October 30, 1837 Russia's first railway opens between St Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo (27 kilometres).
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October 30, 1850 The Michigan Central Railroad opens from New Buffalo to Michigan City IN using the charter rights of the New Albany & Salem Railroad (later CIL, L&N, CSX) within Indiana.
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October 30, 1868 The ceremonial first shovel of dirt is turned for the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe.
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October 30, 1888 Electric streetcars begin service in Lafayette IN.
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October 30, 1902 The Winona & Warsaw Railway (IN) is incorporated.
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October 30, 1921 A mixed train between Muncie and Converse IN on the Pennsylvania Railroad replaces the previous passenger service.
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October 30, 1931 Secretarial service is dropped from Pennsylvania Railroad Blue-Ribbon passenger trains running between New York and Chicago and New York and St. Louis.
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October 30, 1937 The International Railway Company operates the last interurban to Lockport, ending interurban service on the Niagara Frontier.
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October 30, 1937 The last streetcar runs in Lancaster OH.
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October 30, 1939 The New York World's Fair closes for the year. The Pennsylvania and Long Island Railroad have hauled one out of every four visitors.
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October 30, 1956 Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton ships its last common-carrier-sized locomotive from its Eddystone PA factory. The S12 switcher, used around the Eddystone Plant since it was built in 1955, will go to Erie Mining as their #403.
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October 30, 1960 The "Commodore Vanderbilt" name disappears from New York Central passenger timetables.
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October 30, 1960 Portland ME Union Station closes.
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October 30, 1963 The New York Times runs an editorial on the demolition of Penn Station, calling it "a monumental act of vandalism."
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October 30, 1967 The Mackinac Transportation Company lays up the "Chief Wawatam", substituting the barge "Manistee" and the tug "Muskegon”.
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October 30, 1970 President Richard Nixon signs the enabling legislation for Amtrak.
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October 30, 1972 In the worst railway accident in Chicago history, two commuter trains collide in early morning dense fog, killing 45 and injuring 332. The engineer of an Illinois Central Gulf train overshot the 27th Street Station. As he backed to the station, the rear of the train was not properly flagged. The train had cleared an automatic block signal, and was struck by an express commuter train. After this accident all Chicago commuter trains are painted with bright stripes at the ends of the trains.
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October 30, 1983 New Jersey Transit officially retires its remaining GG-1's, after a day of fantrips yesterday. No GG-1 has run under its own power since.
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October 30, 2004 Amtrak drops smoking cars on all trains except the Auto-Train. At the end, only the Crescent, Silver Star and Silver Meteor carry smoking cars.
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October 30, 2008 Regional railroads Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern (mostly ex-C&NW) and Iowa, Chicago & Eastern (mostly ex-MILW) are placed under the control of Canadian Pacific.
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October 30, 2013 The world’s deepest railway tunnel (190 feet/58 metres) opens, connecting the eastern and western parts of Istanbul.? Also the first tunnel to connect two continents (Asia and Europe), the project was first proposed in the 1860’s. “Marmaray” tunnel is 8.5 miles long.
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October 30, 2013 Police in San Diego shut down a tunnel to Tijuana used by drug smugglers. The tunnel used an electric railway to transport its illegal cargo.
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October 30, 2014 A contractor using a large drill to expand a well in Long Island City drills too far into the ground and scrapes the side and roof of an occupied “F” train. The contractor was working on the East Side Access Project, designed to bring Long Island trains into Grand Central Terminal.
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October 31, 1843 The Vermont Central is re-created to build a line across the center of Vermont.
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October 31, 1854 The first train arrives in Fort Wayne, IN from the east on the Ohio & Indiana Railroad (later PRR), completing the line from Crestline, OH.
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October 31, 1859 The Louisville & Nashville Railroad opens between Louisville and Nashville, completing a through line of uniform gauge between the Ohio River at Louisville and the Atlantic at Charleston, SC. It is the only rail line between the Southern seaboard and the Ohio River prior to the Civil War.
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October 31, 1864 A train carrying just over 500 passengers, most of them Union troops, runs head-on into a stock train near Indianapolis on the Lafayette & Indianapolis (later CCC&StL, NYC). Eighteen troops are killed (some sources say 22).
