1831 in rail transport
Encyclopedia
February events
- February 18 - The West Chester RailroadWest Chester RailroadThe West Chester Railroad is a privately owned and operated tourist railroad that runs between Market Street in West Chester, Pennsylvania in Chester County and the village of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania in Delaware County....
is chartered in PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
April events
- April 23 - the Pontchartrain Rail-RoadPontchartrain Rail-RoadPontchartrain Rail-Road was an early railway in New Orleans, Louisiana. Chartered in 1830, the railroad began traffic of people and goods between the Mississippi River front of New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain on 23 April, 1831, and closed more than 100 years later.The long line connected the...
begins operation. - April 25
- Matthias W. BaldwinMatthias W. BaldwinMatthias William Baldwin was an American manufacturer of steam locomotives. He opened his machine shop in 1825...
displays a model 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...
at the Philadelphia City Museum a year before building his first full-size locomotive for a working railroad. - The New York and Harlem RailroadNew York and Harlem RailroadThe New York and Harlem Railroad was one of the first railroads in the United States, and possibly also the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and 1852 between Lower Manhattan to and beyond Harlem...
is incorporated as a passenger carrier.
- Matthias W. Baldwin
May events
- May - Members of a ManchesterManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
(EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) Sunday SchoolSunday schoolSunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
are conveyed by a special train on the Liverpool and Manchester RailwayLiverpool and Manchester RailwayThe Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the world's first inter-city passenger railway in which all the trains were timetabled and were hauled for most of the distance solely by steam locomotives. The line opened on 15 September 1830 and ran between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester in North...
to LiverpoolLiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, the first recorded private railway excursion.
June events
- June 17 - The first boiler explosionBoiler explosionA boiler explosion is a catastrophic failure of a boiler. As seen today, boiler explosions are of two kinds. One kind is over-pressure in the pressure parts of the steam and water sides. The second kind is explosion in the furnace. Boiler explosions of pressure parts are particularly associated...
in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
occurs when the engineer on the Best Friend of CharlestonBest Friend of CharlestonThe Best Friend of Charleston was a steam-powered railroad locomotive. It is widely acclaimed as the first locomotive to be built entirely within the United States. It also produced the first locomotive boiler explosion in the US.- History :...
ties the steam safety pressure release valve shut. - June 18 - The John BullJohn Bull (locomotive)John Bull is a British-built railroad steam locomotive that operated in the United States. It was operated for the first time on September 15, 1831, and it became the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operated it in 1981...
is constructed by Robert Stephenson and CompanyRobert Stephenson and CompanyRobert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823. It was the first company set up specifically to build railway engines.- Foundation and early success :...
in EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. - June 21 - The Boston and Providence Rail RoadBoston and Providence Rail RoadThe Boston and Providence Railroad was an early US Railroad in New England, connecting Boston and Providence and is part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.-History:...
is incorporated and chartered to build a railroad connection between Boston, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode IslandProvidence, Rhode IslandProvidence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
. - June 23 - The Boston and Worcester Railroad is chartered to build a railroad between its namesake cities in MassachusettsMassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
July events
- July 4 - Opening of first section of Edinburgh and Dalkeith RailwayEdinburgh and Dalkeith RailwayThe Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway, also called the Innocent Railway, was Edinburgh's first railway. It carried coal from the mines in Lothian to its city centre terminus at St Leonards...
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...
.
- July 14 - The John BullJohn Bull (locomotive)John Bull is a British-built railroad steam locomotive that operated in the United States. It was operated for the first time on September 15, 1831, and it became the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operated it in 1981...
departs LiverpoolLiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
aboard the steamship Allegheny bound for Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
.
August events
- August 9 - The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, the first railroad built in New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
state, opens.
September events
- September 4 - The John BullJohn Bull (locomotive)John Bull is a British-built railroad steam locomotive that operated in the United States. It was operated for the first time on September 15, 1831, and it became the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operated it in 1981...
arrives in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
from LiverpoolLiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. - September 15 - The John BullJohn Bull (locomotive)John Bull is a British-built railroad steam locomotive that operated in the United States. It was operated for the first time on September 15, 1831, and it became the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operated it in 1981...
is operated for the first time on the Camden and Amboy Railroad. - September 24 - The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad opens between AlbanyAlbany, New YorkAlbany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
and Schenectady, New YorkSchenectady, New YorkSchenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
.
November events
- November 12 - Robert L. Stevens, president of the Camden and Amboy Railroad hosts a demonstration run of the John BullJohn Bull (locomotive)John Bull is a British-built railroad steam locomotive that operated in the United States. It was operated for the first time on September 15, 1831, and it became the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operated it in 1981...
for New JerseyNew JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
politicians and dignitaries.
Unknown date events
- The first railroad built in VirginiaVirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, the Chesterfield RailroadChesterfield RailroadThe Chesterfield Railroad was located in Chesterfield County, Virginia. It was a 13-mile long mule-and-gravity powered line that connected the Midlothian coal mines with wharves that were located at the head of navigation on the James River just below the fall line at Manchester...
, begins operations. - John B. JervisJohn B. JervisJohn Bloomfield Jervis was an American civil engineer. He was America's leading consulting engineer of the antebellum era . Jervis was a pioneer in the development of canals and railroads for the expanding United States...
becomes the chief engineer for the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, a predecessor of the New York Central. - First rail carriage of United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mail, by South Carolina Canal and Rail Road CompanySouth Carolina Canal and Rail Road CompanyChartered in 1827, the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company ran scheduled steam service over its line from Charleston, South Carolina, to Hamburg, South Carolina. beginning in 1833. At that time it was the longest railroad in the world...
.
March births
- March - Robert F. Fairlie, ScottishScotlandScotland 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...
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...
builder (d. 1885). - March 3 - George PullmanGeorge PullmanGeorge Mortimer Pullman was an American inventor and industrialist. He is known as the inventor of the Pullman sleeping car, and for violently suppressing striking workers in the company town he created, Pullman .-Background:Born in Brocton, New York, his family moved to Albion,...
, AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
inventor and industrialist, founder of the Pullman CompanyPullman CompanyThe Pullman Palace Car Company, founded by George Pullman, manufactured railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the early decades of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Pullman developed the sleeping car which carried his name into the 1980s...
(d. 1897)
August births
- August 26 - T. Jefferson Coolidge, president of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RailwayAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RailwayThe Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859...
1880–1881 (d. 1920).
Unknown date births
- Eli H. JanneyEli H. JanneyEli H. Janney , aka Eli Hamilton Janney or simply Eli Janney, was the inventor of the modern knuckle coupler that replaced link and pin couplers on North American railroads....
, inventor of the knuckle couplerCoupling (railway)A coupling is a mechanism for connecting rolling stock in a train. The design of the coupler is standard, and is almost as important as the railway gauge, since flexibility and convenience are maximised if all rolling stock can be coupled together.The equipment that connects the couplings to the...
(d. 1912).