great Northern receives its first EMD diesel.

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March 2, 1950 The Nickel Plate runs its first diesel-powered mainline freight, as two yard switchers are pressed into service to handle a train from Peru to Michigan City IN.

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March 2, 1958 The last local trolley line to operate in the state of Wisconsin, Milwaukee's #10 (Wells) line, is converted to diesel bus operation.

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March 2, 1958 The Baltimore & Ohio Introduces Budd "Slumbercoaches" on its Baltimore-Chicago "Columbian".

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Mark Tomlonson