Wason Manufacturing Company

The Wason Manufacturing Company was a maker of railway passenger coaches and streetcars during the 19th and early 20th century. The company was founded in 1845 in Springfield, Massachusetts by Charles Wason (1816-1888) and Thomas Wason (1811-1870). Although the concept would later be popularized by the Pullman Company, Wason was the first to manufacture sleeping cars in America.

Wason's earliest clients included the Michigan Southern Railroad (1846–1855), Alton Railroad, Central Railroad of New Jersey, and Boston and Maine Railroad, as well as foreign operators such as the State Railway of Chile, and Egyptian National Railways, providing the latter with 161 cars as well as an ornate state carriage for Sa'id of Egypt, the viceroy at that time. By 1867 the company had about 300 employees. The company made the first passenger coaches used on the Transcontinental railroad. One of these became the personal rail car of Leland Stanford, President of the Central Pacific Railroad. By 1868 the company had consolidated with the Springfield Machine Company, keeping the name Wason Manufacturing.
Around 1900 Wason concentrated on manufacturing streetcars and electrified railway cars. Clients included the Holyoke Street Railway Company and Manhattan Railway Company. The company became a subsidiary of J. G. Brill and Company in 1906. It continued to manufacture both streetcars and conventional railroad cars until 1932, when the Great Depression forced Brill to close the plant.
One of the only surviving examples of a Wason coach can be found at the California State Railroad Museum's Railtown facility in Jamestown, California, located in the Sierra foothills. Wason streetcars on display at museums include 13 streetcars, interurban cars, and rapid transit cars at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME; an 1896 model at the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum (Mass.) and a 1901 model at the Connecticut Trolley Museum.


Baltimore Metro SubwayLink

The Metro SubwayLink, known locally as the Metro Subway, The Subway, or the Baltimore Metro, is a rapid transit line serving the greater area of Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States, and is operated by the Maryland Transit Administration. Less than half of the line is underground, and most of the line outside the central city is elevated or at surface grade.
History.
The origins of the Metro Subway lie in the Baltimore Area Mass Transportation Plan, published in 1965, which envisioned six rapid transit lines radiating out from a central city loop. Planning studies from 1968 proposed a rail transit system long.
As the vision was translated into reality, the original concept was trimmed to a system in the Phase 1 plan, published in 1971. This plan involved two of the original six lines: a northwest line from Downtown Baltimore to Owings Mills and a south line to Glen Burnie and the airport. Phase 1 was approved for funding by the Maryland General Assembly in 1972. In response to crime concerns of Anne Arundel County residents, the MTA eliminated the south line from Phase 1 plans in 1975.
When the Baltimore Metro Subway opened on November 21, 1983, only the "Northwest" line of the 1965 plan had come to fruition. This segment provided service between Charles Center in Downtown Baltimore and Reisterstown Plaza in the northwest section of the city. On July 20, 1987, a addition extended the line from Reisterstown Road Plaza to Owings Mills in Baltimore County, much of it running in the median of I-795. A further extension of from Charles Center to Johns Hopkins Hospital was opened on 31 May 1995 .
Once the project was completed in 1995, the total cost for the Metro Subway was $1.392 billion.
The current system is long, consisting of underground, elevated, and at grade level (with roadways separated). Eight of its 14 stations are underground at depths from to below street level. Its elevated stations stand from to above ground.
When the system started operation, it became the largest single user of Susan B. Anthony dollar coins.
On February 11, 2018, the MTA announced a month-long closure of the entire system to complete emergency track repairs identified during a safety inspection. An aboveground portion of the system had already been shut down due to emergency inspections and repairs. The system reopened on March 9, 2018.
Farebox recovery is only 28%. This is comparable to other similarly sized system in the continental United States, although low for international standards.
Route.
The Metro Subway has a single line that is shaped like a reverse "J". Trains head south underground from Johns Hopkins Hospital, turn west as they pass under Baltimore's central business district, then north and ultimately northwest towards Owings Mills. The route leaves its tunnel northwest of Mondawmin station, entering an elevated structure that parallels Wabash Avenue and the Hanover subdivision. These tracks used to be part of the Western Maryland Railroad route. The route eventually leaves the older railroad right of way to enter the I-795 median, which it occupies all the way to the system's Owings Mills terminus.
Trains heading for Johns Hopkins Hospital are referred to as "eastbound" trains, while trains heading towards Owings Mills are said to be "westbound".
Schedules.
A trip from one end of the line to the other takes about half an hour. Headways range from 8 minutes during daytime peak to 11 minutes late at night and on weekends. Trains run from 5 a.m. to midnight on weekdays, 6 a.m. to midnight on weekends.
Fares.
These are the current fare prices for MTA buses, Light Rail, and Metro Subway travel.
Connecting services.
Most Metro Subway stations are served by a number of MTA bus routes. In 1984, just months after Metro first started operating, many feeder routes were created that were given the designation of a letter (M, P, or R) followed by a number. In 1987, many of these routes were renamed, and only the prefix "M" was used. Over the years, the number of M-lines had shrunk, as many of the routes were consolidated. In 2008, routes that were designated with the letter "M" were renamed to plain two-digit designations. Finally, on August 30, 2009, the last four were either renumbered or eliminated, with no routing changes made; they continue to act as feeder routes to the Metro Subway.
There is no direct connection to the Baltimore Light Rail or to MARC. However, the Metro Subway's Lexington Market Station is a walk from the Light Rail stop of the same name and the State Center Station is about 1.5 blocks away from Light Rail's Cultural Center. In addition, MARC Penn Station is about a one-half mile walk from State Center, and MARC Camden Station is about five blocks from Lexington Market.
Stations.
Source:
Performance.
For fiscal year 2010, the MTA reported 95% on-time performance for the system. It averaged 3.0 passenger trips per revenue mile, with a total of 13.4 million passenger trips for the year. Vehicles operated at an average cost of $11.59 per revenue mile. Local buses, in comparison, performed at a cost of $13.57 per revenue mile.
Rolling stock.
The line uses cars manufactured by the Budd Company at their Red Lion plant in Northeast Philadelphia. Most were delivered in 1983 with a supplementary set of essentially identical cars being purchased in 1986 for the line expansion. The cars, marketed by Budd as the Universal Transit Vehicle, are identical to those formerly used on the Miami Metrorail because the two agencies built their systems at the same time and saved money by sharing a single order.
Trains draw power from the electric third rail. The cars are long, wide, and have a top speed of . Cars are semi-permanently attached in married pairs, and 2-, 4- and 6-car trains are all seen on the line. Each car can hold up to 166 passengers (76 seated, 90 standing).
The fleet had a significant overhaul between 2002 and 2005. Seats were reupholstered, and the floors were replaced. External destination rollsigns were replaced with LED displays; internal systems that display train destinations and upcoming stop announcements were also installed.
The MTA currently owns 100 Metro Subway cars.
In July 2017, the MTA announced the purchase of 78 new railcars to replace the entire subway fleet. The cars will be built in Florida by Hitachi Rail Italy, formerly AnsaldoBreda, and will be similar in appearance to those purchased for the Miami Metrorail.


Joseph H. Boardman

Joseph Houston Boardman (December 23, 1948March 7, 2019) was an American transportation executive who served as President and CEO of Amtrak from 2008 to 2016. Boardman was the longest-serving Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) from July 1997 until resigning to head the FRA. Before taking over Amtrak, Boardman had been the Administrator of the United States Federal Railroad Administration. Boardman became the second-longest serving head of Amtrak, after W. Graham Claytor, Jr. in the 1980s. "Railway Age" magazine named Boardman as its 51st "Railroader of the Year" in its January 9, 2014, issue.
Early life and military service.
Boardman was a lifelong resident of New York State, born the second of eight children born and raised on a dairy farm in Oneida County, which two of his siblings currently operate. In 1966, he volunteered for military service in the United States Air Force, serving in South Vietnam from 1968 to 1969. Upon receiving an honorable discharge from the Air Force, he studied Agriculture Economics at Cornell University, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1974, and graduated with a master's degree in Management Science from Binghamton University in 1983.
Career.
Early positions.
Boardman's first jobs in transportation were managing the transit authorities for the cities of Rome and Utica in Upstate New York. In 1981, he became the commissioner of public transportation for Broome County, New York, which includes the city of Binghamton. He left government service in 1988 to start his own transportation management company, called Progressive Transportation Services.
New York Governor George Pataki nominated Boardman in 1997 to serve as commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). Boardman went on to become the longest-serving commissioner in NYSDOT history, remaining in that position from July 1997 through May 2005. During his term as commissioner, he also served a stint as chair of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' (AASHTO) Standing Committee on Rail Transportation (SCORT).
Federal Railroad Administration.
In March 2005, Boardman was nominated by President George W. Bush to become the administrator of the United States Federal Railroad Administration. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 28, 2005, and began working as FRA Administrator on June 1 of that year.
Boardman was the 11th Federal Railroad Administrator. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing all aspects of operations for the nearly eight hundred-person organization. This included managing comprehensive safety programs and regulatory initiatives; enforcement of FRA safety regulations; development and implementation of national freight and passenger rail policy; and oversight of diverse research and development activities in support of improved railroad safety. During this time, he also served as chairman of the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB).
Early years at Amtrak career (2008–2009).
The Amtrak Board of Directors on November 25, 2008, announced that Boardman had been appointed to a one-year term as President and CEO of the railway to replace Alexander Kummant. In January 2010, Amtrak announced that Boardman's appointment had been extended indefinitely.
Amtrak has worked closely with states using stimulus funds to purchase 130 next-generation bi-level cars and 35 next-generation diesel locomotives to upgrade corridor service in the Midwest, California, and Washington State. Other major orders for new equipment are in the works, marking the beginning of a renewal of Amtrak's aging fleet. Using stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Amtrak rescued from the wreck yards more than 90 railcars, rebuilt them, and put them into service. The added capacity allowed Amtrak's passenger totals to grow by record numbers, more than one million year-over-year in 2010, 2011, and 2012, and revenues increased as well.
Boardman led an effort to augment and replace Amtrak's fleet of high-speed Acela Express trains with about 28 new trainsets. The company issued a RfP (request for proposals) in December, 2013. Offers were due by May, 2014, with negotiations likely to continue until the end of the year before a contract could be signed. The new trains would substantially increase capacity on the Northeast Corridor, where Amtrak shows an operating profit. Major new orders of equipment include 70 electric locomotives for the Regionals and the long-distance trains operating over the Northeast Corridor. Another is for 130 Viewliner II diners, crew dorm-baggage cars, sleepers, and baggage cars to replace worn-out "Heritage" equipment (built before Amtrak was formed in 1971) for the Eastern long-distance trains. The first of the ACS-64 electric locomotives entered service on February 7, 2014. The Viewliner II cars should begin entering service later in the year.
Recent Amtrak developments (2013–2016).
In May 2013, Boardman signed to a two-year "renewable" contract. Board Chairman Anthony Coscia said, "We are extremely pleased with the progress Amtrak has made under the leadership of Joe Boardman". Boardman's salary during 2013 was $350,000. At Amtrak, Joe Boardman oversees an organization that carried a record 31.2 million passengers and had $3 billion in revenue while employing more than 20,000 people in fiscal year 2013. Since Boardman’s appointment, Amtrak made progress cutting debt, purchasing new equipment, and improving infrastructure, with cost recovery reaching a new company peak of 93% in 2014. E-ticketing and electronic payment for on-board snacks, meals, and beverages have been put in place, as well as Wi-Fi on most trains. Boardman is perhaps the longest serving high-level Republican appointee under President Barack Obama.
On December 9, 2015, Boardman announced in a letter to employees that he would be leaving Amtrak in September 2016. He had advised the Amtrak Board of Directors of his decision the previous week. Boardman's successor, former Norfolk Southern Railway President & CEO Charles "Wick" Moorman, was named in August 2016 and took over on September 1, 2016. P42DC unit 42 was later named after Boardman.
Personal life and death.
Boardman and his wife, Joanne, had three children. He suffered a stroke while on vacation in Florida on March 5, 2019, and died on March 7.
Awards.
"Railway Age" magazine named Joseph H. Boardman as its 51st "Railroader of the Year" in its January 9, 2014, issue, which featured a column about him and a printed interview with him. A video of the interview can be seen at railwayage.com.
Boardman's name currently adorns the side of AMTK P42DC locomotive #42, a locomotive that is painted in tribute to America's Veterans from America's railroad.


