开云体育

March 29, 1869 The Kalamazoo, Allegan & Grand Rapids Railroad (later LS&MS, NYC, PC) is completed from Allegan to Grand Rapids MI. (Some sources say March 1.)

?

March 29, 1909 The Pennsylvania Railroad places an order for 24 examples of a new class of electric locomotive: the DD1.

?

March 29, 1929 The Pennsylvania Railroad completes a program of painting town names in 10-foot high letters on railroad buildings to aid pilots of Transcontinental Air Transport. The lettering appears in 36 different cities.

?

March 29, 1931 Great Northern's "Oriental Limited" makes its last run, having been superseded by the "Empire Builder". The name will be used again by GN, and then dropped for good with the creation of the "Western Star".

?

March 29, 1936 10,000 people gather in Indianapolis to watch the 200-inch mirror blank for the Palomar observatory pass through on its cross-country trip aboard well-hole flat car NYC 499010.

?

March 29, 1955 The French National Railways set a new rail speed record of 207 mph.

?

March 29, 1957 The New York, Ontario & Western is abandoned, the first Class I railroad to quit and the first railroad to be abandoned in its entirety.

?

March 29, 1957 The Central Vermont dieselizes.

?

March 29, 1960 Revenue steam ends on the Grand Trunk Western as 2-8-2 4070 pulls a 50 car freight from Pontiac to Durand in Michigan.

?

March 29, 2018 Florida’s “Brightline” commuter rail makes its first test run into the unfinished Miami station.

?
Mark Tomlonson

March 26, 1860 The first freight car (loaded with lard) leaves St. Louis for New York via Buffalo and the New York Central. The trip will take five days. This is the first car to run through without breaking bulk. Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad, New York Central and other railroads will establish a line of freight cars with wide-tread wheels for through freight to points east of Buffalo and Pittsburgh without transshipment between Ohio and the standard gauges.

?

March 26, 1921 The Grand Rapids & Indiana is leased to the Pennsylvania Railroad for 999 years along with 11 other companies. The lease is retroactive to January 1.

?

March 26, 1926 The Kankakee & Urbana Traction ends passenger operations. Freight operations are sold to the Illinois Terminal. IT will serve the three grain elevators on the line until June next year.

?

March 26, 1930 After eight months of trying to make it as a freight only line, the Tyler Traction Company (WV) calls it quits.

?

March 26, 1936 The Rexall Drug train, pulled by New York Central “Mohawk” #5344 begins its tour.

?

March 26, 1945 The Pennsylvania Railroad places its S2 6-8-6 steam turbine in service between Chicago and Crestline OH. Its normal assignments are "The Trail Blazer" eastbound and "The Admiral" westbound.

?

March 26, 1947 Streetcar service ends in Akron OH.

?

March 26, 1951 The Bangor & Aroostook and Pennsylvania railroads arrange to have PRR lease BAR diesel locomotives when they are not needed by BAR due to seasonal lulls in traffic.

?

March 26, 1962 Canadian National's eastbound "Ocean Limited" becomes the first train painted entirely in CN's new passenger paint scheme. A few engines and cars started appearing in the new scheme last year.

?

March 26, 2013 Hartsdale Interlocking, between Canadian National’s former Elgin Joliet & Eastern and the former Pennsylvania Railroad Panhandle line in Indiana is closed and the diamond removed. CN begins service to the single customer, Midwest Pipe Coating, affected by the closing.

?

March 27, 1835 A rotary steam locomotive built by Willam Avery of Syracuse NY is tested on the New Jersey Railroad & Transportation Company between Hackensack and Passaic Rivers. The first locomotive on the NJRR is not powerful enough. ?Mr. Avery proposes to build a larger version, but nothing further is heard from him.

?

March 27, 1855 Secretary of War Jefferson Davis presents the report on surveys for the Pacific railroad to Congress. The surveys suggest five separate routes between the 32nd and 49th parallels.

?

