Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
November 3, 1986 In the Canadian province of Quebec, Côte-Vertu station in Montreal’s borough of Saint-Laurent first went into service as part of the underground rapid transit system known as the Montreal Metro. At the time of its opening, this station replaced Du Collège station as the western terminus for the Montreal Metro’s Orange Line.... Continue Reading →
November 1, 1876 In the Netherlands, the North Sea Canal was officially opened by the nation’s monarch King William III. The Dutch waterway, which extends from the Netherlands’ capital of Amsterdam to the North Sea at the city of IJmuiden, was built to allow seafaring vessels to more easily reach the Port of Amsterdam. The... Continue Reading →
October 29, 1983 Nearly a half-century after its debut, the streamlined electric locomotive known as the GG1was retired from active service once and for all. The GG1 era formally ended when New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) – the last operator of that class of locomotives – ran a series of farewell trips between the borough... Continue Reading →
October 28, 2008 A new version of the influential and time-honored Blue Bird All American school bus was unveiled at the trade show of the National Association for Pupil Transportation annual conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. These buses are manufactured by the Blue Bird Corporation, which is based in Fort Valley, Georgia, and traces its... Continue Reading →
October 27, 1909 The Great Southern Automobile Company was established in Birmingham, Alabama, with local banker Eugene F. Enslen serving as its president. This new company manufactured automobiles at a plant in the nearby city of Ensley. Starting in 1912, the Great Southern Automobile Company maintained a salesroom in the landmark Empire Building in downtown... Continue Reading →
October 26, 1952 A station of the Stockholm metro was formally opened in the community of Blackeberg in the western section of Sweden’s capital and largest city. Blackeberg metro station was one of 17 stations to be inaugurated on the same date on Line 19 of the Green Line of Stockholm’s rapid system. Blackeberg metro... Continue Reading →
October 25, 2016 Robert Anderson “Bob” Hoover, a longtime pilot with a wide range of aviation achievements, died in Los Angeles at the age of 94. He had been born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1922. Hoover learned to fly at Berry Field (present-day Nashville International Airport). He worked at a grocery store to help pay... Continue Reading →
October 22, 1934 The Union Pacific Railroad’s M-10001 diesel-electric streamliner train departed Los Angeles at 10:00 p.m. to set a still-unbroken record for transcontinental rail travel in the United States. The M-10001, which had been delivered to Union Pacific only 10 days earlier and was the company’s first diesel-powered train (and the first Pullman-sleeper-equipped passenger... Continue Reading →
October 21, 1922 The ocean liner RMS Franconia was launched at the John Brown & Company shipyard in the town of Clydebank, Scotland. Operated by the Cunard Line, this ship was the second one named Franconia to serve that company. (The original version of RMS Franconia had been launched in 1910 and was sunk by a German... Continue Reading →
October 20, 1892 In Chicago, more than 1,000 good roads advocates from across the United States gathered at Central Music Hall to form an organization to further promote their cause. This meeting was held in conjunction with the dedication ceremonies for the Chicago World’s Fair (also called the World’s Columbian Exposition), which would take place the... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 