Isaac Hinckley

Isaac Hinckley (1815-1888) was a president of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad and the founder of Ridley Park, Pennsylvania.
Hinckley was born on Oct. 28, 1815, in Hingham, Massachusetts, a son of Isaac Hinckley (1793-1818), who had gone to sea at a young age and rose to command three ships: the brig "Reaper" (1809–10), which he sailed on a trading voyage from Boston to Aden and Calcutta; the ship "Tartar" (1812–13), on another voyage to Calcutta; and finally the ship "Canton" (1815–18) for three voyages from Boston to Guangdong, China. He died while homebound on the third of these. The shipmaster left a widow in Hingham and six children, aged 2 to 11, including three-year-old Isaac.
The younger Isaac Hinckley graduated from Harvard University in 1834. He took his first railroad job in 1846, as Superintendent of Transportation for the Boston and Providence Railroad and worked there until January 1848. He then took other railroad jobs and on April 1, 1865, was appointed president of the PW&B.
He was also president of the Junction Railroad, the short line built to connect the PW&B and three other railroads in West Philadelphia.
In 1880 and 1881, Hinckley helped the PRR take control of the PW&B, a move that ultimately forced the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to build a costly new southwest approach to Philadelphia.
On Dec. 12, 1887, Hinckley chartered Ridley Park, a borough to the southwest of Philadelphia, in an effort to create an analog to the Philadelphia Main Line string of suburbs founded and served, lucratively, by the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Hinckley died in Philadelphia, still the president of the PW&B, on March 28, 1888.


Chattanooga, Rome and Southern Railroad

The Chattanooga, Rome and Southern Railroad was formed out of a reorganization of the Chattanooga, Rome and Columbus Railroad in 1897 and three years later, it purchased the Chattanooga and Durham Railroad. Then in 1901 the CR&S was purchased by the Central of Georgia Railway.


Kearneysville, West Virginia

Kearneysville is an unincorporated community in Jefferson and Berkeley Counties, in the U.S. state of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle in the lower Shenandoah Valley. According to the 2000 census, Kearneysville and its surrounding community has a population of 6,716.


South Florida Railroad

The South Florida Railroad was a railroad from Sanford, Florida, to Tampa, Florida, becoming part of the Plant System in 1893 and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. It served as the southernmost segment of the Atlantic Coast Line's main line. The line remains in service today and is now part of the Central Florida Rail Corridor in the Orlando metro area. The rest of the line remains under the ownership of CSX Transportation as part of their A Line.
History.
The Lake Monroe and Orlando Railroad was organized in 1875 with a charter to build from the St. Johns River port of Sanford south to Orlando. The South Florida Railroad was incorporated on October 16, 1878, but was unable to obtain a charter until December 9, 1879, when it took over the charter of the Lake Monroe and Orlando, which was in danger of losing its land grants. The South Florida first ran on November 11, 1880, running the short distance between Sanford and Orlando. However the company had plans to continue to the Gulf of Mexico, reaching it at Tampa.
On May 4, 1883, Henry B. Plant and his Plant System (headed by the Savannah, Florida and Western Railway) bought 3/5 of the stock of the South Florida after an unsuccessful attempt to buy the Florida Southern Railway. Plant had made an agreement with the Florida Southern not to build the SF&W south of Gainesville or Palatka, the northern ends of the Florida Southern, but the existing South Florida was immune from this. Plant then made agreements with all the railroads building towards Tampa except for the Florida Transit and Peninsular Railroad. Specifically, the Florida Southern would not build any lines south of Pemberton's Ferry and Brooksville or north of Bartow, and the South Florida would build its Pemberton Ferry Branch between the two and assign trackage rights to the Florida Southern. The agreement with the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway specified that that company would only build north of Sanford; in both cases the South Florida would give up their rights to the territories given to the other companies. The JT&KW had already done some grading at Bartow and Tampa, and sold them to the South Florida.
Thus two railroads remained in a race towards Tampa - the South Florida and the Florida Transit and Peninsular Railroad. The South Florida managed to get there first, and obtained the best ports (now known as Port Tampa). The South Florida's original passenger depot in Tampa was located on the east side of the intersection of Ashley and Madison Streets. The Tampa end opened on December 10, 1883, and on January 25, 1884 service began over the full line, built to narrow gauge. On February 20, 1886 the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway opened to Sanford, and the South Florida was converted to standard gauge on September 22.
In 1893 the Savannah, Florida and Western Railway (Plant System) directly acquired the South Florida. Henry Plant died in 1899, which led his heirs to sell the Plant System to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. The Atlantic Coast Line would then designate the South Florida Railroad main line (along with the main line of the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway and other railroads to the north) as their nearly 900-mile main line from Richmond, Virginia to Tampa.
In 1967 the Atlantic Coast Line merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (who operated the former Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad, the South Florida's former competitor), becoming the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. Seaboard Coast Line eventually became CSX in the 1980s, and the South Florida/Atlantic Coast Line main line now operates as part of one of its two main lines in the area, known as the "A" Line.
In 2011, CSX sold the line from Poinciana north (as well as part of the former Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway) to the Florida Department of Transportation. This state-owned segment is now known as the Central Florida Rail Corridor, which makes up a vast majority of the track that the SunRail commuter rail service operates on. SunRail began operation on May 1, 2014 from Sand Lake Road north to DeBary and extended service south to Poinciana on July 30, 2018. SunRail also revived passenger service to the South Florida Railroad's historic Church Street Station in Downtown Orlando.
Lines.
Main Line.
When completed in 1884, the South Florida Railroad's main line ran from Sanford southwest through Orlando and Lakeland to Tampa, terminating at Port Tampa. The main line today runs south of and roughly parallel to Interstate 4. Some of the towns along the line were named for railroad officials. Plant City was named for Henry Plant, and Haines City was named for Colonel Henry Haines, who organized the construction of the line and was considered to be Plant's most trusted employee.
The main line remains in service and is today the southernmost segment of CSX's A Line and the Central Florida Rail Corridor. The line now operates in the following segments:
Amtrak continues to operate passenger service on the line and uses it to reach Tampa Union Station. Amtrak's Miami-bound trains also travel the line to Auburndale and turn south on to the Auburndale Subdivision.
Prior to the sale of the north end of the line to FDOT, the line was part of CSX's Sanford Subdivision from Auburndale north. Since the sale, CSX only operates local freight on the Central Florida Rail Corridor. Freight service on the CFRC is based out of Taft Yard in Pine Castle, which CSX still owns. All of CSX's through freight traffic to northern Florida now uses the adjacent S Line. The Florida Central Railroad, which connects to the Central Florida Rail Corridor in Downtown Orlando, also has freight trackage rights from its connection south to Taft Yard.
Pemberton Ferry Branch.
Part of the agreement worked out by Henry Plant between the South Florida and the Florida Southern Railway specified that the South Florida would build the north-south Pemberton Ferry Branch. This branch began at a junction with the Florida Southern at Pemberton Ferry (known today as Croom), running south-southeast across the mainline at Lakeland to Bartow. South of Bartow, the Florida Southern continued to Punta Gorda, using trackage rights over the branch. The branch was completed in September 1884. Once the Bone Valley phosphate district was discovered near Lakeland, pressure increased to standard-gauge the line, and that was done on August 7, 1891.
After the Plant System bought the South Florida, an extension was built north from Pemberton Ferry to Inverness, where the Plant System's Silver Springs, Ocala and Gulf Railroad continued north, which was completed in 1891.
In the Atlantic Coast Line era, the north leg of the Pemberton Ferry Branch would serve as the southernmost segment of their R Line, which ran from DuPont, Georgia to Lakeland via High Springs. By the 1920s, the line was busy enough that the Atlantic Coast Line expanded the line north of Vitis Junction to double track to increase capacity.
The line is also notable for being the location of the Great Train Wreck of 1956 in Pineola (just north of Pemberton Ferry), which was head-on collision between two Atlantic Coast Line Railroad freight trains on October 18, 1956, a killing five crewmen. A signpost at the site of the crash on the Withlacoochee State Trail memorializes the event.
The branch's north leg is still in service from Lakeland to Owensboro (just southwest of Lacoochee) and the south leg is still in service from the main line to Eaton Park. The abandoned segment north of Owensboro is now part of the Withlacoochee State Trail (which also continues up the abandoned extension to Inverness). The south leg is now an industrial spur. The Fort Fraser Trail today runs along the abandoned right-of way from Eaton Park south to Bartow.
The branch is operated by CSX in the following segments:
Bartow Branch.
The charter specified that the railroad must pass through Bartow; thus the Bartow Branch was built from the mainline at Lake Alfred (Bartow Junction) southwest to Bartow. It opened in 1884 and was standard gauged on September 23, 1886.
In the Atlantic Coast Line era, many of their passenger trains to Fort Myers and Naples would run on the Bartow Branch.
Part of the Bartow branch remains today from Winter Haven south to Gordonville (just northeast of Bartow). This segment is operated by the Florida Midland Railroad. The abandoned segment between Lake Alfred and Winter Haven is now the route of the Chain of Lakes Trail.
Other Branches.
The Sanford and Indian River Railroad was chartered in 1881 to run from Sanford southeast to Oviedo and Lake Charm. The South Florida leased it in 1883, and it was standard gauged on September 21, 1886. Today, the route is still in service as CSX's Aloma Spur from Sanford to Winter Springs. The Cross Seminole Trail runs along the former right of way from Winter Springs to Oviedo.
The Apopka Branch was part of the original charter, running from Mayo on the mainline west to the Withlacoochee River via Apopka. The line was never opened by the South Florida, instead partially opening as the Apopka and Atlantic Railroad. It was never a success.
The St. Cloud and Sugar Belt Railway was incorporated in 1888 to connect Kissimmee to St. Cloud and Narcoossee. It was immediately operated by the South Florida, and was merged into it in 1893. Neptune Road runs along some of the former right of way.
Station listing.
Main Line
Pemberton Ferry Branch
Bartow Branch
Lake Charm Branch
Narcoossee Branch