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October 31, 1880 The Grant Locomotive Works deliver a new locomotive to the Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago (later PRR). The locomotive, designed by Eugene Fontaine, has regular drivers atop four smaller wheels that transmit traction to the rails. The locomotive is supposedly capable of 90 mph.
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October 31, 1903 The New York Central & Hudson River Railroad votes to electrify between Croton-on-Hudson on the Hudson Division and North White Plains on the Harlem Division. The system used will be a 660-volt DC on an under-running third rail. Later this fall they will sign a contract with General Electric for the locomotives.
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October 31, 1909 Pullman acquires the assets of its major competitors: Mann's Boudoir Car Co., the Union Palace Car Co. and the Woodruff Sleeping Car Co.
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October 31, 1913 The Lincoln Highway is dedicated, the first automobile highway across the United States.
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October 31, 1913 The unionized workers of the Indianapolis Traction & Terminal Company go on strike.
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October 31, 1920 The Pennsylvania Railroad turns over the sale of parlor and sleeping car tickets at Penn Station to the Pullman Company. This comes in reaction to the discovery and firing of 7 PRR agents for demanding bribes for tickets.
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October 31, 1922 Streetcars call it quits in Crawfordsville and New Castle IN.
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October 31, 1935 Washington IN loses streetcar service.
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October 31, 1939 The Public Service Company of Indiana abandons its interurban line between Seymour IN and Louisville KY.
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October 31, 1955 In an episode of "I Love Lucy" airing tonight, much of the action takes place aboard a Union Pacific passenger train. Union Pacific supervised construction of a passenger car set that was exact in every detail except for the brake handle, altered for dramatic effect. Some establishing shots were taken with UP's cooperation at Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal and at East Los Angeles aboard actual UP passenger cars.
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October 31, 1956 Brooklyn NY ends streetcar service.
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October 31, 1957 The Canadian National Railway receives permission to operate the former New York Central Lines in the vicinity of Ottawa, Ontario. Some of the lines will be re-laid.
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October 31, 1965 “Rapido” passenger service begins on the Canadian National.
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October 31, 1982 The United Aircraft Turbo Trains [Amtrak, CN, VIA] are removed from service by VIA. They will go next to Naporano Iron & Metal in New Jersey where they will be scrapped.
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October 31, 1983 Amtrak launches a Tri-weekly “Auto-Train” between Lorton VA and Sanford FL.
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October 31, 2011 CSX today announces the release of an iPhone application that will allow its customers to track shipments and select car types for future shipments.
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October 31, 2017 Amtrak begins daily service to Roanoke VA. Northeast Regional trains will serve a newly built station in the downtown area.
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November 1, 1842 The Schenectady & Troy Railroad (later NYC) opens.
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November 1, 1848 A cog rail is installed on the Madison (IN) incline and the use of horses is abandoned. The first rack locomotive, "M.G. Bright" (0-8-0) has one set of cylinders driving the regular wheels and a second set mounted vertically driving the cogwheel.
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November 1, 1855 More than 600 passengers board a special train in St. Louis for a ceremony commemorating the opening of the Pacific Railroad in Jefferson City. When the train crosses the Gasconade River at Gasconade MO (about halfway between the two cities), the bridge collapses after being weakened by high water. Twelve of the 13 cars fall into the river. Sixty persons die and hundreds are injured.
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November 1, 1857 Because of a financial panic, the Michigan Central and Michigan Southern railroads agree to divide their passenger business between Lake Erie and Chicago 50/50 and their freight business 58/42 in favor of the Michigan Central. Both roads agree to give up their steamboats on Lake Erie used for a connection to Buffalo.
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November 1, 1860 The Flint & Holly Railroad (later F&PM, PM, C&O, CSX) begins operations between its namesake Michigan towns.
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November 1, 1869 The New York Central Railroad (1853) and the Hudson River Railroad are consolidated to form the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Company (NYC&HR) under the control of Cornelius Vanderbilt. The merger plan was kept secret from regular stockholders until the vote was taken.
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November 1, 1872 The New York Central & Hudson River, New York & Harlem and New Haven railroads sign an agreement for the joint use of the first Grand Central Station.
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November 1, 1873 The Canada Southern Railway opens for through traffic.
