December 26, 1870 The 12.8 kilometer (7.95 miles) Frejus (or Mt. Cenis) Rail Tunnel is holed through, connecting France and Italy. The project was expected to take 25 years, but pneumatic drilling has reduced the time to 14 years.
?
December 26, 1896 The Lake Manitoba Railway and Canal Company operates its first train from Dauphin to Portage la Prairie. Within two years the company is renamed the Canadian Northern Railway Company (later CN).
?
December 26, 1903 High winds extinguish a kerosene warning light, and two Pere Marquette passenger trains collide near Grand Rapids, killing 22 and injuring 30.
?
December 26, 1913 The landmark Michigan Central depot in Detroit opens, rushed into service after fire damages the previous station. The first train out is bound for Saginaw and Bay City. The first train to arrive comes from Chicago. It will serve the city as a railroad depot until 1988, with the platforms in use until 1994.
?
December 26, 1917 President Wilson announces that the federal government will be taking over operation of the railroads under the authority of the Army Appropriations Act of 1916. The railroads will be administered by the United States Railway Administration (USRA).
?
December 26, 1934 The Pullman Car & Manufacturing Co. merges with its subsidiary Standard Steel Car Co. to become Pullman-Standard.
?
December 26, 1944 New York Central 4-6-4 5219 suffers a boiler explosion while standing at the passenger station in Elkhart IN.
?
December 26, 1976 The second American Freedom Train ends its tour in Miami FL.
?
December 26, 2004 A tsunami hits the express train "Samudradevi", or "Queen of the Sea" in Telwatta, Sri Lanka. Eight hundred two bodies are recovered out of an estimated 2,000 dead, making it the worst train disaster in history. Of the 2,000 dead, 700 were people who had climbed upon the train after the first wave thinking they would be safe.
?
Mark Tomlonson
