This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1947.
Events edit
January events edit
- January 1 – The Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses is reconstituted and takes over concessions of most private railway companies in Portugal.
- January 19 – The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad inaugurates the Cincinnatian passenger train between Baltimore, Maryland, and Cincinnati, Ohio.
February events edit
- February 1 – William Neal succeeds D'Alton Corry Coleman as president of Canadian Pacific Railway.[1]
- February 18 – Pennsylvania Railroad's Red Arrow passenger train derails at Gallatin, Pennsylvania; 24 people are killed in the accident.[2]
- February 25 – Hachikō Line derailment: The worst-ever train accident in Japan kills 184 people.
- February 28 – The Illinois Central Railroad withdraws the Illinois Central 121 streamlined trainset from the Green Diamond Chicago-St. Louis service.
March events edit
- March 4 – Ms. Friedel Klussman launches a drive to preserve the San Francisco cable car system.
April events edit
- April 7 – Ellis D. Atwood completes the original Edaville Railroad on his cranberry plantation at South Carver, Massachusetts, United States. This 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge line, using equipment from Maine, is generally regarded as the world’s first tourist railroad.[3][4]
- April 27 – After a complete overhaul, the Illinois Central 121 trainset re-enters active service, this time between Jackson, Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana, as the Miss-Lou passenger train.
May events edit
- May – Baldwin Locomotive Works completes the last two steam locomotives built for the narrow gauge White Pass and Yukon Route.[5]
- May 5 – Sixteen people die in the Camp Mountain train disaster when a crowded picnic train derails on a sharp left-hand curve between Ferny Grove and Camp Mountain stations on the now-closed Dayboro line, approximately 20 km(12.4 miles) northwest of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
- May 18 – Seaboard Air Line Railroad inaugurates the Silver Comet passenger train between New York City and Birmingham, Alabama.
- May 26 – General Motors Electro-Motive Division and Pullman-Standard's streamlined Train of Tomorrow enters demonstration passenger service in North America.[6][7]
- May 31 – The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad acquires the Chicago and Alton Railroad.
June events edit
- June 6 – The Pere Marquette Railroad is merged into the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway.
- June 16 – The last passenger service is operated on the Nickey line.[8]
- June 29 – The Milwaukee Road inaugurates the Olympian Hiawatha passenger train between Chicago, Illinois and Tacoma, Washington. Simultaneously, the railroad revives the Columbian, operating on the same route.
July events edit
- July 1 – The Maine Central Railroad begins operation of EMD E7 locomotives with stainless steel passenger cars.[9]
August events edit
- August 6 – The Transport Act 1947 is passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom providing for the nationalisation of all major British railways in 1948.[10]
- August 14–15 – The Partition of India leads to transfer of large parts of the North Western, Bengal Assam and Jodhpur Railways to a new Pakistan Railways organisation, and large-scale population transfer between the two countries by rail.[11] The Jammu–Sialkot Line is abandoned as a through route.
September events edit
- September 1 – Dugald, Manitoba, Canada: A Canadian National Railway passenger train fails to take the siding and collides with the No. 4 Transcontinental that is standing on the main line. Thirty-one people are killed.
- September 17 – The American Freedom Train, carrying the original versions of the United States Constitution, Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, begins a two-year tour of the United States starting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. See also American Freedom Train - 1947-1949 station stops
October events edit
- October 1 – The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) begins operating the local transit (buses and 'L'-Subway rapid transit) systems in Chicago after acquiring the properties of the former Chicago Surface Lines and the Chicago Rapid Transit Company.
- October 18 – Alaska Railroad inaugurates the Aurora passenger train service between Fairbanks and Anchorage.[12]
December events edit
- December 3 – French communist strikers derail the Paris-Tourcoing express train because of false rumours that it is transporting soldiers – 21 dead.
Unknown date events edit
- The first diesel locomotives enter mainline operation on the Southern Pacific Railroad.
- The Southern Pacific Railroad is reincorporated in Delaware.
- The City of Los Angeles train frequency is upgraded to daily.
- The Super Chief train frequency is upgraded to daily.
- Lima Locomotive Works is merged with General Machinery Corporation of Hamilton, OH. The new company is named Lima-Hamilton.
- The components of the former M-10002 streamliner trainset are scrapped.
- The last United States Fish and Wildlife Service fish car is taken out of service.[13]
- The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad inaugurates its Old Dominion passenger train between Washington, DC, and Richmond, Virginia.
Accidents edit
References edit
- Wayner, Robert J., ed. (1972). Car Names, Numbers and Consists. New York: Wayner Publications. OCLC 8848690.
- ^ "CPR Director Dies At Montreal". Medicine Hat News. Medicine Hat, Alberta. October 18, 1956. p. 4.
- ^ Rivanna Chapter, National Railway Historical Society (2008). "This Month in Railroad History: February". Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
- ^ "The Old Edaville Railroad". Archived from the original on 2009-04-17. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
- ^ Moody, Linwood W. (1947). Edaville Railroad: the Cranberry Belt. South Carver: Ellis D. Atwood.
- ^ Martin, Cy (1974). Gold Rush Narrow Gauge (2nd ed.). Corona del Mar, California: Trans-Anglo Books. p. 93. ISBN 0-87046-026-9.
- ^ Morgan, Ric (2007). The Train of Tomorrow. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34842-5.
- ^ "Train of Tomorrow visits the Monon". Monon Railroad Historical Technical Society. Archived from the original on 2015-05-15. Retrieved 2013-01-28.
- ^ Woodward, Sue; Woodward, Geoff (1996). The Harpenden to Hemel Hempstead Railway – The Nickey Line. Oakwood Press. p. 91. ISBN 0-85361-502-0.
- ^ Johnson, Ron (1985). The Best of Maine Railroads. Portland Litho. p. 112.
- ^ Bonavia, Michael R. (1979). The Birth of British Rail. London: George Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-0-04-385071-8.
- ^ Saxena, R. P. (2008). "Indian Railway History Time Line". Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved December 21, 2009.
- ^ Alaska Railroad. "Alaska Railroad History". Archived from the original on 10 July 2006. Retrieved July 20, 2006.
- ^ U.S. Government Printing Office (1979). "The Fish Car Era of the National Fish Hatchery System". Archived from the original on 7 April 2005. Retrieved March 28, 2005.
