1885 in rail transport explained

Events

February events

• February 8 – The Midland Railway of England opens its extension to Birmingham New Street station.
• February 12 – The Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield Railway is incorporated in Missouri.^[1]
• February 17 – The Southern Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad are combined under a single holding company, the Southern Pacific Company.

April events

• April 1 – The Southern Pacific Railroad takes over operations of the Central Pacific Railroad.
• April 6 – The Meriden and Cromwell Railroad, a Connecticut predecessor of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, opens.^[2]

June events

• June – John J. Hagerman gains control of Colorado Midland.

July events

• July 19 – The Zanesville and Ohio River Railway enters receivership.
• July 20
  • The Hull & Barnsley Railway opens in Yorkshire, England. It is intended to challenge the near-monopoly on export coal traffic in its region of the North Eastern Railway.^[3]
  • Opening of first railway in Vietnam, Saigon to Mỹ Tho.^[4]

August events

• August – International Railway Congress Association established in Brussels to provide an international forum for technical discussion.^[5]

November events

• November – First train crosses Garabit viaduct in the Massif Central of France.
• November 6 – Phase 3 of the Novara–Varallo railway in Italy opens connecting Grignasco to Borgosesia.^[6]
• November 7 – The last spike on the Canadian Pacific Railway is driven at Craigellachie, British Columbia, Canada.
• November 9 – The last spike is driven on the California Southern Railroad between Barstow and San Bernardino through Cajon Pass, completing the connection to the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad.^[7]
• November 12 – The first train to travel the entire route of California Southern Railroad's track through Cajon Pass carries rails from Barstow to Riverside.^[8]
• November 17 – The first through train from Chicago via Santa Fe lines arrives in San Diego.^[9]
• November 29 – The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway leases trackage rights over the Southern Pacific Railroad from San Bernardino to Los Angeles at $1,200 per mile per year.

Unknown date events

• Cornelius Vanderbilt II is promoted to president of the New York Central system.
• The New Zealand Government Railways become the first major railway to place a 2-6-2 steam locomotive into service, having ordered ten V class from Nasmyth, Wilson & Company of Manchester, England.^[10]

Births

Unknown date births

• Richard M. Dilworth, General Motors Electro-Motive Division chief engineer credited with developing the diesel-electric locomotive concept in the 1930s (d. 1968).^[11]

Deaths

January deaths

• January 12 – John B. Jervis, Chief mechanical engineer of the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad, pioneer of the use of the leading truck on steam locomotives (b. 1795).

July deaths

• July 31 – Robert F. Fairlie, Scottish steam locomotive builder (b. 1831).^[12]

December deaths

• December 6 – Robert Gerwig, German civil engineer, designer of the Schwarzwaldbahn and the Höllentalbahn in the Black Forest (b. 1820).
• December 8 – William Henry Vanderbilt, son of Cornelius Vanderbilt and president of the New York Central system (b. 1821).

References

• Dodge, Richard V.; San Diego Railroad Museum (March 5, 2000), Perris and its Railroad. Retrieved November 8, 2005.
• (1902), Ohio Railway Report. Retrieved July 18, 2005.
• Santa Fe Railroad (1945), Along Your Way, Rand McNally, Chicago, Illinois.

Notes and References

1. Truman Area Community Network Corporate History Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis Railroad Company . Retrieved February 12, 2006.
2. Web site: A Brief History Lines West of The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Co.. Blakeslee, Philip C.. 6 April 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20060407063202/http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/abnere2.Html. 7 April 2006 . live.
3. Book: Parkes, G. D.. The Hull & Barnsley Railway. 1946. Oakwood Press. Chislehurst.
4. Web site: Vietnam Railway . VietnamTravelKey . 2009-05-31 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090611144536/http://www.vietnamtravelkey.com/transfer/vietnam_train_ticket.htm . 2009-06-11 . live .
5. The International Railway Congress. Railway Gazette. 1910. 13.
6. Web site: Prospetto cronologico dei tratti di ferrovia aperti all'esercizio dal 1839 al 31 dicembre 1926.
7. Book: Waters, Leslie L.. Steel Trails to Santa Fe. 1950. University of Kansas Press. Lawrence, Kansas. 74 .
8. Book: Duke, Donald . Kistler, Stan. Santa Fe ...Steel Rails Through California. 1963. Golden West Books. San Marino, California. 978-0-87095-009-4. 32.
9. Book: Signor, John R.. The Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad Company; Union Pacific's Historic Salt Lake Route. Golden West Books. San Marino, California. 1988. 978-0-87095-101-5. 18.
10. Book: Balkwill, Richard. Marshall, John. John Marshall (railway historian). The Guinness Book of Railway Facts and Feats. 6th. Enfield. Guinness Publishing. 1993. 978-0-85112-707-1.
11. Railway Age. 21 October 1968. 40. You ought to know: Electro-Motive's Dilworth is dead; diesel pioneer. 165. 16.
12. Web site: Robert Francis Fairlie . 2005-02-09 .