Important dates in Rail Road History
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| 12/10/1795 | Matthias W. Baldwin was born |
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1813 |
English Blacksmith Timothy Hackworth built 'Puffing Billy' for the Wylam Railway |
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1815 |
John Stevens receives first state charter to undertake the construction of a railroad |
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1826 |
Col John Stevens first demonstrated the feasability of steam locomotion on a 630 ft oval track at his home in Hoboken, NJ. |
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18277 |
Marked as the practical beginning of U.S. Railroads |
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8/28/ 1830 |
First Locomotive in the USA to haul a passenger load (Tom Thumb)
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| 1828 | James Neville - a London Engineer - builds a steam engine with the first multi-tubular boiler (32) which moved itself along at 25 mph |
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1829
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UK ships The Stourbridge Lion (at $5,000) to work The Deleware & Hudson Railroad as the first commercial railroad
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06/01/1831 |
First locomotive boiler explosion, fireman died when he grew tired of the PRV valve hissing, wired it shut resulting in overpressure and explosion - Loco "Best Friend of Charleston" |
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| 1830 | Peter Cooper manufactured the first wholly 'American built' steam locomotive - The 'Tom Thumb' had a blower ran off the rear axle to fan the fire and ran a one mile run in 3 minutes and twenty seconds. The return trip resulted in the blower belt breaking and tangling with the axle | |
| 1830 | John B Jervis invented 3 point suspension with swiveling guiding truck - a breakthrough in negotiating curves | |
| 1830 | Total track laid by this time in continental USA - 23 miles | |
| 1831 | The first night-time run pushing a flatcar covered with sand and an iron brazier filled with pine - The first headlight | |
| 11/05/1831 | Wooden crossties adopted as a standard for remarkably smooth running and resilience | |
1831 |
The DC Witt Clinton, a 0-4-0 built by West Point Foundry, hauled first train in NY State - Albany to Schenectady e St |
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1831 |
South Carolina RailRoad announced that a "barrier" car would be placed between the engine and coaches of all future passenger trains, filled with 6 bales of cotton to "protect travelers when the engine explodes" | |
| 1832 | Matthias Baldwin closely assessed the 'John Bull' from the UK and built his first locomotive - 'Old Ironsides' first tested on November 23rd, 1832 | |
| 1832 | A Kentucky Judge declared "The railroads must learn that he who kills his neighbors ox, his ass or his shoat, shall pay back twenty fold" - hence the cowpusher was developed | |
| 1834 | Baldwin Locomotive E. L. Miller was first American loco to have a bell | |
| 1834 | Baldwin manufactures 5 locomotives in this year | |
| 1835 | Baldwin manufactures 14 locomotives in this year | |
| 1836 | Baldwin manufactures 40 locomotives in this year | |
1836 |
The first 'grasshopper' locomotive, an 0-4-0, was made by Davis & Gartner for the Baltimore & Ohio - B&O (also reported to happen in 1832) |
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| 1836 | Bladwin figures out how to improve steam joints which allows boiler pressures to increase from 60psi to 120psi | |
| 1836 | The first driver weights are used to reduce the hammering of the main rods upon the track - Coleman Sellers & Sons | |
| 1837 | A locomotive constructed by Thomas Rodgers was the earliest loco to wear a "cup" whistle | |
| 1840 | Total track laid by this time in continental USA - 2,799 miles | |
| 1841 | First whale oil headlights with reflectors sold - 24 inch reflectors | |
| 1841 | Jordan Mott - First recorded use of sand on slippery tracks - a buyer was never found for his idea and Matthias Baldwin improved on it and mounted it atop the boiler - the heat to keep the sand dry and free-flowing | |
| 1843 | First "CAB" erected above the deck of one of the loco's of Boston & Providence RR | |
| 1845 | Asa Whitney, a New England Trader, was the first to propose a Trans-Continental-RailRoad to open trade | |
1847 |
The Pennsylvania Railroad formed |
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| 1848 | Whitneys proposal for a TCRR was defeated in congress | |
| 1850 | Total track laid by this time in continental USA - 8,683 miles | |
1851 |
The Erie Railway completed a link between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes |
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| 1853 | Several smaller RailRoads consolidate into the New York Central RailRoad system | |
| 1853 | Congress directs U.S. Army to survey 4 different routes to the west coast for a TCRR | |
| 1854 | A link was completed between Chicago and the Mississippi River by Chicago & Rock Island RailRoad | |
| 1860 | The Big 4 was created - a consortium of 4 California businessmen - Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, Collis P. Huntington and Leland Stanford - to find a superior route through the Sierras, beyond the US Army's reccomendation | |
| 1860 | The Big 4, further proposed a slight change of the Army's choice route for a TCRR to go through the valley of the Carson River and Northern California to offer lucrative freight services for the mining operations of orthern California | |
| 1860 | Total track laid by this time in continental USA - 30,283 miles | |
| 1861 | The Big-4, created the Central Pacific RailRoad with a $200,000 investment | |
| 1862 | President Abraham Lincoln signs the act authorizing the construction of the Trans-Continental RailRoad and a parallel telegraph line. Payment will be $16,000 per mile on flat ground, $32,000 through foot-hills and $48,000 per mile through mountainous regions | |
| 01/08/1863 | Central Pacific RR breaks ground on the East shores of the Sacramento River to begin the eastward construction of the TCRR | |
| 1864 | Over 4,000 Chinese laborers being used to work on CP's Eastward TCRR construction - Grew to 8,000 within a year | |
| 1865 | The 1660ft Summit snow sheds are built through the Sierras by CP RR at elevation of 7,017ft | |
9/071866 |
Matthias W. Baldwin dies - Known to have built over 1,500 locomotives by this time |
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1867 |
The CPRR project now extends 130 miles East of Sacramento - met with Reno in 1868 |
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| 1869 | George Westinghouse, a 22 year old vetran invented the "atmospheric Brake" air brake system improved in 1871 to 'fail safe' | |
1869 |
The Central Pacific and the Union Pacific connected at Promitory Point in Utah - Golden Spike Ceremony - completing the initial Trans Continental RailRoad |
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| 05/10/1893 | Empire State Express # 999 covered a mile of track in 31.2 seconds - 112.5 mph | |
1900 |
The total number of the 'Standard' 4-4-0 locomotives built to date reaches 25,000 (all mfgr's.) |
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1949 |
Lima Locomotive Works rolls out it's last 10 steam loco's for the nickle Plate Road |
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1949 |
Baldwin Locomotive Works produces locomotive # 60,000 - it's last steam engine produced by the company |
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1956 |
Baldwin Locomotive Works closes it's doors |
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