McGuire-Cummings Manufacturing Company

The McGuire-Cummings Manufacturing Company was a streetcar and street-railway equipment builder based in the U.S. state of Illinois. It was originally based in Chicago, but had a subsidiary factory in Paris, Illinois, and in its last years it was based in the latter city. It was founded in 1888 as the McGuire Manufacturing Company, later becoming McGuire-Cummings, and finally the Cummings Car and Coach Company. Snowplow cars and snow sweepersstreet railway cars designed specifically for snow removalwere among its most popular and best-known products. The company built its last streetcars in 1930, but remained in business until 1943. McGuire-Cummings was one of a few suppliers for the Toronto Civic Railways.
History.
Overview.
In "The Time of the Trolley", historian William D. Middleton wrote that the company "was initially active as a builder of [street]car trucks, later produced [street railway] snowplows and sweepers, and finally manufactured a general line of steam and electric railway equipment."
Although North America was its principal market, the company also sold its products in foreign markets. Its snow sweeper, in particular, "was a popular item on dozens of European tramway systems," Middleton wrote.
In 1904, McGuire Manufacturing was renamed the McGuire-Cummings Manufacturing Company, with Walter J. Cummings as president. In 1925, it became the Cummings Car & Coach Company, and was based in Paris, Illinois. The company's streetcar production ended in 1930.
Notable production and sales.
The McGuire Manufacturing Co. delivered in 1899 to the General Electric Co., of Schenectady, New York, one of the most compact electric locomotives that it had turned out until then. It was only overall and weighed complete about . It was fitted with Westinghouse automatic air brakes, Trojan couplers, chime whistles, General Electric air compressors, and two G.E. 51 electric motors of each, giving the machine a capacity of
The largest one of the locomotives turned out by the McGuire company by 1899 weighed , and was in operation at Yonkers, New York, for hauling steam cars through the tunnel at that point, and the company has made several weighing only , for mining purposes.
The McGuire company was contracted in 1899 to build 60 trucks for San Francisco, 120 for Havana, Cuba, 30 pairs for the Australian Government, and finishing the order for 300 for the Northwestern Elevated Railroad of Chicago, with smaller orders from every part of the United States. It was closing up the largest snowplow business the company has ever done in one year, with two orders, 10 for Washington, D.C., and 15 for St. Louis, besides a large number of single orders, among them being one for Spokane, Washington, and one for Burlington, Vermont.
Plans were being prepared in 1899 for an additional building to be added to the McGuire plant that winter. It was planned to cover the piece of ground on the corner of Kinzie and Morgan Sts., being . on Morgan by . on Kinzie. This building was planned to be five stories high and devoted entirely to sweeper, electric locomotive, and sprinkler woodwork. The McGuire company was planning to introduce a new sprinkler in 1900, which was planned to be distinctive in design and construction. It was to be equipped with sweeper as well as a sprinkler.


Newlands Labor Act

The Newlands Labor Act, was a 1913 United States federal law, sponsored by Senator Francis G. Newlands of Nevada and drafted by Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Charles Patrick Neill. It created the Board of Mediation and Conciliation (BMC). The BMC was a precursor to today's National Mediation Board (NMB).
Background.
In response to railroad strikes during the 1870s and 1880s, Congress passed the "Arbitration Act of 1888," which authorized the creation of arbitration panels with the power to investigate the causes of labor disputes and to issue non-binding arbitration awards. The Act was a complete failure: only one panel was ever convened under the Act, and that one, in the case of the 1894 Pullman Strike, issued its report only after the strike had been crushed by a federal court injunction backed by federal troops.
Congress attempted to correct these shortcomings in the Erdman Act, passed in 1898. This law likewise provided for voluntary arbitration, but made any award issued by the panel binding and enforceable in federal court. It also outlawed discrimination against employees for union activities, prohibited "yellow dog" contracts (employee agrees not to join a union while employed), and required both sides to maintain the status quo during any arbitration proceedings and for three months after an award was issued. The arbitration procedures were rarely used.
Newlands Act and the BMC.
President Woodrow Wilson signed the Newlands Act on July 15, 1913. The law created the Board of Mediation and Conciliation, which was administered by U.S. Commerce and District Court Judge Martin Augustine Knapp and assisted by U.S. Alabama District Court Judge and Commissioner William Lea Chambers. The Board adjusted and arbitrated disputes between railroad companies and their operating employees, where those disputes threatened to interrupt operation of the carriers to the "serious detriment of the public interest." Voluntary arbitration was also provided for those disputes that could not be settled by mediation.
The Board was functionally replaced on December 26, 1917, by the creation of the United States Railroad Administration, although it continued to exist with its activities restricted to short-line railroads. In 1920, the Esch–Cummins Act (formally called the "Transportation Act") created a new Railroad Labor Board which regulated wages and settled disputes, and permanently replaced the duties of the BMC.
On May 20, 1926, Congress repealed the Newlands Labor Act and Title III of the Esch–Cummins Act (which pertained to labor disputes), with the enactment of the Railway Labor Act.


Alabama Southern Railroad

The Alabama Southern Railroad is a class III railroad that operates in the southern United States. The ABS is one of several short line railroads owned by Watco Companies. The railroad operates an line leased from the Kansas City Southern Railway. It began operating in 2005.
History.
The Alabama Southern's line is composed of three Kansas City Southern branch lines totaling : the Tuscaloosa Subdivision (Columbus–Tuscaloosa), the Warrior Branch (Tuscaloosa–Fox, Alabama), and the Brookwood Branch (Brookwood, Alabama–Brookwood Junction). The line runs between Columbus and Brookwood, with trackage rights over the Kansas City Southern from Columbus to Artesia, Mississippi.
The line was originally constructed by the Mobile and Ohio Railroad which was purchased through a foreclosure sale by the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad (GM&O) on August 1, 1940. The GM&O merged with the Illinois Central on August 10, 1972, resulting in the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. On March 31, 1986, the MidSouth Rail Corp. purchased of track, which included this line, from the Illinois Central Gulf. On January 1, 1994, the Kansas City Southern bought out Midsouth Rail.
The railroad began operating on November 20, 2005. The railroad interchanges with the KCS at Artesia, CSX Transportation in Brookwood, and the Norfolk Southern Railway in Tuscaloosa.


Artemus Gates

Artemus Lamb Gates (November 3, 1895 – June 14, 1976) was an American businessman, naval aviator, and Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air in charge of naval aviation efforts in World War II (December 7, 1941 – June 30, 1945). He also was briefly Undersecretary of the Navy (July 3, 1945 – September 2, 1945). He was, at various times, President of New York Trust Company, and a director of Union Pacific, TIME, Boeing, Middle South Utilities, Inc., Safeway, Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch Co., and Servo Corp.
Background.
A great grandson of lumber baron Chancy Lamb and a grandson of lumber baron Artemus Lamb, he grew up at "Oakhurst" in Clinton, Iowa. He was graduated from Hotchkiss School in 1914 and received his B.A. degree as a member of the class of 1918 at Yale University. He was a member of Skull and Bones, one of the best known of the secret societies based at Yale University. Gates was captain-elect of the Yale football team in 1917
Military service.
During World War I, the First Yale Unit of the Naval Reserve Flying Corps was closely associated with the Skull and Bones. The Yale unit was often referred to snidely as the millionaire squadron. While training in Florida, the pilots often were wheeled to their planes in wheel chairs pushed by Black porters. Artemus Gates was a member of the Yale unit. He helped rescue downed fliers, was shot down, taken prisoner by the Germans and escaped. Previous flying experience enabled him to become an ensign in naval aviation in March 1917. He was released from active service in February 1919, as lieutenant-commander. Because of service on the front, Mr. Gates was decorated by the United States government with the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, by Great Britain with the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom), and by France with the Croix de Guerre and was made an officer of the Legion of Honor of France.
Marriage.
Gates married Alice Trubee Davison, a banking heiress and a sister of fellow Bonesman F. Trubee Davison, on January 3, 1922. They had two daughters, Diane and Cynthia.


