1877 in rail transport

Events

May events

* May 1 - Opening of first railway in Burma (Myanmar), from Rangoon (Yangon) to Prome (Pyay) (km to mi|257|abbr=yes of metre gauge). [cite book|author=Marshall, John|title=The Guinness Railway Book|date=1989|publisher=Guinness|location=Enfield|isbn=0-85112-359-7]

July events

* July 14 - Workers on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad walk off their jobs in an act that is seen as the start of the great railroad strike of 1877.cite web| url=http://avenue.org/nrhs/histjul.htm| title=This Month in Railroad History - July| author=Rivanna Chapter, National Railway Historical Society|year=2005|accessdate=2006-07-14]
* July 16 - Railroad workers on strike in Martinsburg, West Virginia, derail and loot a train; United States President Rutherford B. Hayes calls in Federal troops to break the strike.
* July 19 - The New York and Manhattan Beach Railway (later absorbed by the Long Island Rail Road) opens. [cite web|url=http://www.lirrhistory.com/nymbry.html|title=The New York and Manhattan Beach Railway|accessdate=2005-07-18]
* July 20 - Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers riot in Baltimore, Maryland. Nine railroad employees are killed as the Maryland militia attempts to quell the riot.
* July 21 - Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, stage a sympathy strike for the workers killed in Baltimore, Maryland the day before. Rioting erupts throughout Pittsburgh as a result.
* July 24 - Joel Tiffany is awarded US patent|193357 for his design of the first successful refrigerator car.

August events

* August 31 - The first RailGauge|24 gauge narrow gauge railroad in America, the Billerica and Bedford Railroad, begins operations. [cite web|date=March 18 2000)|url=http://www.bedforddepot.org/RRHistory.html|title=A Chronology of Bedford's Railroad History|accessdate=2005-08-31]

December events

* December 27 - The Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Occidental Railway opens, traversing a route from Montreal through Lachute to Hull.Colin Churcher's Railway Pages (December 12 2005), [http://www.railways.incanada.net/candate/ottawa.htm Significant dates in Ottawa railway history] . Retrieved December 27 2005.]

Unknown date events

* Tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad from Los Angeles, California, cross the Colorado River at Yuma, Arizona.
* William Henry Vanderbilt, son of Cornelius Vanderbilt, is promoted to President of the New York Central system.

Births

March births

* March 7 - Walter Kidde, president of New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway 1937–1943 (d. 1943). [cite book|title=The New York Susuquehanna & Western Railroad|author=Robert E. Mohowski|year=2003|publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=0-8018-7222-7]

Unknown date births

* Edgar Alcock, general manager and chairman of Hunslet Engine Company of Leeds, England (d. 1951).

Deaths

January deaths

* January 4 - Cornelius Vanderbilt, American financier who created the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad from the merger of several smaller New York railroads (b. 1794).

April deaths

* April 22 - James P. Kirkwood, designer of Starrucca Viaduct (b. 1807).

August deaths

* August 3 - William Butler Ogden, president of the Chicago and North Western Railway (b. 1805).

September deaths

* September 2 - Alvin Adams, founder of Adams Express, one of the first LCL freight companies in the United States, dies (b. 1804).

Unknown date deaths

* Oliver Ames, Jr., president of Union Pacific Railroad 1866-1871, brother of Oakes Ames (b. 1807).Spencer Marks (2005), " [http://www.spencermarks.com/html/ames_family.html The Ames Family of North Easton, MA] ". Retrieved December 29 2005.] Union Pacific Railroad, " [http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/sig-indv.shtml Union Pacific: Significant Individuals] ". Retrieved December 29 2005.]
* Matthew Baird, second owner of Baldwin Locomotive Works (b. 1817).

References

* " [http://www.steamindex.com/people/engrs.htm Brief biographies of major mechanical engineers] ". Retrieved February 9 2005.
* Rivanna Chapter, National Railway Historical Society (2005), " [http://avenue.org/nrhs/histjul.htm This Month in Railroad History: July] ". Retrieved July 12 and July 22 2005.
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