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1896 in rail transport

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1896 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1896.

Contents

January events

  • January 23 - Construction begins on the Northwestern Elevated line of the Chicago 'L' with the first structure erected at the intersection of Fullerton and Sheffield Avenues.

    • February events

  • February 14 - Northern Pacific Railway opens its Union Station in Portland, Oregon.
  • February 24 - Erie Railroad purchases the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad.

    • March events

  • March 20 - The Grand Trunk Railway purchases the Central Vermont Railway and begins operating it as a wholly owned subsidiary.

    • April events

  • April 6 - The Snowdon Mountain Railway in North Wales, the only Abt rack system line in the British Isles, commences public operation; however, a derailment leading to one fatality causes services to be suspended for a year.
  • April 15 - Passenger rail service of the Henry Flagler Florida East Coast Railway arrives at its new terminus in Miami from West Palm Beach at the persuasion of Julia Tuttle; this quickly leads to incorporation of the city of Miami months later and extensive development of the Greater Miami, South Florida and the Keys.

    • May events

  • May 2 - Budapest Metro Line 1 (Hungary), the world’s second, is opened by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria.
  • May 9 - First Nord Express, Paris, France/Oostend, Belgium, to Saint Petersburg, Russia.
  • May 13 – The Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway, a predecessor of the Central South African Railways, is incorporated in London.
  • May 30 - Construction of the Uganda Railway starts at Mombasa.

    • June events

  • June 29 - The St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Company (predecessor of the St. Louis - San Francisco Railway) is incorporated.

    • July events

  • July 23 - Delivery of world's first commercially-built oil-engined locomotive, from Richard Hornsby & Sons of Grantham, England to the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, London (18 in (460 mm) gauge).
  • July 30 - Atlantic City rail crash: Shortly after 6:30 PM, at a crossing just west of Atlantic City, New Jersey, two trains collide, crushing five loaded passenger coaches, killing 50 and seriously injuring around 60.

    • September events

  • September 15 – The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (the 'Katy') conveys 40,000 people to Crush, Texas to witness a staged train wreck as a publicity stunt arranged by its general passenger agent, William George Crush. Three spectators are accidentally killed.

    • October events

  • October 5 - Norwegian Railway Museum established at Hamar.

    • December events

  • December 14 - Glasgow Subway, the third oldest metro system in the world, begins operations in Glasgow, Scotland.
  • December 25 - Japanese National Railways opens two lines out of Tabata: an extension of the Tsuchiura Line from Tsuchiura, and the Sumidagawa Line to Sumidagawa.

    • Unknown date events

  • The Green Bay and Western Railroad is formed from the bankruptcy proceedings of the Green Bay, Winona and Saint Paul Railroad.
  • The Loup Creek & Deepwater Railway (predecessor of the Deepwater Railway) is formed.
  • Atlas Car and Manufacturing Company begins building steam locomotives.
  • Beyer, Peacock and Company of Manchester, England, deliver the first five New South Wales T524 class 'Australian Consolidation' 2-8-0 type heavy goods locomotives to the New South Wales Government Railways, forerunners of the system's numerically largest class, finally totalling 280 representatives.
  • Narrow gauge Ferrocarril de Tacubaya begins passenger service to Mexico City's Tacubaya amusement park.
  • The first narrow gauge (750 mm) railway in Estonia connecting Valga with Pärnu is opened.

    • January deaths

  • January 23 – Ferdinand Schichau, German mechanical engineer and founder of locomotive manufacturing company Schichau-Werke, dies (b. 1814).

    • June deaths

  • June 4 - Austin Corbin, president of Long Island Rail Road (b. 1827).

    • October deaths

  • October 21 - James Henry Greathead, English inventor of the tunnelling shield used for the London Underground (b. 1844).

    • References

    1896 in rail transport Wikipedia
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