Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
February 4, 1936 The British documentary film Night Mail, recounting a rail-based postal delivery service that spanned both England and Scotland, had its premiere. This screening took place at the newly opened Cambridge Arts Theatre in Cambridge, England. A little over 23 minutes in length, this GPO Film Unit documentary was directed and produced by both Harry... Continue Reading →
January 8, 1838 One of the first railroads to be built in New York -- and the entire northeastern United States, for that matter -- first went into service. The Auburn and Syracuse Railroad (A&S) was constructed to provide easy access for the village (present-day city) of Auburn and the factories in that area to the... Continue Reading →
January 2, 1935 The Chicago and North Western (C&NW) Railway formally inaugurated its 400 passenger train service between Chicago, Illinois, and Saint Paul, Minnesota, with a final stop in Minneapolis. This train, which would later be renamed “The Twin Cities 400,” was called “400” in part as an homage to “The Four Hundred Club.” (This phrase... Continue Reading →
November 13, 2017 A newly completed train station in the San Francisco Bay Area’s city of Fairfield was opened. This station provides access for residents of both Fairfield and the neighboring city of Vacaville to Amtrak California’s Capitol Corridor rail line. The facility -- originally called Fairfield-Vacaville station -- is also a transfer hub for... Continue Reading →
July 22, 1893 Here’s proof that transportation not only gets you from point A to point B but can also be inspirational. . . It was on this date that 33-year-old Katharine Lee Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, found herself taking in a majestic view from atop the Colorado-based mountain Pikes... Continue Reading →
July 9, 1923 The Logan Valley Bus Company (LVBC) began operations in the vicinity of Altoona, Pennsylvania, in the south-central region of the Keystone State. (A portion of this area has long been known as Logan Valley.) The LVBC was formed the previous week as a subsidiary of the Altoona & Logan Valley (A&LV) Electric... Continue Reading →
July 8, 2007 The Badger State Trail in south-central Wisconsin was officially opened. This 40-mile (64-kilometer) trail courses from the state boundary with Illinois to Wisconsin’s capital city of Madison. In between those two points, the Badger State Trail passes through – from south to north – the city of Monroe; the villages of Monticello... Continue Reading →
January 23, 2006 A newly built ground-level train station in the Illinois village of Elburn, which is more than 40 miles (64.4 kilometers) west of Chicago, was formally opened to the public. Elburn station is the western endpoint of the Union Pacific West Line (UP-W) of the Chicago-area commuter rail system known as Metra. This... Continue Reading →
December 21, 2022 In southeastern Florida’s Palm Beach County, a rail station in the city of Boca Raton first went into regular service. Boca Raton station is part of Brightline, a rail route that runs between Miami and Orlando in the Sunshine State. Brightline, which was formally launched in 2018, is the only privately owned... Continue Reading →
September 21, 1856 The Illinois Central Railroad (IC) became the world’s longest railroad up to that time with the official completion of 705 miles (1,134.6 kilometers) of tracks. The southernmost point for that railroad was the city of Cairo. The IC line coursed north from that city, which is at the southern tip of Illinois, to... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 