Events

January events

* January 5 – The General Motors Electro-Motive Division " Aerotrain" makes its initial Chicago to Detroit test run. * January 11 – The

Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway The Monon Railroad , also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railway from 1897 to 1971, was an American railroad that operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana. The Monon was merged into the Louisville and Nashville Ra ...

officially adopts its longtime nickname, Monon Railroad, as corporate title. * January 22 –

Redondo Junction train wreck The Redondo Junction train wreck occurred at 17:42 on the evening of January 22, 1956, on the Santa Fe Railroad in Los Angeles. The accident happened at Redondo Junction, California, just southwest of Boyle Heights near Washington Boulevard and t ...

Santa Fe Railway 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 S ...

's ''

San Diegan San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

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 ...

derails just outside

Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal Los Angeles Union Station is the main railway station in Los Angeles, California, and the largest railroad passenger terminal in the Western United States. It opened in May 1939 as the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, replacing La Grande St ...

. The accident is announced over the radio and so many doctors, nurses and sightseers drive to the scene that it causes one of the first

Sig Alert Sig alert, Sig-alert or Sigalert in California, as well as other parts of the United States, means an incident that significantly disrupts road traffic. The term was originally the name of a pioneering system of automated radio broadcasts regarding ...

February events

* February 11 – Rock Island's Aerotrain, "Jet Rocket" begins service between Chicago and

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

. * February 28 –

Swampscott train wreck The Swampscott train wreck occurred on February 28, 1956, in Swampscott, Massachusetts when a Danvers–Boston commuter train crashed into the rear of a stopped Portsmouth–Boston local train just north of the station during a snowstorm. The coll ...

, a southbound Danvers–Boston commuter train crashed into the rear of a stopped Portsmouth–Boston local train just north of Swampscott station during a snowstorm. The collision, blamed on the engineer operating at unsafe speeds for the conditions, killed 13 people and injured 283. * February 28 – A collision in Revere, Massachusetts injured 143 people – some of whom had already been in the Swampscott wreck.

March events

* March 5 – The last

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 ...

purchased new by

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 ...

cab forward The term cab forward refers to various rail and road vehicle designs that place the driver's compartment substantially farther towards the front than is common practice. Rail locomotives In steam locomotive design, a cab forward design will ...

class AC-12

4-8-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 4-8-8-2 is a locomotive with four leading wheels, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a two-wheel trailing truck. Other equivalent classifications are: UIC classification ...

number 4294, is retired from revenue service. * March 15 – In Tokyo,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, the Marunouchi Line begins service between Kasumigaseki and

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

. * March 17 – Trailer Train Corporation begins operations. Stockholders include the

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 ...

Norfolk and Western Railroad The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...

, Frisco and Missouri Pacific Railroad. * March 24 – Kansas City Southern Railway officially dedicates Deramus Yards in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

, named in honor of William N. Deramus, Jr., the company's current president. * March – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan construct the first batch of

2-10-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, ten powered and coupled driving wheels, and two trailing wheels. In the United States of America and elsewhere the is ...

steam locomotives for the isolated

Ramal Ferro Industrial Río Turbio Metre and gauge lines are found in South America. Some of the gauge lines cross international borders, though not as efficiently as they might. Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Chile have gauge lines. Colombia and Peru have gauge lines. Argent ...

(RFIRP) 750 mm gauge railway in the southern Patagonian Desert of Argentina to haul coal from Río Turbio for shipping from Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz.

April events

* April 6 – The

East Broad Top Railroad The East Broad Top Railroad (EBT) is a narrow gauge historic and heritage railroad headquartered in Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania. Operating from 1871 to 1956, it is one of the nation's oldest and best-preserved narrow-gauge railroads ...

, a 3 ft (914 mm) gauge carrier in Pennsylvania, ceases operations. * April 28 –

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 ...

discontinues the former ''

Imperial Limited The ''Imperial Limited'' was the Canadian Pacific Railway's premier passenger train across Canada between Montreal, Quebec and Vancouver, British Columbia. It began operation June 18, 1899, seven days a week as a seasonal service supplementing the ...

schedule.

May events

* May 22 – The last Chicago and North Western Railway

-powered Chicago commuter train drops its fires.

