Railroad Events Timeline
by Terry Cox
Date | Event |
---|---|
Feb 22, 1804 | First steam tramway (road, as opposed to railroad) locomotive in Wales. |
1814 | George Stephenson built first steam railway locomotive (Blucher) for Stockton & Darlington Railway. |
1815 | First North American railroad charter for Camden & Amboy. |
Mar 8, 1817 | New York Stock & Exchange Board organized. |
1819 | Panic of 1819, often blamed on the Second Bank of the United States tightening credit, but probably the result of long-declining agricultural prices. |
Oct 7, 1826 | First horse-powered railroad (3 miles long) completed in United States at Quincy, MA granite quarry. |
Feb 28, 1827 | First railroad, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, chartered in the United States. |
May, 1827 | Mauch Chunk (9 miles long) gravity railroad built near Carbondale, PA. |
Dec 22, 1828 | Baltimore & Ohio completes first section of horse-drawn rail service. |
Aug 8, 1829 | Delaware & Hudson Canal Co runs first steam-powered locomotive “Stourbridge Lion” near Carbondale, Pennsylvania. |
Aug 28, 1830 | Peter Cooper operates “Tom Thumb” – the first locomotive manufactured in the United Stares – on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. |
1830 | John Stevens invents T-Rail. |
Nov 14, 1832 | John Mason starts first horse-drawn streetcar service along Bowery Street in New York. |
1835 | Samuel Morse uses earlier technology (Joseph Henry, 1830) to create telegraph. |
1836 | First railroad in Canada opens – Champlain & St Lawrence. |
May 10, 1837 | Banks in New York City stopped payment in gold and silver, precipitating the Panic of 1837. Six-year depression follows. |
1837 | First railroad in Cuba (Havana to Guines.) |
1842 | Brokers begin trading stocks too small for listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Since they had no offices, and merely traded on Broad Street, they became known as “Curbstone Brokers” and “New York Curb Market.” This outdoors arrangement lasted until 1921. |
Mar 24, 1844 | First message transmitted over telegraph line completed between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. |
Apr 13, 1846 | Pennsylvania Railroad chartered. |
1846 | British government adopts “standard gauge” of 4′ 8-1/2″, the same as the Stockton & Darlington road. |
Sep 16, 1850 | First railway in Mexico opens – 11 km between Veracruz and Molino. |
Sep 20, 1850 | President Millard Fillmore signs Land Grant Act. |
1851 | Trains dispatched by telegraph. |
Feb 20, 1852 | First rail connection between East Coast and Chicago. |
Jan 28, 1855 | Panama Railroad completed across Isthmus of Panama. |
Apr 21, 1856 | Chicago Rock Island & Pacific train crosses first railroad bridge across Mississippi River between Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa. |
Sep 21, 1856 | Illinois Central Railroad completed between Chicago and Cairo, IL. |
Aug 24, 1857 | New York branch of Ohio Life Insurance & Trust Co fails, precipitating the Panic of 1857. |
Oct 14, 1857 | Run on bank deposits forced suspension of withdrawals on Wall Street banks. Numerous bank failures. |
1857 | St Louis connected by rail to East Coast. |
Oct, 1861 | Overland Telegraph and Pacific Telegraph complete transcontinental system and quickly merge into Western Union. |
Jul 1, 1862 | Congress passes Pacific Railway act, authorizing construction of Transcontinental railroad. Act creates Union Pacific Railroad Company. |
Jan 10, 1863 | First subway opens in London. |
Jan 29, 1863 | New York Stock & Exchange Board changes name to New York Stock Exchange. |
1864 | George Pullman invents Pullman sleeping car. |
Dec 25, 1865 | Giant Union stockyards open in Chicago. |
1865 | Smelters in Chicago mill first steel rails. |
Dec 7, 1867 | Charles T Harvey successfully demonstrates first cable-pulled elevated railway in New York. |
Jan 16, 1868 | William Davis patents refrigerator car. |
Apr 20, 1868 | New York legislature gives full control of Erie (first Gould railroad) to Jay Gould and James Fisk; Commodore Vanderbilt defeated. |
Jul 1, 1868 | West Side Elevated opened between Cortlandt Street and Battery Place in New York. |
Feb 1, 1869 | New York Stock Exchange requires shares of all listed companies to be officially registered. |
Apr, 1869 | George Westinghouse patents automatic air brake. |
May 10, 1869 | Union Pacific and Central Pacific drive “Golden Spike” at Promontory Point, Itah, completing the transcontinental railroad. |
Sep 24, 1869 | Jay Gould and James Fisk precipitate “Black Friday” gold market crash after driving gold to 162. |
1869 | In response to Gould’s and Fisk’s market manipulations, the New York Stock Exchange outlaws “stock-watering” (issuuing shares in secret.) |
Jan 17, 1871 | Andrew Smith Hallidie patents first cable car. |