B (Los Angeles Railway)

The B was a streetcar line in Los Angeles, California. It was operated by the Los Angeles Railway from 1920 to 1949, originally running from Ramona Boulevard and Miller Street in East Los Angeles to Ascot Avenue and 51st Street.
History.
Brooklyn and Ascot Lines (1895–1911).
The first Brooklyn line was built in 1895 by the Los Angeles Consolidated Railway as a horsecar road. It terminated at the intersection of Brooklyn Avenue and Evergreen Avenue. The line was electrified the following year and rerouted downtown. In 1902 the route was bought by the Pacific Electric Railway to be standard gauged, but never was.
Following the Great Merger of 1911, control of the route returned to the Los Angeles Railway. They extended the route north and east along Evergreen and Wabash Avenues to the city limits in 1915.
Expansion and later removal (1911–1949).
The line was given the designation B and rerouted in 1920. Tracks on 9th Street were taken over by the N Line and the remaining service was merged with the Ascot Line, a previously unconnected route which ran by way of Main Street, 12th Street, Hooper Avenue, a private right-of-way alongside the Santa Monica Air Line, and Ascot Avenue. (A section of this, between Adams Boulevard and 41st Street, has since been filled in.)
In 1922, the route was extended northeast along the newly built Harrison Street (later Ramona Boulevard, and later still City Terrace Drive) to Miller Street in East Los Angeles. In 1949 the route was removed altogether, replaced by trolley bus service.


Union Pacific 737

Union Pacific Railway Engine No. 737 or UP 737 is a 4-4-0 "American" type steam locomotive. It is currently the oldest preserved Union Pacific steam locomotive. It was originally acquired by the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) in 1887.
History.
UP 737 began its career as part of one of the largest locomotive orders on record up to that date, for use on Union Pacific passenger and freight trains. As delivered, the locomotive had a long, pointed, vertical bar wooden pilot, an oil "box" headlight, a "diamond" stack of the shallow diamond style peculiar to the Union Pacific at that period. It had steam and sand domes that appeared comparatively square in profile and lacked the common, ornate, cast-iron dome "rings," a decorative molding that dressed up the appearance of such domes and that many 19th century locomotives sported. Upon entering service, the locomotive reportedly had the initials "O.& R.V." painted on the small panel below the windows on each side of the cab, standing for the name of a Union Pacific subsidiary in Nebraska, the Omaha and Republican Valley Railroad. Later the locomotive had "Union Pacific" spelled out in small letters on each side of the cab, probably in white, and a large white "737" on each side of its black tender.
In August 1904 (different sources disagree on the date), the Union Pacific Railroad sold Locomotive No. 737 and a few similar 4-4-0s to either Charles Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railroad and Steamship Company or the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, both of them components of the Southern Pacific System. A Union Pacific Railroad folio locomotive diagram book issued in 1911 showed engines of this class as having had their diamond stacks replaced with straight or "shotgun" stacks, but whether that change had been made before the sale of Locomotive No. 737 is not known.
Locomotive No. 737 and some of her sisters migrated southward about 1904 to the Texas and Louisiana lines of the Southern Pacific System, such as the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, and Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railroad and Steamship Company. According to one source, No. 737 became No. 246, lettered "Morgan's Louisiana and Texas." Other sources suggest that it became a Texas and New Orleans Railroad locomotive. The Southern Pacific Company owned or controlled both of these Texas-Louisiana railroads, but the question of which subsidiary owned No. 246 is not unimportant, because it would have determined how the locomotive was lettered. In 1913, in a renumbering and reorganization of motive power, the Southern Pacific Company gave the locomotive its final number: No. 246 became No. 216. At the time, the locomotive probably was lettered "Southern Pacific Lines" in large white letters on her tender, with the number on the cab and the small initials to indicate the actual Southern Pacific subsidiary that owned her.
During the first quarter of the 20th century the owning railroads made a number of important modifications to Engine 246, later 216. By the end of 1904, subsequent to Congress passing a safety act that mandated the change, the Southern Pacific converted the locomotive's link and pin coupling equipment to automatic "knuckle" couplers, possibly of the Janney type. At unknown dates, a number of other changes followed as the locomotive experienced further modernizations quite common on railroads across the country during that time. Mechanics and boilermakers replaced the original short smokebox with an extended smokebox with shotgun stack. It was almost certainly on the Southern Pacific Lines that the shops converted the locomotive from a coal burner to an oil burner. An oil tank was installed in the tender in place of the coal bin and hoses and pipes to feed oil to the firebox were rigged, with suitable controls and probably modification of the firebox grates. Thus the locomotive could exploit Texas and Louisiana petroleum for fuel. A steel pipe or "boiler tube" pilot replaced the original wooden type of cowcatcher. An all-steel cab replaced the original Baldwin wooden cab. A new and different headlight replaced the old kerosene "box" headlight.
Locomotive No. 216 was retired on December 4, 1929 retired from active service on a major railroad system when it was sold by Southern Pacific Company to Erath Sugar for industrial use in the cane fields of Louisiana. In August 1947, Erath Sugar transferred ownership of No. 216 to the Vermilion Sugar Company at Abbeville, Louisiana. The Vermilion Sugar Company retired No. 216 in 1956.
Restoration.
A New England seafood processor, F. Nelson Blount, bought the locomotive for his Steamtown, U.S.A. collection in 1957. To move the locomotive to Vermont on a flat car, it was necessary to cut off the roof of the steel cab to meet height clearance requirements, but Steamtown retained the cab roof, and moved it to Bellows Falls, Vermont. It was relocated in 1984 to the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad's Scranton Yards at Scranton, Pennsylvania under the auspices of the Steamtown Foundation.
In 1970, Steamtown began an ill-conceived attempt to cosmetically restore the engine. A replica box headlight was installed, and a wooden cab was built overtop of the existing steel cab. Most significantly, a diamond stack replica was installed on the engine. This diamond stack was much shorter than the one the engine originally carried, and was of a different design from the original. Thus, the restored 737 bore little resemblance not only to its original form, but any form it had assumed during its service life.
On October 30, 1986 the U.S. Congress passed legislation creating Steamtown National Historic Site as a unit of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. The newly created Park is located in the former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad yards in Scranton, Pennsylvania. In 1989, the Steamtown Foundation donated the remaining railroad collection, including UP 737, to the National Park Service. The National Park Service removed this locomotive from its property listings in August 1995 when it was donated to the Nevada Southern Railroad Museum at Boulder City, Nevada. The NSRM loaned the 737 to the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, who later acquired full ownership of the engine.
In 2004, the WPRRM traded the UP 737 to the Double-T Agricultural Museum in Stevinson, CA, where the engine was cosmetically restored to its 1914 appearance, with the straight, shotgun style smokestack, as well as the electric headlight and restored steel cab.


Alco-GE

Alco-GE was a partnership between the American Locomotive Company and General Electric that lasted from 1940 to 1953. Their main competitor was EMD.
Arrangement.
Alco produced locomotive bodies and prime movers while GE supplied the electrical gear. ALCo had previously partnered with GE and Ingersoll-Rand to produce the first successful line of diesel-electric switch engines from 1924 to 1928. In forming the Alco-GE partnership, GE sought to expand the market for their electrical equipment after EMD started producing their own while ALCo gained GE's support in terms of marketing and service infrastructure, areas in which EMD had a formidable advantage.
Achievements.
Notable locomotives produced by Alco-GE were the RS-1, the first road switcher, and UP 50, a prototype gas turbine-electric locomotive.
Alco-GE attained a 26% share of the market for diesel locomotives as of 1946, mainly for switching and short-haul applications, but they could not crack EMD's dominant position in mainline locomotives. Alco's development of higher powered engines for such locomotives had not been satisfactory and EMD's introduction of the GP7 road-switcher in 1949 threatened Alco-GE's position in their most advantageous market.
Dissolution.
GE dissolved the partnership in 1953 to develop and build their own locomotives. Alco still received electrical gear from GE, but only as a customer and not a corporate partner. GE took over the gas turbine-electric venture in 1953 and during the early 1960s would replace Alco as EMD's strongest competitor in the North American market. Alco went out of business in 1969.


George Frederick Baer

George Frederick Baer (September 26, 1842 – April 26, 1914) was an American lawyer who was the President of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and spokesman for the owners during the Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902.
Biography.
George Baer was born in Lavansville, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and attended the Somerset Institute and Somerset Academy for a high school education. At the age of thirteen, Baer dropped out of school and became a "printer's devil" at a local newspaper, the "Somerset Democrat," and later attended Franklin and Marshall College. He and his brother acquired the "Democrat" in 1861, and in 1862 he raised a company of volunteers for the Union Army during the American Civil War. In the 133rd Pennsylvania Volunteers, Baer served as a captain at the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville.
Baer studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1864. He moved to Reading, Pennsylvania in 1868 and established a law practice. He was later hired by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad as their counsel.
In 1901, Baer was installed by financier J. P. Morgan as the President of the Reading Railroad after the retirement of his predecessor, Joseph Smith Harris. Soon thereafter, Baer was confronted with the Coal Strike of 1902 in the anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania, the largest united strike of the United Mine Workers. The Reading was a major employer in the region, and Baer refused to put down the strike or speak to the strikers, citing Social Darwinist ideas. Baer's attitude was released into the papers and became an example of arrogance and superiority. Finally, President Theodore Roosevelt intervened and settled the strike in favor of the striking workers.
Baer's statements on workers and labor relations became rallying cries for the unions. Most famously he wrote in a letter, later leaked to the press, "The rights and interests of the laboring man will be protected and cared for -- not by the labor agitators, but by the Christian men of property to whom God has given control of the property rights of the country, and upon the successful management of which so much depends." In closing statements on behalf of the coal managers to the government's Anthracite Coal Commission he stated, on the subject of working conditions, "These men don't suffer. Why, hell, half of them don't even speak English."
Baer was also named the president of Franklin and Marshall College in 1894 and retained the post until he died in 1914. He married Emily Kimmel in 1866 and had five daughters.


