Events

January events

* January 28 – Construction of the Waimea Plains Railway, the first railway constructed under the District Railways Act of 1878, reaches Inverrcagill,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

February events

* February 10 – The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railway begins freight operations.

May events

* May –

James J. Hill James Jerome Hill (September 16, 1838 – May 29, 1916) was a Canadian-American railroad director. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwes ...

forms the

St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway The Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (MStP&SSM) was a Class I railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the Midwestern United States. Commonly known since its opening in 1884 as the Soo Line after the phonetic spe ...

from the assets of the bankrupt St. Paul and Pacific. * May 17 – The Texas and St. Louis Railway, a predecessor of

St. Louis Southwestern Railway The St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company , known by its nickname of "The Cotton Belt Route" or simply "Cotton Belt", is a former Class I railroad that operated between St. Louis, Missouri, and various points in the U.S. states of Arkansas, Ten ...

, is organized as a way to ship

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

south to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. * May 31 – The first electric railway opens at the Berlin Trades Exposition.

July events

* July 4 – 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 ...

, building southwestward from

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, reaches Las Vegas, New Mexico. * July 17 – Freycinet Plan enacted in France to extend rail and other transportation systems. * July 31 – The Caledonian Railway opens the original Glasgow Central station in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

November events

* November 1 – The first British

dining car A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that ...

service leaves

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

for

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

King's Cross. This is provided by the Pullman car ''Princess of Wales'' which accommodates just 10 first-class passengers. * November 20 – Narrow gauge

Sandy River Railroad The Sandy River Railroad was a narrow gauge railway built to serve the towns of Strong and Phillips in the Sandy River valley upstream of Farmington. The Sandy River Railroad was the first narrow gauge common carrier railroad built in the State ...

completed to

Phillips, Maine Phillips is a New England town, town in Franklin County, Maine, Franklin County, Maine, United States. The population was 898 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is home to the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad, a heritage rail ...

. * November 22 – The North Pennsylvania Railroad begins operating the

Philadelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad The Philadelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad was a railroad in southeastern Pennsylvania that is now a part of the SEPTA commuter rail system as the Fox Chase Branch. Despite the name, it only ever extended between Philadelphia and Newtown, P ...

, a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

. * November 25 – The

Waldenburgerbahn The Waldenburg railway (german: Waldenburgerbahn; WB) is a narrow-gauge light rail system in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland. The long. single-track line runs from Liestal, the capital of the canton, to Waldenburg, with stops in ...

is founded as a separate company and takes over the concession for the railway from

Liestal Liestal (, Standard ), formerly spelled Liesthal, is the capital of Liestal District and the canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland, south of Basel. Liestal is an industrial town with a cobbled-street Old Town. The official language of Li ...

Waldenburg, Switzerland Waldenburg is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland, and the capital of the district of the same name. Geography Waldenburg has an area, , of . Of this area, or 31.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 62.4% ...

December events

* December 1 – '' Solano'', the largest rail ferryboat ever constructed, is put into service in California. * December 28 – Tay Bridge disaster: The

North British Railway The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, and from the outset the company followe ...

Tay Bridge The Tay Bridge ( gd, Drochaid-rèile na Tatha) carries the railway across the Firth of Tay in Scotland between Dundee and the suburb of Wormit in Fife. Its span is . It is the second bridge to occupy the site. Plans for a bridge over the Tay to ...

across the Firth of Tay in

collapses in a violent storm while a

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self pr ...

is crossing it. 75 lives are lost. William Topaz McGonagall produces his epic poem ''

The Tay Bridge Disaster "The Tay Bridge Disaster" is a poem written in 1880 by the Scottish poet William McGonagall, who has been recognized as the worst poet in history. The poem recounts the events of the evening of 28 December 1879, when, during a severe gale, the ...

'' to commemorate the event.

Unknown date events

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 ...

engineers experiment with the first oil-fired steam locomotives. *

San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad (SF&NP) provided the first extensive standard gauge rail service to Sonoma County and became the southern end of the regional Northwestern Pacific Railroad. Although first conceived of by Asbury Harpend ...

constructs the Puerto Suello Hill Tunnel in

Marin County, California Marin County is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and ...

Births

March births

* March 6 – Patrick H. Joyce, president Chicago Great Western Railway 1931–1946 (d. 1946).

April births

* April 24 –

Oris Paxton Van Sweringen Oris Paxton Van Sweringen (April 24, 1879 – November 22, 1936) and Mantis James Van Sweringen (July 8, 1881 – December 12, 1935) were American brothers who became railroad barons in order to develop Shaker Heights, Ohio. They are better know ...

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 ...

financier who, with his brother Mantis, controls the

Nickel Plate Road The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad , abbreviated NYC&St.L, was a railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. Commonly referred to as the "Nickel Plate Road", the railroad served parts of the states of New York (state), Ne ...

and other eastern railroads (d. 1936).

August births

* August 20 – Ralph Budd, president of the Great Northern Railway 1919–1932 and

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 ...

1932–1949 (d. 1962).

October births

* October 18 –

Charles Eugene Denney Charles Eugene Denney Sr. (October 18, 1879 – January 18, 1965) was president of Northern Pacific Railway from 1939 through 1950. Biography He was born in Washington, D.C., on October 18, 1879, the son of William H. Denney and Sarah E. Tabert. ...

, president of

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 ...

1929–1939 and

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 ...

1939–1950 (d. 1965).

Deaths

References

* (2000),
American Experience / Streamliners / People & Events / Ralph Budd
'. Retrieved February 22, 2005. * President and Fellows of Harvard College (2004),
20th century great American business leaders – Ralph Budd
'. Retrieved February 22, 2005. *

'. Retrieved May 27, 2005. * {{reflist