- Timeline of United States railway history
The Timeline of United States railway history is as follows:
*1810s-1830s: Various inventors and entrepreneurs make suggestions about building model railways in the United States; In 1825
John Stevens (inventor) builds a test track and runs a locomotive around it inHoboken, New Jersey .
*1820s and 1830s: The Baltimore and Ohio is incorporated in 1827 and officially opens in 1830. Other railroads soon follow, including theCamden and Amboy by 1832.
*1830s-1860s: Enormous railway building booms in the United States of America. Railroads replacecanal s as a primary mode of transportation.
*1853Indianapolis ' Union Station, the first "union station " in the world, opened by the Terre Haute & Richmond, Madison & Indianapolis, and Bellefontaine railroads.
*1865:George Pullman becomes well-known for luxury sleeping cars, calledPullman car s in his honor, after he loans one of his cars to house the coffin ofAbraham Lincoln after Lincoln'sassassination .
*1869:Union Pacific andCentral Pacific complete firsttranscontinental railway link atPromontory Summit .
*1869:George Westinghouse establishes air brake company.
*1870s and 1880s: Strikes break out against railroads and thePullman Palace Car Company . Corporations hire Pinkerton guards to break up the strikes. Nonetheless, much violence occurs in the strikes. Many are shot dead, buildings and rolling stock are burned, and reports of rioting shocks middle-class Americans.
*1887: TheInterstate Commerce Commission (ICC) is created to regulate railroads, to ensure fair prices.
*1891:Webb C. Ball establishes first Railway Watch official guidelines forRailroad chronometers .
*1901: Eight locomotive manufacturing companies are combined in a merger to form theAmerican Locomotive Company (ALCO).
*1902: "Twentieth Century Limited " inaugurated by theNew York Central railroad.
*1910s:Pennsylvania Railroad builds Pennsylvania Station inNew York City ;New York Central Railroad builds current version ofGrand Central Terminal .
*1916: US railway reaches peak length.
*1920s and 1930s:Automobile s and airplanes contribute to a decline in ridership and mileage, as well as theGreat Depression .
*1934: Burlington railroad's "Pioneer Zephyr" completes its inaugural run fromDenver, Colorado toChicago, Illinois , first diesel-powered streamliner in America.
*May 12 1936 : The Santa Fe railroad inaugurates the all-Pullman "Super Chief " betweenChicago, Illinois , andLos Angeles, California .
*1940s:World War II brings railroads the highestridership in American history, as soldiers are being sent to fight overseas in the Pacific Theater and theEuropean Theater . However, automobile travel causes ridership to decline after the war ends.
*March 20 1949 : TheChicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad ,Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad andWestern Pacific Railroad jointly launch the "California Zephyr " betweenChicago, Illinois , andSan Francisco, California , as the firstpassenger train to include Vista Dome cars in regular service.
*1950s and 1960s: Drastic decline in railroad travel in the United States of America, due to automobiles,truck s, and airplanes, as firstjetliners take to the air. Railroads respond throughmerger s and attempts to shut down trains and railroad lines. However, the ICC refuses to let railroads shut down many trains.
*December 1 1959 : ICC approvedVirginian Railway merger intoNorfolk & Western begins modern-day period of railroad mergers and consolidations
*December 3 1967 : TheNew York Central 's "Twentieth Century Limited " makes last run.
*1968:Pennsylvania Railroad andNew York Central merge to formPenn Central .
*June 21 ,1970 :Penn Central declares Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
*1971: PresidentRichard Nixon and theUnited States Congress createAmtrak and eliminate several passenger routes.
*March 22 1970 : The CB&Q, D&RGW and WP railroads' "California Zephyr " on its last run, arrives in Oakland, CA fromChicago, Illinois ; however the train name will soon be resurrected byAmtrak on a train travelling almost the same route as the original
*1970s:Conrail , a freight railroad, founded from the remains of the bankruptPenn Central and a number of other bankrupt railroads in the Northeastern US.
*1970s and 1980s:Amtrak introducesdouble-deck Superliner rolling stock.Auto-Train Corporation begins running as independent line (1971), but fails in 1981; In 1983, Amtrak revives service and runs slightly renamedAuto Train as one of its more-heavily-promoted lines.
* 1980 Railroads deregulated; ICC abolished.
*September 15 1981 : The John Bull becomes the oldest operablesteam locomotive in the world when it runs under its own power outsideWashington, DC .
* 1981:Union Pacific 3985 is restored to operating condition, making it the largest operablesteam locomotive in the world.
*January 1 1986 : TheMilwaukee Road is merged into theSoo Line railroad in the largest railroad bankruptcy proceedings to date in America
*1990s: Amtrak funding comes under heavier scrutiny by Congress, while Amtrak creates new trains such as theTalgo and theAcela Express .
*September 11 2001 : Terrorists destroyWorld Trade Center and destroy part of the PATH system in the process. Full PATH service resumedNovember 23 2003 .ee also
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History of rail transport
*History of rail transport by country
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*Timeline of railway history
*Timeline of transportation technology
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