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July 21, 1836 The first railroad in Canada, the Champlain & St. Lawrence Railroad opens from Laprairie to St. Johns, Quebec. The line will become part of the M&C, GTR, and Canadian National.

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July 21, 1856 Illinois Central runs its first Chicago suburban train, to Hyde Park.

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July 21, 1857 The Grand Rapids & Fort Wayne Railroad and the Grand Rapids & Mackinaw Railroads are merged into the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad under an agreement signed June 26, 1857. (Some sources say July 30)

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July 21, 1861 For the first time a railroad is used to transport troops into battle. Confederate troops are brought to the first Battle of Fort Manassas (Bull Run).

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July 21, 1873 The Jesse James/Cole Younger gang turns from robbing banks to robbing trains, wrecking and looting a Rock Island train near Adair, Iowa. Expecting a $75,000 gold shipment, the robbery only netted about $6,000 in passenger's valuables. The engineer is killed in the wreck.

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July 21, 1873 The Muskegon & Big Rapids Railroad completes its line between its namesake cities. The M&BR is owned by the Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore Railroad (later C&WM, PM, C&O, CSX)

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July 21, 1874 A hydraulic car brake system invented by William M. Henderson of Philadelphia is tested on the West Chester & Philadelphia Railroad.

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July 21, 1877 Workers on the Baltimore & Ohio in Pittsburgh PA stage a sympathy strike for the 9 workers killed in Baltimore the day before. Rioting breaks out throughout the town as a result. The militia, under siege, opens fire on the crowd, killing at least ten and wounding between 60 and 70.

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July 21, 1899 The Burgdorf-Thun Railway in Switzerland becomes the first to operate with alternating current: Three-phase, 750 volts, 40 Hertz.

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July 21, 1900 Dayton OH dedicates a new Union Station. It is owned by the Dayton Union Railroad, which in turn will ultimately be owned by the Baltimore & Ohio, New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroads.

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July 21, 1903 The Brookville & Mahoning Railroad (later Pittsburg & Shawmut) (PA) is incorporated.

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July 21, 1904 The 4,607 mile Trans-Siberian Railway is completed after 13 years of construction.

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July 21, 1926 Ceremonial start of Illinois Central's electrified suburban service in Chicago. Regular service will begin August 7.

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July 21, 1928 In wild-west, stagecoach-holdup style, two masked bandits jump on to a Flint-Saginaw (MI) interurban and at pistol-point, rob nineteen travellers of $300. ($4,767 in 2021)

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July 21, 1947 The Nickel Plate orders 11 PA-1 diesels from Alco. Painted blue and nickel, they will quickly earn the nickname "Bluebird".

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July 21, 1952 An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale hits just north of Tehachapi CA. The Southern Pacific comes to a standstill as tunnels 3 through 8 are all damaged. No traffic will move on the Tehachapi Line for the next 25 days.

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July 21, 1952 The Pennsylvania Railroad announces it has installed "Trainphone" service over 2,000 miles of main line between New York and Chicago and St. Louis.

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July 21, 1958 The New York Central begins carrying mail between Chicago and Detroit in special "Flexi-Van" containers. The vans designated for mail are equipped with side doors. "Flexi-Van" service is expanded to Boston and St. Louis.

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July 21, 2003 The center section of the Erie Railroad's former 301-foot tall Kinzua Viaduct collapses in 80-mph winds. After study the decision will be made not to rebuild the structure, part of a Pennsylvania State Park.

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July 21, 2010 The restored motorman's compartment of Lima City Street Railway #60 is put on display at the Allen County Historical Society exhibit hall in Lima OH. After the line was abandoned in 1939 the car was used in a barnyard east of town. The motorman's compartment was saved in 1962.

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July 21, 2020 CN announces plans to sell 850 miles of low-density trackage in Michigan, Ontario, and Wisconsin. While the exact lines are not specified, most of the routes are from the former Wisconsin Central.

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Mark Tomlonson

July 20, 1871 Work begins on the Canadian Pacific.

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July 20, 1871 The Pennsylvania Company signs an agreement with the Mansfield, Coldwater & Lake Michigan Railroad Company to build the entire MC&LM line between Toledo Jct. (near Mansfield, Ohio) to Allegan MI.

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July 20, 1877 The Maryland Militia fires on striking railroad workers in Baltimore, killing 9. (some sources say 11.) In Pittsburgh, members of the Pennsylvania militia are overwhelmingly sympathetic to the strikers and do little to try to break the strike.

