The Timeline of United States railway history is as follows:

• 1810s-1830s: Various inventors and entrepreneurs make suggestions about building model railways in the United States; In 1825 John Stevens (inventor) builds a test track and runs a locomotive around it in Hoboken, New Jersey.
• 1820s and 1830s: The Baltimore and Ohio is incorporated in 1827 and officially opens in 1830.^[1]:21 Other railroads soon follow, including the Camden and Amboy by 1832.
• August 8, 1829: The Stourbridge Lion is tested along tracks built by the Delaware and Hudson company.
• 1830s-1860s: Enormous railway building booms in the United States of America. Railroads replace canals as a primary mode of transportation.
• 1853 Indianapolis' Union Station, the first "union station" in the world, opened by the Terre Haute & Richmond, Madison & Indianapolis, and Bellefontaine railroads.
• 1865: George Pullman becomes well-known for luxury sleeping cars, called Pullman cars in his honor, after he loans one of his cars to house the coffin of Abraham Lincoln after Lincoln's assassination.
• 1869: Union Pacific and Central Pacific complete first transcontinental railway link at Promontory Summit.
• 1869: George Westinghouse establishes air brake company.
• 1870s and 1880s: Strikes break out against railroads and the Pullman Palace Car Company. Corporations hire Pinkerton guards to break up the strikes. Nonetheless, much violence occurs in the strikes. Many people were killed, buildings and rolling stock were burned, and reports of rioting shocked middle-class Americans.
• 1886: Many southern states convert from broad gauges such as 1,524 mm (5 ft)  to standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in). See also Broad gauge#United States.
• 1887: Congress creates the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to regulate railroads and ensure fair prices.^[2]
• 1891: Webb C. Ball establishes first Railway Watch official guidelines for Railroad chronometers.
• 1896: United States v. Gettysburg Electric Ry. Co. ruled that the Takings Clause under eminent domain could be applied for historic preservation.
• 1901: Eight locomotive manufacturing companies are combined in a merger to form the American Locomotive Company (ALCO).
• 1902: Twentieth Century Limited inaugurated by the New York Central railroad.
• 1910s: Pennsylvania Railroad builds Pennsylvania Station in New York City; New York Central Railroad builds current version of Grand Central Terminal.
• 1916: US railroad trackage was 230,468.32 mi (370,902.81 km),^[3] the highest in history.^{[citation needed]}
• 1917: President Woodrow Wilson orders nationalization of the railroads shortly after the US enters World War I.^[4] The United States Railroad Administration manages the system until 1920, when Congress returns control to the railroad companies.^[5]
• 1920s and 1930s: Automobiles, airplanes and the Great Depression contribute to a decline in railroad ridership and mileage.
• 1934: Burlington railroad's Pioneer Zephyr completes its inaugural run from Denver, Colorado to Chicago, Illinois, first diesel-powered streamliner in America.
• May 12, 1936: The Santa Fe railroad inaugurates the all-Pullman Super Chief between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California.
• 1940s: World War II brings railroads the highest ridership in American history, as soldiers are being sent to fight overseas in the Pacific Theater and the European Theater. However, automobile travel causes ridership to decline after the war ends.
• March 20, 1949: The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad and Western Pacific Railroad jointly launch the California Zephyr between Chicago, Illinois, and San Francisco, California, as the first passenger train to include Vista Dome cars in regular service.
• 1950s and 1960s: Drastic decline in railroad travel in the United States of America, due to automobiles, trucks, and airplanes, as first jetliners take to the air. Railroads respond through mergers and attempts to shut down trains and railroad lines. However, the ICC refuses to let railroads shut down many trains.
• December 1, 1959: ICC approved Virginian Railway merger into Norfolk & Western begins modern-day period of railroad mergers and consolidations
• December 3, 1967: The New York Central's Twentieth Century Limited makes last run.
• 1968: Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central merge to form Penn Central. The New Haven was added in 1969.
• June 21, 1970: Penn Central declares Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
• 1971: Congress creates Amtrak and eliminates several passenger routes.
• March 22, 1970: The CB&Q, D&RGW and WP railroads' California Zephyr on its last run, arrives in Oakland, CA from Chicago, Illinois; however the train name will soon be resurrected by Amtrak on a train travelling almost the same route as the original
• 1970s: Conrail, a freight railroad, founded from the remains of the bankrupt Penn Central and a number of other bankrupt railroads in the Northeastern US.
• 1970s and 1980s: Amtrak introduces double-deck Superliner rolling stock. Auto-Train Corporation begins running as independent line (1971), but fails in 1981; In 1983, Amtrak revives service and runs slightly renamed Auto Train as one of its more-heavily-promoted lines.
• 1980: Railroads deregulated.^[6][7]
• September 15, 1981: The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when it runs under its own power outside Washington, DC.
• 1981: Union Pacific 3985 is restored to operating condition, making it the largest operable steam locomotive in the world.
• January 1, 1986: The Milwaukee Road is merged into the Soo Line Railroad in the largest railroad bankruptcy proceedings to date in America
• 1990s: Amtrak funding comes under heavier scrutiny by Congress, while Amtrak creates new trains such as the Talgo and the Acela Express.
• 1995: ICC abolished; Congress creates Surface Transportation Board to assume the remaining regulatory functions.^[8]
• 1997-99: Conrail assets sold to Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation
• September 11, 2001: Terrorists destroy World Trade Center and destroy part of the PATH system in the process. Full PATH service resumed November 23, 2003.

Steam locomotives of the Chicago and North Western Railway in the roundhouse at the Chicago, Illinois rail yards, 1942.

 

 

                                                       (from:wikipedia.org)