1943 in rail transport
Encyclopedia
January events
- January 1 – First Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0STHunslet Austerity 0-6-0STThe Hunslet Engine Company Austerity 0-6-0ST is a steam locomotive designed for shunting. The class became the standard British shunting locomotive during the Second World War, and production continued until 1964 at various locomotive manufacturers....
steamed, earliest of 377 built for war service to British Ministry of SupplyMinistry of SupplyThe Ministry of Supply was a department of the UK Government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. There was, however, a separate ministry responsible for aircraft production and the Admiralty retained...
order. - January 16 – First WD Austerity 2-8-0WD Austerity 2-8-0The War Department "Austerity" 2-8-0 is a type of heavy freight steam locomotive that was introduced in 1943 for war service. A total of 935 were built.- Overview :...
handed over to British Ministry of SupplyMinistry of SupplyThe Ministry of Supply was a department of the UK Government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. There was, however, a separate ministry responsible for aircraft production and the Admiralty retained...
, earliest of 935 built for war service.
April events
- April 2 – Yaga StationYaga Station (Hiroshima)is a JR West Geibi Line station located in 5-chōme, Yaga, Higashi-ku, Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.-History:*1929-03-20: Yaga Station opens*1937-07-01: Switching equipment at Yaga station is expanded...
in 5-chōme, Yaga, Higashi-kuHigashi-ku, Hiroshimais one of the eight wards located in Hiroshima, Japan. It is located on the uppermost delta of the Ōta River.Within Higashi-ku is the Fudoin Temple in Ushita-shinmachi. Fudoin dates back to the 14th century and was built by Shogun Takauji Ashikaga as one of 60 Ankoku-ji temples which were...
, Hiroshima, Hiroshima PrefectureHiroshima Prefectureis a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Hiroshima.- History :The area around Hiroshima was formerly divided into Bingo Province and Aki Province. This location has been a center of trade and culture since the beginning of Japan's recorded...
, 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...
, reopens.
May events
- May 5 – PullmanPullman 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...
, retooled from passenger car construction to work for World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, launches its first ship built for the Navy, a PCE (patrol craft)Patrol boatA patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defense duties.There have been many designs for patrol boats. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, or police force, and may be intended for marine and/or estuarine or river environments...
. - After a year of revenue service, 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....
's M-10002M-10002The Union Pacific Railroad's M-10002 was a diesel-electric streamliner train built in 1936 by Pullman-Standard with a prime mover from the Winton engine division of General Motors Corporation and General Electric generator, control equipment and traction motors...
streamlinerStreamlinerA streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "bullet trains". Less commonly, the term is applied to fully faired recumbent bicycles...
trainset is removed from service; its power carPower carA power car is a railroad vehicle that is closely related to the locomotive. What differentiates the two is their construction or their use. A true locomotive can be physically separated from its train and does nothing but provide propulsion . A power car, on the other hand, is frequently an...
is separated from its unpowered cars and the components are reused elsewhere.
June events
- June 4 – Hyde railway accident, New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
: Train derailsDerailmentA derailment is an accident on a railway or tramway in which a rail vehicle, or part or all of a train, leaves the tracks on which it is travelling, with consequent damage and in many cases injury and/or death....
at speed in a curved cutting, 21 killed, 47 injured.
July events
- July 14 – Canadian National RailwayCanadian National RailwayThe Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
opens Central StationGare Centrale (Montreal)Central Station is the major inter-city rail station and a major commuter rail hub in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 18 million rail passengers use the station every year....
in MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
August events
- August 25 – Denver, South Park and Pacific RailroadDenver, South Park and Pacific RailroadThe Denver, South Park, and Pacific Railroad was a historic narrow gauge railway that operated in Colorado in the western United States in the late 19th century. The railroad opened up the first rail routes to a large section of the central Colorado mining district in the decades of the mineral boom...
operates its last regular narrow gauge train on the section between LeadvilleLeadville, ColoradoLeadville is a Statutory City that is the county seat of, and the only municipality in, Lake County, Colorado, United States. Situated at an elevation of , Leadville is the highest incorporated city and the second highest incorporated municipality in the United States...
and ClimaxClimax, ColoradoClimax was an unincorporated mining village and a former U.S. Post Office located in Lake County, Colorado. Climax was known for its large molybdenum ore deposit. The former Climax Post Office had the ZIP Code 80429. Climax is located along the Continental Divide at an elevation of about 11,360 feet...
.
September events
- September 6 – Frankford Junction train wreckFrankford Junction train wreckThe Frankford Junction train wreck occurred on September 6, 1943 when Pennsylvania Railroad's premier train, the Congressional Limited crashed at Frankford Junction in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States, killing 79 people and injuring 117...
, Seventy-nine people are killed when 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....