March 27, 1874 Kalamazoo MI's first Grand Rapids & Indiana depot burns to the ground. A new one will be built on the same location.

?

March 27, 1879 The Pennsylvania Railroad locomotive "Modoc" pulls 138 loaded cars between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.

?

March 27, 1902 A new Union Station for Washington DC is proposed. The proposal would remove the railroad stations from the National Mall.

?

March 27, 1918 The Pennsylvania Railroad grants a license to the Position-Light Signal Company to build and install position-light signals on the PRR. In return, the railroad will collect a $1 per light unit royalty.

?

March 27, 1935 General Motors' Electro-Motive Division breaks ground in McCook IL for their new locomotive factory.

?

March 27, 1953 For the second time in U.S. history, four trains are involved in a single wreck. Near Conneaut OH on the New York Central, an improperly secured 18-inch pipe slips off a gondola, damaging an adjacent track. The track damage and improper flagging will cause another freight train and 2 passenger trains to derail and collide. Twenty-one people are killed and forty-nine injured. The first 4-train wreck occurred in Connecticut in December, 1891.

?

March 27, 1954 The Sylvania Central (GA) quits.

?

March 27, 1960 The last regularly scheduled steam-powered passenger train on a major U.S. railroad runs from Durand to Detroit on the Grand Trunk Western.

?

March 27, 1960 Missouri Pacific's last day of passenger service on its Kansas City-Ft. Smith-Little Rock line.

?

March 27, 1961 Black demonstrators stage a "ride-in" on Charleston SC streetcars.

?

March 27, 1963 In a report that will come to be known as the “Beeching Axe”, Dr. Richard Beeching recommends huge cuts to the United Kingdom’s rail network.

?

March 27, 1964 Great Britain's "Great Train Robbers" are sentenced to a total of 307 years behind bars.

?

March 27, 1967 The Great Northern runs its first taconite unit train from Nashwauk MN to Allouez WI.

?

March 27, 1976 Washington D.C.'s "Metro" opens its first 4.6 miles.

?

March 28, 1836 Michigan Territory charters seven railroads in a single day.

?

March 28, 1846 The Central Rail Road of Michigan is sold by the state to a group of New York investors and becomes the Michigan Central.

?

March 28, 1857 The Memphis & Charleston Railroad opens between Memphis and Stevenson, AL, on the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad. This completes a continuous route of uniform gauge between Charleston, SC, and Memphis. It is the first trunk line between the Atlantic and Mississippi south of the Potomac and Ohio Rivers.

?

March 28, 1883 The defunct Black River & St. Lawrence Railway is reorganized as the Carthage & Adirondack Railway (later NYC).

?

March 28, 1885 First use of a Leslie snowplow.

?

March 28, 1888 San Francisco's Powell Street cable car line opens.

?

March 28, 1905 The Paramaribo-Dam railway is opened in Suriname. It never sees a revenue train, and slowly returns to the jungle.

?

March 28, 1909 The Pennsylvania Railroad begins serving complimentary tea and coffee to parlour and sleeping car passengers at any time of the day.

?

March 28, 1909 Chicago Banker Frank Vanderlip hires a New York Central & Hudson River train to rush him to his dying Mother in New York. The trip takes 16 hours and 30 minutes. Regular schedules take around 24 hours.

?

March 28, 1959 Last revenue run of the last interurban in Canada: The Niagara, St. Catharines & Toronto.

?

March 28, 1961 Erie-Lackawanna begins New York to Chicago piggyback service.

?
Mark Tomlonson

March 25, 1807 The Swansea & Mumbles Railway begins the first railway passenger service in the world, using horse-drawn cars. The line had been built three years earlier to haul granite. It will remain in service until 1960, using horses, sail, steam, electric, gasoline and diesel to operate the trains.

?

March 25, 1887 The Toledo & Milwaukee Railroad becomes the Cincinnati, Jackson & Mackinaw Railroad.

?

