1883 in rail transport
Encyclopedia
January events
- January 10 – The Columbus, Chicago and Indiana Central Railway enters bankruptcy and is sold at foreclosureForeclosureForeclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...
. - January 12 – The second transcontinental railroadTranscontinental railroadA transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...
line in North America is completed as the Southern Pacific RailroadSouthern Pacific RailroadThe Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
tracks from Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, meet the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio at the Pecos RiverPecos RiverThe headwaters of the Pecos River are located north of Pecos, New Mexico, United States, at an elevation of over 12,000 feet on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County. The river flows for through the eastern portion of that state and neighboring Texas before it...
. The golden spike is driven by Col. Tom Pierce, the GH&SA president, atop the Pecos River High BridgePecos River High BridgeThe Pecos River High Bridge carries the Southern Pacific Railroad across the Pecos River gorge and is the second high-level crossing on this site. The first, designed by SP chief engineer Julius Kruttschnitt, was built by the Phoenix Bridge Company and completed in 1892... - January 29 – Narrow gaugeNarrow gaugeA narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...
Bridgton and Saco River RailroadBridgton and Saco River RailroadThe Bridgton and Saco River Railroad was a gauge railroad that operated in the vicinity of Bridgton and Harrison, Maine. It connected with the Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad from Portland, Maine, to St...
opens to Bridgton, Maine.
February events
- February – Central Pacific RailroadCentral Pacific RailroadThe Central Pacific Railroad is the former name of the railroad network built between California and Utah, USA that formed part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America. It is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Many 19th century national proposals to build a transcontinental...
completes construction of the largest locomotiveLocomotiveA locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
in the world for its time, El GobernadorEl GobernadorEl Gobernador was a 4-10-0 steam locomotive built by Central Pacific Railroad at the railroad's Sacramento, California shops. It was the last of Central Pacific's locomotives to receive an official name and was also the only locomotive of this wheel arrangement to operate on United States rails...
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March events
- March 30 – Construction on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad reaches Salt Lake City, UtahSalt Lake City, UtahSalt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
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June events
- June 5 – The first Express d'Orient is operated between Paris and ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
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August events
- August
- The Toledo, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad enters receivership.
- The Atlantic and Pacific RailroadAtlantic and Pacific RailroadThe Atlantic and Pacific Railroad was a U.S. railroad that owned or operated two disjoint segments, one connecting St. Louis, Missouri with Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the other connecting Albuquerque, New Mexico with Southern California. It was incorporated by the U.S. Congress in 1866 as a...
, later to become part of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, building westward from Albuquerque, New MexicoAlbuquerque, New MexicoAlbuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
, reaches Needles, CaliforniaNeedles, CaliforniaNeedles is a city located in the Mojave Desert on the western banks of the Colorado River in San Bernardino County, California. It is located in the Mohave Valley, which straddles the California–Arizona border. The city is accessible via Interstate 40 and U.S. Route 95...
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- August 4 – Volk's Electric RailwayVolk's Electric RailwayVolk's Electric Railway is the oldest operating electric railway in the world. It is a narrow gauge railway that runs along a length of the seafront of the English seaside resort of Brighton...
, the first of its kind in Britain, opens at BrightonBrightonBrighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
. - August 11 – The California Southern RailroadCalifornia Southern RailroadThe California Southern Railroad was a subsidiary railroad of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in Southern California. It was organized July 10, 1880, and chartered on October 23, 1880, to build a rail connection between what has become the city of Barstow and San Diego,...
receives a court order in its favor ordering the Southern Pacific RailroadSouthern Pacific RailroadThe Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
(SP) to allow it to cross SP tracks at Colton, CaliforniaColton, CaliforniaColton is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The city is located in the Inland Empire region of the state and is approximately 57 miles east of Los Angeles. The population of Colton is 52,154 according to the 2010 census, up from 47,662 at the 2000 census.Colton is the...
. - August 18 – Construction on the Canadian Pacific RailwayCanadian Pacific RailwayThe Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
reaches Calgary, Alberta.
September events
- September 5 – Narrow gaugeNarrow gaugeA narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...
