Events

January events

* January 3 – The

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

officially opens its Swindon Works. * January 28 –

Boston and Maine Railroad The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022). At the end of 1970, B ...

and

Eastern Railroad The Eastern Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Portland, Maine. Throughout its history, it competed with the Boston and Maine Railroad for service between the two cities, until the Boston & Maine put an end to the compe ...

reach an agreement to both lease the Portland, Saco and Portsmouth Railroad as a joint line to Portland, Maine.

February events

* February 23 –

extends its line to

Agamenticus Mount Agamenticus is a high monadnock in the town of York, Maine. The area surrounding the summit is a park reservation which provides habitat for wildlife and a venue for recreation. The greater Agamenticus region covers nearly in the souther ...

. * February 25 – The Grand Duke of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

and Grand Duke of

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...

in present-day

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

agree to construct the Main-Neckar-Eisenbahn from

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

to a connection with the state railway in Baden.

July events

* July – The Leeds and Bradford Railway, in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, obtains its

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

October events

* October –

Horatio Allen Horatio Allen (May 10, 1802 – December 31, 1889) was an American civil engineer and inventor, and President of Erie Railroad in the year 1843–1844. Biography Born in Schenectady, New York, he graduated from Columbia University in 1823, a ...

succeeds William Maxwell as president of the

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Erie ...

. * October 15 – Official opening of first continuous international railway line between

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

Köln Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

(third day of the opening festivities, covering the

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

(Belgium)–Köln part), making Herbesthal railway station the first international border station in the world.

November events

* November 1 – The earliest ancestor of the Rutland Railroad, the Rutland & Burlington Railroad, is chartered by the state of Vermont.

Unknown date events

* John Cooke, future founder of Cooke Locomotive Works, is promoted to superintendent at

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

manufacturing company Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works.

Births

February births

* February 3 –

William Cornelius Van Horne Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, (February 3, 1843September 11, 1915) is most famous for overseeing the construction of the first Canadian transcontinental railway, a project that was completed in 1885, in under half the projected time. He succe ...

, oversaw the major construction of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

, youngest superintendent of

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , 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 co ...

(d. 1915). * February 27 – Thomas Lowry, president of Minneapolis Street Railway 1877–1892, president of Twin City Rapid Transit, president of

Soo Line Railroad The Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , one of seven U.S. Class I railroads, controlled through the Soo Line Corporation. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sa ...

1889–1890 and 1892–1909 (d. 1909).

July births

* July 15 –

Thomas Fletcher Oakes Thomas Fletcher Oakes (July 15, 1843 – March 14, 1919) was president of Northern Pacific Railway from 1888 to 1893. Biography Thomas Fletcher Oakes was born in Boston on July 15, 1843. He entered railway service June 1, 1863; to April, 1879, ...

, president of

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, whic ...

1888–1893 (d. 1919).

August births

* August 25 –

Inoue Masaru Masaru Inoue may refer to: * Masaru Inoue (astronomer), an astronomer * Inoue Masaru (bureaucrat) Viscount was the first Director of Railways in Japan and is known as the "father of the Japanese railways". Biography He was born into the C ...

, Japanese bureaucrat, first Director of Railways (d. 1910).

November births

* November 27 – Cornelius Vanderbilt II, president of

New York Central The New York Central Railroad 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 Midw ...

railroad (d. 1899).

Deaths

References

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