1959 in rail transport
Encyclopedia
January events
- January 4 - Passenger service resumes on the Strasburg Rail RoadStrasburg Rail RoadThe Strasburg Rail Road is a heritage railroad located near Strasburg, Pennsylvania. It operates excursion trains hauled by steam locomotives in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country.Across the street lies the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania...
for tourists. - January 5 - Foulridge railway stationFoulridge railway stationFoulridge railway station served the village of Foulridge in Lancashire, England. It was built by the Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway, and opened on 2 October 1848.The station closed on 5 January 1959...
closes on the Midland RailwayMidland RailwayThe Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
(originally the Leeds and Bradford Extension RailwayLeeds and Bradford Extension RailwayThe 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...
) in LancashireLancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
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February events
- February 28 - The Eastern Region of British RailwaysEastern Region of British RailwaysThe Eastern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s and was wound up at the end of 1992...
closes most of the former Midland and Great Northern Joint RailwayMidland and Great Northern Joint RailwayThe Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway, was a joint railway owned by the Midland Railway and the Great Northern Railway in eastern England, affectionately known as the 'Muddle and Get Nowhere' to generations of passengers, enthusiasts, and other users.The main line ran from Peterborough to...
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March events
- March 28 - The Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto RailwayNiagara, St. Catharines and Toronto RailwayThe Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway is a historic Canadian railway that operated in southern Ontario from 1899 to 1959.The NS&T was an interurban electric railway located in the Niagara Peninsula. It was based in St...
, the last interurban railroad in CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, operates its last revenue train.
April events
- April 3 - Construction begins on Japanese National RailwaysJapanese National Railways, abbreviated or "JNR", was the national railway network of Japan from 1949 to 1987.-History:The term Kokuyū Tetsudō "state-owned railway" originally referred to a network of railway lines operated by nationalized companies under the control of the Railway Institute following the nationalization...
’ Tōkaidō Shinkansen between OsakaOsakais a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
and TokyoTokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. - April 4 - Maine Central RailroadMaine Central RailroadThe Maine Central Railroad Company was a railroad in central and southern Maine. It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. It operated a mainline between South Portland, Maine, east to the Canada-U.S...
ends passenger service to Samoset destination hotelDestination hotelA destination hotel is a hotel whose location and amenities make the hotel itself a destination for tourists, rather than merely a convenient place to stay while traveling through or visiting the area for other reasons. Destination hotels are also called destination lodgings and sometimes...
in Rockland, MaineRockland, MaineRockland is a city in Knox County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,297. It is the county seat of Knox County. The city is a popular tourist destination...
. - SAFEGESAFEGESAFEGE is an acronym for the French consortium Société Anonyme Française d' Etude de Gestion et d' Entreprises and is pronounced SAY-fij in English....
test monorail built in 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...
.
June events
- June 9 - The Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railroad, interurbanInterurbanAn interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...
railway serving Chicago's western suburbSuburbThe word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
s, ceases freight operations, thus bringing an end to all of the railroad's operations. - June 15 - The Disneyland Monorail SystemDisneyland Monorail SystemThe Disneyland Monorail System is an attraction and transportation system at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, USA...
built by AlwegALWEGAlweg was a transportation company known for pioneering straddle-beam monorails.-History:Alweg was founded by Swedish industrial magnate Dr. Axel Lennart Wenner-Gren in January 1953 as Alweg-Forschung, GmbH , based in Fühlingen, Germany, a suburb of Cologne...
opens, making it the first daily operating monorail system in the western hemisphereWestern HemisphereThe Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
. - June 21 - Soo Line 2719Soo Line 2719Soo Line 2719 is a restored 4-6-2 steam locomotive that was originally operated by the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway . The 2719 was used to haul the Soo Line's last steam-powered train, on a June 21, 1959, round-trip excursion between Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Ladysmith,...
hauls the last of Soo Line RailroadSoo Line RailroadThe Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , controlled through the Soo Line Corporation, and one of seven U.S. Class I railroads. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste...
's steam locomotiveSteam locomotiveA steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
-powered trains in revenue service on a round-trip excursion between Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, and Ladysmith, WisconsinLadysmith, WisconsinLadysmith is a city in Rusk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,932 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Rusk County. It is the former location of Mount Senario College, which closed in 2002 due to significant debt. For the 2006-2007 school year, part of the former campus...