June events

* June 3 – Remaining Second class accommodation on

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

ways trains (by now surviving only on Southern Region boat trains) is abolished and Third class redesignated Second class. * June 30 - The Rochester Subway (Rochester Industrial and Rapid Transit Railway) ceases operation after 29 years.

July events

* July 8 – The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway equips its '' El Capitan'' with new Hi-Level cars from Budd. * July 27 – The last two

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond t ...

2-6-6-6 The 2-6-6-6 (in Whyte notation) is an articulated locomotive type with two leading wheels, two sets of six driving wheels and six trailing wheels. Only two classes of the 2-6-6-6 type were built. One was the "Allegheny" class, built by the Lima L ...

"Alleghenies" are taken off standby status. The last revenue run had been made about a month earlier. * July 31 – Great Northern Railway runs its last electric locomotive over Stevens Pass.

August events

* August 6 – The last big

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

constructed by Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton at Eddystone, Pennsylvania, is shipped: Columbus Geneva Steel #35. * August 12 – The Manila Railroad Company commences the dieselization of its entire fleet. * August 27 –

Pacific Great Eastern Railway The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, in British Columbia, holds official opening ceremonies to celebrate the beginning of service over its line (which occurred on June 11, 1956).

September events

* September 1 – Last day of

operations on the

Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad The Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad is a class II railroad that operates in northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio. The railroad's main route runs from the Lake Erie port of Conneaut, Ohio, to the Pittsburgh suburb of Penn Hills, Penns ...

. * September 13 – Last day of

power for the New York Central Railroad trains in New York City suburban service. * September 16 – Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad begins operating over a relocated alignment through East Chicago, Indiana, reducing travel time on the railroad between Gary, Indiana, and Chicago by ten minutes.

October events

* October ** General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces the EMD FL9. ** Harry W. Von Willer succeeds

Paul W. Johnston Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

as president of the Erie Railroad. * October 18 – Head-on collision between two Atlantic Coast Line Railroad freight trains at

Pineola, Florida Pineola is an unincorporated community in Southeastern Citrus County, Florida. It is located in the southeastern part of the county, to the south of Floral City. It is along County Road 39 (South Istachatta Road) between the Hernando County-Ci ...

Citrus County Citrus County is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 153,843. Its county seat is Inverness, and its largest community is Homosassa Springs. Citrus County compris ...

kills five crewmen. * October 30 – Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton ships its last common carrier sized

from Eddystone, Pennsylvania:

Erie Mining Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

S12 #403. The locomotive had been built in 1955. * October 31 – The last surface streetcars operate in Brooklyn, New York.

November events

* November –

ways agrees specification and plan for national installation of the Automatic Warning System (its version of Automatic Train Control). * November 8 – Paris Métro introduces pneumatic tires on some trains.

December events

* December 30 – Last day of operation on Liverpool Overhead Railway (England).

Unknown date events

* Last

built for Soviet Railways, express passenger class P36

4-8-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and four trailing wheels on two axles. The type w ...

No. 251, from Kolomna Locomotive Works. * First

China Railways QJ The QJ () was a type of heavy freight steam locomotive introduced in 1956 by the China Railway. The majority were built by Datong Locomotive Factory. The prototypes and early production of the class were designated HP (), being redesignated as FD ...

built: the class will eventually exceed 4,000 in number. *

Benjamin W. Heineman Benjamin W. Heineman (February 10, 1914 – August 5, 2012) was an attorney and American railroad executive. Heineman first attended the University of Michigan (1930-1933), and later attended Northwestern's school of law. He first gained attent ...

becomes president of the Chicago and North Western Railway. * The

Pullman-Standard The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century ...

" Sun Lounges" debut on the Seaboard Air Line Railroad '' Silver Meteor''. * The

" Placid series"

sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car. ...

s enter service with the Union Pacific Railroad.

Accidents

Births

Deaths

References

* Chicago and Northwestern Historical Society,
Chicago & North Western – A Capsule History
''. Retrieved March 15, 2005. * Rivanna Chapter, National Railway Historical Society (2005),

'. Retrieved October 31, 2005. {{Reflist