Monson RailroadMonson RailroadThe Monson Railroad was a gauge narrow gauge railroad which operated between Monson Junction on the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad and Monson, Maine. The primary purpose of this railroad was to serve several slate mines and finishing houses in Monson...
opens to Monson, MaineMonson, MaineMonson is a town in Piscataquis County, Maine, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town had a population of 666. The town is located on Route 15 which is a somewhat major route north to the well known Moosehead Lake Region, to which Monson is sometimes considered a gateway...
. - September 8 – Northern Pacific RailwayNorthern Pacific RailwayThe Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...
completes its connection to the Pacific coast in Washington TerritoryWashington TerritoryThe Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
with a final spike ceremony at Gold CreekGold Creek (Montana)Gold Creek is a creek in southwestern Montana, United States, on Interstate 90 northwest of Garrison, between Butte and Missoula. It flows through parts of Granite County and Powell County and empties into the Clark Fork at the ghost town of Goldcreek , northwest of the town of Garrison.In 1852,...
, MontanaMontanaMontana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
. - September 13 – A month after a frog warFrog warIn American railroading, a frog war occurs when a private railroad company attempts to cross the tracks of another, and this results in hostilities, with the courts usually getting involved, but often long after companies have taken the matter in their own hands and settled, with hordes of workers...
with the Southern Pacific RailroadSouthern Pacific RailroadThe Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
in Colton, CaliforniaColton, CaliforniaColton is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The city is located in the Inland Empire region of the state and is approximately 57 miles east of Los Angeles. The population of Colton is 52,154 according to the 2010 census, up from 47,662 at the 2000 census.Colton is the...
, the first California Southern RailroadCalifornia Southern RailroadThe California Southern Railroad was a subsidiary railroad of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in Southern California. It was organized July 10, 1880, and chartered on October 23, 1880, to build a rail connection between what has become the city of Barstow and San Diego,...
train arrives in San BernardinoSan Bernardino, CaliforniaSan Bernardino is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area , and serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States...
. - September 28 – Formal opening of first electrified section of Giant's Causeway TramwayGiant's Causeway TramwayThe Giant's Causeway Tramway, operated by the Giant's Causeway, Portrush and Bush Valley Railway & Tramway Company Ltd, was a pioneering gauge electric narrow gauge railway operating between Portrush and the Giant's Causeway on the coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland...
in Ireland, utilising hydroelectricityHydroelectricityHydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
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October events
- October 4 – The first ever Express d'OrientOrient ExpressThe Orient Express is the name of a long-distance passenger train service originally operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. It ran from 1883 to 2009 and is not to be confused with the Venice-Simplon Orient Express train service, which continues to run.The route and rolling stock...
passenger train service leaves Paris for ConstantinopleConstantinopleConstantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
(now IstanbulIstanbulIstanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
) in the Ottoman EmpireOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
(Turkey), by way of MunichMunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, BudapestBudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, BucharestBucharestBucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, Giurgiu, then, with passengers crossing the Danube by boat, a second train from Rustchuk to VarnaVarnaVarna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
, and from there by boat Espero to Constantinople. The train is officially renamed Orient ExpressOrient ExpressThe Orient Express is the name of a long-distance passenger train service originally operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. It ran from 1883 to 2009 and is not to be confused with the Venice-Simplon Orient Express train service, which continues to run.The route and rolling stock...
in 1891. - October 30 – Two Clan na GaelClan na GaelThe Clan na Gael was an Irish republican organization in the United States in the late 19th and 20th centuries, successor to the Fenian Brotherhood and a sister organization to the Irish Republican Brotherhood...
dynamiteDynamiteDynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...
bombs explode in the London UndergroundLondon UndergroundThe London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
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November events
- November 18 – Standard time zones introduced on American and Canadian railroads, as agreed by the General Time ConventionAmerican Railway AssociationThe American Railway Association was an industry trade group representing railroads in the United States. The organization had its inception in meetings of General Managers and ranking railroad operating officials known as Time Table Conventions, the first of which was held on October 1, 1872, at...
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Unknown date events
- The National Railway Appliance Exhibition is held in Chicago, Illinois.
- William Henry VanderbiltWilliam Henry VanderbiltWilliam Henry Vanderbilt I was an American businessman and a member of the prominent Vanderbilt family.-Childhood:William Vanderbilt was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1821...
resigns from the presidency of the New York Central system and appoints his heirs to chairmanship positions in the system's constituent railroad companies. James H. Rutter succeeds Vanderbilt as president. - Franklin B. GowenFranklin B. GowenFranklin Benjamin Gowen served as president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad in the 1870s and 1880s....
retires from the presidency of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad.
