1870 in rail transport

Events

January events

* January 20 - The Elizabeth City and Norfolk Railroad, which later became the original Norfolk Southern Railroad, is chartered to build a railroad line between Norfolk, Virginia, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

February events

* February 24 - Delaware and Hudson Canal Company leases the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad, which extended from Albany to Binghamton, New York.

March events

* March 24 - Pennsylvania Railroad signs a 999-year lease of the Erie and Pittsburgh Railroad. [" [http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/rail/Prr/Corphist/e_p.html Corporate Genealogy: Erie & Pittsburgh] ". Retrieved March 24 2006.]
* March - Construction on the Kansas Pacific reaches Kit Carson, Colorado.

June events

* June - The Denver Pacific Railway completes construction of its mainline between Denver, Colorado, and Cheyenne, Wyoming.

July events

* July 24 - The first railroad car to travel the entire distance from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast of the United States arrives in New York City.

August events

* August - Construction crews on the Kansas Pacific working eastward from Denver and westward from Kansas City meet at Strasburg, Colorado.
* August - The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, building westward from Topeka, reaches Emporia, Kansas.
* August 2 - The Texas legislature approves the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (MKT) charter, which was originally granted by Kansas, allowing the MKT to build into the state.
* August 15 - Construction on the Kansas Pacific Railroad, building westward from Kansas, reaches Denver, Colorado.

September events

* September 24 - Ginery Twichell succeeds Henry Keyes as president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

Unknown date events

* The Southern Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad operations are merged under the Southern Pacific name.

Births

July births

* July 29 - Henry Fowler, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Midland Railway 1909–1923 and of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1925–1931 (d. 1938).

Deaths

April deaths

* April 26 - Zerah Colburn (locomotive designer) (suicide) (b. 1832). [cite book|author=Mortimer, John|title=Zerah Colburn: The Spirit of Darkness|isbn=1-84549-024-X|date=2005]

December deaths

* December - Byron Kilbourn, president of Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad 1849-1852 (b. 1801).
* December 8 - Thomas Brassey, English railway contractor who supervised the construction of more than 6500 miles (#expr:(6500 * 1.609344) round 0 km) of track around the world (b. 1805). [Helps, Arthur "The Life and Works of Mr Brassey", 1872 republished Nonsuch, 2006 ISBN 1845880110]

Unknown date deaths

* George S. Griggs, pioneering master mechanic of American steam locomotives (b. 1805).

References

* Rivanna Chapter, National Railway Historical Society (2005), " [http://avenue.org/nrhs/histaug.htm This Month in Railroad History: August] ". Retrieved August 15 2005.
* Rivanna Chapter, National Railway Historical Society (2005), " [http://avenue.org/nrhs/histjul.htm This Month in Railroad History: July] ". Retrieved July 22 2005.
* Santa Fe Railroad (1945), "Along Your Way", Rand McNally, Chicago, Illinois.
* Scripophily.com, " [http://www.scripophily.net/miskanandtex4.html Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company 1886] ". Retrieved August 2 2005.
*
*