From WHAS11.com:
Sept. 12, 2008
A commuter train engineer ran a red light while text messaging on his cell phone and struck a freight train head-on in Los Angeles, killing himself and 24 other people.
September 13, 1880
In the state of Michigan, the Port Huron & Detroit completes it’s line from Croswell to Sand Beach (Harbor Beach).
September 13, 1882
In the Canadian province of Ontario, Canada Atlantic Railway opens from Coteau, Quebec to Ottawa, Elgin Street. A gaily decorated special train had been run for the directors on the 11th of September. The Company was originally incorporated as the Montreal and City of Ottawa Railway on May 15, 1879. The station was located at Catherine Street, near Elgin Street, where the Qweensway now is. The line was opened in sections as follows:
Coteau Junction to Casselman on 2/1/1882 (trains had started running on the first of January).
Casselman and South Indian (Limoges) by May 1882.
South Indian (Limoges) to Eastman Springs (Carlsbad Springs) by the 15th of July, 1882.
Eastman Springs (Carlsbad Springs) to September on 9/13/1882.
September 13, 1922
Railway shopmen end a two month strike.
The railroad that opened on this date, between Port Huron and Sand Beach, was the Port Huron & Northwestern (it was originally a narrow-gauge line, and eventually became part of the Pere Marquette Railway). Sand Beach was nearly at the tip of the “Thumb”; the Port Huron & Detroit was a line that ran toward Detroit from Port Huron–not making it to Detroit and not making it into the PM. The mention of Croswell in the reference is probably because the line had been abandoned between Port Huron and Croswell sometime during the 1970s.
September 14, 1891
New York Central’s Empire State Express makes a record run from New York to Buffalo (436 miles) in 7 hours, 6 minutes.
September 14, 1915
In Canada, a special funeral train conveys the body of Sir William C. Van Horne from Windsor Street station, Montreal to Joliette, Illinois. Departing at 11:00, it was hauled by 4-6-2 #2213. Nearly a mile of drapery was used in decorating the train and the front of the CPR station and office building.
September 14, 1944
29 people were killed in a train accident at Dewey, Indiana.
September 14, 1974
The longest underwater tunnel in the U.S. (3.6 miles), used by the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), opens between San Francisco and Oakland, California.
September 14, 1975
September 15, 1830
The Liverpool & Manchester Railway, the first passenger railway in the world, opens in England.
September 15, 1830
William Huskison becomes the world’s first railroad-related casualty when he is killed by George Stephenson’s “Rocket” during the opening of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in England.
September 15, 1831
The John Bull runs for the first time on the Camden and Amboy Railroad.
September 15, 1870
In the Canadian province of Ontario, Canada Central Railway opens on the provincial gauge (5’ 6") from Chaudiere (Broad Street) to Carleton Place, then known as Carleton Junction. The inspection was carried out on this day Mr. J.H. Rowan of the Department of Public Works who found that “the work done on the line is of a good and permanent character, the stations, the rolling stock and other appurtanences being sufficient for the proper working of the road.”</
Railroad magnate James Jerome J.J. Hill in 1838 was born.
September 16, 1838
Railroad builder and founder of the Great Northern Railway was born on this date.
September 16, 1872
Construction of the East Broad Top Railroad begins.
September 16, 1875
The first Fast Mail train departs New York’s Grand Central Station.
September 16, 1898
In the state of Michigan, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern standardizes the color of all passenger stations and freight houses to a new color which matches the olive green color of their passenger cars. This replaced the yellow tint that most stations had received up to this point.
September 16, 1900
The first electric interurban car arrived in Flint, Michigan.
September 17, 1832
Seventeteen months after it was formally opened, the first railroad in the Mississippi Valley, the Ponchartrain RR, placed it’s first steam locomotive, the Ponchartrain, into regular service.
September 17, 1873
The Panic of 1873 was sparked by the failure of Jay Cooke & Company, which was involved in the financing of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
September 17, 1909
The first trolley car crosses over the Queensborough bridge in New York.
September 17, 1896
In the Canadian Province of Ontario, Central Depot is owned by Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound and Canada Atlantic Railways.The building was originally Dufresne and McTaggart’s wholesale grocery warehouse that had previously been converted to a militia store.
