Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
December 11, 1975 Benton MacKaye, a forester and regional planner who earned the nickname “Father of the Appalachian Trail” for his role in creating that marked public footpath in the eastern United States, died in the town of Shirley, Massachusetts. MacKaye, who was born in Connecticut in 1879, first developed the idea of the Appalachian... Continue Reading →
December 7, 1906 The Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) and Union Pacific Railroad (UP) jointly established the Pacific Fruit Express Company (PFE). The Montana-based Weekly Missoulian reported that PFE was “chartered to construct and operate refrigerator cars, ventilator cars and other vehicles for the transportation of fruits, vegetables, meats, etc., and to build and operate refrigerating... Continue Reading →
Photo courtesy of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) In December 1991, President George H. W. Bush signed into law the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) at a construction site on State Highway 360 in Euless, Texas. As Bush underscored in his remarks during the ceremony, ISTEA initiated the most sweeping and... Continue Reading →
December 4, 1830 The Camden and Amboy Rail Road and Transportation Company (C&A), over a year-and-a-half after being organized with Robert L. Stevens as its president, began construction on its railroad line along the Delaware River at the borough (now city) of Bordentown, New Jersey. This railroad line was the first to operate in New... Continue Reading →
December 3, 1982 The Texas-based Pennybacker Bridge was opened to traffic five days after being officially dedicated. The through arch bridge, which is located in the Lone Star State’s capital city of Austin, carries Texas State Highway Loop 360 – popularly known as the Capital of Texas Highway – across the Colorado River and its water... Continue Reading →
November 30, 1951 While not yet completed at the time, the New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) was officially dedicated with a great deal of fanfare. The New York Times reported, “A major engineering feat, the new highway is an unimpeded route, without traffic lights, no cross roads, no lefthand turns and no grades over 3 percent.”... Continue Reading →
November 29, 1882 Aviation pioneer Henri Fabre was born in the French city of Marseille. Fabre’s advanced knowledge of science early on in life helped foster his powerful interest in human flight. With unmatched intensity, he studied and developed designs for planes and propellers. The result of Fabre’s efforts was his creation of the first... Continue Reading →
November 28, 1889 In one of the more noteworthy operations of its kind in the Great Lakes region, the crew of the U.S. Life-Saving Service (USLSS) station at Evanston, Illinois, rescued all of those on board the stranded and storm-battered steamship Calumet on Lake Michigan. While traveling from Buffalo the previous day to deliver coal... Continue Reading →
November 27, 1975 Automotive engineer Alberto Massimino died in the city of Modena in northeast Italy at the age of 80. Massimino, who was born in Turin in 1895, developed a strong interest in mechanics at an early age. Massimino earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the Technical Institute at Fribourg in Switzerland. He... Continue Reading →
November 26, 1902 The Skreia Line, a railway line in eastern Norway, made its debut. Measuring a little over 13 miles (20.9 kilometers) in length, this single-track rail was a branch line from the GjøvikLine. The Skreia Line specifically ran between the villages of Reinsvoll and Skreia in the district of Toten. Paul Due One... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 