1897 in rail transport
Encyclopedia
March events
- March 24 - Construction begins on the Sierra Railway of 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...
, now known as the Sierra RailroadSierra RailroadThe Sierra Railroad Company a privately owned common carrier which has a freight division which handles all track maintenance and freight operations for all branches owned by the Sierra Railroad Company...
, between OakdaleOakdale, CaliforniaOakdale is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States. It is part of the Modesto Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city was founded in 1871 when the Stockton & Visalia Railroad met the Copperopolis Railroad...
and Jamestown, CaliforniaJamestown, CaliforniaJamestown is a census-designated place in Tuolumne County, California, United States. The population was 3,433 at the 2010 census, up from 3,017 at the 2000 census.A scene from the movie Hidalgo was filmed in Jamestown...
.
May events
- May 4 - The Rio Grande Junction Railway sells the Colorado Midland out of bankruptcy to private investors.
July events
- July - The Railway MagazineThe Railway MagazineThe Railway Magazine is a monthly British railway magazine, aimed at the railway enthusiast market, that has been published in London since July 1897. it has been, for three years running, the railway magazine with the largest circulation in the U.K., having a monthly average sale during 2009 of...
is first published, 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...
. - July 1 - The Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Railroad is reorganized as the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway Company (later to become the Monon RailroadMonon RailroadThe Monon Railroad , also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway from 1897–1956, operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana...
). - July 12 - The Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf RailwayKansas, Oklahoma and Gulf RailwayThe Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway was formed on July 31, 1919 from the assets of the bankrupt Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway. The KO&G largely consisted of a single line from Baxter Springs, Kansas, to Denison, Texas, prior to its purchase by Missouri Pacific's Texas and Pacific Railway...
, a predecessor of the St. Louis - San Francisco Railway, is incorporated in the Oklahoma TerritoryOklahoma TerritoryThe Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as the State of Oklahoma.-Organization:Oklahoma Territory's...
. - July 22 - At the railroad's first stockholder meeting, the Toledo and Milwaukee Railroad. a predecessor of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern RailwayLake Shore and Michigan Southern RailwayThe Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, NY to Chicago, primarily along the south shore of Lake Erie and across northern Indiana...
, officially changes its name to Detroit, Toledo and Milwaukee Railroad.
August events
- August 17 - W. B. Purvis is awarded a patentPatentA patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
for an electric railroad switchRailroad switchA railroad switch, turnout or [set of] points is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one track to another at a railway junction....
. - August 23 - 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...
ceremonies are held for the construction of the Ottawa and New York Railway. - August 28 - Construction begins on the Chinese EasternChinese Eastern RailwayThe Chinese Eastern Railway or was a railway in northeastern China . It connected Chita and the Russian Far East. English-speakers have sometimes referred to this line as the Manchurian Railway...
and South ManchurianSouth Manchuria RailwayThe , and operated within China in the Japanese-controlled South Manchuria Railway Zone. The railway itself ran from Lüshun Port at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula to Harbin, where it connected to the Chinese Eastern Railway.-History:...
lines of the Trans-Siberian RailwayTrans-Siberian RailwayThe Trans-Siberian Railway is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan. It is the longest railway in the world...
. - August 31 - Charles Sanger MellenCharles Sanger MellenCharles Sanger Mellen was an American railroad man whose career culminated in the presidencies of the Northern Pacific Railway 1897-1903 and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad 1903-1913.- Railroad Man :...
succeeds Edwin WinterEdwin WinterEdwin Winter was president of Northern Pacific Railway in 1896 then president of Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, Brooklyn Heights Railroad and allied companies.He was born November 18, 1845, in Vermont.- Career :...
as president of 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...
.
September events
- September 1 - The Tremont Street SubwayTremont Street SubwayThe Tremont Street Subway is a tunnel in Boston's subway system, and is the oldest subway tunnel in North America, opening on September 1, 1897. It was originally built as a tunnel to get streetcar lines off the streets, rather than a rapid transit line...
tunnel in Boston, the oldest subwayRapid transitA rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
tunnelTunnelA tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
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...
, opens.
October events
- October 3 - The world famous Union Loop Elevated (2.0 miles/3.2 km) in downtown ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
is opened for traffic. Lake Street Elevated trains are routed around the circuit initially, Metropolitan West Side Elevated train began using the Loop on October 11, and South Side Elevated trains began using the Loop on October 18. - October - Construction begins in Djibouti City on the Addis Ababa - Djibouti Railway.
November events
- November 2 - The Highland RailwayHighland RailwayThe Highland Railway was one of the smaller British railways before the Railways Act 1921; it operated north of Perth railway station in Scotland and served the farthest north of Britain...
's Kyle of Lochalsh LineKyle of Lochalsh LineThe Kyle of Lochalsh Line is a primarily single track railway line in the Scottish Highlands, running from Dingwall to Kyle of Lochalsh. The population along the route is sparse in nature, but the scenery is beautiful and can be quite dramatic, the Kyle line having been likened to a symphony in...
is completed throughout to the west coast of 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...
. - November 23 - Andrew J. BeardAndrew Jackson BeardAndrew Jackson Beard was an African-American inventor of Rocketry and the Rotary Engine. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio for his work on railroad coupler design....
invents the "jerry coupler".
