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June 21, 1831 The Boston & Providence Railroad (later OC, NYNH&H, PC, Amtrak) is chartered to build between its two namesake cities.

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June 21, 1869 The last rail is laid on the second 20 miles of the Grand Rapids & Indiana between Cedar Springs and Morley, MI, beating the deadline imposed by the Michigan Legislature. It will open for revenue service by the fall, operated by Pennsylvania Railroad-controlled Continental Improvement Company.

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June 21, 1878 The first passenger train on the Toledo & Ann Arbor arrives in Ann Arbor.

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June 21, 1880 The Wabash Railroad contracts with General Jack Casement to build its new line between Butler IN and Detroit. Casement is famed as the builder of the Union Pacific transcontinental line.

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June 21, 1903 Samuel Dunkley offers his first Sunday Kalamazoo to Chicago excursion. Passengers ride the Kalamazoo & South Haven Railroad to South Haven and then sail on the Dunkley & Williams Steamship Line to Chicago. The all-day excursions are half the cost of a comparable all-rail trip on the Michigan Central. They prove so popular that a Kalamazoo minister will preach a sermon against them two years from now, decrying their desecration of the Sabbath.

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June 21, 1903 The "Northland Limited" is established on the Grand Rapids & Indiana as a summer-only train between Cincinnati and Mackinaw City, replacing the earlier "Northland Express". The train carries sleepers from Cincinnati, Louisville and Chicago. The Chicago sleepers are carried over the Michigan Central to Kalamazoo where they are added to the train.

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June 21, 1905 The 20^th Century Limited hits an open switch in Mentor OH and derails, killing 19.

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June 21, 1925 The Baltimore & Ohio begins the "Detroit-Washington Limited", its first train to Michigan using Pere Marquette trackage between Toledo and Detroit.

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June 21, 1935 The Pennsylvania's Michigan resort train "Northland" is renamed "The Northern Arrow" and given air-conditioned equipment.

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June 21, 1940 Wagon-Lits car No. 2419, in which Germany surrendered in 1918, is dragged out of its place in a museum by the Nazis to rest on the spot where it sat on November 11, 1918. After taking the French surrender, the Germans loot the Armistice Museum. Many of the museum articles will be returned after the war, but Wagon-Lits car 2419 will be destroyed.

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June 21, 1941 The last sleeper runs between Chicago and Grand Rapids MI on a Pennsylvania Railroad/Michigan Central routing.

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June 21 1942 Missouri Pacific's streamlined "Colorado Eagle" begins St. Louis to Denver service.

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June 21, 1948 Alco delivers its last steam locomotive: Pittsburgh & Lake Erie 2-8-4 #9406.

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June 21, 1951 The Pennsylvania Railroad reports that 79% of its passenger service is dieselized, along with 56% of its freight trains and 76% of its switching locomotives.

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June 21, 1954 The AAR network radio program "The Railroad Hour" signs off for the last time.

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June 21, 1958 Chicago PCC route 22 (Wentworth) converts to bus operation, ending on-street rail service in the Windy City.

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June 21, 1959 The Erie runs its last train over the 301 foot tall, 2053 foot long Kinzua Viaduct. It will later become a State Park and carry tourist trains.

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June 21, 1959 Soo Line #2719 closes out steam for that carrier as it hauls an excursion from Minneapolis MN and Ladysmith WI.

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June 21, 1968 Flathead Tunnel on the Great Northern is holed through.

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June 21, 1970 Penn Central declares bankruptcy, at the time the largest bankruptcy in U.S. corporate history.

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June 21, 2001 The world's heaviest train, weighing 109,705 tons, runs 170 miles between BHP Iron's Mount Newman mining complex and Port Hedland in Western Australia. The train consists of 8 General Electric AC6000 locomotives distributed through the train and 682 cars. It is 4 1/2 miles long.

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June 21, 2018 The Durango & Silverton resumes limited diesel operation following a total service suspension due to dry conditions and a wildfire 10 miles north of Durango.

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Mark Tomlonson