Apr 20, 1871 | First steam-powered elevated railway operation in New York City. |
Jan 6, 1872 | Edward Stokes murders James Fisk in Grand Central Hotel, New York. |
Mar 15, 1872 | Jay Gould resigns from board of Erie. |
Sep 4, 1872 | New York Sun begins exposing Credit Mobilier financing which culminates in huge railroad financing scandal. |
1872 | Canadian railroads converted lines to standard gauge of 4′ 8-1/2″. |
1872 | Vanderbilt interests acquire sufficient Union Pacific stock to install Horace Clark as president. |
Jun, 1873 | Jay Gould acquires first Union Pacific shares upon death of Horace Clark. |
Aug 1, 1873 | First cable car opens for operation in San Francisco. |
Sep 18, 1873 | Jay Cooke & Co brokerage fails because of problems financing the Northern Pacific. Failure of Cooke and 37 additional brokerages and banks precipitates the Panic of 1873. New York Stock Exchange closed for 10 days. Five-year depression follows. |
1873 | Eli H. Janney patents knuckle coupler. |
Mar, 1874 | Jay Gould elected to Union Pacific board of directors. |
Jul 4, 1874 | Eads steel arch bridge at St Louis opens across the Mississippi. |
Jul 14, 1877 | Railroads decrease pay because of depression. Strikes, labor unrest, and violence follows. Labor unions increase in power. |
Jan, 1880 | Jay Gould acquires Missouri Kansas & Texas stock and becomes president. |
Mar 21, 1882 | Chicago Stock Exchange organized. |
Aug 8, 1883 | Southern Pacific and Atlantic & Pacific complete line from New Orleans to Pacific Coast at Needles, CA. |
Sep 8, 1883 | Northern Pacific Railroad drives last spike. |
Nov 18, 1883 | U.S. and Canadian railroads adopt four standard time zones. |
Jul 3, 1884 | Charles Dow creates stock average (precursor to Dow Jones Industrial Average) whic includes nine railroad issues: Chicago Milwaukee & St Paul, Chicago & North Western, Delaware Lackawanna & Western, Lake Shore, Louisville & Nashville, Missouri Pacific, New York Central, Northern Pacific (preferred), and Union Pacific. |
Feb 16, 1885 | Charles Dow modifies “Dow Dozen” to include twelve railroads and two industries. New railroads include Central Pacific, Central RR of New Jersey, and Delaware & Hudson. |
Jan 2, 1886 | Two companies removed from Dow Average; constituents include Chicago Milwaukee & St Paul, Chicago & North Western, Delaware & Hudson, Delaware Lackawanna & Western, Lake Shore, Louisville & Nashville, Missouri Pacific, New York Central, Northern Pacific (preferred), and Union Pacific. |
May, 1886 | Standard gauge of 4′-8-1/2″ adopted by the Southern railroads. |
Feb 4, 1887 | Interstate Commerce Act become law. Intended to insure reasonable rates, prevent pooling, and stop two-tiered pricing. |
Sep 29, 1890 | Congress passes law to require railroads to forfeit unused land grants. |
Apr 19, 1892 | Charles and Frank Duryea perfect first automobile. |
Jan 6, 1893 | Great Northern Railway drives last spike at Scenic, Washington. |
Feb, 1892 | Philadelphia & Reading Railroad fails with $125,000,000 debt, leading to collapse of stocks on New York market. |
Jun 27, 1893 | New York stock market collapses, resulting in 4-year depression. |
Apr 9, 1894 | Dow average modified; constituents include Chicago Burlington & Quincy, Chicago Milwaukee & St Paul, Chicago & North Western, Chicago Rock Island & Pacific, Delaware & Hudson, Delaware Lackawanna & Western, Louisville & Nashville, Missouri Pacific, Northern Pacific (preferred), and Union Pacific. |
May 11, 1894 | Pullman Palace Car Co slashes wages and causes workers to strike. |
Jul 2, 1894 | U.S. government issues injunction against striking Pullman Palace Car Co. workers. |
Jul 3, 1894 | President Cleveland sends U.S. troops to Chicago to enfore injunction. Two men are killed on July 6. Troops are withdrawn on July 20. |
Jan 14, 1895 | Trolley employees strike in New York. Riots follow, eventually stopped by New York and Brooklyn militia. |
May 26, 1896 | Charles Dow creates Dow Jones Industrial Average. All roads moved to Dow Jones Railroad Average. |
May 26, 1896 | Dow creates Industrial Index and moves railroad stocks to Dow Jones Railroad Index. |
Sep 1, 1897 | First electrified U.S. subway opens in Boston. |
May 9, 1901 | James Hill and J.P. Morgan fight with Edward Harriman and Kuhn Loeb over control of Great Northern and Northern Pacific. Stock hits $1000/share, causing panic and collapse in other stocks. |
Nov 13, 1901 | Northern Securities Co formed to control Great Northern and Northern Pacific. Near-monopoly in northern shipping follows, eventually resulting in major trust company. |
Mar 10, 1902 | Attorney General begins prosecution against Northern Securities Company for violating the Sherman Anti-Trust law. |
Feb 19, 1903 | Congress passes Elkins Act, outlawing all rebates on published railroad freight rates. |
