February 11, 1848 Ohio passes a General Railroad Law. It requires all new railroads in the state to be built with a 4'-10" gauge and complete construction within seven years of being granted a charter.
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February 11, 1849 The Peoria & Oquawka Railroad (later CB&Q) is chartered in Illinois.
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February 11, 1855 The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad is formed.
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February 11, 1859 The Kansas Territorial Legislature charters what will be the Santa Fe Railway, primarily due to the instigation of Cyrus Holliday. The company will be incorporated as the Atchison & Topeka Railway Company. Construction of the line is delayed by drought and the outbreak of the Civil War.
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February 11, 1862 The 13th Michigan infantry leaves Kalamazoo for the front lines in 21 coaches, 10 baggage and 8 freight cars.
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February 11, 1869 Following an investigation requested by the legislature, the Michigan Attorney General reports that the Grand Rapids & Indiana is insolvent and recommends dissolution.
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February 11, 1870 The Warsaw, Goshen & White Pigeon Railroad (later BIG Four, NYC, PC, CR, NS) is authorized by the Indiana State Assembly to build 24 miles between Goshen & Warsaw.
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February 11, 1904 The Chicago River & Indiana Railroad (later NYC) is incorporated.
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February 11, 1908 The Pennsylvania Railroad issues an order forbidding the use of profanity in its shops.
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February 11, 1932 Dessert is added to the $1.25 (2025: $27.98) combination plate and a $2.00 ($44.77) steak dinner is added on Pennsylvania Railroad east-west passenger trains.
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February 11, 1948 New York Central’s “Pacemaker” becomes its first of 28 all-new post war passenger trains.
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February 11, 1956 Rock Island's Aerotrain, "Jet Rocket" begins service between Chicago and Peoria.
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February 11, 1997 Mona MacDonald Tippens of Arkansas ends her record-setting 79,841 miles of unduplicated train travel in 33 countries. She began her travels 28 months earlier. She will later write "Tomorrow The Train: Journey to the World Record", a book about her travels.
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February 11, 1998 Canadian National purchases the Illinois Central for $2.4 billion (US - $4.68 billion in 2025 dollars) in cash and shares.
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February 11, 2023 The Siemens plant in Sacramento CA completes the last of 10 trainsets for Florida’s “Brightline” service.
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Mark Tomlonson
