January 29, 1830 Papers are filed for the first railroad incorporated in Kentucky, the Lexington & Ohio Railroad Company.
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January 29, 1834 In the first use of federal troops to put down a labor dispute, President Jackson calls on the War Department to quell a "riotous assembly" of Irish workers on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad.
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January 29, 1835 The Morris & Essex Railroad (later DL&W) is incorporated in New Jersey to build from Newark to Morristown and further west.
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January 29, 1871 The Baltimore & Ohio stops charging state tax on through New York-Washington passengers using the Washington Branch. It had continued to collect the tax from passengers even though it hadn't been collected by Maryland for years.
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January 29, 1873 The gap between the eastern and western sections of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad is closed at Hawks Nest WV, completing the line to the Ohio River at Huntington WV.
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January 29, 1880 The Columbus, Hope & Greenburg Railroad (later NYC) is incorporated.
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January 29, 1902 Streetcar service extends from Appleton to Kaukauna WI.
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January 29, 1907 New York Central¡¯s electrification project for Grand Central Terminal reaches High Bridge NY.
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January 29, 1909 The final spike is driven for the Virginian Railway.
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January 29, 1917 The Wabash Railroad leaves Pittsburgh, and the Wabash-Pittsburgh Terminal Railroad becomes the Pittsburgh & West Virginia.
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January 29, 1927 The U.S. Post Office issues the first private mail contract, to William Boeing and Edward Hubbard to carry mail between Chicago and San Francisco.
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January 29, 1929 The Orient Express becomes trapped in snow in Western Turkey for seven days, an event that will be fictionalized in Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express".
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January 29, 1940 Three trains collide in Osaka, Japan. The resulting explosion near Ajikawaguchi Station kills 181 people.
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January 29, 1963 Alco introduces its "Century" line of diesel Locomotives.
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January 29, 2010 An Illinois woman sues METRA, saying that she was injured by an exploding toilet one year ago today on a METRA train.
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January 30, 1834 The first railroad built in Kentucky, linking Lexington and Frankfort, is completed.
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January 30, 1875 The Detroit, Hillsdale & South Western (later NYC), which will run between Ypsilanti and Bankers MI is incorporated.
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January 30, 1883 The Toledo & Indianapolis (later T&OC, NYC) is completed.
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January 30, 1902 The Detroit Manufacturers Railroad (later NYC) is incorporated.
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January 30, 1923 The Grand Trunk is absorbed into the Canadian National. The Grand Trunk within the United States is spun off and becomes the Grand Trunk Western. CN will operate the GTW as a subsidiary.
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January 30, 1939 Streetcar service ends in Ashtabula OH.
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January 30, 1950 The Pennsylvania Railroad announces the beginning of "Keystone" freight service for less-than-carload freight. Five hundred boxcars and 3,000 containers are purchased. The new equipment along with higher freight train speeds are designed in part to compete with the New York Central's "Pacemaker" service introduced in 1946.
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January 30, 1985 Amtrak's "Cardinal" is pulled by steam, 4-8-4 #614T. The locomotive is winding up a month of tests, hoping to prove a modern coal-burning steam locomotive can compete with an oil-burning diesel.
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January 30, 2001 Master Railroad photographer O. Winston Link dies. Best known for his nighttime shots of the Norfolk & Western, some of his work reaches the status of cultural icon, quoted in commercials, music videos and TV's "The Simpsons".
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January 31, 1853 The Black River & Utica Railroad (later RW&O, NYC&HR, NYC) is incorporated.
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January 31, 1862 The Railways & Telegraph Act authorizes President Lincoln to seize and operate any railroad or telegraph line needed for the war effort. It also creates the U.S. Military Railroads to operate captured Confederate lines.
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January 31, 1882 The Rochester & Ontario Belt Railway (later NYC) is incorporated.
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January 31, 1918 The USRA begins operating trains loaded with just food and supplies for the Allies from St. Louis and Chicago to Eastern ports. The trains are run on a 60-hour schedule, versus 8-14 days previously.
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January 31, 1925 Trolley service ends in Ann Arbor MI
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January 31, 1927 The Cambridge Power Light & Traction Company is shut down by its owners, the Ohio Service Company, who can no longer justify serving the mere 3,000 people living along its route.
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January 31, 1932 Railway unions in the United States accept a 10% pay cut in hopes of easing the effects of the Depression on the railroads which will in turn allow them to keep their jobs.
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January 31, 1932 Findlay OH loses streetcar service.
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January 31, 1935 Union Pacific's M-10000 enters service as the "City of Salina" between Salina KS and Kansas City. The 116-seat train carries an average 280 passengers per round trip.
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January 31, 1939 The Pennsylvania Railroad's Class S1 6-4-4-6 duplex passenger locomotive leaves Altoona. It is the first steam locomotive out of Altoona since 1930. The locomotive will prove to be too big in many respects and will be confined to service between Chicago IL and Crestline OH. The lessons learned from this locomotive will be applied to PRR's class T1 4-4-4-4.
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January 31, 1951 The ¡°Philadelphia Enquirer¡± reports that in 1950 the Lionel Corporation earned more than Baldwin Locomotive Works.
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January 31, 1957 Last passenger service on the Illinois Central to Paducah KY.
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January 31, 1961 The Decatur (MI) depot is closed by the New York Central. The small-town station had no scheduled stops and few riders. The planned consolidation of freight agent services in Kalamazoo has rendered the depot obsolete.
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January 31, 2000 Amtrak's New Haven to Boston electrification project is completed.
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January 31, 2009 Canadian National takes control of most of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern. CN has acquired the line to connect its Wisconsin Central, Illinois Central and Grand Trunk lines while avoiding the congestion of Chicago.
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January 31, 2011 FedEx begins using BNSF and Norfolk Southern Intermodal services as part of its Less-Than-Truckload division.
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January 31, 2012 WATCO completes its purchase of the Ann Arbor Railroad, running between Ann Arbor and Toledo.
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January 31, 2018 A chartered Amtrak train carrying 200 Republican Senators and Representatives to a retreat at White Sulphur Springs strikes a garbage truck at a grade crossing in near Charlottesville, Virginia. The truck driver is killed and the Amtrak head-end crew suffers injuries. Three of the Congressmen who are also medical doctors assist with the injured.
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Mark Tomlonson