Mar 14, 1904 | Supreme Court rules against Northern Securities Co. for violating the Sherman Anti-Trust law. |
Oct 27, 1904 | First New York subway opens. |
May 21, 1906 | Congress passes Hepburn Act, allowing the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate railroad, pipeline, and terminal rates. |
Jun 18, 1910 | Congress passes Mann-Elkins Act allowing the Interstate Commerce Commission to begin proceedings against railroads, pipelines, terminals, telegraph, and telephone companies in violation of rate regulations. |
Jul 31, 1914 | Chicago Stock Exchange closes through December 11 upon declaration of war. |
Jul 31, 1914 | New York Stock Exchange closes through November 27 upon declaration of war. |
Aug 29, 1916 | Congress passes Army Appropriations Act which includes clause allowing the President to take control of any system of transportation during times of war. |
Aug 10, 1917 | Congress passes Priority Law authorizing President to make carriers give precidence to military defense traffic. |
Dec 28, 1917 | President Woodrow Wilson uses Federal Possession and Control Act to take possession of “each and every system of transportation…within the boundaries of the United States.” U.S. Railroad Administration created. |
Mar 19, 1918 | United States adopts five standard time zones across the nation and Alaska. |
Mar 21, 1918 | Congress passes Railway Control Act to officially control U.S. railway system during World War I. |
Feb 28, 1920 | Congress passes Esch-Cummins Act, creating the Railroad Labor Board. |
Mar 1, 1920 | Government returns control of all railroads. |
Apr 26, 1920 | Stock Clearing Corporation established. |
1921 | “Curbstone Brokers” (“New York Curb Market”) moves indoors. |
Oct 4, 1922 | Canada creates Canadian National Railway and nationalized system. |
Dec, 1923 | First diesel locomotive demonstrated. |
1925 | Diesel locomotives start production. |
Oct 24, 1929 | Stock prices collapse on New York Stock Exchange. This day becomes known as “Black Thursday.” Forerunner of Great Depression. |
1929 | “Curbstone Brokers” (“New York Curb Market”) renames itself the New York Curb Exchange. |
Sep 3, 1930 | Thomas Edison runs first experimental electric passenger train between Hoboken and Montclair, NJ. |
Mar 6, 1933 | President Roosevelt orders “Bank Holiday” from Mar 6 to Mar 9 (Executive Proclamation 2039). Banks and stock exchanges close. |
Mar 9, 1933 | President Roosevelt extends “Bank Holiday” indefinitely. (Executive Proclamation 2039.) |
Mar 10, 1933 | President Roosevelt orders banks reopened (Executive Order 6073.) |
Apr 5, 1933 | President Roosevelt orders confiscation of gold coins, gold certificates, and bullion (Executive Order 6102.) |
Apr 19, 1933 | President Roosevelt takes U.S. off gold standard. |
May 27, 1933 | Congress passes Federal Securities Act requiring full disclosure about stocks offered to the public. |
Jun 5, 1933 | Congress nullifies all U.S. contracts that promise to repay interest or principal in gold. (H.J. Res. 192, 73rd Congress, 1st Session. ‘Joint Resolution to Suspend the Gold Standard and Abrogate the Gold Clause’.) |
Jun 6, 1934 | President Roosevelt signs Securities Exchange Act establishing the Commission to regulate exchanges and stock transactions. |
Jun 7, 1934 | Congress passes Corporate Bankruptcy Act allowing corporate reorganization with support of two-thirds of creditors. |
June, 1937 | Mexico nationalizes railroads. |
1937 | Streamlined diesel locomotives appear. |
Dec 27, 1943 | President Roosevelt orders (Executive Order 9412) Federal takeover of railroads to prevent shutdown by labor. Army controls railroads until Jan 18, 1944 |
Jan 18, 1944 | Army returns control of railroads to private ownership. |
May 17, 1946 | President Truman (Executive Order 9727) authorizes Federal control of railroads to prevent collapse of transportation system during strike. Strike ends May 25. |
May 10, 1948 | President Truman (Executive Order 9957) authorizes Army to operate railroads. |
Jul 9, 1948 | Army terminates operation of railroads allowed on May 10. |
Jun 5, 1950 | United States Supreme Court decides that segregation in railroad dining is illegal (Henderson v United States.) |
Aug 26, 1950 | President Truman orders Army to operate railroads to prevent strike from crippling transportation. (Executive Order 10155.) |
May 23, 1952 | Army returns railroads to private control. |
1953 | New York Curb Exchange renames itself the American Stock Exchange. |
Apr 25, 1963 | President Kennedy authorizes Department of Interiorr to operate Alaska railroads (Executive Order 11107.) |
1970 | Dow Jones adds air lines to Railroad Index of 20 stocks. Renames average to Transportation Average. |
Oct 14, 1980 | President Jimmy Carter signs Staggers Rail Act, deregulating railroads and leading to divestiture of thousands of miles of unprofitable lines. |