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July 20, 1894 Two thousand Federal troops are recalled from Chicago at the end of the Pullman Strike.

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July 20, 1906 The New York Central & Hudson River Railroad tests the first electric locomotives in New York City.

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July 20, 1907 An 11-coach excursion train, carrying 800 employees of the Pere Marquette Railway from Ionia to Detroit for an annual holiday collides head-on with an oncoming freight train near Salem MI. Thirty-three (some sources say 30) are killed and at least 100 are injured. It is the worst railway accident in Michigan history.

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July 20, 1925 The Westbound "Duquesne Express" and the eastbound "Manhattan Limited" begin running from Manhattan Transfer west to Pittsburgh without an engine change. This practice will expand to 32 main line trains.

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July 20, 1931 The Scranton & Binghampton Traction Co. (PA) calls it quits.

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July 20, 1931 With ICC approval, the Pennsylvania Railroad extends its container service to Akron, Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, East St. Louis, Louisville, Grand Rapids and Toledo. An additional 3,000 containers are placed in service.

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July 20, 1934 The Milwaukee Road sets a new record for sustained steam service: 85 miles from Chicago to Milwaukee without stops at a top speed of 103 mph.

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July 20, 1948 The Chicago Railroad Fair opens to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Chicago railroads.

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July 20, 1954 The Baltimore & Ohio begins "Tofcee" Piggyback service between Philadelphia and Chicago, Baltimore and Chicago and Cincinnati and St. Louis.

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July 20, 2001 Tacoma WA opens a new streetcar line, its first since 1938.

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July 20, 2009 New Jersey Transit opens a new line to the Meadowlands Sports Complex, home of the New York Giants and the New York Jets.

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Mark Tomlonson

July 19, 1858 Philadelphia City Councils pass a resolution requiring all streetcar lines to be a non-standard gauge of 5'-2 1/2" to prevent their being used by steam railroads.

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July 19, 1860 First railroad in Kansas begins operations.

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July 19, 1870 The Grand Rapids & Indiana (later PRR, PC) reaches Vicksburg MI as it builds north from Indiana.

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July 19, 1877 Police in Pittsburgh are unable to control striking railroad workers as half the police force has been laid off. The Pennsylvania Railroad hires some of the laid-off officers to try and restore order.

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July 19, 1889 The Texarkana & Northern is reorganized as the Texarkana & Fort Smith Railway Company (later KCS, CN)

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July 19, 1900 The first section of the Paris Metro opens.

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July 19, 1900 The Niagara, St. Catharines & Toronto Railway converts to electric power.

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July 19, 1902 Cable cars end in Cincinnati OH.

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July 19, 1917 The Baltimore & Ohio takes over the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton.

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July 19, 1943 The "Big Inch" pipeline opens between Texas and Pennsylvania, ending the need to ship crude oil by rail to avoid U-Boats.

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July 19, 1944 Pullman, Inc. in response to court order both to divest and to announce its plans, decides to sell the Pullman Company and retain the more lucrative car-building business.

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July 19, 1950 The last passenger train runs on the Ann Arbor between Elberta and Toledo.

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July 19, 1956 Detroit's last PCC car, #185, is sent to Mexico City.

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July 19, 1967 The first four air-conditioned New York City subway cars go into service.

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July 19, 1967 Budd puts its first "Metroliner" car on display.

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July 19, 1974 A gas explosion at the Norfolk &Western yard in Decatur IL kills 7 railroad workers and injures more than 100 other people.

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July 19, 2003 NA Tower at Martinsburg WV closes. As late as 2000 this segment of former Baltimore & Ohio railroad had four interlocking towers spaced an average of six miles apart.

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Mark Tomlonson

July 16, 1854 Elizabeth Jennings Graham, on her way to church, is ejected from a New York City Third Avenue Railroad horsecar because she is African-American. She will sue the railroad and win, ending racial discrimination on New York City public transit.

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July 16, 1855 The last mail stagecoach leaves Philadelphia, having been replaced by railroads.

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July 16, 1877 To protest the second 10% wage cut in 8 months, striking railroad workers in Martinsburg WV derail and loot a train. President Rutherford B. Hayes will call in Federal troops on the 18th to break the strike. The strike will spread to most lines north of the Mason-Dixon line and east of St. Louis. Also today, the Pennsylvania Railroad at Altoona announces a plan to cut roughly half the work force while requiring more work from the remainder.

