1920 in rail transport
Encyclopedia
January events
- January 28 – 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...
commences to begin construction of the Cincinnati SubwayCincinnati SubwayThe Cincinnati Subway is a set of unused tunnels and stations for a rapid transit system beneath the streets of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is recognized as the largest abandoned subway tunnel in the United States...
.
March events
- March 1 – Control of AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
railroads is returned to private ownership and administration with the disbandment of the USRAUnited States Railroad AdministrationThe United States Railroad Administration was the name of the nationalized railroad system of the United States between 1917 and 1920. It was possibly the largest American experiment with nationalization, and was undertaken against a background of war emergency.- Background :On April 6, 1917, the...
. - March 18 – Fruit Growers ExpressFruit Growers ExpressFruit Growers Express was a railroad refrigerator car leasing company that began as a produce-hauling subsidiary of Armour and Company's private refrigerator car line. Its customers complained they were overcharged. In 1919 the Federal Trade Commission ordered the company's sale for anti-trust...
(FGE) is incorporated.
May events
- May 15 – The Ministry of Railways 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...
is established.
June events
- June 13 – 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...
inaugurates passenger service to DetroitDetroit, MichiganDetroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
's Fort Street Union Depot as the first passenger train departs for Washington, DC.
November events
- November – H. P. M. Beames succeeds Charles Bowen-CookeCharles Bowen-CookeCharles John Bowen Cooke was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Western Railway . He was the first to add superheating to the locomotives of the railway. He wrote a book called British locomotives: their history, construction; and modern development which was published in 1893,...
as Chief Mechanical EngineerChief Mechanical EngineerChief Mechanical Engineer and Locomotive Superintendent are titles applied by British, Australian, and New Zealand railway companies to the person ultimately responsible to the board of the company for the building and maintaining of the locomotives and rolling stock...
of the London and North Western RailwayLondon and North Western RailwayThe London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
. - November 20 – Work begins on the State Railway of ThailandState Railway of ThailandThe State Railway of Thailand is the state-owned rail operator in Thailand. The network sees around 50 million passengers per annum.-History:SRT was founded as the Royal State Railways of Siam in 1890...
to convert all track to meter gauge.
December events
- 23 December – The Kirkenes–Bjørnevatn Line in Norway takes electric traction into use.
Unknown date events
- William SprouleWilliam SprouleWilliam Sproule was president of the Wells Fargo Express Company and later the Southern Pacific Railroad.-References:...
succeeds Julius KruttschnittJulius KruttschnittJulius Kruttschnitt was a German American railroad executive. The son of the German consul in New Orleans, he graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1873 and worked briefly as a schoolteacher before beginning his railroad career...
as president of the Southern Pacific Company, parent company of 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....
. This is Sproule's second term as president. - Government of IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
accepts recommendation of Sir William Acworth's East India Railway Committee that the government should take over management of the country's railways.
April births
- April 17 - James B. McCahey, Jr., president of Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad (d. 1998).
July deaths
- July 22 - William Kissam VanderbiltWilliam Kissam VanderbiltWilliam Kissam Vanderbilt was a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family. He managed railroads and was a horse breeder.-Biography:...
, heir to Cornelius VanderbiltCornelius VanderbiltCornelius Vanderbilt , also known by the sobriquet Commodore, was an American entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads. He was also the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family and one of the richest Americans in history...
and president of the New York Central system (b. 1849).
October deaths
- October 18 - Charles Bowen-CookeCharles Bowen-CookeCharles John Bowen Cooke was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Western Railway . He was the first to add superheating to the locomotives of the railway. He wrote a book called British locomotives: their history, construction; and modern development which was published in 1893,...
, Chief Mechanical EngineerChief Mechanical EngineerChief Mechanical Engineer and Locomotive Superintendent are titles applied by British, Australian, and New Zealand railway companies to the person ultimately responsible to the board of the company for the building and maintaining of the locomotives and rolling stock...
of the London and North Western RailwayLondon and North Western RailwayThe London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
1909-1920 (b. 1859).
November deaths
- November 17 - 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 (b. 1831).