The Branford Steam Railroad is a 7.2-mile (11.6 km) standard-gauge industrial railroad that serves the Tilcon Connecticut stone quarry in North Branford, Connecticut, in the United States. It was founded in 1903 by Louis A. Fisk, a businessman from Branford, Connecticut, to transport passengers to a trotting park for horses. By 1916, the company had ended passenger service in favor of freight transport. The company has hauled trap rock from the Totoket Mountain quarry in North Branford continuously since 1914. A southern extension was built to a dock on Long Island Sound at Pine Orchard, Branford, which remains in use today to transfer rock to barges. Trap rock is also transported by rail to an interchange with the Providence and Worcester Railroad. The company's last steam locomotive was retired in 1960; the name is retained to distinguish it from the nearby Branford Electric Railway, operated by a museum dedicated to streetcars.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branford_Steam_Railroad
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1808:
King Charles IV of Spain was forced to abdicate in favour of his son Ferdinand VII as a result of the Tumult of Aranjuez. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_IV_of_Spain
1962:
Influential American musician Bob Dylan released his eponymous debut album, mainly comprising traditional folk, blues and gospel songs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan
1979:
The American cable television network C-SPAN, covering government proceedings and public-affairs programming, was launched. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-SPAN
2008:
The gamma-ray burst GRB 080319B (artist's impression pictured), the farthest object that could be seen by the naked eye, was observed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRB_080319B
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
feint: 1. (transitive, boxing, fencing) 2. To direct (a blow, thrust, or other offensive movement resembling an attack) on some part of the body, intended to distract from a real attack on another part. 3. (rare) To direct a feint or mock attack against (someone). 4. (intransitive, boxing, fencing, also often military) To make a feint or mock attack. 5. (often military) A movement made to confuse an opponent; a dummy. 6. (boxing, fencing) A blow, thrust, or other offensive movement resembling an attack on some part of the body, intended to distract from a real attack on another part. 7. (figuratively) Something feigned; a false or pretend appearance; a pretence or stratagem. 8. (boxing, fencing, also often military) Of an attack or offensive movement: directed toward a different part from the intended strike. 9. (obsolete) Feigned, counterfeit, fake. [...] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/feint
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Times change but principles endure. The jury has protected us from the abuse of power. While human government exists the tendency to abuse power will remain. This system, coming down from former generations crowned with the honors of age, is today and for the future our hope. Let us correct its defects with kindly hands, let us purge it of its imperfections and it will be, as in the past, the bulwark of our liberties. --William Jennings Bryan https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Jennings_Bryan