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July 16, 1945 Canadian National Railway opens its ore dock at Port Arthur ONT.

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July 16, 1953 The Chesapeake & Ohio and New York Central railroads announce they are pooling resources to develop modern, cost-saving passenger equipment. As part of the deal, NYC gains access to data from C&O's "Train X".

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July 16, 1968 Michigan's Manistque & Lake Superior Railroad, nicknamed "The Haywire", is abandoned.

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July 16, 1969 The Interstate Commerce Commission recommends subsidies for intercity rail passenger service.

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July 16, 1986 The Chicago & North Western drops cabooses from its Union Pacific run-through trains, following Nebraska's repeal of its caboose law.

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July 16, 2014 The BBC reports that thieves in South Africa have made off with 10 km of rails between Johannesburg and the town of Nigel. The rails stolen could have brought the thieves about $120,000. Metal theft has been an ongoing problem in South Africa, but rarely do the thieves have the equipment to steal rail.

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July 17, 1856 A train outbound from Philadelphia with more than 600 parishioners going to a church outing collides with an inbound train from Gwynedd at Fort Washington PA. An estimated 66 people, mostly children, die in what was at that time the worst railroad wreck. The accident will lead to improved safety practices in railroad operation.

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July 17, 1879 The Canadian government purchases the Grand Trunk line between Riviere-du-Loop and Levis, Que., and makes it part of the Intercolonial Railway. (Later CN)

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July 17, 1898 The Port Huron & Northwestern (later F&PM) branch between Port Huron and Port Austin MI is converted from 3-foot gauge to standard gauge.

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July 17, 1899 Construction begins on the Dayton & Xenia Traction Company.

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July 17, 1905 Louisville Union Station burns.

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July 17, 1909 The Manistique & Lake Superior Railroad (MI) is incorporated.

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July 17, 1938 The Wheeling & Lake Erie ends passenger service.

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July 17, 1942 Camp Kilmer NJ begins shipping out soldiers via the Pennsylvania and Reading railroads. By the end of the war, 1.33 million servicemen will be processed through the camp.

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July 17, 1948 The New York Central cancels all through sleepers serving the Southwest through St. Louis.

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July 17, 1954 Last commuter run between Detroit and Port Huron MI on the Grand Trunk Western Mt. Clemens Sub.

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July 17, 1957 The New Haven and the New York Central test EMD's FL-9 locomotive, capable of running from its own diesel prime mover or from a third rail.

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July 17, 1957 The New York Central ends its "Travel Tailored Schedules", returning to head-end equipment leading long, slow trains. Alfred E. Perlman has designed the new policy to drive away passengers and make train discontinuance easier.

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July 17, 1962 Canadian National paints the “Super Continental” in the new black and grey passenger scheme first shown on the “Ocean Limited”.

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July 18, 1858 The Pennsylvania Railroad introduces the first smoking car on a train running from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia.

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July 18, 1863 A 48-car train returns the 2nd New York Regiment and 400 Confederate POW's from the Battle of Gettysburg. The 2nd New York is returning to New York City to quell the draft riots.

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July 18, 1868 The Allegan & Holland Rail Road Company (later C&WM, PM, C&O, CSX) is incorporated to build a 25 mile line between its 2 namesake Michigan towns.

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July 18, 1904 The Leamington & St. Clair Railway merges into the Canada Southern.

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July 18, 1905 First railroad in Togo opens for business.

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July 18, 1910 Papers are filed with the state of Ohio incorporating the Fairport, Painesville & Eastern, to run between Fairport and Austinburg OH.

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July 18, 1919 Streetcars in French Lick IN end service.

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July 18, 1959 The last steam locomotive runs on the Nickel Plate as a pair of 0-8-0 switchers are called out to cover a traffic surge.

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July 18, 1965 The Baltimore & Ohio/Chesapeake & Ohio begin carrying passengers' automobiles between Washington and Chicago.

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July 18, 1968 The Ann Arbor Railroad ends carferry service between Frankfort and Manistique.

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Mark Tomlonson

July 15, 1852 the first westbound Pennsylvania Railroad train from Philadelphia arrives in Pittsburgh.

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July 15, 1853 The Grand Trunk Railway of Canada merges with 5 other railway companies and is organized as the Grand Trunk Railway.