- First electric railways in North America: experimental lines at TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
International Exhibition and by Leo DaftLeo DaftLeo Daft was an English professor and builder of early American urban railroads.He led the construction of an electrical railroad in Newark, New Jersey, in 1883, of the Baltimore and Hampden Electric Railway in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore in 1885, and of the Los Angeles Electric...
in Newark, New JerseyNewark, New JerseyNewark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
. - Philip Armour founds Armour Refrigerator LineArmour Refrigerator LineThe Armour Refrigerator Line was a private refrigerator car line established in 1883 by Chicago meat packer Philip Armour, the founder of Armour and Company....
, as a subsidiary of his meatpacking firm Armour and CompanyArmour and CompanyArmour & Company was an American slaughterhouse and meatpacking company founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1867 by the Armour brothers, led by Philip Danforth Armour. By 1880, the company was Chicago's most important business and helped make the city and its Union Stock Yards the center of the...
, to operate refrigerator carRefrigerator carA refrigerator car is a refrigerated boxcar , a piece of railroad rolling stock designed to carry perishable freight at specific temperatures. Refrigerator cars differ from simple insulated boxcars and ventilated boxcars , neither of which are fitted with cooling apparatus...
s that will carry Armour meat products. - The Colorado Midland RailwayColorado Midland RailwayThe Colorado Midland Railway , incorporated in 1883, was the first standard gauge railroad built over the Continental Divide in Colorado. It ran from Colorado Springs to Leadville and through the divide at Hagerman Pass to Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction....
is incorporated. - Chicago, Burlington and Quincy RailroadChicago, Burlington and Quincy RailroadThe Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington or as the Q, the Burlington Route served a large area, including extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri,...
fully acquires the Hannibal and St. Joseph RailroadHannibal and St. Joseph RailroadThe Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was the first railroad to cross Missouri starting in Hannibal in the northeast and going to St. Joseph, Missouri, in the northwest...
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January births
- January 14 – William Valentine WoodWilliam Valentine WoodWilliam Valentine Wood worked for much of his life on the London, Midland and Scottish Railway , rising to become its President. He was known for his ability with numbers.-Biography:...
, president of the London, Midland and Scottish RailwayLondon, Midland and Scottish RailwayThe London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
1941-8 (d. 1959).
December births
- December 27 – Cyrus S. EatonCyrus S. EatonCyrus Stephen Eaton was a Canadian-born investment banker, businessman and philanthropist in the United States, with a career that spanned seventy years....
, president of the Chesapeake and Ohio RailwayChesapeake and Ohio RailwayThe Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P...
in the 1950s (d. 1979).
January deaths
- January 13 – Webster WagnerWebster WagnerWebster Wagner was a postmaster, state official and inventor. He was born near Palatine Bridge, New York and worked as a wagon maker alongside of other family members....
, founder of Wagner Palace Car Company, dies (b. 1817).
July deaths
- July 23 – Ginery TwichellGinery TwichellGinery Twichell was president of the Boston and Worcester Railroad in the 1860s, the Republican Representative for Massachusetts for three consecutive terms and the sixth president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.He was born on in Athol, Massachusetts. Some references list his actual...
, president of the Boston and Worcester Railroad beginning in 1857, president of the 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...
1870-1873 (b. 1811).
October deaths
- October 4 – Henry FarnamHenry FarnamHenry Farnam was an American philanthropist and railroad president. He was born in Scipio, New York, and grew up working on his father's farm. By his teenage years, he had begun studying mathematics on his own and in 1820 he gained employment initially as a camp cook on the Erie Canal...
, president of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific RailroadChicago, Rock Island and Pacific RailroadThe Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.-Incorporation:...
1854-1863 (b. 1803).
Unknown date deaths
- William SwinburneWilliam SwinburneWilliam Swinburne was a pioneering builder of steam locomotives in the United States.Swinburne was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1805. By 1833 he had moved to Paterson, New Jersey, where, in 1837 he was employed by Rogers, Ketchum and Grosvenor as a pattern maker. He left Rogers employ in 1848...
, American locomotive designer and builder (b. 1805).