List of railroad bankruptcies in North America explained

1870s

September 1873 Panic of 1873 -- By November 1873, 55 US railroads fail. (Another 60 are bankrupt by September 1874).

1910s

September 6, 1918:Canadian Northern Railway (nationalized)

1920s

July 12, 1920:Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (nationalized)
January 20, 1923:Grand Trunk Railway (nationalized)
1925: Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway

1930s

December 4, 1931: Ann Arbor Railroad
February 10, 1932: Baltimore and Virginia Steamboat Company
March 31, 1933: Missouri Pacific Railroad
December 1934: Alleghany Corporation
1935: Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
March 26, 1935: Copper Range Railroad
October 23, 1935: New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
October 31, 1935: Connecticut Company
November 29, 1935: New York, Westchester and Boston Railway
February 2, 1936: Van Sweringen Company
June 3, 1936: Old Colony Railroad
May 20, 1937: New York, Ontario and Western Railway
January 18, 1938: Erie Railroad
August 4, 1938: Boston and Providence Railroad
October 30, 1939: Central Railroad of New Jersey

1940s

1947: American Railroad Company
March 2, 1949: Long Island Rail Road

1950s

November 19, 1954: Hudson and Manhattan Railroad

1960s

July 7, 1961: New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
September 7, 1962: Boston Terminal Corporation (South Station)
March 22, 1967: Central Railroad of New Jersey

1970s

March 12, 1970: Boston and Maine Corporation
June 21, 1970: Penn Central Transportation
July 24, 1970: Lehigh Valley Railroad
November 23, 1971: Reading Company
April 19, 1972: Lehigh and Hudson River Railway
June 26, 1972: Erie Lackawanna Railway
July 12, 1973: United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company (Penn Central subsidiary)
July 14, 1973: Beech Creek Railroad; Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway; Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad; Connecting Railway; Delaware Railroad; Erie and Pittsburgh Railroad; Michigan Central Railroad; Northern Central Railway; Penndel Company; Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad; Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad; Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway; Pittsburgh, Youngstown and Ashtabula Railway; Union Railroad of Baltimore (Penn Central subsidiaries)
October 15, 1973: Ann Arbor Railroad
March 17, 1975: Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad^[1]
December 19, 1977: Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad

1980s

1987: Delaware and Hudson Railroad

References

Notes and References

United Press International, "Rock Island Railroad Files For Bankruptcy", Playground Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Tuesday March 18, 1975, Volume 30, Number 34, page 2.