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July 15, 1864 In the deadliest train wreck in the U.S. prior to 1918, a train carrying mostly Confederate prisoners crashes head-on into a freight train on the Erie Railroad near Shohola PA. Fifty-one prisoners, 19 Union guards and 4 trainmen lose their lives.

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July 15, 1881 The Galveston, Harrisburg, & San Antonio, under the control of the Southern Pacific, begins building westward from San Antonio.

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July 15, 1907 The Pennsylvania Railroad takes delivery of a new class of locomotive at Pittsburgh for trials on Lines West. The K28 class is a 4-6-2 designed to replace 4-4-2's. The new locomotives can handle 10 to 12 car passenger trains on grades where the earlier locomotives were limited to 8.

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July 15, 1913 The Newlands Act is passed, creating the U.S. Board of Mediation and Conciliation to mediate disputes between railroads and their labor unions.

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July 15, 1916 Oris P. and Mantis J. Van Sweringen, two brothers who are successful businessmen but have no railroad experience, assume control of the Nickel Plate. This is the first step in what will eventually become a large railroad empire.

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July 15, 1923 President Harding drives the Golden Spike to complete the Alaska Railroad.

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July 15, 1934 Chicago & North Western and Milwaukee Road both reduce times for the 86-mile Chicago-Milwaukee corridor to 90 minutes, fastest speeds in the west and starting a race among the competing railroads on the route.

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July 15, 1936 Michigan's first streamlined train, "The Mercury", begins service between Detroit and Cleveland over the New York Central.

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July 15, 1939 Streetcars end in Alliance OH.

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July 15, 1956 The New York Central removes its Aerotrain from Chicago-Detroit service and uses it between Chicago and Cleveland instead.

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July 15, 1959 The last steam locomotives (all inactive) are dropped from the Pennsylvania Railroad roster.

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July 15, 1969 Scheduled passenger train service in Michigan's Upper Peninsula ends, although the Soo Line will continue to carry caboose passengers out of Neenah WI, Gladstone MI and possibly other terminals.

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July 15, 1977 Amtrak GG-1 #4935 is unveiled in its original Pennsylvania Brunswick Green five-stripe color scheme. Among those present at the ceremony: Raymond Loewy, credited with the cosmetic design of the GG-1.

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July 15, 1979 The Kent-Barry-Eaton Connecting Railway begins operations between Grand Rapids and Vermontville on former Grand Valley/MC/NYC/PC/CR trackage. It is the first railroad in the U.S. operated by African-Americans.

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July 15, 1986 Locomotives owned by VIA Rail Canada Inc. are required by the Canada Transport Commission to be equipped with ditch lights. They are the first equipment on the North American continent to have such a requirement, although Canadian railroads have been using ditch lights since the 1920's, especially in areas prone to falling rocks.

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July 15, 2004 To combat congestion on The Strip, Las Vegas opens a 4-mile long monorail.

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July 15, 2004 Canadian National assumes full ownership of BC Rail, with the government of British Columbia retaining ownership of the right of way.

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Mark Tomlonson

July 14, 1838 The New York & Erie Railroad fixes its gauge at 6'-0". NY&E President Eleazar Lord believes this is the best means of preventing traffic diversions to other railroads and states.

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July 14, 1862 Congress places a Rider on its Post Road Act (over the objections of steamboat interests) allowing railroads to bridge the Ohio River.

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July 14, 1877 The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 begins in Martinsville WV as Baltimore & Ohio railroad workers have their wages cut for the second time in a year.

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July 14, 1894 The last horsecar runs in South Lorain OH.

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July 14, 1897 The Eastern Wisconsin Electric Company inaugurates streetcar service in Oshkosh WI.

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July 14, 1927 The operating railroads sign a preliminary agreement for a new Cincinnati Union Terminal.

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July 14, 1931 The Baltimore & Ohio, through its subsidiary Alton Railroad, takes over the former Chicago & Alton.

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July 14, 1943 Opening ceremonies are held at Gare central de Montreal, owned by Canadian National. The structure had been first proposed in 1929. Regular service will begin tomorrow. The station will subsequently be owned by Homburg Invest Inc. (Canmarc) and Cominar REIT.

