April 24, 1832 The Tonawanda Railroad (later B&R, NYC) is chartered to run between Rochester and Attica NY. It will be the second railroad built in the state of New York.
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April 24, 1834 The Long Island Rail Road Company is incorporated to build a line down the middle of Long Island.
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April 24, 1847 The Grand Junction and Depot Company (later B&A) is incorporated as a renaming of the Chelsea Branch Railroad.
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April 24, 1855 The Cleveland & Toledo Railroad (Later LS&MS, NYC) is extended from Sandusky to Toledo OH
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April 24, 1902 Per Diem freight car rates are formally set for the first time. Experiments date back to 1888, and general use started in the 1890's. These rates allow car owners to be paid rent while their cars are on foreign roads.
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April 24, 1918 The Muskegon, Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad Company is dissolved into its parent company, the Pennsylvania Railroad.
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April 24, 1932 Chesapeake & Ohio's "George Washington" begins service. Planned as the first long distance, air-conditioned train, it lost that honor to the Baltimore & Ohio by four days.
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April 24, 1932 Both the "Broadway Limited" and the "20th Century Limited" cut their New York to Chicago running time from 20 hours to 18 hours. Fares are raised $10 [2025: $230] to cover the added expense.
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April 24, 1932 The Detroit, Toledo & Ironton ends passenger service between Detroit and Springfield OH.
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April 24, 1949 The New York Central adds the Detroit-Cincinnati "Mercury".
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April 24, 1949 The Erie Railroad begins using Cleveland Union Depot, abandoning its old station.
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April 24, 1950 The Pennsylvania Railroad establishes second-morning service for LCL and freight forwarding companies New York to Chicago and New York to East Saint Louis.
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April 24, 1955 Canadian Pacific debuts its new train "The Canadian" and Canadian National debuts its new "Super Continental", claimed as the first streamliners in Canada. Both trains carry some heavyweight equipment.
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April 24, 1958 Southern Pacific donates its "Daylight" 4-8-4 #4449 to the City of Portland OR.
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April 24, 1960 Coaches are permanently added to the "20th Century Limited".
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April 24, 1961 The Pennsylvania Railroad opens its 28th TrucTrain (TOFC) terminal, at Marion IN.
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April 24, 1962 Grand Trunk Western paints its first locomotive in the "wet noodle" scheme recently adopted by parent Canadian National.
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April 24, 1965 The New York Central ends all branch line passenger service with the end of service between Utica and Lake Placid.
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April 24, 1983 The Rio Grande Zephyr, the remnant of the California Zephyr and the last privately owned long distance train in America makes its final run. The trip was shortened to a Denver to Grand Junction run because of a mudslide.
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April 24, 1995 Union Pacific ownership of the Chicago & North Western begins.
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April 24, 2021 As part of the restoration of the Michigan Central Depot in Detroit, 250 truckloads of concrete are poured over 10 hours to stabilize the basement, which had been underwater for years. This 2,000 yard pour is the first of several scheduled over the next month that will total 11,000 yards.
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Mark Tomlonson
