1876 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1876.

[edit] Events

[edit] January events

• January 1 – The Bristol and Exeter Railway, in England, is amalgamated into the Great Western Railway.

[edit] February events

• February 1 – The South Devon Railway, in England, is amalgamated into the Great Western Railway.

[edit] March events

• March 1 – The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad reaches Pueblo, Colorado.^[1]

[edit] May events

• May 1 – The Midland Railway's Settle-Carlisle line in England is opened to passenger traffic.^[2]

[edit] July events

• July – First railroad in China, the Woosung Road (or Woosung Railway), begins operation, connecting Shanghai and Woosung (now Baoshan District). The 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge line was built by British interests (it was demolished in October 1877).^[3][4]

[edit] October events

• October 16 – The Miami Valley Narrow Gauge Railway officially changes its name to Miami Valley Railway.

[edit] September events

• September 1 – The official groundbreaking ceremony for the Miami Valley Railway is held in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• September 5 – The first through train from San Francisco, California, arrives in Los Angeles, California, after travelling over the Southern Pacific Railroad's newly completed Tehachapi Loop.

[edit] December events

• December 4 – The Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits is founded in Brussels.
• December 29 – Ashtabula River Railroad bridge disaster, Ashtabula, Ohio, United States: The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Train No. 5, The Pacific Express, collapses the Ashtabula River bridge dropping eleven passenger cars into a fire started by the car stoves. Of the 159 people onboard, 92 are killed and 64 injured, the worst train disaster in America to date.

[edit] Unknown date events

• Ohio Falls Car Manufacturing Company, later to become part of American Car and Foundry, is founded in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

[edit] Births

[edit] May births

• May 27 – William Stanier, Chief mechanical engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1932-1944 (d. 1965).

[edit] June births

• June 19 – Nigel Gresley, Chief mechanical engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway 1923-1941 (d. 1941).^[5]

[edit] Deaths

[edit] June deaths

• June 2 – Charles Beyer, German-British steam locomotive manufacturer, co-founder of Beyer-Peacock (b. 1813).^[6]

[edit] References