1871 in rail transport
Encyclopedia
February events
- February 10 - Launceston and Western RailwayLaunceston and Western RailwayThe Western Line, previously known as the Launceston and Western Line is a 78Km freight rail corridor that runs from Western Junction to Wiltshire in Tasmania, Australia...
opens as the first line in TasmaniaTasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, 45 mi (72.4 km) of 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) gaugeBroad gaugeBroad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
between DeloraineDeloraine, TasmaniaDeloraine is a town on the Meander River, in the central north of Tasmania, Australia. It lies 50 km west of Launceston and 52 km south of Devonport along the Bass Highway. It is part of the Meander Valley Council. At the 2006 census, Deloraine had a population of 2,243.The region was...
and LauncestonLaunceston, TasmaniaLaunceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
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June events
- June 18 - The canton of Basel-CountryBasel-CountryBasel-Landschaft , is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. The capital is Liestal...
grants a concession for the construction of a narrow gauge railway from LiestalLiestalLiestal is the capital of the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland, south of Basel.It is an industrial town with a cobbled-street Old Town.-History:...
to WaldenburgWaldenburgWaldenburg is the name of several places:* Waldenburg, Saxony, Germany* Waldenburg, Baden-Württemberg* Waldenburg, Switzerland*the former German name for Wałbrzych, Poland* Waldenburg, Arkansas, USAWaldenburg is also a surname:* Louis Waldenburg...
and eventually further to LangenbruckLangenbruckLangenbruck is a municipality in the district of Waldenburg in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland.-Geography:Langenbruck has an area, , of . Of this area, or 51.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 44.2% is forested...
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July events
- July 12 - The first narrow gauge railway in North AmericaNorth AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, the Toronto and Nipissing RailwayToronto and Nipissing RailwayThe Toronto and Nipissing Railway was chartered in 1868 to build a narrow gauge railway in Ontario, Canada from Toronto to Lake Nipissing, via York, Ontario, and Victoria Counties. It opened in 1871, with service between Scarborough and Uxbridge. By December 1872 it was extended to Coboconk...
, using a track gaugeRail gaugeTrack gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...
of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), opens to Uxbridge. - July 22 - The Canada Central Railway holds an official groundbreakingGroundbreakingGroundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are often attended by dignitaries such as politicians and...
ceremony at RenfrewRenfrew, OntarioRenfrew, Ontario, Canada, is a town on the Bonnechere River in Renfrew County. Located one hour west of Ottawa in Eastern Ontario, Renfrew is the third largest town in the county after Petawawa and Pembroke. The town is a small transportation hub connecting Ontario Highway 60 and Highway 132 with...
for the railroad's section between there and Sand Point, OntarioSand Point, OntarioSand Point is a community in the township of McNab/Braeside, Ontario, Canada, along the Ottawa River, roughly six miles to the west of Arnprior on the River Road...
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August events
- August 5 - The New Haven and Derby Railroad, a predecessor of the New Haven Railroad in ConnecticutConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, opens between New HavenNew Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
and Derby Junction (AnsoniaAnsonia, ConnecticutAnsonia is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, on the Naugatuck River, immediately north of Derby and about northwest of New Haven. The population was 19,249 at the 2010 census. The ZIP code for Ansonia is 06401. The city is serviced by the Metro North railroad...
).
- August 26 - The Eastern Railroad An express train crashes into the rear of a local at the tiny Revere station, killing 29 and injuring 57. Either a station-to-station telegraph system, or the Westinghouse air braking system, could have prevented this accident. Public outrage, lawsuits and regulations after this crash finally forces most railroads in America to install both.
September events
- September 17 - The FréjusFréjus Rail TunnelThe Fréjus Rail Tunnel is a rail tunnel of length in the European Alps, carrying the Turin–Modane railway through Mount Cenis to an end on connection with the Culoz–Modane railway and linking Modane, France and Bardonecchia, Italy...
(or Mont Cenis) Tunnel (13.7 km (8.5 mi)) is opened carrying the Fréjus railway beneath Mont CenisMont CenisMont Cenis is a massif and pass in Savoie in France which forms the limit between the Cottian and Graian Alps.A road over the pass was built between 1803 and 1810 by Napoleon...
in the AlpsAlpsThe Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
and connecting Modane, France and BardonecchiaBardonecchiaBardonecchia is an Italian town and comune located in the Province of Turin, in the Piedmont region, in the western part of Susa Valley....
, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. - September 18 - The second narrow gauge railway in North AmericaNorth AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, the Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway, using a track gaugeRail gaugeTrack gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...
of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), opens to Orangeville, OntarioOrangeville, OntarioOrangeville is a town in south-central Ontario, Canada, and the seat of Dufferin County.-History:Before European settlers, Orangeville was thought to be a native hunting ground...