.
July events
- July 1 - Colorado Railroad MuseumColorado Railroad MuseumThe 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....
opens in GoldenGolden, ColoradoThe City of Golden is a home rule municipality that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the edge of the foothills of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Founded during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush on 16 June 1859, the mining camp was...
. - July 14 - 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....
(PRR) 0-6-00-6-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels...
number 5244, class B-6sb, becomes the last steam locomotiveSteam locomotiveA steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
to operate on the PRR. - July 18 - The last steam locomotiveSteam locomotiveA steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
runs on the Nickel Plate Road as a pair of 0-8-00-8-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels...
switcherSwitcherA switcher or shunter is a small railroad locomotive intended not for moving trains over long distances but rather for assembling trains ready for a road locomotive to take over, disassembling a train that has been...
s are called out to cover a traffic surge. - July 27 - Southern Pacific Company opens new embankment replacing Lucin CutoffLucin CutoffThe Lucin Cutoff is a railroad line which included a railroad trestle which crossed the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Built by the Southern Pacific Company between February 1902 and March 1904 across Promontory Point, it bypassed the original Central Pacific Railroad route through Promontory Summit...
trestle across Great Salt LakeGreat Salt LakeThe Great Salt Lake, located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah, is the largest salt water lake in the western hemisphere, the fourth-largest terminal lake in the world. In an average year the lake covers an area of around , but the lake's size fluctuates substantially due to its...
, UtahUtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
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August events
- August 30 - Streetcar service in MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
is discontinued.
October events
- October 6 - The CarmelitCarmelitThe Carmelit is an underground funicular railway in Haifa, Israel. Construction started in 1956 and ended in 1959. The Carmelit was closed in 1986 after showing signs of aging...
, HaifaHaifaHaifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
's underground funicular railway, opens. - October 28 - The Canadian National RailwayCanadian National RailwayThe Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
line between St. Felicien and ChibougamauChibougamau, QuebecChibougamau is a town in central Quebec, Canada, located on Lake Gilman. It has a population of 7,563 people , which makes it the largest community in northern Quebec...
, QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, opens.
December events
- December 1 - The Virginian RailwayVirginian RailwayThe 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....
is merged into the Norfolk and Western Railroad. - December 29 - First section of Lisbon MetroLisbon MetroThe Lisbon Metro is the metro system of Lisbon, Portugal. Opened in December 1959, it was the first subway system in Portugal.As of 2011, the four Lisbon subway lines total about in length and comprise 52 stations.- History :- Idea :...
(Metropolitano de Lisboa) opens in LisbonLisbonLisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, first metro (subway)Rapid transitA rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
system in the country.
Unknown date events
- General ElectricGeneral ElectricGeneral Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
announces that it will begin manufacturing diesel locomotives on its own. - ACF Industries completes the last passenger car that it is to build.
- The Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound Railway runs its last train, ending 62 years of service.
- Israel RailwaysIsrael RailwaysIsrael Railways is the principal passenger railway operating company in Israel, and is responsible for all inter-city and suburban rail way passenger and freight traffic in the country. All its lines are standard gauge. The network is centered in Israel's densely populated coastal plain, from...
officially withdraws all steam locomotives; the last, BaldwinBaldwin Locomotive WorksThe Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
-built Palestine Railways H classPalestine Railways H classThe 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...
4-6-04-6-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This wheel arrangement became the second-most popular...
no. 901, surviving in traffic into the following year. - Opening of the Saint Lawrence SeawaySaint Lawrence SeawayThe Saint Lawrence Seaway , , is the common name for a system of locks, canals and channels that permits ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the North American Great Lakes, as far as Lake Superior. Legally it extends from Montreal to Lake Erie, including the Welland Canal...
encourages improved ice-breaking on the Saint Lawrence RiverSaint Lawrence RiverThe Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
and initiates declining winter freight volume on Canadian railways east of MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
August deaths
- August 26 - William Valentine WoodWilliam Valentine WoodWilliam Valentine Wood worked for much of his life on the London, Midland and Scottish Railway , rising to become its President. He was known for his ability with numbers.-Biography:...
, President of the London, Midland and Scottish RailwayLondon, Midland and Scottish RailwayThe London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
1941-8 (b. 1883).