1873 in rail transport

Events

January events

* January 21 - The New York, Boston and Montreal Railway is organized as a renaming of the New York, Boston and Northern Railway.

April events

* April 1 - Eli H. Janney files for a patent on "Improvement in Car-Couplings".
* April 29 - Eli H. Janney is awarded US patent|138405 for his knuckle coupler design.

May events

* May 10 - The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, building westward from Kansas, reaches Granada, Colorado.
* May 22 - Henry Strong succeeds Ginery Twichell as president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

June events

* June - The Southern Pacific Railroad builds its first steam locomotive at the railroad's Sacramento, California, shops as CP's 2nd number 55, a 4-4-0.
* June 2 - Construction begins on Clay Street in San Francisco, California, for the first cable railway in the world, the Clay Street Hill Railroad (later to become part of the San Francisco cable car system).
* June 14 - The Denver, South Park and Pacific Railway is reorganized with greater capital as the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad.

July events

* July 1 - The Isle of Man Railway opens its first line, from Douglas to Peel.

August events

* August 2 - The first prototypes of the San Francisco cable car system are tested at the top of Nob Hill by Andrew Hallidie.
* August 4 - The Ross and Monmouth Railway's line from Monmouth, Wales, to Ross on Wye, England, opens.

September events

* September 20 - In order to contain the Panic of 1873, brought on by the failure of Jay Cooke and Company in financing the Northern Pacific Railway, the New York Stock Exchange halts all trading and closes for ten days.
* September 22 - Western Counties Railway holds official groundbreaking ceremonies at Lovitt's Wharf, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, Canada.

October events

* October 3 - Grand Trunk Railway begins converting its track between Stratford, Ontario, and Montreal from 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) (broad gauge) to RailGauge|sg (standard gauge); the conversion is completed within 24 hours.

December events

* December 23 - The first section of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad is opened between Topeka, Kansas, and the Colorado/Kansas border.
* December 24 - Opening of first steam-operated passenger railway in the North Island of New Zealand, from Auckland to Onehunga (3ft 6in (1067 mm) gauge).

Unknown date events

* Under the direction of Cornelius Vanderbilt, the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad tracks reach Chicago, Illinois.
* St. Charles Car Company, later to become part of American Car and Foundry, is founded in St. Charles, Missouri.
* Matthew Baird retires from his management and ownership position at Baldwin Locomotive Works.

Births

Deaths

Johns Hopkins died without heirs on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1873. He left $7 million, mostly in Baltimore & Ohio Railroad stock, to establish his namesake institutions. This sum was the single largest philanthropic donation ever made to educational institutions up until that time.

References

* Baker Library Historical Collections, " [http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/sfa/atchison,_topeka.htm Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Records, 1879-1896] ". Retrieved May 10 2005.
* Colin Churcher's Railway Pages (August 16 2005), " [http://www.railways.incanada.net/candate/candate.htm Significant dates in Canadian railway history] ". Retrieved September 30 2005.
* CPRR.org (2004), " [http://www.cprr.org/Museum/Ephemera/Link-Pin_Couplers.html Link and Pin Couplers] "; includes a scanned copy of the patent application. Retrieved March 31 2005.
* Davis, J. J., "Railway Magazine" (February 1959), " [http://www.urban75.org/photos/wales/wye_valley.html The Railways of Monmouth] ". Retrieved August 4 2005.
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* Rising Sun Publications (2003), " [http://www.sfcablecar.com/hist1.html San Francisco Cable Car History] ". Retrieved August 2 2005.
* Santa Fe Railroad (1945), "Along Your Way", Rand McNally, Chicago, Illinois.
* Smith, Ivan; Railways of Canada Archives (1998), " [http://www.trainweb.org/canadianrailways/articles/SignificantDatesInNSRailwayHistoryPart2.html Significant Dates in Nova Scotia's Railway History (1850- 1899)] ". Retrieved September 22 2005.
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