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July 14, 1954 The Pennsylvania Railroad adds piggyback service using PRR-owned trailers between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

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July 14, 1959 The last Pennsylvania steam locomotive, 0-6-0 5244, class B-6sb ties up at Philadelphia's 46th Street roundhouse, after her lease with New Jersey's Union Transportation Company is transferred to a PRR-owned 44-ton diesel.

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July 14, 2006 "Rail-Runner" commuter service begins in Albuquerque NM. New Mexico becomes the 18th state to have commuter rail. The initial line is 9 miles long and has 3 stations. The hope is to extend it over a hundred miles from Santa Fe to Belen.

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Mark Tomlonson

July 13, 1836 U.S. Patent #1 is issued (after 9,957 unnumbered ones) to John Ruggles for improvements to locomotive tires.

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July 13, 1887 The second Tay bridge across the Firth of Tay in Scotland opens.

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July 13, 1906 Pennsylvania Railroad officials inspect a short section of track that has been built with longitudinal steel girders with crosstie rods instead of wooden ties.

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July 13, 1915 Trans-Canada passenger service begins on a collection of lines that will become the Canadian National.

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July 13, 1934 The last funeral train service is operated over the Chicago "L" via the Metropolitan Division's tracks. The train itself is actually a Chicago Aurora & Elgin consist, as the CRT terminated its own funeral train service two years earlier.

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July 13, 1953 Last day of steam operations on the Cotton Belt.

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July 13, 1953 Last day of steam operations on the Lackawanna.

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July 13, 1957 Sim Webb, Casey Jones' fireman on Jones' famous last run, dies of cancer at age 83.

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July 13, 1962 General Electric delivers E44 electric locomotives to the Pennsylvania Railroad. They are equipped with silicon diode rectifiers. They are the first electric locomotives with solid-state electronics.

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July 13, 1964 The ICC announces its approval of the Norfolk & Western - Nickel Plate - Wabash merger. It also invites the Erie Lackawanna, Delaware & Hudson and Boston & Maine to join the new company.

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July 13, 2005 Three trains collide in Pakistan, killing 127. The crash is blamed on one of the engineers, who ignored a stop signal.

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Mark Tomlonson

July 12, 1842 The New Jersey Railroad Board issues a regulation requiring all locomotives to have cowcatchers.

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July 12, 1871 The first narrow gauge railroad in North America (i.e. the first railroad deliberately built to a gauge smaller than "standard" for economic or engineering reasons), the 3? foot gauge Toronto & Nipissing Railway, (later MR, GT, CN) opens for business.

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July 12, 1897 The Mason City & Clear Lake, one of the first two interurbans in Iowa, begins regular, scheduled service between its two namesake Iowa towns. Dedication ceremonies had been held on July 3. (Some sources put the start of service on July 4)

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July 12, 1897 The Cincinnati & Miami Valley Traction Company begins service between Hamilton and Miamisburg.

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July 12, 1903 The New York Central and the Rock Island open LaSalle Street Station in Chicago. The new station gives the New York Central an edge over rival Pennsylvania, still operating in an antiquated Union Station lacking in passenger amenities.

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July 12, 1907 Westinghouse tests a 4,000 hp electric locomotive.

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July 12, 1923 Southern Pacific's "Daylight Limited" becomes a daily train.

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July 12, 1936 The Pennsylvania Railroad operates its first "Off the Beaten Track" railroad fan trip for Philadelphia Chapter of NRHS. The trip runs from Philadelphia thru Enola and Harrisburg before returning to Philadelphia. The success of the trip prompts PRR to operate excursions for railfan groups and on its own account until World War II.

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July 12, 1940 The United States Government files suit against the Pullman Company, charging that its combination of car manufacturing and car ownership is a violation of anti-trust laws.

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July 12, 1954 The Pennsylvania Railroad begins Trailer-On-Flat-Car service using PRR-owned trailers between New York and Chicago. Erie, Delaware Lackawanna & Western and Nickel Plate also begin piggyback service.

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July 12, 1965 Canadian National buys 14 ex-Boston & Maine RDC's.

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July 12, 1985 The last railroad-run commuter service ends: The Pittsburgh & Lake Erie, Pittsburgh to College, PA.

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July 12, 2016 The former Detroit & Toledo Shore Line passenger depot in Monroe MI burns to the ground. The building had been abandoned.

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Mark Tomlonson

July 9, 1899 The Waupaca Electric Light & Railway Company begins streetcar service in Waupaca WI.

