This is Waterford’s present double-tracked main line and runs from Albany through West Waterford to the Waterford Junction, being only twelve miles in length. It was incorporated on February 20, 1851 as the Albany Northern and being constructed during 1851-1852 then ran from Albany to Eagle Bridge, N.Y. In 1853 it crossed the Hudson River near the old Red, White and Blue House a full three miles from Waterford. It is now the Albany and Vermont Railroad incorporated on October 6, 1899. The Albany & Vermont was leased to the Rensselaer & Saratoga R.R.

The current company, established in 1992 is a separate entity from the original Allegheny Valley Railroad, which was established in the 1850s. That line, affiliated with the Pennsylvania Railroad system, followed the present company's tracks to Arnold and continued beyond, along the right upstream (southeastern) bank of the river to Oil City.

It was at this juncture that Mr. John J. Mitchell, a warm friend and supporter of the Chicago and Alton interests, offered to build an independent road from Alton to East St. Louis, provided that the Chicago and Alton, on completion of the road, merge the franchises of the Alton and St. Louis charter, obtained in 1850, then owned and controlled by Mr. John J. Mitchell, with their own. The proposition was accepted, and during the winter of 1864 trains of the Chicago and Alton Railroad were running to East St. Louis, and terminating there on valuable depot grounds, obtained by Mr.

The first railroad built in Madison County was the Chicago & Alton – first known as the Alton & Sangamon or Alton & Springfield. The railroad was spearheaded by Captain Benjamin Godfrey and other Alton businessmen such as Cyrus Edwards, Simeon Ryder, S. Griggs, and Robert Ferguson. Planning stages began in December 1838, and the charter was issued February 27, 1847. Construction began in February 1850, and was completed from Alton to Springfield in 1852. Benjamin Godfrey lived in a railcar, and followed the work as it progressed.

• Chicago, Missouri and Western Railway 1987-1989
  • Illinois Central Gulf Railroad 1972-1987
    • Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad 1947-1972
      • Alton Railroad 1931-1947 Subsidiary of Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

In May, 1893, the General Court gave to the Natick Street Railway authorization to extend its line to and through Ashland, subject to what ever restrictions might be imposed by the selectmen. This involved no outstanding investment on the part of the Ashland residents, and the Natick line, later called the South Middlesex Street Railway Company, laid down new trackage which connected Ashland with Sherbom , Natick and Framingham. Before the end of 1893 much of this new service was available .

Twain was on this line for only a short distance, from Salamanca to Jamestown.

The Atlantic and Great Western Railway (1865-1871) Railroad (1871-1880) Company

https://www.trumbullcountyhistory.com/atlantic-great-western-railroad/

The Auburn and Syracuse Railroad was incorporated on May 1, 1834,[1] to provide easy access between Syracuse, New York, and the Erie Canal. Construction was begun in 1835, but was delayed during the Panic of 1837.

The Illinois General Assembly chartered the Aurora Branch Railroad on February 12, 1849, to build a branch of the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad to Aurora,[1] which it opened on September 2, 1850.[2] The company was renamed Chicago and Aurora Railroad on Ju

The Indianapolis and Bellefontaine Railroad (I&B) was an American railroad founded in 1848. It changed its name to the Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Cleveland Railroad in 1854. Its counterpart in Ohio was named the Bellefontaine and Indiana Railroad (B&I). The B&I ceased to exist as an independent company when it merged into the Bellefontaine Railway in September 1864.

The Boston and Albany Railroad (reporting mark B&A)[1] was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the 

The Boston and Lowell Railroad was a railroad that operated in Massachusetts in the United States. It was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in the state. The line later operated as part of the Boston and Maine Railroad's Southern Division.

This is not the Pascoag Line, part of the Providence and Springfield Railroad, which ran from Pascoag to the Cove depot in Providence, Rhode Island.

The Boston and Providence Railroad was a railroad company in the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island which connected its namesake cities. It opened in two sections in 1834 and 1835 - one of the first rail lines in the United States - with a more direct route into Providence built in 1847. Branches were built to Dedham in 1834, Stoughton in 1845, and North Attleboro in 1871.

May, 1867, ... the union of that line with the Western Railroad Corporation resulted in the formation of the Boston and Albany Railroad.

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/en/download/HistoryoftheTownofAshland_10290763.pdf

Buffalo, New York and Erie Railroad  Original Main Line  Erie Main Line at Corning  to Buffalo 41.6 miles (66.9 km)

Leased 1863 -  Created during the Erie's bankruptcy in 1858. Took over the Buffalo and New York City from Attica to Buffalo in 1859. Acquired the Buffalo, Corning and New York Railroad the same year and connected the two lines.

The New Jersey Legislature chartered the Camden and Amboy Rail Road and Transportation Company (C&A) in February 1830. This was the first railroad in New Jersey and the third in the United States. The C&A's corporate architect, first president and chief engineer was Robert L. Stevens (1787–1856), who was also the country’s leading builder of steamboats. The new railroad and its sister entity, the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company, were created to service a heavily traveled passenger and freight route across New Jersey.

The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete the western part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America.

Sam apparently held stock in the Chicago and Alton Railroad.  He reports in a letter to Livy "The Chicago & Alton paid a dividend of $200 July 2d—it is in Mr. Rogers’s hands. "  as reported in Day By Day for August 2, 1901.

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad

The Fitchburg Railroad is a former railroad company, which built a railroad line across northern Massachusetts, United States, leading to and through the Hoosac Tunnel. The Fitchburg was leased to the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1900. 

MilesCityStationConnections and notes

The Hudson and Boston Railroad was a railroad that spanned across Southern and Central Columbia County, New York. It was chartered in 1855 and acquired by the Boston and Albany Railroad in 1870, only to face its gradual demise beginning in 1959.

The Illinois Central Railroad (reporting mark IC), sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa (1870).

On July 8, 1853, the Ohio and Indiana companies merged, and on February 7, 1855, the Northern Indiana and Chicago Railroad and the Buffalo and Mississippi Railroad were merged into the Northern Indiana Railroad. On April 25, 1855, that company in turn merged with the Michigan Southern Rail Road to form the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad.

The New York Central Railroad (reporting mark NYC) was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midwest along with the intermediate cities of Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, and Syracuse.

The Northern Central Railway (NCRY) was a Class I Railroad connecting Baltimore, Maryland with Sunbury, Pennsylvania, along the Susquehanna River. Completed in 1858, the line came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1861, when the PRR acquired a controlling interest in the Northern Central's stock to compete with the rival Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O).

The Northern Indiana Railroad Company, not to be confused with a later company of the same name, began with a charter for The Buffalo and Mississippi Railroad Company.  The BMR Company was chartered to run from the navigable water at the west end of Lake Erie (head of Maumee Bay) to the navigable water below the rapids of the Illinois River (Ottawa, Illinois).  In 1837 the Indiana Legislature amended the original act, renaming the company Northern Indiana Railroad Company.

An anecdote found in Day By Day for March 4, 1906:

Mark Twain Got the Stateroom.

The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated from 1836 to 1881. Formed as a result of the merger of four small lines dating from the earliest days of American railroading in the late 1820s and early 1830s, it was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1881, becoming part of their main line in 1902.

See Northern Cross RR

The "Little Railroad that Could"

Construction of railroads caught the interest of rail fans, business entrepreneurs and investors west of the Allegheny Mountains in America in the early 1800s.

St. Louis, Alton and Chicago Railroad c.1857-1861 Alton – Joliet

1867-70 – Boston &Worcester RR, Albany and West Stockbridge RR, and Western RR merged with Hudson and Boston Railroad into a company known as Boston and Albany Railroad.