Events

January events

* January 4 - Passenger service resumes on the

Strasburg Rail Road The Strasburg Rail Road is a heritage railroad and the oldest continuously operating standard-gauge railroad in the western hemisphere, as well as the oldest public utility in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Chartered in 1832, the Strasburg Ra ...

in Pennsylvania for tourists. * January 5 -

Foulridge railway station Foulridge railway station served the village of Foulridge in Lancashire, England. It was built by the Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway, (later absorbed by the Midland Railway) and opened on 2 October 1848. The station closed on 5 January ...

closes on the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

(originally the

Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway The Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway was an early British railway company in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It built a line from near Bradford through and to . The Skipton–Colne Line closed in 1970, but the remainder of the line is ...

) in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, England.

February events

* February 28 - The Eastern Region of British Railways closes most of the former

Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (M&GNJR) was a railway network in England, in the area connecting southern Lincolnshire, the Isle of Ely and north Norfolk. It developed from several local independent concerns and was incorporated ...

March events

* March 28 - The Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway, the last

interurban railroad The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, operates its last revenue service.

April events

* April 3 - Construction begins on

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...

’

Tōkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the Sanyo Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opened in 1964, ...

between

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. * April 4 -

Maine Central Railroad The Maine Central Railroad Company was a U. S. Class I railroad in central and southern Maine. It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. By 1884, Maine Central was the longest railroad in New England. Maine Central had expanded to ...

ends passenger service to Samoset

destination hotel A resort hotel is a hotel which often contains full-sized luxury facilities with full-service accommodations and amenities. These hotels may attract both business conferences and vacationing tourists and offer more than a convenient place to st ...

Rockland, Maine Rockland is a city in Knox County, Maine, in the United States. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the town population was 6,936. It is the county seat of Knox County, Maine, Knox County. The city is a popular tourist destination ...

. * April 25 - Opening of the

Saint Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Ameri ...

encourages improved ice-breaking on the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

and initiates declining winter freight volume on Canadian railways east of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. *

SAFEGE SAFEGE is an acronym for the French consortium ''Société Anonyme Française d' Etude de Gestion et d' Entreprises'' ( en, French Limited Company for the Study of Management and Business) and is pronounced in English. Company The consortium, cons ...

test monorail built in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

May events

* May - The Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway runs its last train, ending 62 years of service. * May 28 - A passenger train in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

derails and falls into a ravine, killing 85 people and injuring 47 in the

Tasikmalaya en, Neaty City , nickname = nl, Delhi Van Java en, Delhi of Java , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top: Great Mosque of Tasi ...

area of

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

; sabotage is suspected.

June events

* June 9 - The

Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railroad The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), known colloquially as the "Roarin' Elgin" or the "Great Third Rail", was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service on its line between Chicago and Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, St ...

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 ...

railway serving

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

's western suburbs, ceases freight operations, thus bringing an end to all of the railroad's operations. * June 15 - The

Disneyland Monorail System The Disneyland Monorail System (originally named the Disneyland ALWEG Monorail System) is an attraction and transportation system at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, United States. It was the first daily operating monorail in the W ...

built by Alweg opens, making it the first daily operating monorail system in the

western hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the te ...

. * June 21 -

Soo Line 2719 Soo Line 2719 is a 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) for use on passenger trains operated by the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway (" Soo Line"). No. 2719 was used to haul th ...

hauls the last of Soo Line Railroad's steam locomotive-powered trains in revenue service on a round-trip excursion between Minneapolis, Minnesota, and

Ladysmith, Wisconsin Ladysmith is a city and the county seat of Rusk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,414 at the 2010 census. History The Ojibwe who travelled the Flambeau River called the area that would become Ladysmith ''Gakaabikijiwanan'' ...

July events

* July 1 -

Colorado Railroad Museum The Colorado Railroad Museum is a non-profit railroad museum. The museum is located on at a point where Clear Creek flows between North and South Table Mountains in Golden, Colorado. The museum was established in 1959 to preserve a record of ...

opens in

Golden Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall * Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershi ...

