December 19, 1881 The land grant railroad Detroit, Mackinac & Marquette (later DSS&A, SOO, WC, CN) reaches St. Ignace, spanning Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
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December 19, 1887 The Illinois Central completes its line to Sioux Falls SD.
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December 19, 1910 The Chicago City Council considers following New York's lead and requiring all railroads to electrify within a radius of seven miles no later than January 1, 1913. The motion does not pass.
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December 19, 1919 The Canadian National Railways is created by an Order in Council. The creation is meant to unite and rescue five bankrupt railroads: the Grand Trunk, Grand Trunk Pacific, Canadian Northern, Intercolonial and Canadian Government Railways. The new CNR is the longest railroad in North America, with over 50,000 km (31,000 miles) of track in Canada and the United States.
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December 19, 1926 The Boston & Albany opens a new union station in Springfield MA. It replaces two earlier stations and cost $5.87 million ($104.6 million in 2024) to build.
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December 19, 1944 No one is hurt when the “Sam Houston Zephyr” catches fire 50 miles north of Houston. Pulled by locomotive 9901, this will be the only one of the nine “shovelnose” EMD locomotives to meet an early end.
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December 19, 1977 The Milwaukee Road files for bankruptcy.
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December 19, 2000 The Adrian & Blissfield Railroad acquires the former Lenawee County Railroad (ex-NYC, LS&MS) from the State of Michigan.
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December 19, 2006 For the first time since Hurricane Katrina, streetcars return to the St. Charles line in New Orleans. Only 10% of the route and just two of the 35 cars inaugurate the service.
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December 19, 2017 CSX files with the STB to abandon the former Monon trackage between New Albany and Bedford, 62.3 miles. CSX ended service on the line in 2010, and the tracks have been used for rail car storage since then.
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Mark Tomlonson