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November 1, 1875 The Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad (later PRR) and the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad (later CCC&StL, NYC) begin common operation under an agreement signed on October 4th.
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November 1, 1875 Wagner sleeping cars replace Pullmans on the Michigan Central Railroad. Wagner inaugurates through cars between Boston and Chicago via both the MC and the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern routes. Because of this, the Erie drops its routing over the MC as does the Toledo, Wabash & Western.
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November 1, 1877 The "Golden Spike" is driven on the narrow gauge Waynesburg & Washington Railroad in Pennsylvania.
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November 1, 1878 The Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee comes under control of the Grand Trunk.
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November 1, 1888 The narrow-gauge Mexican National Railway [English translation] opens to Nuevo Laredo.
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November 1, 1890 The Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis (“Big 4”) buys the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan Railway, running between Anderson IN and Benton Harbor MI.
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November 1, 1895 The first segment of the Dayton Traction Company opens to Calvary Cemetery.
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November 1, 1903 The Dayton, Covington & Piqua Traction Company (OH) reaches its ultimate length as it enters Piqua, 34 miles from its terminus in Dayton.
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November 1, 1903 "Bucket" station on the Pennsylvania Railroad is re-named "South Altoona".
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November 1, 1905 The Ft. Wayne, Van Wert & Lima Traction Company opens 62 miles, Lima to Ft. Wayne.
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November 1, 1907 The Pennsylvania Railroad establishes its own Police Department.
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November 1, 1909 "Golden" spike ceremony on the Western Pacific. As no company officials are present, the local track foreman drives the last spike; the track crew shouts "Hooray!" and two women walking by with their children kiss each other.
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November 1, 1910 The Wisconsin Rapids Street Railroad begins streetcar service in Wisconsin Rapids WI.
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November 1, 1918 New York City's worst train accident, the Malbone Street Wreck: A five-car subway train, being operated by a supervisor during a strike, enters a curve at five times the safe speed. The train leaves the track and strikes a concrete abutment. Ninety-seven are killed and 100 injured.
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November 1, 1926 The Pennsylvania Railroad begins operating a "livestock and meats demonstration train" for Ohio State University. It will tour on PRR tracks in Ohio for two weeks.
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November 1, 1927 Great Northern, Northern Pacific and the Soo Line pool their passenger services between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Duluth/Superior.
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November 1, 1928 The Grand Trunk Western consolidates 10 subsidiary lines operating in Michigan, Illinois and Indiana to form a single system.
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November 1, 1928 The electrification of Pennsylvania Railroad's main lines between New York/Wilmington and Philadelphia/Columbia is announced. It is hoped that electric freight will handle perishable traffic quicker than steam. Electrification south of Washington DC will need to wait on abeyance of certain ordinances in Baltimore.
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November 1, 1932 A bitter and contentious strike ends streetcar service in Kalamazoo MI at 4:00 pm.
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November 1, 1952 The Pacific Great Eastern Railway extends its main line from Quesnel BC to a connection with the Canadian National in Prince George.
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November 1, 1952 The Pennsylvania Railroad terminates its design contract with Raymond Loewy.
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November 1, 1956 The first transcontinental Trailer-On-Flat-Car rates go into effect.
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November 1, 1957 U.S. Class I Railroads report they roster 27,108 diesel and 2,697 steam locomotives. An additional 721 steam locomotives are in storage.
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November 1, 1957 New York Central President Alfred E. Perlman and Pennsylvania Railroad President J.M. Symes announce they are discussing a merger of their two railroads.
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November 1, 1960 The Chicago & North Western acquires the Minneapolis & St. Louis.
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November 1, 1967 Canadian National receives five sets of Turbotrains for testing.
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November 1, 1978 The Grand Trunk ends carferry service on the great lakes.
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November 1, 1980 CSX Corporation is created from the Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries, Inc. (Family Lines).
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November 1, 2004 Streetcars begin official operations between Little Rock and North Little Rock AR.
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November 1, 2010 Train robbers in Victorville CA break into a refrigerated railroad car and steal as much of the contents they can carry. The cargo: frozen pig's feet. Value of the stolen goods: roughly $200.
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Mark Tomlonson
