1790s in rail transport explained

1780s ^. 1790s in rail transport ^. 1800s
Other topics: archaeology

This article lists events relating to rail transport that occurred during the 1790s.

1790

Events

Unknown date events

• The world's first railway viaduct, which became known as the "Covered Bridge", is built at Blaenavon in South Wales for a horse-worked tramway carrying coal to the ironworks coke ovens. It is 40m (130feet) long with 10 arches and 10m (30feet) tall.^{[1] [2]}

1791

Births

Unknown date births

• John Brandt, American steam locomotive builder (died c. 1860).^[3]

1792

Births

Unknown date births

• Thomas Rogers, founder of Rogers, Ketchum and Grosvenor (died 1856).^[3]

1793

Events

Unknown date events

• The world's oldest surviving railway tunnel is constructed at Fritchley on the "Butterley Gangroad", the Butterley Company's plateway to carry limestone from Hilt's Quarry at Crich to kilns on the Cromford Canal at Bullbridge in Derbyshire, England, by Benjamin Outram.

Births

Unknown date births

• Holmes Hinkley, American steam locomotive manufacturer (died 1866).^[3]

1794

Births

May births

• May 27 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American financier who created the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad from the merger of several smaller railroads in New York (d. 1877).

October births

• October 22 – Edward Bury, English steam locomotive builder (d. 1858).^[4]

December births

• December 14 – Erastus Corning, established railroads in New York and was instrumental in the formation of New York Central (d. 1872).

Unknown date births

• Jasper Grosvenor, American financier who partnered with Thomas Rogers and Morris Ketchum to form Rogers, Ketchum and Grosvenor (d. 1857).

1795

Events

Unknown date events

• A wooden railway on Beacon Hill in Boston carried excavations down the hill to clear the land for the State House

Births

December births

• December 10 – Matthias W. Baldwin, American steam locomotive manufacturer (d. 1866).

Unknown date births

• John B. Jervis, Chief mechanical engineer of the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad who pioneered the use of the leading truck on steam locomotives (d. 1885).

1796

Births

February births

• February – Morris Ketchum, partner in Rogers, Ketchum and Grosvenor, director of Illinois Central Railroad (d. 1880)^[5]

April births

• April 19 – Franz Anton von Gerstner, Bohemian-born railway civil engineer (d. 1840)

1797

Births

July

• July 29 – Daniel Drew, board member and financier of the Erie Railroad (d. 1879).

Unknown date

• Asa Whitney, one of the first backers of an American Transcontinental Railway.

1798

Events

• The Lake Lock Rail Road near Wakefield opens.
• First known use of cast-iron chaired 'fish-belly' edge-rails, at Walker Colliery near Newcastle upon Tyne in the north-east of England.^[6]

1799

Events

April events

• April 15 – The Earl of Carlisle's waggonway opens from coal pits owned by George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle around Lambley to Brampton, Cumbria, England.^[7]

Births

January births

• January 23 – Alois Negrelli, builder of the first railway in Switzerland, connecting Zurich and Baden (d. 1858).

February births

• February 28 – William Dargan, Irish railway contractor (d. 1867).^[8]

May births

• May – George Hennet, English railway contractor (d. 1857).^[9]

June births

• June 22 – Joseph Pease, English railway promoter (d. 1872).^[10]

See also

• Years in rail transport

Notes and References

1. Web site: Blaenafon.info . 7 September 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070928045423/http://www.norbiton.com/blaenavon/archaeology.htm . 2007-09-28 . dead .
2. Web site: Time Team – The Lost Viaduct . 7 September 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070810060747/http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/archive/2001ba.html . 10 August 2007 . live .
3. Book: John H. White, Jr.

   . White, John H. Jr.. John H. White, Jr.. 1968. A History of the American Locomotive; its development: 1830–1880. Dover Publications. New York. 0-486-23818-0.

4. Web site: 2004-10-30 . Edward Bury. Steamindex. 2005-02-09.
5. Web site: William Addams Reitwiesner. Reitwiesner. William Addams. The Ancestors of Julia Stimson Thorne. 2005-10-11.
6. Alec Skempton. A. W.. Skempton. A.. Andrews. Cast Iron Edge-Rails at Walker Colliery 1798. Newcomen Society Transactions. 45. 1972–73. 110–122.
7. Book: Webb, Brian. Gordon, David A.. Lord Carlisle's Railways. Railway Correspondence & Travel Society. 1978. 0-901115-43-6.
8. Book: Irish Railway Collection. Holywood. Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. 1993. 0-902588-50-8.
9. Book: Kay, Peter. Exeter–Newton Abbot: a railway history. Platform 5. 1991. Sheffield. 1-872524-42-7.
10. Web site: Joseph Pease . 6 September 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070817235409/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/REpease.htm . 2007-08-17 . dead .