December events
- December 27 - The first train is operated on the Randsburg RailwayRandsburg RailwayThe Randsburg Railway was a 28.5-mile branch line railroad in California's Mojave Desert. It originated at the main line of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad at Kramer Junction, California and terminated at Johannesburg, California....
between Kramer and JohannesburgJohannesburg, CaliforniaJohannesburg is a census-designated place in Kern County, California, in a mining district of the Rand Mountains. Johannesburg is located east-northeast of Randsburg, at an elevation of 3517 feet . The terminus of the Randsburg Railway was here from 1897 to 1933. The population was 172 at the...
, 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...
.
Unknown date events
- E. H. HarrimanE. H. HarrimanEdward Henry Harriman was an American railroad executive.-Early years:Harriman was born in Hempstead, New York, the son of Orlando Harriman, an Episcopal clergyman, and Cornelia Neilson...
becomes a director of the Union Pacific RailroadUnion Pacific RailroadThe Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
. - Several smaller railroads in South CarolinaSouth CarolinaSouth Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
are merged to form the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company of South Carolina, a predecessor of the Atlantic Coast Line RailroadAtlantic Coast Line RailroadThe Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was an American railroad that existed between 1900 and 1967, when it merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, its long-time rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad...
. - First successful class of 2-8-22-8-2Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle...
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...
s built by Baldwin Locomotive WorksBaldwin Locomotive WorksThe Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
of Philadelphia for the 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...
Nippon RailwayNippon Railwaywas the first private railway company in the history of Japan. The company built trunk lines connecting Tokyo with the Tōhoku region to the northeast...
of JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
(hence the class name Mikado). - The Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound Railway begins full service between Ottawa, Ontario and Parry Sound, OntarioParry Sound, OntarioParry Sound is a town in Central Ontario, Canada, located on Parry Sound on the eastern shore of Georgian Bay. Parry Sound is located south of Sudbury and north of Toronto. It is the seat of Parry Sound District, a popular cottage country region for Southern Ontario residents. It is also the...
. - 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 :...
Ferrocarril Cazadero la Torre y Tepetongo begins passenger service to Nado, Estado de México.
February births
- February 14 - Robert R. YoungRobert R. YoungRobert Ralph Young was a United States financier and industrialist. He is best-known for leading the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and New York Central Railroad during and after World War II. He was a brother-in-law of the famous western painter Georgia O'Keeffe.Because of his initials, R.R...
, chairman of 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...
and New York Central (d. 1958).
November births
- November 16 - Harold W. BurtnessHarold W. BurtnessHarold William Burtness was an American railroad executive. He began his career as a secretary for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad and moved into an executive position with the Pennsylvania Railroad before coming to the Chicago Great Western Railway in 1922...
, president of Chicago Great Western RailwayChicago Great Western RailwayThe Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad...
1946-1948, is born (d. 1978).
Unknown date births
- Wayne A. JohnstonWayne A. JohnstonWayne A. Johnston was president of Illinois Central Railroad from 1945 to 1966. When he stepped down from the presidency of the railroad, he was named Chairman of the Board for IC, a position he held for a year...
, president of Illinois Central RailroadIllinois Central RailroadThe Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...
1945-1966 (d. 1967).
April deaths
- April 3 - Albert FinkAlbert FinkAlbert Fink was a German civil engineer. He is best known for his railroad bridge designs, and devising the Fink truss....
, German AmericanGerman AmericanGerman Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
civil engineerCivil engineerA civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
and railroad manager (b. 1827).
May deaths
- May 20 - John RamsbottomJohn Ramsbottom (engineer)John Ramsbottom was an English mechanical engineer who created many inventions for railways, including the piston ring, the Ramsbottom safety valve, the displacement lubricator, and the water trough.- Biography :...
, superintendent of the Manchester and Birmingham RailwayManchester and Birmingham RailwayThe Manchester and Birmingham Railway was built between Manchester and Crewe and opened in stages from 1840. Between Crewe and Birmingham, trains were worked by the Grand Junction Railway...
(b. 1814).
October deaths
- October 19 - 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...
(b. 1831).
December deaths
- December 1 - William Dudley ChipleyWilliam Dudley ChipleyWilliam Dudley Chipley was an American railroad tycoon and statesman. He created two railroads in the Florida Panhandle and served one term as mayor of Pensacola, Florida and in the Florida State Senate.-Early life:...
, president of Baltimore and Ohio RailroadBaltimore and Ohio RailroadThe Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
1873-1876 (b. 1840).
Unknown date deaths
- Aretas BloodAretas BloodAretas Blood played an important role in the manufacture of early American railroad steam locomotives.Blood was born in Weathersfield, Vermont. At the age of 17, as railroads began to be built in the United States, he was apprenticed as a blacksmith...
, second superintendent of American 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 Manchester Locomotive WorksManchester Locomotive WorksManchester Locomotive Works was a manufacturing company located in Manchester, New Hampshire, that built steam locomotives in the 19th century. The first locomotive they built was for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in March 1855. In 1901, Manchester and seven other locomotive...
(b. 1816).