1879 in rail transport

Events

February events

* February 10 – The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railway begins freight operations. [Friends of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, " [http://www.rrmuseumpa.org/education/historytimeline2.htm Railroad History Timeline] ". Retrieved February 10 2006.]

May events

* May – James J. Hill forms the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway from the assets of the bankrupt St. Paul and Pacific.
* May 17 – The Texas and St. Louis Railway, a predecessor of St. Louis Southwestern Railway, is organized as a way to ship cotton south to Texas. [cite web| url=http://us.geocities.com/TheTropics/8199/c_belt.html| title=The History of St. Louis Southwestern Railway| author=Beck, Wayne| year=1957| accessdate=2006-05-17| ]
* May 31 – The first electric railway opens at the Berlin Trades Exposition.

July events

* July 4 – The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, building southwestward from Kansas, reaches Las Vegas, New Mexico. [Santa Fe Railroad (1945), "Along Your Way", Rand McNally, Chicago, Illinois.]

November events

* November 1 – The first British dining car service leaves Leeds for London King's Cross. This was provided by the Pullman car "Princess of Wales" which accommodated only 10 first-class passengers.
* November 22 – The North Pennsylvania Railroad begins operating the Philadelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad, a subsidiary of Pennsylvania Railroad.

December events

* December 28 – The North British Railway's Tay Bridge across the Firth of Tay in Scotland collapses in a violent storm while a passenger train is crossing it. 75 lives are lost. [cite book|last=Thomas|first=John|title=The North British Railway, vol. 1|date=1969|publisher=David & Charles|location=Newton Abbot|isbn=0-7153-4697-0] William Topaz McGonagall produces his epic poem "The Tay Bridge Disaster" to commemorate the event.

Unknown date events

* Southern Pacific Railroad engineers experiment with the first oil-fired steam locomotives.

Births

March births

* March 6 – Patrick H. Joyce, president Chicago Great Western Railway 1931-1946, is born (d. 1946).

April births

* April 24 – Oris Paxton Van Sweringen, American financier who, with his brother Mantis, controlled the Nickel Plate Road and other eastern railroads (d. 1936).

October births

* October 18 – Charles Eugene Denney, president of Erie Railroad 1929-1939, Northern Pacific Railway 1939-1950, is born. [cite book| title=Who’s Who In Railroading in North America, 1940 edition| location=New York| publisher=Simmons-Boardman| year=1940| page=161 ]

Unknown date births

* Ralph Budd, president of the Great Northern Railway 1919-1932 and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad 1932-1949 (d. 1962).

Deaths

References

* (2000), " [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/streamliners/peopleevents/p_rbudd.html American Experience / Streamliners / People & Events / Ralph Budd] ". Retrieved February 22 2005.
* President and Fellows of Harvard College (2004), " [http://www.hbs.edu/leadership/database/leaders/108/ 20th century great American business leaders - Ralph Budd] ". Retrieved February 22 2005.
* " [http://www.todayinsci.com/5/5_31.htm Today in Science History: May 31] ". Retrieved May 27, 2005.
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