H. H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton

The H. H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton is a National Historic Landmark District in the village of North Easton in Easton, Massachusetts. It consists of five buildings designed by noted 19th-century architect Henry Hobson Richardson, and The Rockery, a war memorial designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
The landmark district is contained within the larger North Easton Historic District which was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 3, 1972. It also contains the Old Colony Railroad Station which was individually listed on the NRHP on April 11, 1972.
History.
Easton was first settled in 1694 and was officially incorporated in 1725. In 1694, the first settler, Clement Briggs established his home near the Easton Green. In 1711, the Taunton North Purchase area became Norton, and in 1713, the twenty-six families settled in Easton and hired Elder William Pratt as their first minister. There was no legal parish in Easton until 1722 when the East Precinct of Norton was recognized. In 1725, the area was incorporated as the Town of Easton; it was so named because it was formerly called the "East End" of the Taunton North Purchase and was shortened by pronunciation to Easton.
In 1803, the Ames Shovel Company was established and became nationally known as having provided the shovels which laid the Union Pacific Railroad and opened the west. In 1875, the shovel production of the Ames plant was worth 1.5 million. The most notable of the Ames family were Oakes Ames, a key figure in the Crédit Mobilier of America scandal, and Oliver Ames, governor of Massachusetts from 1887–1890.
The Ames family shaped the town's economy, and was responsible for the presence of a number of landmark buildings in the town designed by H. H. Richardson, originator of the Richardsonian Romanesque style and designer of Trinity Church in Boston.
The five Richardson buildings in the Historic Landmark District include:
Other associated buildings.
Though this school complex was not made by Richardson himself, it was dedicated to him and made in his style:
Although intended to be the town hall, the Oakes Ames Memorial Hall was never accepted by the town and never used for that purpose.
In addition, there is a commercial building at 66 Main Street which was designed and built in the nineteenth century by Richardson's office in a Richardsonian style. The Richardson buildings are all located within a compact area designated as the H. H. Richardson Historic District. The area also includes The Rockery, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also landscaped grounds of Oakes Ames Memorial Hall and the Ames Free Library.


Alleghany Subdivision

The Alleghany Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia. It was formerly part of the CSX Huntington East Division. It became part of the CSX Florence Division on June 20, 2016. The line runs from Clifton Forge, Virginia, to Hinton, West Virginia, for a total of 78.6 miles. At its north end it continues south from the James River Subdivision and at its south end it continues south as the New River Subdivision.


Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad

The Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad is a heritage railroad that operates freight and passenger excursions in Boone County, Iowa.
History.
The heritage and excursion railroad was begun in 1983 by a group of volunteers who wanted to preserve a scenic section of the former Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Railroad (FDDMS). The original track was built in the 1890s and electrified in 1907. After massive flooding damaged the power plant (located at Fraser, Iowa) providing electricity to the line in 1954, the railroad soon turned to diesel equipment to pull its trains. The Chicago & North Western (CNW) purchased the entire FD|DMS system in 1968. Shortly after acquiring the line, the Chicago & North Western began to place portions of it up for abandonment. In 1983, an section of the line was purchased by the Boone Railroad Historical Society, and its 2254 charter members, for $50,000. The stretch of track winds through the Des Moines River Valley and across a tall bridge spanning Bass Point Creek, a tributary of the Des Moines River. The line runs from Boone, through the old coal mining town of Fraser, and ends at the site of the former junction with the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway at Wolf.
The railroad, an immediate success, has expanded regularly since its founding. A depot was dedicated in 1985. Today, more than 30,000 visitors take a ride on one of the regular or special event trains, including Thomas the Tank Engine (September), the Pumpkin Express (October), and Santa Express (weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas) that features a book written and illustrated especially for the trip. Dining cars are reserved for special dinner trains.
The James H. Andrew Railroad Museum and History Center was added to the existing depot and dedicated in 2012. It displays and preserves thousands of Iowa railroad artifacts and memorabilia such as track equipment, toy trains, dining car china, timetables, photos, lanterns, and telegraph equipment. The museum hosts special exhibitions, maintains a research library, and has a small theater/conference room.
Collection.
The railroad owns numerous locomotives and dozens of cars.
One of the railroad's steam engines, former COER CLC 2-8-0 #17, is most widely known for holding the historic title as the last operating common carrier steam locomotive in America. Purchased on February 9, 1987 it currently sits on display and is still painted with the CO&E's classic pyramid logo. Albeit in poor condition due to sitting outside.
In the late 1980s the railroad also acquired one of the last new 2-8-2 Mikado steam locomotives built in China (China Railways JS number 8419, cost $335,000). The locomotive powers the museum's 1920s excursion trains on Saturdays, Memorial Day Weekend through October 31.
In 2002 the BSVY acquired and restored an EMD FP9, originally a Via Rail Canada passenger locomotive. Painted in Chicago and North Western Railway inspired colors, it powers the BSVR dinner train.
The railroad also runs a short trolley ride and has begun to do light freight switching at Boone industries in recent years. Its station is located just one block from the Union Pacific Railroad mainline.


Rogue Valley Terminal Railroad Corporation

The Rogue Valley Terminal Railroad is a shortline railroad that connects the industrial park in White City, Oregon, United States to the Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad, which hauls its cars to the Union Pacific Railroad at Eugene, Oregon or Black Butte, California via the Siskiyou Summit, or to the Yreka Western Railroad at Montague, California.
History.
The line began operations in 1951 as a division of the White City Corporation, providing tenants of the new Medford Industrial Park (formerly US Army Cantonment Camp White) with contract rail switching services and a local connection to the Southern Pacific Transportation Company. The railroad was formally incorporated as an independent common carrier railroad on November 3, 1954 as the White City Terminal & Utilities Co..
In December 1974 the railroad was purchased by the Union Tank Car Company. Union Tank Car renamed the railroad the WCTU Railway Company effective January 1975.
Berkshire Hathaway gained indirect control of the railroad with the 2008 purchase of Marmon Transportation Services LLC (the parent company of Union Tank Car Company).
On December 17, 2012, Marmon Transportation Services announced the sale of WCTU Railway LLC to RVTR Rail Holdings, a holding company owned by Scott DeVries of Superior, Wisconsin.
On March 15, 2013 the railroad was renamed Rogue Valley Terminal Railroad Corporation, and the holding company owner was renamed the "CCT Rail System Corporation".
Operations.
The railroad operates 2 EMD diesel-electric switcher locomotives (only one unit is used at any given time, with the other unit held in reserve). Operations are conducted Monday through Friday (excluding holidays) with one train crew.
Traffic.
The railroad's main commodities transported are asphalt, cement, chemicals, fly ash, forest products and propane.


Colton Crossing

Colton Crossing is a railway crossing situated in Colton, California, directly south of Interstate 10. First built in 1883, it was the site of one of the most intense frog wars in railroad construction history, leading to a personal confrontation between famed lawman Virgil Earp and California Governor Robert Waterman. The crossing was the intersection of the tracks for the former ATSF and former Southern Pacific (SP) railroads. Southern Pacific is now Union Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway is now BNSF, and both the UP and BNSF still utilize their respective's predecessor's tracks. The Union Pacific tracks runs east-west at the crossing while the BNSF tracks operate north-south (the BNSF tracks eventually head west to Los Angeles and Long Beach, parallel to the UP tracks). Metrolink trains and Amtrak's "Southwest Chief" also use the BNSF tracks through the crossing while Amtrak's "Sunset Limited" utilize the UP tracks for that service. The Union Pacific tracks come from the east through the Coachella Valley and into the yard in West Colton (onwards to Los Angeles). On the other hand, the BNSF tracks from the indirect west (Los Angeles) and direct south (Riverside and Corona) continue through the crossing and on to the yard in San Bernardino, which then head up north to Cajon Pass and eventually Barstow on the journey to Chicago.
History.
Construction of the California Southern Railroad, a subsidiary of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (now BNSF Railway), was repeatedly interrupted by Santa Fe's rival, Southern Pacific Railroad (SP). In one instance, California Southern was set to build a level junction across SP tracks in Colton. California Southern engineer Fred T. Perris ordered the crossing built and acquired the track section for the railroad. When the track was delivered to National City in July 1883, SP officials hired the sheriff there to seize the track section and prevent its installation. The sheriff kept the track under 24-hour guard, but Perris's men were able to retake the track while the sheriff napped, loaded the track on a flatcar and started northward with it toward Colton, where it was to be installed.
Perris obtained a court order on August 11, 1883, that would legally allow California Southern to install the new track section.
Jacob Nash Victor, a California Southern construction engineer, was the foreman at Colton. In a letter that Victor wrote to Thomas Nickerson, then president of the California Southern, he stated:
Perris' crew was ready to install it as soon as SP's "Overland Mail" passed the point of intersection between the two railroads. However, at that moment an SP locomotive arrived at the scene pulling a single gondola and stopped. The engineer of the SP locomotive then drove the train back and forth slowly at the crossing point in an effort to prevent the California Southern crew from installing the crossing. Southern Pacific had hired the lawman Virgil Earp to guard its tracks in Colton and he rode in the cab.
The citizens of Colton supported Southern Pacific, but Southern Pacific had bypassed nearby San Bernardino and its residents were upset. They hoped the California Southern line would put their city back on the map. On the morning of September 13, events reached a head in a confrontation that was quickly dubbed the "Battle of the Crossing". Citizens from Colton and San Bernardino gathered on either side of the tracks—San Bernardino residents on the north and the citizens from Colton on the south—with the Southern Pacific locomotive between them. Men on both sides carried picks, shovels, shotguns and revolvers. Virgil Earp stood in the gangway between cab and tender facing the San Bernardino mob, his revolver in hand. It was believed that the gondola held a number of SP men with rifles and other weapons who crouched below the walls of the car so as not to be seen.
Governor of California Robert Waterman ordered San Bernardino County Sheriff J.B. Burkhart to enforce the court order. Burkhart deputized 10 dependable men and personally escorted the governor to the crossing site. Waterman stood between the SP locomotive and the San Bernardino mob and read the court order. The governor said the locomotive must be cleared away at once. He told Virgil Earp that if he made any move with his six-shooter, Burkhart and his deputies were authorized to shoot. The tension between the crowds, lawmen, and governor made a gun fight likely—perhaps bloodier than his Tombstone shootout. Earp realized that further resistance was hopeless and would lead to bloodshed. He holstered his weapon and ordered the engineer to move the locomotive.
The track was cleared and the crossing was installed. The first train from San Diego arrived in Colton on August 21, 1882 (before the crossing was installed), and the first train to San Bernardino arrived just over a year later on September 13, 1883.
Grade separation and flyover.
The Colton Crossing is the location where two main rail routes serving Southern California crossed at-grade in the City of Colton. More than 110 trains used the right-angle at-grade rail crossing each day, which, until the flyover project was completed, had been a significant cause of congestion on the main lines of UP and BNSF.
In December 2006, the Alameda Corridor Transit Authority (ACTA) presented a feasibility study to analyze alternatives and costs for design and construction of an east-west structure, which would grade separate the BNSF and UP main line tracks at Colton Crossing. In addition, ACTA prepared a report on a proposed north-south flyover to the south of Colton Crossing to reduce train crossing conflicts and hours-long congestion. The report was evaluated by ACTA, UP, BNSF and the San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG). SANBAG conducted community outreach meetings to assist the project team with selecting the final build option. In November 2011, work began on the grade separation project, with the final design being a 2.2-km east-west flyover of the Union Pacific tracks over the north-south BNSF tracks. Work was initially expected to take four years at a projected cost of $202 million. Skanska was the lead contractor on this project.
The Colton Crossing flyover project was completed in August 2013, with BNSF and UP each getting two tracks for their traffic. As seen from the image, a singular UP track was kept at grade to be used for emergencies, switching, and access to the West Colton yard (effectively keeping the last Colton Diamond intact). Innovative construction methods, including cellular embankments as well as low bid prices, were responsible for the project coming in eight months ahead of schedule and significantly under budget, with the final cost being $93m versus the budgeted $202m. The completion of the project has resulted in greatly reduced congestion, leading to reduced travel times, a 31,000-ton drop in annual greenhouse gas emissions, and $241m saved in time spent traveling.