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October events
- October - Portland gauge European and North American RailwayEuropean and North American RailwayThe European and North American Railway is the name for three historic Canadian and American railways which were built in New Brunswick and Maine....
is completed linking New EnglandNew EnglandNew England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
to the MaritimesMaritimesThe Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...
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November events
- November 2 - Finnish State RailwaysVR GroupVR or VR Group is a state-owned railway company in Finland. Formerly known as Suomen Valtion Rautatiet until 1922 and Valtionrautatiet / Statsjärnvägarna until 1995...
opened in Russia Sestroretsk spur line of BeloostrovBeloostrovBeloostrov , from 1922 to World War II—Krasnoostrov , is a municipal settlement in Kurortny District of the federal city of Saint Petersburg, Russia, located on the Sestra River, Karelian Isthmus, and a key station of the Saint Petersburg-Vyborg railroad since 1870 at the junction of Saint...
to Sestroretsk rail stationSestroretsk rail station 1871-1924Sestroretsk railway station was a railway station in Sestroretsk, Russia handling transportation to northern destinations including Beloostrov and Sestroretsk....
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Unknown date events
- The United New Jersey Railroad and Canal CompanyUnited New Jersey Railroad and Canal CompanyThe United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company was part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system in New Jersey, including their main line to New York City...
, which owns the assets of the first railroad built in 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...
(the Camden and Amboy Railroad), is merged into 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.... - The Richmond and Danville RailroadRichmond and Danville RailroadThe Richmond and Danville Railroad was chartered in Virginia in the United States in 1847. The portion between Richmond and Danville, Virginia was completed in 1856...
acquires the North Carolina RailroadNorth Carolina RailroadThe North Carolina Railroad is a state-owned rail corridor extending from Morehead City, North Carolina to Charlotte, North Carolina. The railroad carries over seventy freight trains and eight passenger trains daily...
. - The owners of the Wilmington and Raleigh RailroadWilmington and Raleigh RailroadChartered in 1834, the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad began operations in 1840 between Wilmington, North Carolina and Weldon, NC. With 161.5 miles of track, it is said to have been the longest railroad in the world at the time of its completion....
and the Wilmington and Manchester RailroadWilmington and Manchester RailroadThe Wilmington and Manchester Railroad was a railroad that served South Carolina and North Carolina before, during and after the American Civil War...
begin using the name Atlantic Coast Line in advertising to describe the two railroads. - The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad reaches Dodge City, KansasDodge City, KansasDodge City is a city in, and the county seat of, Ford County, Kansas, United States. Named after nearby Fort Dodge, the city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town of the Old West. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,340.-History:The first settlement of...
. - The Portland gauge Maine Central RailroadMaine Central RailroadThe Maine Central Railroad Company was a railroad in central and southern Maine. It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. It operated a mainline between South Portland, Maine, east to the Canada-U.S...
converts to a standard gaugeStandard gaugeThe standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
mainline from PortlandPortland, MainePortland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
to BangorBangor, MaineBangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
after leasing the standard gauge Portland and Kennebec Railroad. - Ensign Manufacturing CompanyEnsign Manufacturing CompanyEnsign Manufacturing Company, founded as Ensign Car Works in 1872, was a railroad car manufacturing company based in Huntington, West Virginia. In the 1880s and 1890s Ensign's production of wood freight cars made the company of the three largest sawmill operators in Cabell County...
, later to become part of American Car and Foundry, is founded in Huntington, West VirginiaHuntington, West VirginiaHuntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, for which it is the county seat. A small portion of the city, mainly the neighborhood of Westmoreland, is in Wayne County. Its population was 49,138 at...
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September deaths
- September 6 - John A. PoorJohn A. PoorJohn Alfred Poor was an American lawyer, editor, and entrepreneur best remembered for his association with the Grand Trunk Railway and his role in developing the railroad system in Maine. He was the older brother of Henry Varnum Poor of Standard & Poor's, who was his partner in some business...
, advocate of the Portland gauge (b. 1808).
December deaths
- December 14 - George HudsonGeorge HudsonGeorge Hudson , English railway financier, known as "The Railway King", was born, the fifth son of a farmer, in Howsham, in the parish of Scrayingham in the East Riding of Yorkshire, north of Stamford Bridge, east of York. He is buried in Scrayingham...
, EnglishEnglandEngland 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...
railway financier, "The Railway King" (b. 1800).
Unknown date deaths
- Robert B. Dockray, civil engineerCivil engineeringCivil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
on the London and Birmingham RailwayLondon and Birmingham RailwayThe London and Birmingham Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway ....
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...
(b. 1811).