September 17,
September 18, 1877
The Bass gang pulls off the largest train robbery of that time, taking $60,000 from a Union Pacific Train near Big Spring,Nebraska
September 18, 1893
The Great Northern Railway completed it’s transcontinental route near Everett, Washington.
September 18, 1893
In the Canadian province of Ontario, the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway is opened between Ottawa and Arnprior. The company was formed on the 18th of May, 1891 through the amalgamation of the Ottawa and Parry Sound Railway with the Ottawa, Arnprior and Renfrew Railway. The various sections were completed as follows:
Arnprior to Eganville - December 18, 1893
Eganville to Barry’s Bay - October 01, 1894
September 18, 1932
From Ottawa’s Hull Street and Light Railway Histor
September 19, 1838
The first patent for a railroad brake is issued to Ephraim Morris of Bloomfield, New Jersey.
September 19, 1839
In the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, the official opening of the Albion Mines Railway took place between Albion Coal Mines and New Glasgow, N.S. using the Timothy Hackworth steam locomotives “Samson”, “Hercules” and “John Buddle” imported from England.
September 19, 1854
Patent # 11,699 was issued to Henry B. Myer for a mode of converting the backs of car seats into beds or lounges.
September 19, 1870
In the state of Michigan, the Detroit, Lansing & Lake Michigan opens their line from Ionia to Greenville. The line was officially opened on October 14th.
September 19, 1905
Septemper 20, 1850
President Millard Fillmore signs an Act, giving land grants and loads by the Federal Government to railroads.
September 20,1853
The first Union passenger station opens in Indianapolis, Indiana.
September 20, 1873
The New York Stock Exchange is forced to close in an attempt to contain panic resulting from the failure of Jay Cooke & Company.
September 20, 1881
In the state of Michigan, the Detroit, Hillsdale and Southwestern Railroad, formally operated between Detroit and Hillsdale by the Michigan Central, comes under the control of the Lakeshore & Michigan Southern.
September 20, 1903
September 21, 1856
The Illinois Central Railroad connects Cairo, Illinois with 700 miles of track, making it the longest railroad in the country.
September 21, 1905
The Truckee Republican reports on the greatest snowshed fire on the Central Pacific in many years. Rail traffic is halted for three days as nearly one mile of the wooden snow sheds are destroyed.
September 21, 1906
In the Canadian province of Ontario, a Grand Trunk express hit a standing freight at a crossover just west of Napanee. While other trainmen leaped to safety, engineer Frank W. Blaine, known as “Sailor Blaine”, stuck to his post to slow his train down and save the lives of his passengers. He was killed in this accident. A monument in his memory was erected in a Brockville cemetery by his passengers.
September 21, 1923
In the state of Michigan, a new interlocking plant at Charlotte is inspected and approved for opperation.
September 22, 1851
Charles Minot, Sperintendent of the Erie Railroad, became the first railroad employee to use a telegraph in the movement of trains. His westbound train pulled into a siding at Turner (now called Harriman), New York, to allow an eastbound to pass. The eastbound train was late, so Minot went to the nearest telegraph office to find out where the train was, it hadn’t yet reached Goshen, 13 miles west, so he wired ahead orders for that train there to be held for the meet. On returning to his own train, he ordered the engineer to move the train to Goshen, but the engineer refused to take such a risk, so Minot drove the train himself to Goshen where they met the errant eastbound.
September 22, 1902
In the Canadian province of Ontario, the Pontiac and Pacific Junction becomes part of the Ottawa, Northern and Western Railway. It had been worked in conjunction with the Gatineau Valley line for some time previously.
September 22, 1946
Santa Fe PA ABA set #51 became Alco’s 75,000th locomotive.
September 22, 1950
September 23, 1874
The East Broad Top Railroad begins operations.
September 23, 1883
In the state of Michigan, the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railway opens a line from the Wisconsin state line to Watersmeet.
September 23, 1894
In the state of Michigan, the Alpena & Northern opens a line south from La Rocque towards Jackson Lake in Monttimorency County.
September 23, 1932
In the state of Michigan, the Canada Southern Railway abandoned the St. Clair & Western Railroad between St. Clair and Ridgeway.
