1847 in rail transport

Events

February events

* February 26 – The Somerville and Easton Railroad, a predecessor of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, is chartered.

March events

* March 9 – The Richmond and Danville Railroad is chartered in Virginia.
* March 15 – The Amiens-Boulogne line in France opens between Abbeville and Étaples.cite web| url=http://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=15_mars_dans_les_chemins_de_fer&oldid=14209552| title=15 mars dans les chemins de fer|language=French|date=2007-02-16|accessdate=2007-03-15]
* March 16 – The Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway opens between Shipley and Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. [cite book|title=Railways Through Airedale & Wharfedale|last=Bairstow|first=Martin|publisher=Martin Bairstow|location=Leeds|date=2004|isbn=1-871944-28-7]

April events

* April 19 – The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, a predecessor of the New York Central Railroad, officially changes its name to Albany and Schenectady Railroad.

May events

* May 24 – The Dee bridge disaster: a cast iron girder bridge across the river Dee at Chester, England, designed by Robert Stephenson for the Chester and Holyhead Railway, collapses under a Shrewsbury and Chester Railway train with five fatalities. [cite book|author=Lewis, Peter R.|title=Disaster on the Dee: Robert Stephenson's Nemesis of 1847|publisher=Tempus Publishing|location=Stroud|date=2007|isbn=978-0-7524-4266-2]
* May 31 – The first railway connection between Rotterdam and The Hague opens in the Netherlands. [cite web|author=BrainyMedia.com|date=2005|url=http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1847/may_31_1847_52019.html|title=Rotterdam-Hague Railway opens|accessdate=2005-05-27]

June events

* June – The first "Bradshaws Continental Railway Guide" timetable is published by George Bradshaw in England.
* June 26 – Opening of first railway wholly within modern-day Denmark, from Copenhagen to Roskilde.cite book|author=Marshall, John|title=The Guinness Railway Book|date=1989|publisher=Guinness|location=Enfield|isbn=0-85112-359-7]

July events

* July 9 – The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway is incorporated as an amalgamation of several important railway lines in Northern England. [cite book|author=Marshall, John|title=The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, vol. 1|date=1969|publisher=David & Charles|location=Newton Abbot|isbn=0-7153-4352-1]

August events

* August 9 – Opening of first railway wholly within Switzerland, from Zürich to Baden.

eptember events

* September 22 – The Railway Clearing House in Great Britain recommends that Greenwich Mean Time be adopted as the standard time for all railways in the United Kingdom. [cite web|url=http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/d.html|title=Daylight Saving Time - Standard time begain with the railroads|accessdate=2005-09-22]

December events

* December 1
** The London and North Western Railway opens its Trent Valley Line to give a more direct route for the West Coast Main Line to North West England, bypassing Birmingham. [cite book|author=Clinker, C. R.|title=Railways of the West Midlands – a chronology, 1808-1954|publisher=Stephenson Locomotive Society|location=London]
** The first time zone in the world is established by British railways with GMT hand-carried on chronometers.

Unknown date events

* John Urpeth Rastrick retires from Foster, Rastrick and Company, the English firm that built the first steam locomotives for the Delaware and Hudson Railroad. [cite web|author=Bedwell, Carolyn|date=2002|url=http://www.kylenano.demon.co.uk/rastrick/jur-summary.htm|title=John Urpeth Rastrick|accessdate=2005-04-04]

Births

October births

* October 6 - Webb C. Ball, watchmaker who introduced the first truly reliable and accurate timepieces on American railroads.

Deaths

References