Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
July 10, 1908 The Thamshavn Line, Norway’s first electric railway, made its debut. The initial segment of this trailblazing line was formally opened by Norway’s King Haakon VII (1872-1957). This railway was built to carry ore from the mines at the village of Løkken Verk in central Norway to the ports of Orkanger and Thamshavn... 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 1, 2002 On Japan’s island of Shikoku, a passenger railway station was opened in the town of Kagami in Kōchi Prefecture. (In 2006, Kagami became part of the newly formed city of Kōnan; however, the name of the station has remained the same.) Kagami Station is located on the 26.5-mile (42.7-kilometer)-long Asa Line of... Continue Reading →
June 25, 1982 In Switzerland, the Furka Base Tunnel connecting the village of Oberwald with the municipality of Realp was opened. At the time, this structure was the world’s longest narrow-gauge tunnel. This 9.6-mile (15.4-kilometer)-long rail tunnel, which took nine years to build in the face of formidable engineering challenges, has made it possible for the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn... Continue Reading →
June 21, 1954 NBC Radio presented the final broadcast of The Railroad Hour. This program, which had been on the air for 16 years, was sponsored by the American Association of Railroads (AAR). The program had a music-and-drama format, and Jeannette MacDonald (1903-1965) and Adolphe Menjou (1893-1963) were among the performers who graced those broadcasts.... Continue Reading →
June 12, 2004 In the western region of the Federal Republic of Germany, a train station at Cologne Bonn Airport made its formal debut. Cologne/Bonn Airport station was officially opened by Gerard Schröder, who served as chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. Construction on this four-track underground station had started on January 29, 2002.... Continue Reading →
June 10, 2007 The first section of the LGV Est-Européenne (LGV Est) was opened for commercial service the day after that high-speed rail line made its inaugural voyage. An extension of the French high-speed rail network, this line has significantly cut travel times between Paris and major cities in eastern France. The LGV Est has similarly reduced... Continue Reading →
Lori M.K. Kahikina is the head of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART), a semi-autonomous agency that serves the City and County of Honolulu on Hawaii’s island of Oahu. She was named HART’s Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer in 2021 and is responsible for the design and construction of the Honolulu Rail Transit... Continue Reading →
May 23, 2009 In New York City’s borough of the Bronx, daily operations began for a station of the suburban commuter transit system Metro-North Railroad. This new stop was the Yankees- East 153rd Street station on Metro-North Railroad’s Hudson Line. The station was constructed to serve both Yankee Stadium and the Bronx’s Concourse neighborhood. It... Continue Reading →
May 6, 1993 An automated people mover was officially opened to the public at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. In an article appearing in that day’s edition of the Chicago Sun-Times, reporter Scott Fornek described this new transit system for one of the biggest and busiest airports in the United States. “Picture yourself riding in something... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 