1920 in rail transport explained

Events

January events

• January 28 – Groundbreaking commences to begin construction of the Cincinnati Subway.^[1]

March events

• March 1 – Control of American railroads is returned to private ownership and administration with the disbandment of the USRA.
• March 18 – Fruit Growers Express (FGE) is incorporated in the United States.

April events

• April 1 – Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen merges the German state railways.

May events

• May 15 – The Ministry of Railways of Japan is established.

June events

• June 13 – Baltimore and Ohio Railroad inaugurates passenger service to Detroit's Fort Street Union Depot as the first passenger train departs for Washington, DC.^[2]

July events

• July 5  - Portland–Lewiston Interurban carries its heaviest passenger load with trains to the Maine Statehood Centennial Exposition.

October events

• October 1  - Palestine Railways established to manage lines within British Mandatory Palestine, including the Jezreel Valley railway.

November events

• November – H. P. M. Beames succeeds Charles Bowen-Cooke as Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Western Railway.
• November 20 – Work begins on the State Railway of Thailand to convert all track to meter gauge.^[3]

December events

• December 23 – The Kirkenes–Bjørnevatn Line in Norway takes electric traction into use.^[4]

Unknown date events

• William Sproule succeeds Julius Kruttschnitt as president of the Southern Pacific Company, parent company of the Southern Pacific Railroad. This is Sproule's second term as president.
• Government of India accepts recommendation of Sir William Acworth's East India Railway Committee that the government should take over management of the country's railways.^[5]
• Partition of the Ottoman Empire leads to abandonment of the Hejaz railway.

Births

April births

• April 16 – Alan Pegler, British railway preservationist (died 2012).
• April 17 – James B. McCahey, Jr., president of Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad (died 1998).^[6]

Deaths

July deaths

• July 22 – William Kissam Vanderbilt, heir to Cornelius Vanderbilt and president of the New York Central system (born 1849).

October deaths

• October 18 – Charles Bowen-Cooke, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Western Railway 1909–1920 (born 1859).

November deaths

• November 17 – T. Jefferson Coolidge, president of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 1880–1881 (born 1831).^[7]

December deaths

• December 1 – Edward Ponsonby, 8th Earl of Bessborough, director of London, Brighton and South Coast Railway from 1895 and chairman of same from 1908 (born 1851).

See also

• List of rail accidents (1920–1929)

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Cincinnati Subway System. Ohio Exploration. January 28, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100223205042/http://www.forgottenoh.com/subway.html. February 23, 2010. dead. mdy-all.
2. Web site: MichiganRailroads.com. Railroad history timeline – 1920–1929. June 13, 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/20060716082438/http://www.michiganrailroads.com/RRHX/Timeline/1920s/TimeLine1920sBackUp.htm. July 16, 2006. dead.
3. Web site: State Railway of Thailand. Historical background. November 20, 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/20041110010535/http://www.railway.co.th/Eng/history.html. November 10, 2004. dead. mdy-all.
4. Web site: Railway Statistics 2008. Norwegian National Rail Administration. 2009. pdf. April 28, 2010. 34. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20101122071524/http://www.jernbaneverket.no/PageFiles/7894/Jernbanestatistikk%202008_22%20juni_web.pdf. November 22, 2010.
5. Web site: Indian Railway History Time Line. Saxena, R. P.. 2008. December 23, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20120229092028/http://irse.bravehost.com/IRHTML.htm. February 29, 2012. dead. mdy-all.
6. Web site: The Political Graveyard . March 10, 2005 . Politicians in Railroading in Illinois . December 30, 2005 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110709135655/http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/IL/railroad.html . July 9, 2011 .
7. Web site: The Political Graveyard . March 10, 2005 . Politicians in Railroading in Massachusetts . December 29, 2005 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060618000650/http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/MA/railroad.html . June 18, 2006 .