's Congressional Limited derails due to a burned out journal at Frankford Junction, PennsylvaniaFrankford Junction, PennsylvaniaFrankford Junction is a railroad junction, and former junction station, located on the border between the Kensington and Port Richmond neighborhoods of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
.
October events
- October 4 - The last MaineMaineMaine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
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 :...
(the 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...
) discontinues service. - October 17
- Chicago's first rapid transitRapid 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...
subway route, Clybourn-Division-State SubwayRed Line (Chicago Transit Authority)The northern terminus of the Red Line is Howard Street in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago , on the City Limits farthest north. The Red Line extends southeasterly on an elevated embankment structure about a half-mile west of the lakefront to Touhy Avenue then turns south along Glenwood...
(4.9 miles/7.9 km), opens for passenger service. It contains one of the world's longest underground stationMetro stationA metro station or subway station is a railway station for a rapid transit system, often known by names such as "metro", "underground" and "subway". It is often underground or elevated. At crossings of metro lines, they are multi-level....
platforms – 3300 feet (1,005.8 m) long. - Completion of the Burma Railway between BangkokBangkokBangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and RangoonYangonYangon is a former capital of Burma and the capital of Yangon Region . Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of over four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial...
, Burma (now MyanmarMyanmarBurma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
) (415 km (257.9 mi)) by the Empire of JapanEmpire of JapanThe Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
to support its forces in the Burma campaignBurma CampaignThe Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was fought primarily between British Commonwealth, Chinese and United States forces against the forces of the Empire of Japan, Thailand, and the Indian National Army. British Commonwealth land forces were drawn primarily from...
using the forced labour of Asian civilians and AlliedAllies of World War IIThe Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
Prisoners of war.
- Chicago's first rapid transit
December events
- December 16 – Two Atlantic Coast LineAtlantic 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...
passenger trains collide after a broken rail derails the first one, putting it in the path of the second. Seventy-one people are killed, most of them U.S. troops. - The first troop sleeperTroop sleeperIn United States railroad terminology, a troop sleeper was a railroad passenger car which had been constructed to serve as something of a mobile barracks for transporting troops over distances sufficient to require overnight accommodations...
s enter service on U.S. railroads.
Unknown date events
- The Anton Anderson Memorial TunnelAnton Anderson Memorial TunnelThe Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel is a tunnel through Maynard Mountain in the U.S. state of Alaska. It links the Seward Highway south of Anchorage at the former town of Portage with the relatively isolated community of Whittier, a port for the Alaska Marine Highway...
, the longest combined rail/highway tunnel 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 for railroad service. - After a few years of only producing diesel engineDiesel engineA diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
s for the United States NavyUnited States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, General Motors Electro-Motive DivisionGeneral Motors Electro-Motive DivisionElectro-Motive Diesel, Inc., also referred to as "EMD", is a wholly owned subsidiary of Progress Rail Services Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc., that designs, manufactures and sells diesel-electric locomotives and diesel power engines worldwide under the Electro-Motive...
returns to manufacturing railroad 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...
s. - The last PRR GG1PRR GG1The PRR GG1 is a class of electric locomotives that was built for the Pennsylvania Railroad for use in the northeastern United States. A total of 140 GG1s were constructed by its designer General Electric and the Pennsylvania's Altoona Works from 1934 to 1943....
to be built is completed.
September births
- September 7 – Chris GreenChris Green (railway manager)Chris Green is a British railway manager. He has a reputation for the adoption of business-led management of passenger services both in the British Rail and privatised eras, and has been described as "the best chairman BR never had"....
, British railway manager.
February deaths
- February 9 – Walter KiddeWalter KiddeWalter Kidde was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. He graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1897. He was the owner of the Kidde company which manufactured fire extinguishers....
, president of New York, Susquehanna and Western RailwayNew York, Susquehanna and Western RailwayThe New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway , also known as the Susie-Q, or simply the Susquehanna, is a Class II American freight railway operating over 500 miles of track in the northeastern states of New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It was formed in 1881 from the merger of several...
1937–1943 (b. 1877). - February 11 – Stuart R. KnottStuart R. KnottStuart R. Knott was the fourth president of Kansas City Southern Railway.-References:* Kansas City Southern Historical Society, . Retrieved August 15, 2005....
, president of Kansas City Southern RailwayKansas City Southern RailwayThe Kansas City Southern Railway , owned by Kansas City Southern Industries, is the smallest and second-oldest Class I railroad company still in operation. KCS was founded in 1887 and is currently operating in a region consisting of ten central U.S. states...
1900–1905 (b. 1859).
June deaths
- June 2 – John Frank StevensJohn Frank StevensJohn Frank Stevens was an American engineer who built the Great Northern Railway in the United States and was chief engineer on the Panama Canal between 1905 and 1907.- Biography :...
, chief engineer and general manager of Great Northern Railway, vice president 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:...
(b. 1853).