1888 in rail transport
Encyclopedia
February events
- February 24 - Grand Trunk RailwayGrand Trunk RailwayThe Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
acquires the Northern and Northwestern Railway. - February 29 – Opening of Listowel and Ballybunion monorail.
April events
- April 1 - The Old Colony RailroadOld Colony RailroadThe Old Colony Railroad was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island. It operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, New Bedford, Newport, Providence, Fitchburg, Lowell and Cape Cod...
leases the Boston and Providence Railroad for a period of 99 years.
June events
- June 15 - The first train to Casper, WyomingCasper, WyomingCasper is the county seat of Natrona County, Wyoming, United States.. Casper is the second-largest city in Wyoming , according to the 2010 census, with a population of 55,316...
, operating on the Chicago and North Western RailwayChicago and North Western RailwayThe Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was a Class I railroad in the Midwest United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s...
, arrives.
August events
- August 12 - 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...
subsidiary companies complete construction of the final link in what has come to be known as the Surf LineSurf LineThe Surf Line is a railroad line that runs from San Diego north to Los Angeles along California's Pacific Coast. It is so named because much of the line is near the Pacific Ocean, within less than 100 feet in places...
connecting Los AngelesLos 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...
and San DiegoSan Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
.
September events
- September 10 - The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway (later to become known as the Milwaukee Road) operates the first passenger train with electric lights (rather than gas lights) in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
west of Chicago, Illinois, on a train between Chicago and the Twin Cities. - September 18 - The first revenue train on the Canada Atlantic RailwayCanada Atlantic RailwayThe Canada Atlantic Railway Company , the creation of lumber baron John Rudolphus Booth, was for a short period an important participant in the development of trans-Canada railway systems at the end of the 19th century...
's Chaudière Extension departs for Chaudière FallsChaudière FallsThe Chaudière Falls are a set of cascades and waterfall in the centre of the Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan area in Canada where the Ottawa River narrows between a rocky escarpment on both sides of the river. The location is just west of the Chaudière Bridge, northwest of the Canadian War Museum at...
, OntarioOntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
(near OttawaOttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
).
November events
- November 10 - Opening of Saint-ChélySaint-ChélySaint-Chély may refer to several places in France:* Saint-Chély-d'Apcher, in the Lozère department* Saint-Chély-d'Aubrac, in the Aveyron department* Saint-Chély-du-Tarn, in the Lozère department* Mas-Saint-Chély, in the Lozère department...
–Neussargues line in FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
over Garabit viaductGarabit viaductThe Garabit Viaduct is a railway arch bridge spanning the Truyère river near Ruynes-en-Margeride , Cantal, France, in the mountainous Massif Central region. The bridge was constructed between 1880 and 1884 by Gustave Eiffel, with structural engineering by Maurice Koechlin, and was opened in 1885...
.
Unknown date events
- SpringSpring (season)Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. The specific definition of the exact timing of "spring" varies according to local climate, cultures and...
- 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...
begins through service between Kansas City, KansasKansas City, KansasKansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...
, and Chicago, Illinois, over the railroad's newly completed line. - Sir William Cornelius Van HorneWilliam Cornelius Van HorneSir William Cornelius Van Horne, KCMG was a pioneering Canadian railway executive.-Life and career:Born in 1843 in rural Illinois, he moved with his family to Joliet, Illinois when he was eight years old...
succeeds George StephenGeorge Stephen, 1st Baron Mount StephenGeorge Stephen, 1st Baron of Mount Stephen , known as Sir Stephen, between 1778 and 1891.-Canadian Pacific Railway syndicate:...
as president of 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...
. - The Canadian Pacific acquires control of the Soo LineMinneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie RailroadThe Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad was a Class I railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the Midwest U.S. Commonly known as the Soo Line after the phonetic spelling of Sault, it was merged with several other major CP subsidiaries on January 1, 1961 to form the...
, renaming it to the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad. - First articulated Mallet locomotiveMallet locomotiveThe Mallet Locomotive is a type of articulated locomotive, invented by a Swiss engineer named Anatole Mallet ....
completed, by Tubize of Belgium.
April deaths
- April 19 - Thomas Russell CramptonThomas Russell CramptonThomas Russell Crampton, MICE, MIMechE was an English engineer born at Broadstairs, Kent, and trained on Brunel's Great Western Railway....
, EnglishEnglish peopleThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
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...
designer who produced the Crampton locomotiveCrampton locomotiveA Crampton locomotive is a type of steam locomotive designed by Thomas Russell Crampton and built by various firms from 1846. The main British builders were Tulk and Ley and Robert Stephenson and Company....
type as well as a tunnel boring machineTunnel boring machineA tunnel boring machine also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They can bore through anything from hard rock to sand. Tunnel diameters can range from a metre to almost 16 metres to date...
for the Channel TunnelChannel TunnelThe Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
(b. 1816).
June deaths
- June 14 - Charles CrockerCharles CrockerCharles Crocker was an American railroad executive.-Early years:Crocker was born in Troy, New York, to a modest family and moved to an Indiana farm at age 14. He soon became independent, working on several farms, a sawmill, and at an iron forge. In 1845 he founded a small, independent iron...
, a member of The Big Four group of financiers in CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
(b. 1822).