January 1 – Coming into force of international convention on the transport of goods by rail in the principal contiguous states of Western Europe.[1]
January 2 – Introduction by Webb C. Ball of the General Railroad Timepiece Standards in North America, leading to significance of the railroad chronometer.
February 4 – Official opening of main section of Liverpool Overhead Railway, the first electrified suburban line in Britain, and the first (third rail) electrified overhead railway in the world.
March 2 – The US Railroad Safety Appliance Act is enacted, mandating that all cars in interchange service be equipped with air brakes, automatic couplers and grab irons.
May 1 – The World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago's Jackson Park is opened to the public with the Intramural Railway, a 2.7-mile elevated third rail electric railroad system providing transportation throughout the fair grounds. A total of 72 motor and trailer coaches were assigned to the line all built by the Jackson and Sharp Company of Wilmington, Delaware.
May 10 – New York Central locomotive number 999 pulls a passenger train between Batavia and Buffalo, New York, reaching 112.5 mph (181 km/h); this is the first time an American train breaks 100 mph (161 km/h).
May 12 – Chicago's premier rapid transit line, the South Side Elevated Railway, is extended to the World's Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park.
June 22 – Robert S. Lovett succeeds Leland Stanford as the president of the Southern Pacific Company, parent company of the Southern Pacific Railroad, after Stanford's death. The Chairmanship position vacated by Stanford remains vacant for another 16 years.
September 7 – First part of Douglas & Laxey Coast Electric Tramway, a 3 ft (914 mm) gauge interurban (later the Manx Electric Railway), opens on the Isle of Man.[6]
November 14 – The Central Railway of Peru opens the section of line from Chicla across the Andes watershed to Oroya, with a summit level at Galera of 4781 m (15,686 feet) above sea level.
December events
December 6 – The John Bull leaves the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, under its own power, headed toward Washington, DC, for its return to the Smithsonian Institution.
Web site: Association of American Railroads. February 2005. Chronology of US Railroading. PDF. June 2, 2005 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051025190727/http://www.aar.org/GetFile.asp?File_ID=163 . October 25, 2005.
Web site: Radial Railway History. July 7, 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/20071020195857/http://www.newtorontohistorical.com/Radial%20%26%20Railway%20History.htm. October 20, 2007. dead. mdy-all.
Web site: Brehm, Qathryn. Los Angeles Downtown Arts District: History. May 12, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20060518142534/http://www.ladad.com/EarlyHistory.htm. May 18, 2006 . live.
Book: Gillham, J. C.. The Age of the Electric Train: Electric Trains in Britain since 1883. 1988. Ian Allan. London. 0-7110-1392-6.
Book: Busbey, T. Addison. The Biographical Directory of Railway Officials of America, Edition of 1896. Chicago, Illinois. Railway Age and Northwestern Railroader. 1896. 244.
Web site: Colin Churcher's Railway Pages . December 12, 2005 . Significant dates in Ottawa railway history . December 18, 2005 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051217033754/http://www.railways.incanada.net/candate/ottawa.htm . December 17, 2005 . dead . mdy .
Web site: Continental engineers . Belpaire, Alfred . 7 June 2018 . 30 March 2024 . steamindex.com .