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July 9, 1905 Walter "Death Valley Scotty" Scott hires the Santa Fe to take him from Los Angeles to Chicago "faster than any human in history". Forty-four hours and 54 minutes later he arrives in Chicago, having beaten the old record by 13 hours 2 minutes. Scott has paid $5500 for the privilege.

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July 9, 1910 While running along the shores of Lake Superior near Marathon, Ontario, a train pulled by Canadian Pacific locomotive 694 strikes a rockslide. The locomotive, tender and two boxcars fall into the lake 65 feet below. The wreck will not be located until 2016.

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July 9, 1918 The worst train wreck in U.S. history: Two Nashville Chattanooga & St. Louis passenger trains collide head-on, killing 99 (some sources say 101, others say 102) and injuring 171. Most of the dead are African-American workers employed in the munitions industry.

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July 9, 1929 Passenger service ends on the narrow-gauge Waynesburg & Washington (PA). After bringing the last regular train into Waynesburg, veteran conductor James L. Shull drops dead of a heart attack while watching the departure of a Kiwanis special, the actual last run.

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July 9, 1930 A crowd of about 5,000 prevents prohibition agents from destroying a contraband shipment of beer found in Pennsylvania Railroad's Pavonia Yard in Camden NJ. Police eventually restore order, but not before roughly a dozen kegs are taken.

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July 9, 1947 The New York Public Service Commission grants the Long Island Railroad its first fare increase since 1918.

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July 9, 1954 The Interstate Commerce Commission lifts its stay of TOFC services on six railroads. The Pennsylvania Railroad will begin service on July 12.

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July 9, 1957 The Boy Scout Jamboree opens at Valley Forge PA, resulting in the Pennsylvania Railroad's biggest peacetime special movement. Eighteen months are spent planning the extra moves. The scouts are ferried to Valley Forge in 50 special trains as well as additional cars placed on regular trains.

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July 9, 1964 President Johnson signs the Urban Mass Transportation Act, authorizing $375 million ($3.1 Billion in 2019) in matching grants to states and localities for transportation projects, including commuter rail.

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July 9, 1975 Edgmoor & Manetta #5 fails her boiler inspection, and the last U.S. common carrier railroad operating steam in regular (i.e. non-tourist and non-excursion) service shuts down. Traffic formerly carried on the 2.5-mile long South Carolina short line switches to trucks. E&M #5 has been preserved.

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July 10, 1858 At 4:30 in the afternoon the first train enters Grand Rapids MI on the Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad (later DGH&M, GTW).

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July 10, 1875 A solid train of 29 cars of tea passes over the Pennsylvania Railroad, having run through from San Francisco in less than 10 days.

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July 10, 1876 The Pennsylvania Railroad closes its freight agency at the Centennial Park site after off-loading 4,063 carloads of exhibits and 13,607 cars of material.

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July 10, 1877 Residents of Bryn Mawr PA complain to the Pennsylvania Railroad that the railroad line is attracting "tramps": homeless, unemployed men whose numbers have increased during the current depression.

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July 10, 1878 A two-day conference of the Vanderbilt lines concludes at Saratoga NY. The lines agree to end competition between the Michigan Central and the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern.

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July 10, 1887 Mackinac Island's Grand Hotel opens. The 600-room resort hotel has been built by the Michigan Central, the Grand Rapids & Indiana and the Cleveland Steamship Company to increase tourist traffic on the lines.

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July 10, 1909 The Great Northern operates under electric wire in the Cascades for the first time.

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July 10, 1910 The Milwaukee Road establishes its first through passenger service between Chicago and Seattle.

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July 10, 1920 The Pennsylvania Railroad issues keystone-shaped medals to all its employees who served in World War I.

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July 10, 1920 Henry Ford himself buys the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad, trying to ensure access to coal and timber for the Ford Motor Company.

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July 10, 1926 Hermann Lemp patents a control system for diesel-electric locomotives. The system remains the basis of all modern diesel-electric locomotives.

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July 10, 1960 Canadian National steamer 6167 makes her first excursion trip.

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July 10, 1962 The Gulf, Mobile & Ohio announces a merger feasibility study with the Illinois Central is currently in process.

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July 10, 1967 The Michigan State Legislature creates SEMTA to operate commuter rail service in southeast Michigan.

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July 11, 1848 Waterloo Station opens in London.

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July 11, 1857 The Western Maryland Railroad begins construction.