Farmrail Corporation

Farmrail System, Inc. is an employee-owned holding company for two Class III common-carrier railroads comprising "Western Oklahoma’s Regional Railroad" based in Clinton, Oklahoma. Farmrail Corporation has acted since 1981 as a lessee-operator for Oklahoma Department of Transportation, managing an 82-mile east-west former Rock Island line between Weatherford and Erick and an additional 89 miles of former Sante Fe track, Westhorn-Elmer, acquired by the State in 1992 from the ATSF Railway. Another wholly owned affiliate, Grainbelt Corporation (GNBC), was formed in 1987 to buy 176 contiguous north-south route-miles linking Enid and Frederick.
Operations.
Farmrail Corporation , operates two connected lines:
Grainbelt Corporation , of lines from Enid, Oklahoma, to Frederick, Oklahoma, and over of BNSF Railway trackage rights from Snyder, Oklahoma, to Quanah, Texas.
In addition, FMRC operates Finger Lakes Railway Corporation as part of a joint venture; FGLK operates 168 miles of railway in New York state.
FMRC and Grainbelt traffic includes wheat, steel products, fertilizer, rail cars undergoing repair, gypsum rock and associated products, oil field materials, cotton, lumber, feed grains and meals, and farm implements.
The FMRC lines are owned by the state of Oklahoma and were leased to FMRC in 1993. The Grainbelt line began operations as a short-line railroad in 1987.


Progressive Rail, Inc.

Progressive Rail Inc. is a shortline railroad operating several separate branches including the Airlake Terminal Railway. The branches are listed as follows:
Progressive Rail also acquired the Wisconsin Northern Division in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and operates as a separately-named division. They also own the Central Midland Railway in Missouri, the Iowa Traction Railway in Iowa, the Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad in Illinois, and the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad in California. Progressive Rail is also known as the Cannon Valley Railroad .
History.
Headquartered in Lakeville, Minnesota (a southern suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul), Progressive Rail, Inc. was established in 1996 to initially serve the Airlake Industrial Park. In 2001, they leased the former Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway "High Line" in Bloomington and Richfield and started restoring trackage. The company's philosophy has been to provide service that a large railway chooses not to provide. They have also focused on economic development, including finding new customers, and working on regaining former rail customers along their lines. This strategy has paid off in an increase in traffic, from 600 carloads in their first year of operation to more than 5000 carloads in 2003.
Major commodities include:
Progressive Rail, Inc. also operates wholly owned subsidiary Progressive Rail Specialized Logistics, which provides rail logistics services for machinery and over-dimensional freight shippers.


Central Locomotive and Car Works


Georgia Southwestern Railroad

The Georgia Southwestern Railroad is a Class III short line railroad company that operates over of track in southwestern Georgia and southeastern Alabama. Beginning in 1989 as a division of the South Carolina Central Railroad on a pair of former CSX Transportation lines, the railroad has since undergone a number of transformations through abandonments and acquisitions, before arriving at its current form. The railroad was formerly a RailAmerica property before going independent, and in 2008 it was acquired by Genesee & Wyoming Inc.
Traffic includes chemicals, clay, grain, peanuts, plastics, stone, and wood, generating around 13,000 annual carloads.
History.
Upon its creation in 1989 as a division of the South Carolina Central Railroad, the Georgia Southwestern railroad operated over two lines making junction at Richland. The first ran from Rhine west through Richland and Omaha, Georgia before crossing over the Chattahoochee River and terminating at Mahrt, Alabama. A second line originated at Columbus, and traveled south through Cusseta and Richland, before ending at Bainbridge, Georgia, . Both routes were sold by CSX on July 5, 1989.
Original system.
The original network consisted of only two lines (described below) containing of track. Commodities included forest products, aggregates, chemicals, fertilizer, peanuts, and paper, generating about 9,000 annual carloads. The railroad maintained its headquarters at Americus.
Rhine – Mahrt.
The east-west route from Rhine to Mahrt was built in different segments over a period of several years. The Americus, Preston & Lumpkin was started in 1884 and connected its namesake cities by 1887. In 1887, further extension brought the terminus of the railroad further east to Abbeville, and in 1888, the railroad became the Savannah, Americus & Montgomery. The railroad continued to grow in 1890, reaching Lyons in the east, as well as the Chattahoochee River and eventually Montgomery to the west. In 1895, the SA&M was reorganized under the Georgia & Alabama and in 1900, the railroad once again changed hands into the Seaboard Air Line.
Through a number of mergers, the line eventually came under the ownership of the Seaboard System in 1983, which abandoned the line between Montgomery and Mahrt on April 20, 1986. The remaining line from Mahrt to Rhine, Georgia was sold to the Georgia Southwestern by CSX Transportation in 1989. After operations on the line from Preston to Mahrt ended in 1999 the state of Georgia acquired the segment and sought a new operator for the line. On May 22, 2000 the state purchased the remaining portion of the line not already under their ownership between Omaha and the end of the line across the river in Mahrt as well as an additional between Rochelle and Preston retained by the Georgia Southwestern.
The Heart of Georgia took over operations of the line from the Georgia Southwestern in 2000 and still operates from Rhine to Preston, with the segment between Preston and Mahrt out of service.
Columbus – Bainbridge.
A second line out of Columbus to Bainbridge was originally built by two separate railroads. The first began out of Columbus and was constructed by the Chattahoochee Brick Company, and known as the Columbus Southern Railway when it opened its line to Albany, Georgia in 1890. The railroad was absorbed by the Georgia & Alabama Railway in 1896, and later merged into the Seaboard Air Line in 1902. The second portion of the line was built by the Georgia Pine Railway (Georgia Florida and Alabama Railroad after 1901) - and made junction with the Seaboard Air Line at Richland in 1910. In January 1928, the SAL leased the GF&A, creating a shortcut for trains destined for Florida.
The Seaboard Air Line was later merged into the Seaboard Coast Line in 1967, and the SCL became the Seaboard System in 1983. CSX sold the line from Columbus to Lynn to the Georgia Southwestern in 1989, concurrently with the sale of the Rhine - Mahrt route. Initially, the GSWR exercised trackage rights over CSX to reach Bainbridge, including additional rights to Saffold, Georgia to interchange with the Chattahoochee Industrial Railroad.
1995 brought numerous changes to the Georgia Southwestern network, and the portion of the route from Cusseta to Cuthbert became redundant and was subsequently abandoned in that year, with the rails being removed in September 1997. Rails remained in place from Columbus to Cusseta in order to serve a large pulpwood yard near the latter.
In 2002, the Georgia DOT acquired the remaining disconnected segments of the Columbus - Bainbridge line between Columbus and Cusseta, as well as Cuthbert to Bainbridge. The Georgia Southwestern remained as the operator of the line.
Expansion and mergers.
In the mid-1990s, the Georgia Southwestern experienced a number of changes. Among these changes were the acquisition of Norfolk Southern tracks between Columbus and Americus (now abandoned), as well as trackage rights over NS to Albany. Additionally, two sister South Carolina Central Railroad divisions operating nearby were merged into Georgia Southwestern during the same period.
Rochelle – Vidalia.
In 1990, CSX sold the remaining section of its original Savannah - Montgomery route between Savannah and Vidalia to Georgia Central Railway. This left an unused section between Vidalia and the east end of the Georgia Southwestern at Rochelle. In 1994, the GSWR abandoned the segment between Rochelle and Rhine. In 1995, the Georgia DOT purchased the route from Vidalia to Rhine for $1.73 million, and in 1996, the previously abandoned Rochelle - Rhine route was acquired for $702,500. Georgia Southwestern approached the GDOT about reviving the route. The first stage of repair work was carried out in 1998, and the inaugural train ran on January 9, 1999.
Georgia & Alabama Division.
The Georgia & Alabama had been operating its route from Smithville, Georgia through Eufaula, Alabama to White Oak, Alabama since June 1, 1989, under the Thoroughbred Shortline Program. This South Carolina Central division crossed the Georgia Southwestern at Cuthbert. In 1995, the Georgia & Alabama was merged into the Georgia Southwestern.
In 2006, the Georgia Southwestern purchased from Norfolk Southern, the entire of track from Smithville to White Oak that had been leased up until that point. The following year the GSWR abandoned the from Eufaula to White Oak.
Georgia Great Southern Division.
Another South Carolina Central division, the Georgia Great Southern Railroad, operated from Dawson, Georgia to Albany, . CSX sold the line to the SCC on December 14, 1990. The GGS ceased operations in 1994. In 1995 trackage rights over Norfolk Southern into Albany made this line excess, as a result part of it was abandoned between Albany and Sasser and the remainder was merged into the Georgia Southwestern.
The 2002 purchase of the remaining line from Dawson to Sasser by the Georgia DOT was included with the sale of the Cuthbert - Bainbridge as well as the Columbus - Cusseta routes.
Ochille – Americus.
Norfolk Southern suffered from a pair of large tropic storms in the mid-90s, losing services over the Ochille - Americus "O" line. After restoring the railroad to operating conditions NS chose to mothball the line, as the two through freight trains that regularly operated over the line had been re-routed. In August 1995, the Georgia Southwestern purchased the former Central of Georgia line and acquired trackage rights from BV&E Junction (Americus) to Albany in order to access the rest of the GSWR network in Smithville.
Further expansion.
Only one additional acquisition was made by the Georgia Southwestern, which was the line from a quarry north of Columbus to Allie, purchased from Norfolk Southern in 2005. The GSWR built a new locomotive shop at Dawson, and moved its offices from Smithville to Sasser during the same period.
Columbus – Greenville.
Originally started in 1871 by the North and South Railroad of Georgia, the line was constructed out of Columbus towards Rome. The fledgling railroad was reorganized as the Columbus and Rome Railroad in 1874, after laying only of track. Further expansion brought the railroad to Greenville in 1885. A few years later, the railroad was absorbed by the Savannah and Western Railroad, a subsidiary of the Central of Georgia Railroad, and formally merged into the CofG network in 1895.
In 2005 the Georgia Southwestern sought to purchase of track from Norfolk Southern, between a point north of Columbus to Allie (known as the "R" line), along with an additional of trackage rights to the GSWR yard in Columbus.
The line was abandoned in 2007.
Georgia Southwestern becomes independent.
GSWR parent company RailTex was sold to RailAmerica effective February 4, 2000. Additional ownership change came in 2002 as RailAmerica passed the railroad to local interests concurrent with the sale of several lines to the Georgia DOT, with the now independent Georgia Southwestern remaining as operator. Traffic on the GSWR grew from 8,600 carloads in 2002 to 13,000 in 2007.
In 2008, the Georgia Southwestern network consisted of the Ochille - Americus line, the Smithville - Eufaula route, and operation on behalf of the Georgia DOT between Dawson - Sasser, Columbus - Cusseta, and Cuthbert - Bainbridge. Additionally trackage rights remained over Norfolk Southern between BV&E Junction near Americus south to Albany and over CSX between Bainbridge and Saffold.
Acquisition by Genesse & Wyoming.
Genesse & Wyoming Inc. purchased the Georgia Southwestern outright in December 2008.
External links.
The GF&A was an important predecessor of GSWR, constructing and operating much of the route from Richland to Bainbridge, Tallahassee, and Carrabelle, Florida, until absorbed by the Seaboard in 1928.