September 23, 1983
The U.S. Railway Association sets the fair market value of the Alaska
September 24, 1869
Railroad speculators Jay Gould and Jim Fisk’s attempt to corner the gold market failed.
September 24, 1875
In the state of Michigan, the Grand Rapids, Newaygo and Lake Shore Rail Road completes it’s line from Sparta to White Cloud.
September 24, 1887
In the state of Michigan, the Toledo, Saginaw and Muskegon Railway opens a line from Ashley to Carson City.
September 24, 1894
In the Canadian province of Ontario, a Canadian Pacific cattle train, which was composed of about 25 cars, derailed at Brittania when it it a cow on the track. The cow rolled underneath the engine and the resulting impact tossed all the cars in a ditch. A full account of this accident can be found in the Ottawa Journal.
September 24, 1897
"September 24, 1875
In the state of Michigan, the Grand Rapids, Newaygo and Lake Shore Rail Road completes its line from Sparta to White Cloud."
It hadn’t occurred to me, but White Cloud could have been the intended end of this line at one point, even though it’s not by any substantial lake shore (it is well beyond Newaygo from Grand Rapids). I’ll have to check my completion dates, but it’s likely that this line met up with another railroad already going through White Cloud between Muskegon and Big Rapids. Even now, when traveling north up the line from Grand Rapids to Baldwin and Ludington (it’s Marquette Rail now), when you get to White Cloud, the line takes a sharp curve to the east (where it met the now-long-abandoned line out of Muskegon) before curving again to continue north to Baldwin. The “Lake Shore” of its name wasn’t reached until clear up in Traverse City, years later.
September 25, 1866
The pop safety valve was invented by George W. Richardson of the Troy & Boston Railroad.
September 25, 1893
In the Canadian province of Ontario, the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway is authorized to operated over the diamond crossing with the Canadian Pacific Railway at Arnprior. Interlocking signals and derailing apparatus had been installed by Mr. Kenneth Blackwell of Montreal.
September 25, 1905
J.H. Hulbert and C.T. Dunbar acquire United Railways for James J. Hill.
September 25, 1949
The “Train of Tomorrow”, built by General Motors, visits Montreal.
September 26, 1884
The St. Lawrence and Ottawa Railway is leased to the Canadian Pacific Railway for 999 years. The CPR had obtained control of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Railway and had commenced integration of the line in 1881.
September 26, 1889
In the state of Michigan, Detroit hosted an International Exposition and Fair on the Detroit River, on 14 acres, between Fort Wayne and the Rouge River, near what is now Zug Island. Railroads brought attendees in from all parts of the nation. Tracks were laid directly into the middle of the fair grounds.
September 26, 1892
In the state of Michigan, the Chicago & West Michigan opens the Ironton Branch, from just south of Chrlevoix to Ironton, a distance of 4.08 miles.
September 26, 1905
C.M. Levey becomes President of the Pittsburg & Shawmut. Prior to that, he had been the superintendent of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy’s Iowa lines.<
September 27, 1835
Phineas Davis, inventor of the first practical American coal burning locomotive, is killed when his invention, the York, derails.
September 27, 1864
The Jesse James gang surprise-attacked a train, and as a result 150 people were killed.
September 27, 1890
Farmer’s Transportation Company is renamed the Columbia Railway & Navigation Company (C&RN).
September 27, 1899
In the state of Michigan, the first car of the Detroit, Rochester, Romeo and Lake Oreon Railway reaches the Rochester bridge.
September 27, 1903
Eleven people were killed in Danville, Virginia when a Southern Rai
September 28, 1898
In the state of Michigan, the Detroit, Lake Shore and Mt. Clemens Railway opens an electric line from Detroit to Mt. Clemens via Grosse Pointe Farms.
September 28, 1913
In the state of Michigan, the Detroit and Huron Railway completes their line from Cass City to Bad Axe.
September 28, 1925
In the Canadian province of Ontario, an articulated, two car diesel electric set, #15187 commences regular service between Montreal and Ottawa via Hawkesbury, making one trip in each direction daily except Sundays. #15817 was replaced by a single car #15818 by the end of October.
September 28, 1929