1879 in rail transport
Encyclopedia
January events
- January 28 – Construction of the Waimea Plains RailwayWaimea Plains RailwayThe Waimea Plains Railway was a secondary railway line that linked the towns of Lumsden and Gore in northern Southland, New Zealand...
, the first railway constructed under the District Railways Act of 1878, reaches Inverrcagill, New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
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February events
- February 10 – The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railway begins freight operations.
May events
- May – James J. HillJames J. HillJames Jerome Hill , was a Canadian-American railroad executive. 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 Midwest, the northern Great Plains, and Pacific Northwest...
forms the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway from the assets of the bankrupt St. Paul and Pacific. - May 17 – The Texas and St. Louis Railway, a predecessor of St. Louis Southwestern RailwaySt. Louis Southwestern RailwayThe St. Louis Southwestern Railway , known by its nickname of "The Cotton Belt Route" or simply Cotton Belt, was organized on January 15, 1891, although it had its origins in a series of short lines founded in Tyler, Texas, in 1870 that connected northeastern Texas to Arkansas and southeastern...
, is organized as a way to ship cottonCottonCotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
south to TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. - May 31 – The first electric railway opens at the Berlin Trades Exposition.
July events
- July 4 – The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, building southwestward from KansasKansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, reaches Las Vegas, New MexicoLas Vegas, New MexicoLas Vegas is a city in San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. Once two separate municipalities both named Las Vegas, west Las Vegas and east Las Vegas , divided by the Gallinas River, retain distinct characters and separate, rival school districts. The population was 14,565 at the 2000...
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November events
- November 1 – The first BritishGreat BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
dining carDining carA dining car or restaurant carriage , also diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant....
service leaves LeedsLeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
for LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
King's Cross. This was provided by the Pullman car Princess of Wales which accommodated only 10 first-class passengers. - November 20 – Narrow gaugeNarrow gaugeA narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...
Sandy River RailroadSandy River RailroadThe Sandy River Railroad was 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 of Maine.- History :...
completed to Phillips, MainePhillips, MainePhillips is a town in Franklin County, Maine, United States. The population was 990 at the 2000 census. It is home to the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad, a heritage railroad.-History:...
. - November 22 – The North Pennsylvania RailroadNorth Pennsylvania RailroadNorth Pennsylvania Railroad was a railroad company formed in 1855, and served Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Bucks County and Northampton County, Pennsylvania.-History:...
begins operating the Philadelphia, Newtown and New York RailroadPhiladelphia, Newtown and New York RailroadThe Philadelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad was a railroad in southeastern Pennsylvania that is now a part of the SEPTA commuter rail system...
, a subsidiarySubsidiaryA subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
of Pennsylvania RailroadPennsylvania RailroadThe Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
. - November 25 – The WaldenburgerbahnWaldenburgerbahnThe Waldenburgerbahn is a narrow-gauge light rail system in the canton of Basel-Country. The long single-track line runs from Liestal, the capital of the canton, to Waldenburg, with stops in Bad Bubendorf, Höstein, Niederdorf, and Oberdorf. The line is operated by Waldenburgerbahn AG. It...
was founded as a separate company and took over the concession for the railway from LiestalLiestalLiestal is the capital of the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland, south of Basel.It is an industrial town with a cobbled-street Old Town.-History:...
to WaldenburgWaldenburgWaldenburg is the name of several places:* Waldenburg, Saxony, Germany* Waldenburg, Baden-Württemberg* Waldenburg, Switzerland*the former German name for Wałbrzych, Poland* Waldenburg, Arkansas, USAWaldenburg is also a surname:* Louis Waldenburg...
, SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
December events
- December 28 – The North British RailwayNorth British RailwayThe North British Railway was a Scottish railway company that was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923.-History:...
's Tay BridgeTay Rail BridgeThe Tay Bridge is a railway bridge approximately two and a quarter miles long that spans the Firth of Tay in Scotland, between the city of Dundee and the suburb of Wormit in Fife ....
across the Firth of TayFirth of TayThe Firth of Tay is a firth in Scotland between the council areas of Fife, Perth and Kinross, the City of Dundee and Angus, into which Scotland's largest river in terms of flow, the River Tay, empties....
in ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
collapses in a violent storm while a passenger train is crossing it. 75 lives are lost. William Topaz McGonagallWilliam Topaz McGonagallWilliam Topaz McGonagall was a Scottish weaver, doggerel poet and actor. He won notoriety as an extremely bad poet who exhibited no recognition of or concern for his peers' opinions of his work....
produces his epic poem The Tay Bridge DisasterThe Tay Bridge DisasterThe Tay Bridge Disaster is a poem written in 1880 by the Scottish poet William McGonagall, who has been widely acclaimed as the worst poet in British history...
to commemorate the event.
Unknown date events
- Southern Pacific RailroadSouthern Pacific RailroadThe Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
engineers experiment with the first oil-fired steam locomotives.
March births
- March 6 – Patrick H. JoycePatrick H. JoycePatrick H. "Pat" Joyce was an American railroad executive. He acted as chairman, president and trustee of the Chicago Great Western Railway between 1931 and 1946.-Notes:# Chicago Daily Tribune November 11, 1946....
, president Chicago Great Western RailwayChicago Great Western RailwayThe Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad...
1931-1946, is born (d. 1946).
April births
- April 24 – Oris Paxton Van Sweringen, AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
financierFinancierFinancier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
who, with his brother Mantis, controlled the Nickel Plate RoadNew York, Chicago and St. Louis RailroadThe 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 a large area, including trackage in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois...
and other eastern railroads (d. 1936).
October births
- October 18 – Charles Eugene DenneyCharles Eugene DenneyCharles Eugene Denney, Sr. 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...
, president of Erie RailroadErie RailroadThe Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, originally connecting New York City with Lake Erie...
1929-1939, Northern Pacific RailwayNorthern Pacific RailwayThe Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...
1939-1950, is born.
Unknown date births
- Ralph BuddRalph BuddRalph Budd was an American railroad executive.-Early life:One of six children of John and Mary Budd, Ralph was born on a farm near Waterloo, Iowa on August 20, 1879...
, president of the Great Northern Railway 1919-1932 and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy RailroadChicago, Burlington and Quincy RailroadThe Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington or as the Q, the Burlington Route served a large area, including extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri,...
1932-1949 (d. 1962).