Memphis Subdivision

The Memphis Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The line runs from east of Bruceton west and southwest to Memphis, where it terminates at CSX Leewood Yard, mostly along a former Louisville and Nashville Railroad line from Nashville towards Louisville, Kentucky. (The part east of McKenzie was the main line of the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway.)
At its east end, at Lipe, the Bruceton Subdivision continues east towards Nashville. At its west end, at Leewood, the Memphis Terminal Subdivision continues through Memphis.


Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad

The Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, commonly called the Pan Handle Route (Panhandle Route in later days), was a railroad that was part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. Its common name came from its main line, which began at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, crossed the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, and continued west to Bradford, Ohio, where it split into a northern line to Chicago and a southern one through Indianapolis, Indiana, to East St. Louis, Illinois.
History.
Pittsburgh to Columbus (1848-69).
The Steubenville and Indiana Railroad was chartered February 24, 1848, in Ohio to build west from the Ohio River at Steubenville to the Indiana state line between Willshire and Fort Recovery, via Mt. Vernon. On March 12, 1849, it was authorized to build a bridge at Steubenville and a branch to Columbus.
The first section opened December 22, 1853, from Steubenville west to Unionport. On February 2, 1854, an extension from Unionport west to Cadiz Junction opened; the branch to Cadiz opened June 12. Further extensions west from Cadiz Junction opened June 22 to Masterville, July 12 to Bowerston, and April 11, 1855, the rest of the way to Newark. However, it did not yet connect to any other railroads in Newark.
On December 25, 1854, the S&I came to an agreement with the Central Ohio Railroad to use its tracks from Newark west to Columbus. Some surveying had been done for a separate route via Granville. The connection at Newark opened April 16, 1857, and was built with funds provided by the Columbus and Xenia Railroad, which helped provide a through route to Cincinnati from the S&I. In 1864, the S&I outright bought a half interest in the Newark-Columbus track.
The Pittsburgh and Steubenville Railroad was chartered March 24, 1849, in Pennsylvania to build west from the Monongahela River near Pittsburgh to the Virginia (now West Virginia) state line towards the Steubenville and Indiana Railroad. It was authorized to extend across the Monongahela to Pittsburgh on April 21, 1852. The Western Transportation Company was incorporated by the Pennsylvania Railroad in Pennsylvania on March 15, 1856, to build and operate the P&S.
On July 22, 1853, the president of the S&I deeded right-of-way he had bought from 36 landowners across the Virginia Panhandle to the P&S. This allowed the railroad to build without a charter, which was required to use eminent domain; the powerful city of Wheeling had opposed the P&S, which bypassed Wheeling. The private Edgington and Wells Railroad (named after its owners, Jesse Edgington and Nathaniel Wells of Brooke County) opened July 4, 1854, but failed later that year, as it did not connect to any other railroads. The Holliday's Cove Rail Road was chartered by the Western Transportation Company on March 30, 1860, in Virginia to build across the Panhandle near what is now Weirton, West Virginia; the charter was only used to build the Steubenville Railroad Bridge. The next day the Wheeling Railroad Bridge Company was chartered by the same company, as a political promise to allow the incorporation of the HCRR.
The full P&S opened October 9, 1865, from Smithfield Street in Pittsburgh west to Wheeling Junction at the east end of the Steubenville Railroad Bridge. That same day, the Steubenville Railroad Bridge opened over the Ohio River, connecting the S&I and P&S, as did the connection at Pittsburgh, connecting the Pennsylvania Railroad with the P&S via the Monongahela River Bridge (commonly called the Panhandle Bridge) and Grant's Hill Tunnel. From then until 1868, the line was operated as the Pittsburgh, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad by the Western Transportation Company.
The P&S was sold under foreclosure on November 6, 1867, to the Panhandle Railway, which had been chartered April 8, 1861. On April 30, 1868, the PHRy, S&I and HCRR merged to form the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway, and the Western Transportation Company was dissolved soon after.
Columbus to Indianapolis (1847-67).
The Terre Haute and Richmond Rail Road was chartered in 1847 to build across Indiana via Indianapolis. On May 25, 1850, stockholders east of Indianapolis organized the Terre Haute and Richmond Railroad (East of Indianapolis). On January 20, 1851, that section, from Indianapolis east to the Ohio state line, was renamed the Indiana Central Railway. On January 31, an Ohio law authorized the Dayton and Western Railroad to unite with the Indiana Central and operate jointly. The line from Indianapolis east to Greenfield opened in September 1853, and on October 8 it was completed to the state line, where it connected with the Dayton and Western. Joint operation of both lines between Indianapolis and Dayton, Ohio began August 1, 1854. In 1859 the rail gauge was changed from standard gauge to the broader Ohio gauge () to allow for direct connections with the Little Miami Railroad and Columbus and Xenia Railroad at Dayton.
The Columbus, Piqua and Indiana Railroad was chartered in Ohio on February 23, 1849, to build from Columbus west via Urbana, Piqua and Greenville to the Indiana state line. On March 21, 1851, the CP&I was authorized to change the route west of Covington, and a more northerly alignment was chosen to meet the Indianapolis and Bellefontaine Railroad at Union City, Indiana for access to Indianapolis. The first section, from Columbus west to Plain City, opened June 6, 1853. Extensions opened to Urbana September 19 and Piqua October 16, 1854; on the latter date it changed its track gauge to Ohio gauge () to connect with the Indianapolis and Bellefontaine, which had also re-gauged. The rest of the line to Union City opened March 25, 1859, after some financial problems. The CP&I was sold at foreclosure on August 6, 1863, and reorganized October 30 as the Columbus and Indianapolis Railroad.
The Richmond and Covington Railroad was chartered in Ohio by the Indiana Central Railway and Columbus, Piqua and Indiana Railroad on March 12, 1862, to build a branch of the latter from Bradford to the former at the Indiana state line near New Paris. The R&C opened in early 1863, and the Indiana Central's joint operating contract with the Dayton and Western Railroad was dissolved on March 9. On January 10, 1864, the IC, C&I and R&C signed an agreement for joint operation as the Great Central Line between Columbus and Indianapolis, headed by the Indiana Central. The C&I bought the R&C on September 5, 1864. The Indiana Central Railway and Columbus and Indianapolis Railroad merged October 19 to form the Columbus and Indianapolis Central Railway, with a main line from Columbus, Ohio to Indianapolis, Indiana and a branch from Bradford, Ohio to Union City, Indiana.
Richmond to Chicago (1848-65).
The New Castle and Richmond Railroad was chartered February 16, 1848, in Indiana to build a line from New Castle east via Hagerstown and Greens Fork to Richmond. The company was authorized on January 24, 1851, to extend northwest beyond New Castle to Lafayette. On February 26, 1853, it was renamed the Cincinnati, Logansport and Chicago Railway to better reflect its expanded role. The original line opened between New Castle and Richmond in December 1853, and it was operated jointly with the Richmond and Miami Railroad and Eaton and Hamilton Railroad, which continued the line southwest to Hamilton, Ohio. The Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad, connecting Hamilton to Cincinnati, joined the operations on February 1, 1854.
The Cincinnati, Cambridge and Chicago Short Line Railway was incorporated in Indiana on January 25, 1853, to build from New Castle southeast via Cambridge to the Ohio state line; the Cincinnati, New Castle and Michigan Railroad was incorporated April 11 of the same year to build northwest from New Castle towards St. Joseph, Michigan. The two companies merged May 1, 1854, to form the Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad. On October 10, 1854, the Cincinnati, Logansport and Chicago Railway was merged into the Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad. The unfinished line between Richmond and Logansport was leased to John W. Wright and Company on October 16, 1856. That company began operating it on December 1, and the joint operation towards Cincinnati ended. The full line between Richmond and Logansport opened on July 4, 1857. That line was sold at foreclosure on April 28, 1860, and reorganized July 10 as the Cincinnati and Chicago Air–Line Railroad. Grading had been done from Wabash southeast to the Ohio state line; portions were later sold to the Fort Wayne and Southern Railroad and Connersville and New Castle Junction Railroad.
On September 25, 1857, the Chicago and Cincinnati Railroad was chartered in Indiana to build a line from Logansport northwest to Valparaiso. That line opened in 1861, connecting at Valparaiso with the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway to Chicago. The Cincinnati and Chicago Air–Line opened a bridge over the Wabash River at Logansport on September 25, 1861, connecting it to the Chicago and Cincinnati. Joint operation between Richmond and Chicago began July 1, 1862 and ended January 29, 1865.
Realignments towards Chicago and mergers (1857-69).
