Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
September 18, 1899 The Gyeongin Line, the first railway built on the Korean peninsula, was opened after two-and-a-half years of construction. The initial segment of the line, covering approximately 21 miles (33.8 kilometers) in what is now the northwestern region of South Korea, linked the capital city of Seoul with the port city of Jemulpo (present-day... Continue Reading →
September 13, 1940 In a major consolidation of railroads in the south-central United States, the relatively new Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad (GM&O) assumed control of the bankrupt Mobile & Ohio Railroad (M&O) through a deed that was signed and filed in Murphysboro, Illinois. This action marked the end of the M&O, a railroad that dated... Continue Reading →
September 3, 1930 Nearly eight decades after first coming into existence, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (DL&W) Railroad – covering about 400 miles (643.7 kilometers) between Hoboken, New Jersey, and Buffalo, New York – introduced electric suburban trains along its line. These trains were inaugurated for use within New Jersey between Hoboken and the communities... Continue Reading →
August 6, 1889 Railroad promoter and builder George Laidlaw died at the age of 61 near the community of Coboconk in the south-central region of Ontario, Canada. Laidlaw, who was born in the Highlands of Scotland in 1828, had an irrepressibly adventurous approach to life. This was in large part the driving force for him to... Continue Reading →
July 31, 1865 In the northeastern section of Australia, the inaugural train run of the world’s first narrow-gauge mainline railway occurred on a Monday morning in the colony (present-day state) of Queensland. A large number of people gathered to witness the record-setting railway’s formal debut, which took place on what the Queensland Times called a... Continue Reading →
July 16, 1902 In what is now the state of Kerala in southwestern India, the newly built Cochin Railway (commonly known today as the Shoranur Junction-Cochin Harbour Terminus section) was opened to passenger traffic. This took place more than six weeks after the railway was opened to freight traffic. At the time, this part of... Continue Reading →
July 10, 1904 The final section of the Albula Railway in Switzerland’s easternmost and largest canton (member state) of Graubünden made its formal debut. This 1.9-mile (3-kilometer)-long segment links the municipality of Celerina with the village and internationally renowned spa resort of St. Moritz, and it began operations a year after the opening of the... Continue Reading →
July 3, 2014 A new transportation record for India was set when a WAP-5 electric locomotive hauled a passenger train from the urban district and nation’s capital city of New Delhi to the city of Agra within 90 minutes and at a speed of 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour. (The distance between those locations... Continue Reading →
June 25, 1954 In southeastern Australia, the final section of the Walhalla railway line in the Gippsland region of the state of Victoria was closed. This shutdown took place just over 44 years after the Walhalla railway -- one of a few narrow gauge lines of the Victorian Railways (the operator of most of the... Continue Reading →
June 13, 1867 Construction engineer Gridley Bryant, who built the first commercial railroad in the United States, died at the age of 77 in Scituate, Massachusetts. Bryant was born in the seacoast town in 1789. He demonstrated strong engineering abilities early on in life. Bryant recalled as an adult, "I was generally at the head... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 