1808 in rail transport
Encyclopedia
February events
- February 8 – The Washington Bridge Company is granted authority in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, to build the Long Bridge14th Street Bridge (Washington, D.C.)The 14th Street Bridge is a complex of five bridges across the Potomac River, connecting Arlington, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Three of the spans are each four-lane automobile bridges—one northbound, one southbound, and one with two general purpose lanes in each direction—that carry Interstate...
over the Potomac RiverPotomac RiverThe Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
, a bridge that will eventually be rebuilt to carry the first railroad tracks to cross the river.
May events
- May 27 – The Kilmarnock and Troon RailwayKilmarnock and Troon RailwayThe Kilmarnock and Troon Railway was the first railway line in Scotland authorised by Act of Parliament, in 1808; the engineer was William Jessop. It was the first railway in Scotland to use a steam locomotive; and it was the only one in Scotland for fourteen years...
becomes the first railway line in ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
authorised by Act of ParliamentAct of ParliamentAn Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
.
July events
- July 8 through September 18 – Richard TrevithickRichard TrevithickRichard Trevithick was a British inventor and mining engineer from Cornwall. His most significant success was the high pressure steam engine and he also built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive...
's steam locomotiveSteam locomotiveA steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
Catch Me Who Can is demonstrated in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
February births
- February 10 – John Edgar ThomsonJohn Edgar ThomsonJohn Edgar Thomson was an American civil engineer and industrialist. Thomson was an entrepreneur best known for his leadership of the Pennsylvania Railroad from 1852 until his death 1874, making it the largest business enterprise in the world and a world-class model for technological and...
, president of the Pennsylvania RailroadPennsylvania RailroadThe Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
1852-1874 (d. 1874).
March births
- March 19 – Johann Andreas SchubertJohann Andreas SchubertJohann-Andreas Schubert was a German general engineer , designer and university lecturer.- Life :Schubert was born on 19 March 1808 in Wernesgrün in the state of Saxony in Germany...
, builder of the first GermanGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
steam locomotiveSteam locomotiveA steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
, SaxoniaSaxonia (locomotive)The locomotive Saxonia was operated by the Leipzig-Dresden Railway Company and was the first practical working steam locomotive built in Germany. Its name means Saxony in Latin.- History :...
, is born in WernesgrünSteinberg, SaxonySteinberg is a municipality in the Vogtlandkreis district, in Saxony, Germany. It was established in 1994 by the merger of the three villages Rothenkirchen, Wernesgrün and Wildenau and named after the nearby Steinberg , part of the Ore Mountains.Wernesgrün is home of the Wernesgrüner brewery....
(d. 1870).
Unknown date births
- George Muirson Totten, chief construction engineer for the Panama RailwayPanama RailwayThe Panama Canal Railway Company is a railway line that links the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean across Panama in Central America. It is jointly owned by the Kansas City Southern Railway and Mi-Jack Products...
(d. 1884).