March 25, 1936 The 200-inch mirror blank for the Palomar observatory begins its cross-country trip aboard a well-hole flat car [NYC 499010] which has had smaller diameter wheels fitted for added clearance. At the time the mirror is shipped it is the single most valuable item ever shipped by rail. The mirror has been encased in a steel shipping container to counter Creationists who have threatened to shoot the mirror in transit. They fear it will allow man to see God in the process of creation. As it travels in the well-hole flatcar, the mirror is only inches above the rails.

?

March 25, 1942 After testing a similar Chesapeake & Ohio locomotive, the Pennsylvania Railroad approves construction of 50 class J1 2-10-4 locomotives. The engines will not have the signature PRR Belpaire firebox to save weight. Also approved today: 10 additional GG1 electric locomotives.

?

March 25, 1955 The New York Central and New Haven railroads jointly announce the purchase of one "Train X" each from Pullman-Standard. The trains will be powered by a Baldwin-Lima Hamilton diesel.

?

March 25, 1956 Detroit's Gratiot trolley line converts to bus to permit the sale and shipment of the PCC cars to Mexico City. A fan trip a few days later uses a PCC in the Mexico City colors.

?

March 25, 1957 The New Haven's two lightweight trains, "Dan'l Webster" and "John Quincy Adams" enter service between New York and Boston.

?

March 25, 2011 The Manufacturers' Railway petitions the Surface Transportation Board to cease operations on its "Brewery Line", serving the Anheuser-Busch Brewery as well as its First Street Line. Abandonment is not being sought, meaning the lines could be re-opened if traffic for them is found.

?
Mark Tomlonson

March 24, 1828 The Philadelphia & Columbia Railway (later PRR), the first to be owned by a state, is authorized.

?

March 24, 1852 Ohio passes a law permitting railroads to change gauge from 4'-10" (the former Ohio Standard gauge) in order to make roads of uniform gauge from end to end.

?

March 24, 1904 The Delray Connecting Railroad (MI) is incorporated.

?

March 24, 1925 Papers are filed by the Grand Rapids & Indiana to abandon its Jennings (MI) branch. The former flooring mill at Jennings shut down two years earlier and the population of the town has fallen to 75.

?

March 24, 1932 For the first time, a radio broadcast is made from a moving train in the U.S.

?

March 24, 1935 Pennsylvania Station in Newark NJ opens.

?

March 24, 1941 "Sun Valley Serenade" begins production. This movie, starring Sonja Henie and Milton Berle, will receive an Oscar nomination in 1942 for Best Song, thanks to the debut of "Chattanooga Choo Choo" by Glenn Miller.

?

March 24, 1976 Penn Central makes it last official run along the former Lake Shore & Michigan Southern from Otsego through Allegan and Hopkins to Dorr MI. This ends rail service to Allegan.

?

March 24, 1980 The Cotton Belt begins operations over former Rock Island trackage between Tucumcari and St. Louis. Cotton Belt agreed to buy the line two years ago.

?

March 24, 2007 The last Southern Pacific semaphore signals in service are retired. The Central Oregon & Pacific, operating the ex-SP Siskiyou line, bags the now inoperative Union Switch & Signal Style B semaphores.

?
Mark Tomlonson

March 23, 1836 Virginia declares it a felony to damage or destroy railroad property. Slaves who damage railroads "shall suffer death without benefit of clergy".

?

March 23, 1858 E.A. Gardner of Philadelphia patents a streetcar.

?

March 23, 1861 London's first streetcars, designed by a Mr. Train of New York, begin operation.

?

March 23, 1882 The Providence, Webster & Springfield Railroad is chartered. The Massachusetts railroad will be operated by the Boston & Albany.

?

March 23, 1883 The Mann Boudoir Car Company is formed in New York. A success in Europe, it will operate at a loss for its entire five-year U.S. existence.

?

