1962 in rail transport
Encyclopedia
January events
- January 8 – The Harmelen train disasterHarmelen train disasterThe Harmelen train disaster was the worst railway accident in the history of the Netherlands. Harmelen, in the central Netherlands, is the location of a railway junction where a branch to Amsterdam leaves the Rotterdam to Utrecht line...
, the worst railway accident in the history of the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, occurs when one passenger train driver misses a warning signal and passes a red signalSignal passed at dangerA Signal passed at danger , in British railway terminology, occurs when a train passes a stop signal without authority to do so. It is a term primarily used within the British Railway Industry, although it can be applied worldwide.-Categories of SPAD:...
to collide nearly head-on with another passenger train. 93 are killed. - January 28 – The last lines of streetcars in Washington, D.C., end operations.
February events
- February 1 - NordlandsbanenNordlandsbanenThe Nordland Line is a railway line between Trondheim and Bodø in Norway. Running for approximately 729 km, it is the Norwegian railway system's longest line, and the only one in Norway to cross the Arctic Circle. It is owned by the Norwegian National Rail Administration...
in NorwayRail transport in NorwayThe Norwegian railway system comprises 4,087 km of track of which 2,622 km is electrified and 242 km double track. There are 696 tunnels and 2760 bridges....
is completed and opened to BodøBodøis a city and a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Salten region.The city of Bodø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . Bodin was merged with Bodø on 1 January 1968. Skjerstad was merged with Bodø on 1 January 2005...
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March events
- March 15 - 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...
receives authorization to discontinue passenger train service between 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...
and Chalk River.
July events
- July 17 - 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"....
debuts a new paint scheme on its transcontinental passenger train, the Super ContinentalSuper ContinentalThe Super Continental was a transcontinental Canadian passenger train operated originally by the Canadian National Railway beginning in 1955 and subsequently by Via Rail from 1977 until its cancellation in 1981. Service was restored in 1985 but was again eliminated in 1990...
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September events
- September 7 - The Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon RailwayBuckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon RailwayThe Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway built the broad gauge railway line from Totnes to Buckfastleigh and Ashburton in Devon, England.-History:...
, in EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, is closed by the Western Region of British RailwaysWestern Region of British RailwaysThe Western Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s and was wound up at the end of 1992...
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October events
- October 11 - Colorado and Southern RailwayColorado and Southern RailwayThe Colorado and Southern Railway was a railroad company in the western United States that operated independently from 1898 to 1908, then as part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until it was absorbed into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1981.The railway began as the...
2-8-02-8-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels...
number 641 pulls the last 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...
-operated regular daily service revenue train on a standard gaugeStandard gaugeThe standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
railroad in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
when it pulls a train from 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...
to Climax, ColoradoClimax, 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...
. - October 28 - The Lake Street ElevationGreen Line (Chicago Transit Authority)The Green Line is part of the CTA rapid transit system known as the Chicago 'L'. It is the only completely elevated route in the 'L' system. It utilizes the system's oldest segments , extending with 29 stops between Forest Park and Oak Park , through Chicago's Loop, to the South Side and Englewood...
of the Chicago Transit AuthorityChicago Transit AuthorityChicago Transit Authority, also known as CTA, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Chicago, Illinois and some of its surrounding suburbs....
rail system is placed in operation, relocating 2.6 miles of the former at-grade portion of the route onto the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company's elevated right-of-way, with new above-ground stations at Central, Austin, Ridgeland, Oak Park and Harlem/LakeHarlem/Lake (CTA)Harlem is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving the Green Line. It opened on October 28, 1962. It is the northwesternmost terminus of the Green Line. The station is adjacent to the Oak Park Metra commuter railroad station...
. The improvement eliminated a total of 22 grade crossings in Chicago, Oak ParkOak Park, IllinoisOak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest municipality in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines,...
and Forest ParkForest Park, IllinoisForest Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago in the United States. The population was 15,688 at the 2000 census...
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Unknown date events
- New York Central purchases the first electric multiple unitMultiple unitThe term multiple unit or MU is used to describe a self-propelled carriages capable of coupling with other units of the same or similar type and still being controlled from one driving cab. The term is commonly used to denote passenger trainsets consisting of more than one carriage...
passenger cars from Pullman-Standard for use on the Metro-North railroad. - Union Pacific 3985Union Pacific 3985Union Pacific 3985 or UP 3985 is a four-cylinder simple articulated 4-6-6-4 Challenger-type steam locomotive owned by Union Pacific Railroad. The UP 3985 locomotive was built in 1943 by the American Locomotive Company of Schenectady, New York...
, the largest operable 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...
in the world, is removed from revenue service on 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....
. - First Indian RailwaysIndian RailwaysIndian Railways , abbreviated as IR , is a departmental undertaking of Government of India, which owns and operates most of India's rail transport. It is overseen by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India....
Class WDM-2Indian locomotive class WDM-2The class WDM-2 is Indian Railways' workhorse diesel locomotive. The first units were imported fully built from the American Locomotive Company in 1962. Since 1964, it has been manufactured in India by the Diesel Locomotive Works , Varanasi. The model name stands for broad gauge , diesel , mixed...
, from ALCO, introduced. The class will eventually exceed 2,800 units. - ALCO closes the ALCO Thermal Products Division (formerly Brooks Locomotive WorksBrooks Locomotive WorksThe Brooks Locomotive Works manufactured steam railroad locomotives and freight cars from 1869 through its merger into the American Locomotive Company until 1934.-History:...
) plant in Dunkirk, New York. - Harry A. deButtsHarry A. deButtsHarry Ashby deButts was a former president of Southern Railway in the United States. He was succeeded by D. William Brosnan in 1962....
is succeeded by D. William BrosnanD. William BrosnanD. William Brosnan was a former president of Southern Railway in the USA, a railroad that later merged with Norfolk and Western Railroad to form Norfolk Southern Railway. He succeeded Harry A. deButts in 1962...
as president of the Southern RailwaySouthern Railway (US)The Southern Railway is a former United States railroad. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894...
. - The Northern Refrigerator Car Line is combined with Merchants DespatchMerchants DespatchThe Merchants Despatch Transportation Company was established in 1857 or 1858 by the American Express Company of New York...
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Unknown date deaths
- Ralph BuddRalph BuddRalph Budd was an American railroad executive.-Early life:One of six children of John and Mary Budd, Ralph was born on a farm near Waterloo, Iowa on August 20, 1879...
, president of the Great Northern Railway 1919–1932 and 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,...
1932–1949 (b. 1879).