Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
December 14, 1903 The luxurious Merchants Limited, which became the premier passenger train of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (NH), first went into service. This train’s maiden journey was a late-in-the-day run between South Station in Boston and Grand Central Terminal in New York City. The next day’s edition of the Boston... Continue Reading →
On October 16, 1958, a dedication ceremony was held for the first part of Interstate 94 (I-94) in central North Dakota. This segment, covering 39 miles (62.8 kilometers) between the cities of Valley City and Jamestown in the eastern region of North Dakota, was also the first portion of the Interstate Highway System to be... Continue Reading →
December 7, 1891 A rail tunnel that had been built underneath the St. Clair River as a new transportation route between Canada and the United States was opened to passengers. This tunnel was specifically constructed to connect the town (now city) of Sarnia in the Canadian province of Ontario with the city of Port Huron... Continue Reading →
December 4, 1991 On the same day that Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) officially came to an end and halted its longtime operations, that airline’s final flight took place. Captain Mark Pyle piloted the airplane Clipper Goodwill, a Pan Am Boeing 727-221ADV, for Flight 436 between the cities of Bridgetown, Barbados, and Miami, Florida. ... Continue Reading →
December 3, 1967 After 65 years of service, the New York Central Railroad (NYC) express passenger train 20th Century Limited completed its final journey. The half-full train pulled into LaSalle Street Station in Chicago at 6:45 p.m. The Limited had actually been scheduled to arrive nine hours earlier, but was delayed due to a freight... Continue Reading →
On January 19, 1967, a recently completed segment of U.S. Highway 49 (US 49) in Mississippi made its official debut. This segment encompassed 16 miles (25.8 kilometers) between the town of Mount Olive and the community of Weathersby (now part of the city of Mendenhall) in the Magnolia State’s south-central region. The dedication ceremony for... Continue Reading →
November 25, 1931 A suspension bridge crossing the Ohio River was opened. This structure, which had been designed by the firm Modjeski and Masters, serves as a link between the city of Maysville, Kentucky, and the village of Aberdeen, Ohio. The 1,991-foot (607-meter)-long bridge was named after Simon Kenton (1755-1836), a famous frontiersman and soldier... Continue Reading →
November 24, 2007 The Lynx Blue Line first went into service in Charlotte, North Carolina. This light rail line, which is owned and operated by the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS), made history as the first major rapid rail service in the Tar Heel State. On the day of Lynx’s formal debut, CATS allowed all... Continue Reading →
November 20, 1954 Clyde Cessna died in Wichita, Kansas, at the age of 74. By the time of his passing, he had left a large and longtime imprint on the transportation world as an aircraft designer and aviation entrepreneur. Cessna was born in 1879 in Hawthorne, Iowa. When he was only two years old, he... Continue Reading →
The State Board of Public Roads of Rhode Island was established in 1902 to oversee the construction, maintenance, and improvement of the Ocean State’s highways system. Up until the establishment of this board, there had been no state-level entity in place to supervise and monitor work on public roads within Rhode Island; those duties were... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 