1991 Event Congress ends railroad worker 1 day strike 1991 Event Railroad workers go on strike in U.S. 1989 Death Maurits Kok, Dutch writer/poet (Railroad Strike), dies at 81 1988 Death George Alpert, railroad executive, dies at 90 1986 Event Chunnel announced (railroad tunnel under Canal) 1982 Event National railroad strike in Belgium 1979 Event 22.2-km Oshimizu railroad tunnel holed through, central Honshu, Japan 1971 Event Amtrak Railroad begins operation 1968 Event Pennsylvania Railroad/New York City Central merge into Penn Central 1967 Death Edward Hopper, U.S. painter (House by Railroad), dies at 84 1955 Event Great Britain proclaims emergency crisis due to railroad strike 1954 Event 1st fully automated railroad freight yard (Gary, Indiana) 1948 Birthday Don Brewer, born in Flint, Michigan, musician, drummer, performed with Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band, Silver Bullet Band and rock band Grand Funk Railroad 1948 Birthday Donald Brewer, born in Flint, Michigan, rock drummer, Grand Funk Railroad 1944 Event Dutch begin railroad strike against German occupiers 1944 Event Paris railroad workers strike against nazi occupiers 1944 Event U.S. 9th AF bombs railroad at Chaulnes Sable-sur-Sarthe/Dreux 1943 Event Burma railroad completed and opens 1941 Event Roy Harris' "Ballad of a Railroad Man," premieres 1932 Event Independent City Owned Rapid Transit Railroad (IND) opens in New York City 1931 Event 1st air-conditioned train installed-B&O Railroad 1928 Event Railroad museum opens in Utrecht, Netherlands 1924 Event Railroad worker strike ends in Amsterdam 1923 Event Belgium's Theunis government falls because of mine, post and railroad strike 1923 Event Mine strike at Belgian Borinage railroad 1923 Event Allies occupy Ruhrgebied: killing railroad striker 1917 Event U.S. Supreme Court upheld 8-hour work day for railroad employees 1907 Event 1st all-steel passengar railroad coach completed, Altoona, Pa 1905 Event Penns Railroad debuts fastest train in world, New York - Chicago in 18 hours 1903 Event Queen Wilhelmina calls railroad strikers "criminals" 1903 Event General railroad strike against "worgwetten" (anti-strike laws) 1903 Event Dutch railroad workers strike 1900 Event World's longest railroad tunnel (Simplon) links Italy and Switzerland, opens 1899 Event Sutro railroad sold to Robert F Morrow for $215,000 1898 Birthday George Alpert, railroad executive 1897 Event Andrew J Beard invents "jerry coupler," to connect railroad cars 1893 Event 1st federal railroad legislation passed; required safety features 1889 Birthday Asa Philip Randolph, labor leader, Railroad Porter's Union 1884 Event 6.2 mile Arlberg railroad tunnel completed in Austria 1882 Birthday Edward Hopper, U.S. painter, House by the Railroad 1879 Event 1st railroad opens in Hawaii 1877 Event 1st U.S. municipal railroad, Cincinnati Southern, begins operations 1877 Event U.S. Army breaks railroad strike 1877 Event Military shoots on stopped railroad workers in Balt, kills 9 1877 Event General strike brings U.S. railroad to a stand still 1877 Event U.S. railroad builders strike against wage reduction 1876 Event California Street Cable Car Railroad Co gets its franchise 1873 Event Panic sweeps New York Stock Exchange (railroad bond default/bank failure) New York shut banks for 10 days due to a bank scandal 1873 Event Construction begins on Clay St. (SF) for world's 1st cable railroad 1867 Event Refrigerated railroad car patented by J. B. Sutherland 1867 Event 1st U.S. elevated railroad begins service, New York City 1864 Event Battle of Boydton Plank Road, Virginia (Burgess' Mill, Southside Railroad) 1864 Event Petersburg Campaign-Battle of Weldon Railroad day 1 of 3 days 1864 Event Battle of Trevillian Station, Virginia, Central Railroad 1864 Event Battle of Trevillian Station, Virginia, Central Railroad 1863 Event Submarine "HL Hunley" arrives in Charleston on railroad cars 1863 Event Congress authorizes track width of 4'8" for Union Pacific Railroad 1862 Event U.S. begins construction of Central Pacific Railroad 1860 Event 1st railroad reaches Kansas 1860 Event Workmen start laying track for Market Street Railroad, San Francisco 1853 Event Completion of Grand Trunk Line, trains begin running over 1st North American railroad between Portland, Maine and Montreal 1853 Event Harriet Tubman starts Underground Railroad 1853 Event Harriet Tubman began her Underground Railroad, helping slaves escape 1853 Event Transcontinental railroad survey is authorized by Congress 1850 Birthday Henry Edwards Huntington, U.S., railroad executive 1849 Event 1st passenger train service to Peekskill New York (New Haven Railroad) 1848 Event New Haven Railroad opens 1840 Event Housatonic Railroad opens 1839 Event 1st railroad in Netherland opens (Amsterdam-Haarlem) 1838 Event Ephraim Morris patents railroad brake 1838 Birthday James J Hill, Canada, RR entrepreneur, Great Northern Railroad 1836 Birthday Jay Gould, U.S. railroad executive, financier 1834 Event 1st railroad tunnel in U.S. completed, in Pennsylvania (275 m long) 1832 Event 1st railroad accident in U.S., Granite Railway, Quincy, Mass-1 dies 1831 Event 1st U.S. railroad honeymoon trip, Mr. and Mrs. Pierson, Charleston, SC 1830 Event 1st to be run-over by a railroad train (William Huskisson, England) 1830 Event 1st railroad timetable published in newspaper (Baltimore American) 1830 Event 1st U.S. Railroad Station opens (Baltimore) 1829 Event 1st stone arch railroad bridge in U.S. dedicated, Baltimore 1827 Event 1st commercial railroad in U.S., Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) chartered 1826 Event 1st U.S. Railroad chartered, Granite Railway in Quincy, Massachsetts 1825 Event 1st public railroad using steam locomotive completed in England 1825 Event Railroad transportation is born with 1st track (Stockton-Darlington) 1822 Birthday Charles S Crocker, President of Central and South Pacific Railroad 1821 Birthday William Sill, with The Underground Railroad 1815 Event New Jersey issues 1st U.S. railroad charter (John Stevens) 1809 Event 1st practical U.S. railroad track (wooden, for horse-drawn cars), Philadelphia 1794 Birthday Cornelius Vanderbilt, millionaire, B and O railroad
