1926 in rail transport
Encyclopedia
May events
- May 1 - Burlington Refrigerator ExpressBurlington Refrigerator ExpressBurlington Refrigerator Express was a railroad refrigerator car leasing company that was formed on May 1, 1926 as a joint venture between the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and the Fruit Growers Express Company...
(BREX) is formed as a joint venture between the 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,...
(CB&Q) and the Fruit Growers ExpressFruit Growers ExpressFruit Growers Express was a railroad refrigerator car leasing company that began as a produce-hauling subsidiary of Armour and Company's private refrigerator car line. Its customers complained they were overcharged. In 1919 the Federal Trade Commission ordered the company's sale for anti-trust...
(FGE). - May 3 - U.K. General StrikeUK General Strike of 1926The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 May 1926 to 13 May 1926. It was called by the general council of the Trades Union Congress in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government to act to prevent wage reduction and worsening...
commences, continuing to affect railways until May 12. - May 8 - A. Philip RandolphA. Philip RandolphAsa Philip Randolph was a leader in the African American civil-rights movement and the American labor movement. He organized and led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominantly Negro labor union. In the early civil-rights movement, Randolph led the March on Washington...
organizes the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car PortersBrotherhood of Sleeping Car PortersThe Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was, in 1925, the first labor organization led by blacks to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor . It merged in 1978 with the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks , now known as the Transportation Communications International Union.The...
, considered a major labor as well as civil rights milestone. - May 20 - The United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Railway Labor ActRailway Labor ActThe Railway Labor Act is a United States federal law that governs labor relations in the railroad and airline industries. The Act, passed in 1926 and amended in 1934 and 1936, seeks to substitute bargaining, arbitration and mediation for strikes as a means of resolving labor disputes...
becomes law.
July events
- July 6 - First electric railway in the Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
opened, connecting BakuBakuBaku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
, AzerbaijanAzerbaijanAzerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, with its oil workers’ suburban settlements. - July 9 - The first use of a radiotelephoneRadiotelephoneA radiotelephone is a communications system for transmission of speech over radio. Radiotelephone systems are not necessarily interconnected with the public "land line" telephone network. "Radiotelephone" is often used to describe the usage of radio spectrum where it is important to distinguish the...
on a train, on the New York Central RailroadNew York Central RailroadThe New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
.
September events
- September 12 - Chemin de Fer du NordChemin de Fer du NordChemin de Fer du Nord , often referred to simply as the Nord company, was a rail transport company created in September 1845, in Paris, France. It was owned by among others de Rothschild Frères of France, N M Rothschild & Sons of London, England, Hottinger, Laffitte and Blount...
introduces Flèche d’Or all-first-class PullmanPullman (car or coach)In the United States, Pullman was used to refer to railroad sleeping cars which were built and operated on most U.S. railroads by the Pullman Company from 1867 to December 31, 1968....
boat trainBoat trainA boat train is a passenger train which connects with a passenger ship, such as a ferry or ocean liner. Through ticketing is normally available. -Notable named boat trains:*The Flèche d'Or Paris Gare du Nord to Calais...
service between ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and CalaisCalaisCalais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
December events
- December 20 – Opening of first section of underground railway in AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the City CircleCity CircleThe City Circle is a system of largely underground passenger railway lines located in the central business district of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that make up the heart of the Sydney passenger railway network. The lines are owned by RailCorp, a New South Wales government agency, and...
between CentralCentral railway station, SydneyCentral Railway Station, the largest railway station in Australia, is at the southern end of the Sydney CBD. It services almost all the lines on the CityRail network, and is the major terminus for interurban and interstate rail services...
and St. James railway stationSt. James railway station, SydneySt James is an underground railway station on the City Circle line in Sydney, Australia. The station is located under the northern end of Hyde Park, and is named after nearby St James Church...
s in SydneyRailways in SydneySydney, the largest city in Australia, has an extensive network of passenger and freight railways. The passenger network is a hybrid metro-suburban railway with a central underground core running at metro style frequencies, which branches out into a suburban commuter type network...
(John Bradfield (engineer)).
Unknown date events
- Atlantic Coast Line RailroadAtlantic Coast Line RailroadThe Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was an American railroad that existed between 1900 and 1967, when it merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, its long-time rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad...
gains control of the Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast RailroadAtlanta, Birmingham and Coast RailroadThe Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad was organized in 1926 to replace the Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railway. The AB&C was controlled by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, which owned a majority of the stock. In 1946, the AB&C was bought by the ACL and the became the latter company's...
. - American Car and Foundry acquires J. G. Brill and Company.
October deaths
- October 20 - Eugene V. DebsEugene V. DebsEugene Victor Debs was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World , and several times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States...
, AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
labor leader, founding member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive FiremenBrotherhood of Locomotive FiremenThe Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen was one of the railroad unions of the 19th century.-History:The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen was founded on December 1, 1873 in Port Jervis, New York by Joshua A. Leach and 10 other Erie Railroad firemen...
, founder of the American Railway UnionAmerican Railway UnionThe American Railway Union , was the largest labor union of its time, and one of the first industrial unions in the United States. It was founded on June 20, 1893, by railway workers gathered in Chicago, Illinois, and under the leadership of Eugene V...
, arrested during the Pullman strikePullman StrikeThe Pullman Strike was a nationwide conflict between labor unions and railroads that occurred in the United States in 1894. The conflict began in the town of Pullman, Illinois on May 11 when approximately 3,000 employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company began a wildcat strike in response to recent...
in Chicago, Illinois (b. 1855).