Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
January 22, 2015 In South Korea’s northeastern area, operations began for a scenic tourist train in Jeongseon County in the state of Gangwon-do. This premium transit service, which is run by the Korea Railroad Corporation (branded as Korail), is popularly known as the A-Train; its full name is the Jeongseon Arirang A-Train. Arirang is a... Continue Reading →
January 9, 1916 SS Duilio was launched at the Ansaldo Shipyard in the city of Genoa in northwestern Italy. This ship was the first Italian super ocean liner and ultimately became one of that country’s largest vessels. The Duilio was built for use by the Italian shipping company Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI). The vessel’s name was... Continue Reading →
January 6, 1854 William Nelson Page, a civil engineer and industrialist who proved to be instrumental in the development of key railway routes within both Virginia and West Virginia, was born in Campbell County, Virginia. Page received his education in engineering at the University of Virginia and leveraged both that expertise and his considerable energies into... Continue Reading →
December 29, 1959 The MV Coho, a ferry operated by the Black Ball Line between Victoria in the Canadian province of British Columbia and Port Angeles in Washington State, first went into regular service. This 341.5-foot (104.1-meter)-long ferry was designed by the Seattle-based firm Philip F. Spaulding & Associates and built by Puget Sound Bridge... Continue Reading →
December 24, 1801 A steam-powered road vehicle was introduced to the public during a test run that began in southwestern England’s town of Camborne. This full-sized vehicle had been designed and built by Richard Trevithick (1771-1833), a prolific inventor and mining engineer from that region. Trevithick nicknamed his creation the Puffing Devil. Six passengers were... Continue Reading →
December 17, 2012 In the Scottish town of Port Glasgow, the ferry MV Hallaig was launched at the yard of Ferguson Shipbuilders – now known as Ferguson Marine Engineering – on the Firth of Clyde (the estuary of the River Clyde). Nicola Sturgeon (born in 1970), who was serving as deputy first minister of Scotland... Continue Reading →
December 11, 1976 On a Saturday morning, a ferry terminal in the city of Larkspur (located north of San Francisco) was opened with considerable fanfare. Larkspur Landing, which is also called Larkspur Ferry Terminal, provides commuter ferry services to downtown San Francisco via the North Bay. This terminal is operated by the Golden Gate Bridge,... Continue Reading →
December 10, 1950 On a Sunday morning, regular operations began for a trolley bus system in the city of Hamilton in Canada’s province of Ontario. These vehicles became the latest form of public transportation launched by the Hamilton Street Railway (HSR), a company that had been serving the city for 77 years by that time.... Continue Reading →
December 4, 1933 Operations officially began for trolleybus system in the town of Huddersfield in northern England. The public officials who took part in the brief ceremony marking this transportation milestone included Albert Hirst (1865-1941), who had become mayor of Huddersfield earlier that year and would serve in the position until 1935. The Huddersfield Daily... Continue Reading →
December 1, 1982 Nearly nine decades after it was opened, a railway station in the town of Brevik in southeastern Norway was closed. (That town has officially been part of the municipality of Porsgrunn since 1964.) The station was built as part of the Brevik Line, a 6.2-mile (10-kilometer) railway in that region of Norway.... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 