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July 11, 1916 Congress passes the Shakleton Act, which earmarks $75 million ($1.8 Billion in 2019 dollars) in matching funds for state highways over a five-year period. This is the first time Congress has voted aid to states to build and repair highways.

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July 11, 1939 Last day of passenger operations on the Ohio Public Service Company between Toledo and Port Clinton. Freight service will continue for another 20 years.

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July 11, 1957 Southern Pacific's Colton Cutoff around Los Angeles is opened to traffic.

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July 11, 1959 The New York Central's Detroit-Cleveland "Mercury" makes its last run.

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July 11, 1961 The Bangor & Aroostook converts E7A #10 to freight operation by changing its gearing, the first mechanical conversion of a passenger diesel for freight operations.

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July 11, 1963 The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Enginemen votes to abolish its membership rule prohibiting non-whites from joining the union.

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July 11, 2006 A series of seven bomb blasts in 11 minutes aboard trains on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai kill 209 and injure over 700. The bombs were placed in pressure cookers and set off remotely.

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July 11, 2010 Three suspects are arrested in Los Angeles after being linked to hundreds of pounds of marijuana found in a railroad tank car. Both the marijuana and the suspects are covered in oil from the car, leading to the arrest.

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Mark Tomlonson

July 8, 1853 The Northern Indiana Railroad (later LS&NI, LS&MS, NYC, PC, CR, NS) is formed by the merger of several smaller roads in Indiana and Ohio.

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July 8, 1854 In part to avoid the gauge war in Erie PA, the Michigan Central places a new 337' passenger steamer "Plymouth Rock" on the run between Buffalo and Detroit. This links the New York Central and the Michigan Central.

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July 8, 1862 The first railway in Algeria begins operations.

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July 8, 1880 The Boston & Albany buys the Springfield & Northeastern Railroad.

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July 8, 1885 Cable car service begins in Cincinnati OH.

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July 8, 1890 The first Chicago & West Michigan (later PM, C&O, CSX) passenger train arrives in Traverse City.

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July 8, 1901 The largest guided tour sponsored by the Pennsylvania Railroad to date leaves New York for a month circuit to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Vancouver, returning via the Canadian Pacific. The tour travels in four sections to carry the 400 travelers.

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July 8, 1926 The New York Central becomes the first railroad to use a radiotelephone in a train.

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July 8, 1929 Janesville WI loses streetcar service.

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July 8, 1931 Streetcar service ends in Sault Ste. Marie MI.

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July 8, 1946 The Pennsylvania Railroad's Hulett ore loaders at Cleveland load 970 railroad cars with 61,530 tons of ore in 24 hours.

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July 8, 1947 The Boeing "Stratocruiser" makes its first flight. The new passenger plane is the first with a pressurized cabin, allowing it to fly above 20,000 feet.

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July 8, 1956 The Santa Fe equips its "El Capitan" with new, high-level cars from Budd.

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July 8, 1988 One hundred five people are killed and 200 injured when the “Island Express”, running from Bangalore to Kanyakumari derails on a bridge over Ashtamudi Lake.

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July 8, 2005 San Diego officials dedicate a six-mile extension to the city's light rail system, on the Green Line. Regular service will begin in two days.

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Mark Tomlonson

July 7, 1838 By Act of Congress, all railroads in the United States are designated as "Post Roads" per Article I Section 8 of the Constitution, allowing all railroads to carry mail.

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July 7, 1853 The ten railroads linking Albany and Buffalo file papers with the Secretary of State of New York forming the New York Central. It becomes the largest railroad in the U.S. in terms of mileage, capitalization and net worth. (Some sources say May 17)

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July 7, 1911 A conductor on the Minneapolis & St. Louis is killed while loading a piano, which had arrived by railway express, onto a truck. The piano fell on him.

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July 7, 1915 A trolley operated by the International Railway crashes near Queenston ONT. The trolley was grossly overloaded with 157 passengers, 15 of whom are killed in the accident.

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July 7, 1929 Santa Fe and the Pennsylvania Railroad begin air/rail service between New York and Los Angeles. Trip time is cut from 100 to 80 hours.

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July 7, 1941 Deutche Reichsbahn accepts delivery of an experimental "V-8" steam locomotive from the Henschel Locomotive Works. Nominally a 2-8-2, the locomotive has four sets of two cylinders. Each set of cylinders is placed in a 90 degree "V" on the end of a drive axle, alternating from side to side. Later in the war it will be captured by the Allies and tested in the United States before being scrapped in 1952.

