Today in Railroad History

August 28, 1935.

Congress passes the Public Utility Holding Company Act. Heralded as a consumer protection milestone, it also gives utilities a quick method to drop their traction systems. This becomes one of the nails in the coffin of streetcar and interurban railroads in the U.S.

------
Similarly, an unintended consequence of breaking up the movie production companies, and their having to sell off their theaters, was the decline of the center city movie palace.