Events

January events

* January 9 – Government of India resolves not to create new guaranteed railway companies, thus determining future relationships between private enterprise and state in railway development. * January 23 – George Westinghouse files for a patent on his air brake; this year also he founds the Westinghouse Air Brake Company ("WABCO").

February events

* February 17 – Henry Keyes succeeds

Henry C. Lord Henry Clark Lord (October 2, 1824 – March 23, 1884) was the fourth president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. He was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, the son of Dartmouth College president Nathan Lord. In 1837, Henry enrolled a ...

as president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. * February 27 – The first line of what is now Athens Metro, in Greece, opens as Athens Piraeus Railway SA, the first railroad in the country (8.8 km).

March events

* March – By an act of Congress, the

Kansas Pacific Railway The Kansas Pacific Railway (KP) was a historic railroad company that operated in the western United States in the late 19th century. It was a federally chartered railroad, backed with government land grants. At a time when the first transcontine ...

's name is shortened to Kansas Pacific.

April events

* April 6 – The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway is formed through merger of the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad and the Lake Shore Railway. * April 23 – Crews building the

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

lay 10 miles (16 km) of track in one day. * April 26 – The

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...

opens its first segment of track (6 miles / 10 km long) between Topeka and

Pauline, Kansas Pauline is an unincorporated community in Shawnee County, Kansas, United States. Located south of Topeka, it lies next to Forbes Field on southwest Topeka Boulevard. It is occasionally seen as part of the South City Industry Park for Topeka wit ...

. * April 28 –

Franklin B. Gowen Franklin Benjamin Gowen (February 9, 1836 – December 13, 1889) served as president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad (commonly referred to as the Reading Railroad) in the 1870s/80s. He is identified with the undercover infiltration a ...

becomes president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad.

May events

* May 10 – The golden spike is driven at Promontory Summit, Utah, on the

First transcontinental railroad North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. * May 15 – The first trains operate the entire length of the

traveling between Omaha, Nebraska, and Sacramento, California.

June events

* June 1 – The

Merchants Despatch The Merchants Despatch Transportation Company (MDT, also known as the Merchants Despatch Refrigerator Line) was established in 1857 or 1858 by the American Express Company of New York (then a freight forwarding service). The entity was reformed ...

is reformed as a joint stock trading company, with ownership divided among the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway (CCC&I), the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, and the New York Central Railroad (NYC), all part of the Cornelius Vanderbilt rail empire. * June 17 – The

, building westward from Topeka, reaches Carbondale, Kansas.

July events

* July 3 ** Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad subsidiary Kansas City and Cameron Railroad opens the Hannibal Bridge, the first railroad bridge across the Missouri River, connecting its namesake cities. ** Completion of the Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire, U.S., the world's first mountain rack railway. ** Riihimäki – Saint Petersburg Railway line in the Grand Duchy of Finland completed from the Finland Station in Saint Petersburg to

Zelenogorsk Zelenogorsk (russian: Зеленогорск) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities *Zelenogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, a closed town in Krasnoyarsk Krai *Zelenogorsk, Saint Petersburg, a municipal town in Kurortny ...

. Stations opened at Lanskaya, Udelnaya, Ozerki,

Pargolovo Pargolovo (russian: Па́рголово, fi, Parkala, german: Pargola) is a municipal settlement in the Vyborgsky District of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Until the late 20th century, it was the city's northern suburb. The name derives from ''Parko ...

, Pesochny, Levashovo, Beloostrov, Solnechnoye, Repino,

Komarovo Komarovo may refer to: *Komarovo, Saint Petersburg, a municipal settlement under jurisdiction of Saint Petersburg, Russia * Komarovo, Novgorod Oblast, a former urban-type settlement in Novgorod Oblast Novgorod Oblast (russian: Новгоро́ ...

and

August events

* August 18 – The Windsor and Annapolis Railway in Nova Scotia officially opens between

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

and Grand Pre.

September events

* September 13 – The Solway Junction Railway is opened for

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

traffic, including a 1-mile 8 chain (1.8 km) iron girder viaduct across the Solway Firth in Scotland. * September 21 – The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway leases the Kalamazoo, Allegan and Grand Rapids Railway in Michigan.

October events

* 10 October – A branch of the West Coast Main Line to Liverpool Lime Street, is opened by the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

, from Weaver Junction north of

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

Ditton Junction Ditton railway station, originally Ditton Junction, was a railway station which served the Ditton area of Widnes in Cheshire, England. It was located on Hale Road on the border between Ditton and Halebank. History The station opened in 1871 o ...

via the Runcorn Railway Bridge over the River Mersey, bypassing the earlier Liverpool and Manchester line.

November events

* November 8 – The

completes the final leg of the

, connecting Sacramento, California, to San Francisco, California. * November 11 – After the New York and Erie Railroad moves its primary shop facilities from Dunkirk, New York, to Buffalo,

Horatio G. Brooks Horatio G. Brooks (October 30, 1828 – April 20, 1887) worked as chief engineer for the New York and Erie Railroad (NY&E) until the railroad moved its steam locomotive maintenance facilities from Dunkirk, New York, to Buffalo. In 1869 he le ...

leases the facilities in Dunkirk and opens Brooks Locomotive Works. * November 22 – The Ft. Wayne, Jackson and Saginaw Railroad opens between Jackson and Reading, Michigan.

December events

* December – Newly founded Brooks Locomotive Works completes construction of the company's first

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 ...

; it is included in an order for the New York and Erie Railroad.

Unknown date events

* The New York State Legislature authorised the merger of railroads already owned by Cornelius Vanderbilt into the

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 ...

, including the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, the

Canada Southern Railroad The Canada Southern Railway , also known as CSR, was a railway in southwestern Ontario, Canada, founded on February 28, 1868 as the Erie and Niagara Extension Railway. Its name was changed to Canada Southern Railway on December 24, 1869. The 1868 ...

and the

Michigan Central Railroad The Michigan Central Railroad (reporting mark MC) was originally incorporated in 1846 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan, and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in ...

into the

New York Central and Hudson River Railroad 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 ...

. * William Henry Vanderbilt, son of Cornelius Vanderbilt, is promoted to Vice President of the

. * The first railroad built in New Jersey, the Camden and Amboy Railroad, is merged into the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company. * Wells and French Company, later to become part of American Car and Foundry, is founded in Chicago, Illinois. * Construction begins on the central pontifical

railroad station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...

in Rome, Italy.

Births

June births

* June 8 – William R. Coe, chief executive officer of Virginian Railway during World War II (d. 1955).

July births

* July 24 – Julius Dorpmüller, German railway administrator (d. 1945).

August births

* August 11 –

Hale Holden Hale Holden (August 11, 1869 – September 23, 1940) was president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) from 1914 to 1918 and 1920 to 1929, and chairman of the board of directors for Southern Pacific Railroad from 1932 to 1939. H ...

, president of

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

1914–1918 and 1920–1929, chairman of the board of directors for

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

1932–1939, is born (d. 1940).

November births

* November 9 - Charles Donnelly, 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 ...

1920–1939, is born (d. 1939).Northern Pacific. Annual Report. St. Paul inn. Northern Pacific, 1939.