The Galena and Illinois River Railroad was chartered in Illinois on February 18, 1857, to build from Galena through Chicago to the Indiana state line towards Lansing, Michigan. The Chicago and Great Eastern Railway was incorporated in Indiana on June 19, 1863, to build from Logansport northwest to the Illinois state line towards Chicago. The charter of the G&IR was assigned to the C&GE on September 11, 1863, and the C&GE absorbed the G&IR on October 30. The line from Chicago (12th Street) south and southeast to the Chicago and Cincinnati at La Crosse, Indiana opened March 6, 1865, and the old line northwest from La Crosse to Valparaiso was abandoned. On May 15, 1865, the C&GE absorbed the Cincinnati and Chicago Air–Line Railroad and Chicago and Cincinnati Railroad.
The Marion and Mississinewa Valley Railroad was incorporated in Indiana on May 11, 1852, to build from Union City northwest to Marion. On May 14, 1853, the Marion and Logansport Railroad was incorporated to continue northwest from Marion to Logansport. The M&L conveyed its property to the M&MV on November 28, 1854. The Union and Logansport Railroad was incorporated January 5, 1863, and bought the unfinished M&MV on January 9.
In the meantime, the Logansport and Pacific Railroad was incorporated in 1853 to build from Logansport west to the Illinois state line. After several reorganizations, the Toledo, Logansport and Burlington Railroad opened to the Illinois state line near Effner in 1859. The Logansport, Peoria and Burlington Railroad continued as part of a line to the U.S. West, bypassing Chicago.
On September 11, 1867, the Columbus and Indianapolis Central Railway, Union and Logansport Railroad and Toledo, Logansport and Burlington Railway merged to form the Columbus and Indiana Central Railway. The main line, formerly being built by the Union and Logansport, opened from Union City to Marion in October 1867.
On February 12, 1868, the Columbus, Chicago and Indiana Central Railway was formed as a merger of the Columbus and Indiana Central Railway and Chicago and Great Eastern Railway. The rest of the new main line, from Marion northwest to Anoka, on the old main line east of Logansport, was completed March 15, 1868, making the old route via New Castle and Richmond into a branch. The CC&IC now had main lines from Columbus, Ohio to Chicago and Indianapolis, Indiana, with branches from near Logansport, Indiana southeast to Richmond, Indiana (on the Indianapolis line) and west to Effner, Indiana. The Erie Railway offered in late 1868 to lease the CC&IC, but the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway made a better offer on January 22, 1869, leasing it on February 1.
Expansion (1869-90).
On December 1, 1869 (retroactive from February 23, 1870) the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway leased the Little Miami Railroad. This included the Columbus and Xenia Railroad, Dayton and Western Railroad and Dayton, Xenia and Belpre Railroad, as well as the Richmond and Miami Railway's branch west to Richmond, Indiana. With that lease, the Pennsylvania Railroad acquired access to Cincinnati.
With the 1870 completion of the St. Louis, Vandalia and Terre Haute Railroad and Terre Haute and Indianapolis Rail Road, the PRR now had a route to East St. Louis via the PC&StL to Indianapolis.
The Columbus, Chicago and Indiana Central Railway went bankrupt and was sold at foreclosure on January 10, 1883. The Chicago, St. Louis and Pittsburgh Railroad was incorporated in Indiana on March 14 and Illinois on March 15, and the former CC&IC was conveyed to the two companies on March 17. Operation by the PC&StL continued until April 1, 1883. On April 1, 1884, the two companies merged to form one Chicago, St. Louis and Pittsburgh Railroad. That company was merged with the PC&StL, Cincinnati and Richmond Railroad and Jeffersonville, Madison and Indianapolis Railroad on September 30, 1890, to form the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway (PCC&StL).
20th century.
In 1891, the PCC&StL acquired stock ownership of the Little Miami Railroad. On December 21, 1916 (taking effect January 1, 1917), the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway merged with the Vandalia Railroad, Pittsburgh, Wheeling and Kentucky Railroad, Anderson Belt Railway and Chicago, Indiana and Eastern Railway, forming the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad.
The PCC&StL was leased by the PRR on January 1, 1921, and finally was merged into the PRR's Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad on April 2, 1956.
In October of 1991, legislation passed by the US Government recognized the Panhandle Line from Pittsburgh to Weirton as a secondary main line. Although the line was very busy at the time, the US Government required Conrail to abandon the line between Pittsburgh and Weirton. The line was abandoned later that month, and Burgettstown to Weirton was lifted in December. Walkers Mill to Burgettstown remained until 2000, and the Panhandle Trail Construction began during 2000. Walkers Mill to Weirton was left in place, and was sold to RailTex in 1994, then the P&OC in 2000. It was operated by the P&OC until early 2014. As of March 2018, the line is very overgrown with everything west of Carnegie having been severed from the rest of the P&OC, and thereby inaccessible. Soon, this line will likely be removed and become part of the trail, sealing the fate of the Panhandle line.
Current use.
Sections of the route have been adapted for other uses. The easternmost section, from the Pittsburgh Union Station through the Panhandle Tunnel and over the Panhandle Bridge to Station Square in Pittsburgh, is part of the Pittsburgh Light Rail system. From there to the Sheraden neighborhood of Pittsburgh, the railway forms part of Norfolk Southern's Mon Line. The portion from Sheraden to Carnegie, Pennsylvania has been converted into the West Busway, a bus-only roadway. The section from Carnegie to Walkers Mill, Pennsylvania, retains its rails and is owned by the Pittsburgh and Ohio Central Railroad, however, it has not seen a train since early 2014, and it will likely be removed to become part of the Panhandle Trail. The section from Walkers Mill to Weirton, West Virginia, has been made into the Panhandle Trail, a bicycling/walking trail. From the trail's end in Weirton to Columbus, the rails are still in place: from Weirton to Mingo Junction, the route is part of various rail lines and spurs, and from Mingo Junction to Columbus, the line forms part of the Columbus and Ohio River Railroad.


Berlin Street Railway

The Berlin Street Railway was an electric interurban railway in the city of Berlin, New Hampshire, in the United States. It operated from 1902 to 1938.


Arizona Eastern Railway

The Arizona Eastern Railway is a Class III railroad that operates of railroad between Clifton, Arizona, and Miami, Arizona, in the United States. This includes trackage rights over the Union Pacific Railroad between Lordsburg, New Mexico, and Bowie, Arizona. The railroad serves the copper mining region of southeastern Arizona, and the agricultural Gila River Valley. Primary commodities are sulfuric acid, copper concentrate, copper anode and cathode, and copper rod and other copper processing materials. AZER also handles minerals, chemicals, building supplies and lumber. The railroad offers a transload location for lumber, building materials and other consumer commodities at Globe, Arizona.
History.
What is now the Arizona Eastern Railway was chartered as the Gila Valley, Globe and Northern Railway (GVGN) in 1885. Before completion to Globe in 1899, the GVGN came under the control of the Arizona Eastern Railroad (AE). The Arizona Eastern was leased by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) in 1905 and merged into the SP system in 1924. SP sold the Bowie – Miami line to Kyle Railroad in 1988. Kyle was purchased by shortline holding company StatesRail in 1995, which was eventually purchased by RailAmerica in 2001. RailAmerica sold the railroad to Permian Basin Railways on December 9, 2004.
Of historical note, the Gila Valley Globe & Northern Railroad's first locomotive, apparently GVGN #1, was purchased from the Central Pacific Railroad, originally #1195 ("Jupiter)". The locomotive was the Central Pacific locomotive that met with Union Pacific No. 119 at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869, for the driving of the golden spike, commemorating the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad. Despite its historical significance, in 1909 the GVGN, by then controlled by Central Pacific successor Southern Pacific, sold No. 1 for $1000 as scrap.
In 2006, Arizona Eastern announced the construction of a new spur from Safford to the new Safford Mine of Freeport-McMoRan Corporation, north of Safford. The mine opened in 2008.
In 2008, AZER purchased the Clifton Subdivision from Union Pacific. The Clifton subdivision serves the Morenci Mine near Clifton, Arizona, and interchanges with UP at Lordsburg, New Mexico.
In December 2008, weekend excursion service under the name Copper Spike began operating from Globe to the Apache Gold Hotel Casino near San Carlos.
Trains operated four daily round-trips through the winter and spring, on Thursdays through Sundays.
The Copper Spike excursion train did not resume operation for a 2011-2012 season due to the transfer in ownership.
On 2 August 2011, Genesee & Wyoming Inc. announced that it planned to purchase the Arizona Eastern from Iowa Pacific for US$90.1 million, with the deal expected to be completed by the end of the year. The deal was closed on 1 September 2011.
Current Operation.
Locomotives operated.
Arizona Eastern previously operated AZER #6070, an EMD E8 locomotive. Built for the Chicago and North Western Railroad as CNW #5029B on June 1953, it pulled passenger trains for its railroad including Chicago commuter train service. It was repainted in a scheme reminiscent of Southern Pacific's "Black Widow" livery, since Arizona Eastern was owned by Southern Pacific. As of August 2011, the locomotive was transferred to the Saratoga and North Creek Railroad.