Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
November 4, 1862 In eastern India, a newly completed bridge located at the town of Koilwar and spanning the Son River in the present-day state of Bihar was opened to railway traffic. (This bridge made its debut at a time when that region of India was part of the Bengal Presidency, a subdivision of the... Continue Reading →
November 2, 1863 Civil engineer Theodore Judah, whose vision and technical expertise helped bring about one of the most significant railroad accomplishments in American history, died of yellow fever at the age of 37 in New York City. He most likely contracted the viral disease in Panama while he and his wife Anne were en... Continue Reading →
October 27, 1907 A major transportation hub in Washington, D.C., made its debut when the Pittsburgh Express passenger train of the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad pulled into the new facility at 6:56 a.m. The next day’s edition of the Washington Post reported that “4,000 or more prospective passengers and spectators who crowded up... Continue Reading →
September 7, 1985 A five-story structure serving as both a passenger rail station and transportation center was officially dedicated in the city of Santa Ana in Southern California. (Santa Ana is one of the most populous cities in the Greater Los Angeles region and the county seat of Orange County.) Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center... Continue Reading →
September 6, 1871 John A. Poor, whose accomplishments included helping to develop and enrich Maine’s railroad network, died in Portland, Maine, at the age of 63. A lifelong Mainer, Poor had a deep appreciation for the potential of railroads within that state. This appreciation could be traced as far back as 1834, when he first... Continue Reading →
August 15, 1893 Construction was completed on a passenger train station at Ninth and Spruce Streets in Terre Haute, Indiana. Terre Haute Union Station was designed by Cincinnati-based architect Samuel Hannaford. In the course of its 67 years of existence, this three-and-a-half-story building served the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad; the Terre Haute & Indianapolis... Continue Reading →
August 1, 1896 In the northeastern part of the present-day Republic of Ireland, a railway station was opened in the town and townland (division) of Ardee in County Louth. At that time, the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were merged together as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; this sovereign state remained... Continue Reading →
July 27, 1888 In Argentina’s province of Buenos Aires, a 32.9-mile (53-kilometer) extension of the horse-drawn Buenos Aires Central Railway between the cities of Pilar and Zárate was completed. This took place less than four months after the opening of the railway line’s first segment. That initial segment of 29.2 miles (47 kilometers) was built... Continue Reading →
July 14, 1990 In California, the Blue Line of Los Angeles County’s transit system began making regular runs. This line (renamed the A Line in 2019) was the first of the six lines that now comprise the Los Angeles Metro Rail. “After nearly three decades, commuter rail returns to Los Angeles today with the opening... Continue Reading →
June 29, 2012 In western Switzerland’s canton (member state) of Vaud, a railway station was formally inaugurated in the municipality of Prilly. (This municipality is a western suburb of Lausanne, the capital of Vaud, and located near that city’s district of Malley.) It took three-and-a-half years for Switzerland’s national railway company Swiss Federal Railways (also... Continue Reading →