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July 7, 1943 During a torrential cloud burst a Pennsylvania Railroad 2-10-4 J1 hauling a freight train derails inside Gould Tunnel in Jefferson County OH. It will take three days to remove the locomotive and drain the small lake forming behind it.

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July 7, 1953 The New York Central, at its 100th Anniversary celebration, announces that it expects to be completely dieselized east of Cleveland and all passenger service dieselized east of Detroit by the end of the year.

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July 7, 1958 The Pennsylvania Railroad begins operating "Silverliner" MU-cars.

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July 7, 1966 The demolition of the 7th Avenue side of Penn Station begins. It is the last section of the station remaining above ground.

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Mark Tomlonson

July 6, 1881 Seventeen year-old Kate Shelley ventures out during a torrential gale-force thunderstorm near Moingona IA to alert officials of the washed-out Honey Creek Bridge. This prevents the "The Midwest Limited" from following an inspection engine into the flood below. Kate earns a spot in history when poems are written in her honor; her story is printed in an elementary school textbook and her name is given to the new bridge over the Des Moines River built in 1900.

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July 6, 1886 First transcontinental revenue freight train on the Canadian Pacific.

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July 6, 1887 The Gogebic & Montreal River RR, a predecessor of the Soo Line, reaches Ironwood and Bessemer MI.

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July 6, 1894 President Grover Cleveland sends 2,000 Federal troops to Chicago to put down the Pullman Strike.

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July 6, 1926 The Lebanon-Thorntown Traction Company (IN) quits, and its 10 miles of right-of-way are taken over by the parallel Big Four Railroad.

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July 6, 1929 The Pennsylvania Railroad places diesel No. 3906 in service at 37th Street Yard in Manhattan. The locomotive replaces No. 859, the last PRR steam locomotive within New York's city limits.

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July 6, 1929 The Pennsylvania Railroad runs its last passenger train between Butler and LaOtto IN.

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July 6, 1931 The Monon and Pennsylvania Railroads drop passenger service between Indianapolis and French Lick Springs.

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July 6, 1952 The last tram (streetcar) runs in London.

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July 6, 1958 Chicago & North Western trains 13 and 14, running between Omaha and Chadron NE make their last runs. The Save-the-Trains Association had lobbied against the discontinuance in court, but did not prevail.

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July 6, 1961 The last day of corporate existence of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin. Passenger service had quit four years earlier, freight service in July 1959.

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July 6, 1981 Parent Norfolk & Western Railway abandons the New Jersey, Indiana & Illinois Railroad mainline from the depot on Western Avenue in South Bend IN to the junction at Studebakers.

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July 6, 2013 A Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway train carrying crude oil begins moving without an engineer. It derails after traveling seven miles in Lac-Megantic QC. The resulting fire kills up to 50 people and destroys most of the center of the small town.

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July 6, 2015 Former Pennsylvania Railroad position light signals are removed at CP 506 near Colehour Yard in Hammond, IN.

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Mark Tomlonson

July 5, 1904 The Winona Interurban Railway (IN) is incorporated by the Winona Assembly. It will receive a railroad charter next June.

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July 5, 1910 The St, Joseph Railway, Light & Power Company (MO) begins construction of a 13-mile interurban into neighboring Andrew County to compete with the Chicago Great Western.

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July 5, 1915 The New York Central sells the Nickel Plate to the van Swearingen brothers. NYC fears that because much of NKP's track parallels NYC's, NYC could be liable for prosecution under anti-trust laws.

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July 5, 1915 The Liberty Bell leaves Philadelphia for the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. It will take a roundabout route to let more people see the bell as it makes its journey.

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July 5, 1942 The Budd-built two-car articulated equipment is removed from the Denver & Rio Grande Western's "Prospector" after just 8 months of operation and replaced with conventional equipment. Lessons learned during the problematic run of the cars will figure heavily as Budd designs its new "Rail Diesel Car".

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July 5, 1973 An explosion occurs in Kingman AZ as propane is being unloaded from a tank car to a storage tank. Eleven firefighters are killed.

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July 5, 1994 NICTD closes flag stations at Ambridge, Kemil Road, Willard Avenue, LaLumiere, Rolling Prairie and New Carlisle.

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Mark Tomlonson