1899 in rail transport

Events

February events

* February 9 - Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway purchases the Minneapolis, New Ulm and Southern.

March events

* March 15 - Marylebone Station, the new London terminus of the Great Central Railway, is opened.

June events

* June 18 - Canadian Pacific Railway inaugurates the "Imperial Limited" passenger train between Montreal, Quebec, and Vancouver, British Columbia.

July events

* July 21 - The Burgdorf-Thun Railway in Switzerland becomes the first to operate with an alternating current electrification system, using a three-phase overhead at 750 V 16⅔ Hz. [cite book|last=Marshall|first=John|title=The Guinness Railway Book|year=1989|publisher=Guinness|location=Enfield|isbn=0-85112-359-7]
* July 23 - After successfully lobbying for a change in Canadian Federal regulations and a new city by-law to allow the service, the Ottawa Electric Railway begins Sunday operations. [cite web|title=Significant dates in Ottawa/Hull street and light railway history|date=3 December 2004|url=http://www.railways.incanada.net/candate/street.htm|accessdate=2005-07-19]
* July 30 - The Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis is formed to handle switching and transfer chores in St. Louis. The sponsoring railroads are the Missouri Pacific Railroad, Iron Mountain and Southern, Wabash Railroad, Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, Louisville and Nashville Railroad and the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad.

August events

* August 8 - Atlantic Coast Line Railroad predecessor Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company of South Carolina acquired from the Central of Georgia its half-interest in the lease of the Georgia Railroad; the ACL now had direct access to Atlanta, Georgia.

eptember events

* September 18 - The Gyeongin Line, predecessor Noryangjin to Jemulpo, and the first railway line built on the Korean peninsula, opens.

November events

* November 8 - Jōbu Railway is founded in Japan.
* November 15 - The New York Central railroad leases the Boston and Albany Railroad.

Unknown date events

* William Cornelius Van Horne retires as president of Canadian Pacific Railway; he is succeeded by Thomas George Shaughnessy.
* Alexander J. Cassatt becomes president of the Pennsylvania Railroad. [cite web|author=Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute|title=RPI: Alumni hall of fame: Alexander J. Cassatt|date=2005|url=http://www.rpi.edu/about/hof/cassatt.html|accessdate=2005-02-22]
* American Car and Foundry is formed from the merger of 13 smaller rolling stock manufacturers across the United States. [cite book| title=The Truth about the Trusts: A Description and Analysis of the American Trust| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=6Z5CAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22jackson+%26+woodin%22&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0| author=Moody, John| pages=p 217| accessdate=2008-04-16| location=New York| publisher=Moody Publishing Company| year=1904| ]
* Southern Car and Foundry, later to become part of American Car and Foundry, is founded in Memphis, Tennessee.
* Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway began operations in Ontario, Canada.
* Establishment in London, England, of The Railway Club, the oldest society in the world for railway enthusiasts. [cite web|url=http://www.therailwayclub.org/TheRailwayClub|title=The Railway Club|accessdate=2005-07-20] [cite book|author=Simmons, Jack|coauthors=Biddle, Gordon (ed.)|title=The Oxford Companion to British Railway History from 1603 to the 1990s|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1997|isbn=0-19-211697-5]

Births

January births

* January 15 - Robert Stetson Macfarlane, president of Northern Pacific Railway 1951-1966, is born. [cite book| author=Osthoff, Frederick C., editor|title=Who’s Who in Railroading in North America|location=New York|publisher=Simmons-Boardman|year=1968|page=314]

Unknown date births

* John W. Barriger III, president of the Monon Railroad 1946–1953, Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad 1954–1964, Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad 1965–1970 and the Boston and Maine Railroad 1973–1974 (d. 1976). [cite web|title=John W. Barriger; Rail historian and railfan|url=http://www.rosshorwood.com/RailSiteLinksFiles/JohnBarriger.html|accessdate=2005-02-22]

Deaths

eptember deaths

* September 12 - Cornelius Vanderbilt II, president of the New York Central system (b. 1843).

References

* White, John H., Jr. (Spring 1986), America's most noteworthy railroaders, "Railroad History", Railway and Locomotive Historical Society, 154, p. 9-15.