March 23, 1913 Four days of heavy rains begin causing severe flooding in the Ohio River Basin in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Over 600 people will be killed in the flooding. The Pennsylvania Railroad suffers $3.5 million ($90 million in 2019) dollars in damages. The floods also put an end to commercial traffic on the two remaining Ohio Canals. They will be retained for water supply and recreation.

?

March 23, 1914 The Pennsylvania Railroad opens a new station in Ft. Wayne IN and its track elevation project in that city is completed.

?

March 23, 1937 The Los Angeles Railway Company begins using PCC cars.

?

March 23, 1953 Great Northern runs its last steam locomotives in the Cascades Region.

?

March 23, 1981 Intermodal rates & services are deregulated, leading directly to the rise of intermodal traffic.

?

March 23, 1988 CSX begins Detroit-Atlanta “Roadrailer” service using ex-Clinchfield "F" units as motive power.

?

March 23, 2004 The first locomotive runs in Tibet as part of the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

?

March 23, 2010 MetroRail opens in Austin TX. The 32-mile line is the city's first commuter rail service.

?
Mark Tomlonson

March 22, 1862 The East Boston Freight Railroad (later B&A, NYC) is chartered in Massachusetts.

?

March 22, 1897 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that railroads are subject to anti-trust legislation.

?

March 22, 1898 The Chicago Heights Terminal Transfer Railroad is incorporated.

?

March 22, 1911 The Kansas City, Clay County & St. Joseph Railway (Interurban) is incorporated. Although the line runs in Missouri, the promoters are mostly Interurban owners from Indiana.

?

March 22, 1916 The Great Lakes Transit Corporation is formed to take over the railroad-owned liners and packet steamers now prohibited by ICC order. Operations will begin April 1.

?

March 22, 1936 New York Central “Mohawk” #5344 is given streamlining and painted blue and white in preparation for its use in pulling the Rexall Drug train. It is also converted from coal to oil fuel. It is lettered “NYC” and “Rexall” but carries no number.

?

March 22, 1944 The Board of the Pennsylvania Railroad approves contacting Government officials to allow the hiring of 3,000 Mexicans as track gang men and laborers.

?

March 22, 1957 The New York Central abandons its line from Rooseveltown to Ottawa, Ontario. In April, Canadian National will purchase the portion of the line between Cornwall and Ottawa.

?

March 22, 1970 After efforts to make it a rolling National Monument fall short, the Chicago Burlington & Quincy/Denver & Rio Grande Western/Western Pacific "California Zephyr" makes its last run when the Western Pacific drops its segment. The D&RGW remnant will run until 1983.

?

March 22, 2011 The North Carolina Department of Transportation announces it will use Federal Funds to create a high-speed rail link between Raleigh and Charlotte.

?

March 22, 2019 Two men are confirmed as record-setters for their ride in 2017 that took them over every MBTA route in 7 hours, 29 minutes and 46 seconds.

?

March 22, 2020 While working at Victoria Station in central London, a British Railway worker is spat on and coughed on by a patron who claimed to have Covid-19. The worker, Belly Mujinga, will die of the disease in May.

?
Mark Tomlonson

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

?

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.

?

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

?

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

?

March 19, 1933 Cincinnati Union Terminal opens.

?

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.

?

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.

?

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.

?

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.

?

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.

?

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

?

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

?

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".

?

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

?

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

?

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

?

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.

?

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.

?

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.

?

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

?

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

?

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.

?

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.

?

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

?

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

?

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

?

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

?
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.

?

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

?

March 18, 1850 The American Express Company is formed.

?

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.

?

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".

?

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.)

?

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

?

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.

?

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

?

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.

?

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

?

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.

?

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

?

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

?

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

?
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.

?

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

?

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

?

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

?

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.

?

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.

?
Mark Tomlonson

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

?

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

?

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.

?

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.

?

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.

?
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.

?

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.

?

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.

?

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

?

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

?

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.

?

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

?

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

?

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.

?

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

?

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.

?

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.

?

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

?

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.

?

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

?

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

?

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.

?

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.

?

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.

?

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.

?
Mark Tomlonson