. * July 14 - Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) 0-6-0 number 5244, class B-6sb, becomes the last steam locomotive to operate on the PRR. * July 18 - The last steam locomotive runs on 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, Pennsylva ...

as a pair of 0-8-0 switchers are called out to cover a traffic surge. * July 27 -

Southern Pacific Company Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, ...

opens new embankment replacing

Lucin Cutoff The Lucin Cutoff is a railroad line in Utah, United States that runs from Ogden to its namesake in Lucin. The most prominent feature of the cutoff was a railroad trestle crossing the Great Salt Lake, which was in use from 1904 until the late ...

trestle across Great Salt Lake,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

August events

* August 25 - Baltimore and Ohio Railroad opens

Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge The Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Railroad Bridge is a rail vertical-lift bridge connecting Elizabethport, New Jersey and the Howland Hook Marine Terminal on Staten Island, New York, United States. The bridge was built by the Baltimore and Ohio Rai ...

over Staten Island Sound in the United States. * August 30 -

Streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

service in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

is discontinued.

October events

* October 6 - The Carmelit,

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

's underground

funicular railway A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...

, opens. * October 12 - First

R28 (New York City Subway car) The R28 was a New York City Subway car model built by American Car and Foundry (ACF) from 1960 to 1961. The cars were a "follow-up" or supplemental stock for the A Division's R26s and closely resemble them. The average car cost per R28 was $114 ...

enters service, from the last batch of

passenger car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

s that the

American Car and Foundry Company ACF Industries, originally the American Car and Foundry Company (abbreviated as ACF), is an American manufacturer of railroad rolling stock. One of its subsidiaries was once (1925–54) a manufacturer of motor coaches and trolley coaches und ...

is to build. * October 28 - The Canadian National Railway line between St. Felicien and Chibougamau,

, opens.

November events

* November 2 - The Pacific Electric

Watts Line The Watts Line was a local line of the Pacific Electric Railway that operated between the Pacific Electric Building in Downtown Los Angeles and the Watts Station at 103rd Street in Watts. It was the primary local service for the Southern District, ...

, then under operation by the

Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (sometimes referred to as LAMTA or MTA I) was a public agency formed in 1951. Originally tasked with planning for rapid transit in Los Angeles, California, the agency would come to operate the vestig ...

, is discontinued. The service is replaced with buses.

December events

* December 1 - The

Virginian Railway The Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads. Histor ...

is merged into the

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 ...

. * December 29 - First section of

Lisbon Metro The Lisbon Metro ( pt, Metropolitano de Lisboa) is the rapid transit system in Lisbon, Portugal. Opened in December 1959, it was the first metro system in Portugal. , the system's four lines total of route and serve 56 stations. History In ...

(''Metropolitano de Lisboa'') opens in Lisbon,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, first metro (subway) system in the country.

Unknown date events

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

announces that it will begin manufacturing

diesel locomotives 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 wheels ...

on its own. *

Israel Railways Israel Railways Ltd. , dba Israel Railways ( he, רַכֶּבֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Rakevet Yisra'el''), is the state-owned principal railway company responsible for all inter-city, commuter, and freight rail transport in Israel. Isra ...

officially withdraws all

steam locomotives 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 ...

; the last, Baldwin-built

Palestine Railways H class The Palestine Railways H class was a type of standard gauge mixed traffic steam locomotive on the Palestine Military Railway and its civilian successors Palestine Railways and Israel Railways. The PMR introduced the class in 1919 and Israel Rai ...

4-6-0 no. 901, surviving in traffic into the following year.

Accidents

Births

May births

* May 1 - Ning Bin, Chinese signalling control systems engineer (died 2019).

Deaths

August deaths

* August 26 - William Valentine Wood, President of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1941-8 (born 1883).

References

{{Reflist * Colin Churcher's Railway Pages (August 16, 2005),
Significant dates in Canadian railway history
'. Retrieved August 30 and October 28, 2005.