December 17, 1830 Former President John Quincy Adams, following his re-election to Congress, travels over the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad between Baltimore and Relay MD en route to Washington DC. President Adams rides in his own carriage that has been placed on a horse-drawn B&O flat car.
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December 17, 1834 The first railroad in Ireland opens.
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December 17, 1853 The Brooklyn City Railroad, the oldest streetcar line in Brooklyn, is opened.
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December 17, 1862 Theodore T. Woodruff exhibits two sleeping cars of a new design at West Philadelphia.
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December 17, 1870 The Kalamazoo & South Haven RR (later MC, NYC, PC, CR) is completed.
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December 17, 1887 Southern Pacific begins service to Portland OR.
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December 17, 1888 The Great Northern receives its first Leslie snowplow.
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December 17, 1890 Cable car service begins in Cleveland OH.
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December 17, 1894 The Detroit & Mackinaw Railway is formed as a reorganization of the Detroit, Bay City & Alpena.
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December 17, 1911 Northern Pacific's "North Coast Limited" extends service to Chicago. The former eastern terminal was St. Paul.
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December 17, 1913 The Detroit, Toledo & Milwaukee Railroad becomes the Michigan & Chicago Railway. (MI interurban)
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December 17, 1924 First Diesel-electric locomotive enters service, on the docks in the Bronx.
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December 17, 1940 The last interurban runs between Canton and Massillon OH.
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December 17, 1947 The New York Central Railroad announces it has ordered 111 diesel locomotives.
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December 17, 1951 The Rock Island converts all of its Chicago-area commuter runs to diesel. Seventeen new units replace the 23 Pacific types previously used.
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December 17, 1954 First fully-automated railroad freight yard opens, on the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern in Gary IN.
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December 17, 1962 The Interstate Commerce Commission approves Chesapeake & Ohio control of the Baltimore & Ohio.
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December 17, 1964 Atlantic Coast Line introduces train television on its "Florida Special".
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December 17, 2008 Rail-Runner commuter service begins between Santa Fe and Albuqueque NM.
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December 17, 2017 Tacoma WA dedicates a new Amtrak station.
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December 17, 2021 Railfan & Railroad magazine reports that the former New York, Ontario & Western depot in Middleton NY will be redeveloped. The depot has sat empty for 20 years following a fire.
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December 17, 2021 The 55 km (34 mile) Orangeville-Brampton Railway makes its last run, ending service on a former Canadian Pacific branch that saw its first train in 1879.
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Mark Tomlonson
