This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1958.
Events edit
January edit
- January
- Unable to keep his promises to shareholders, Robert Ralph Young suspends dividends on New York Central stock, a factor in his subsequent suicide on January 25.
- Last steam locomotive operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen.
- January 1 – The Chicago & North Western Railway acquires the Litchfield and Madison Railway.
February edit
- February 4 – Canada's Kellog Commission releases a report on the use of firemen as part of diesel locomotive crews.[1]
- February – The Alaska Railroad sells six ex-USATC S160 Class 2-8-0 locomotives to the standard gauge Ferrocarril de Langreo in northern Spain, where they are used on a new diversion built to avoid a cable railway. This will be the third Transatlantic crossing for #3410.[2]
March edit
- March 4 – The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority begins operating the remnant passenger services of the Pacific Electric and Los Angeles Railway.[3]
- March 13 – Queensland BB18¼ class locomotive No. 1089, completed by Walkers, Maryborough, Queensland, is the last main-line steam locomotive built in Australia.[4]
April edit
- April 20 – The Key System discontinues streetcar service.[5]
- April 26
- Last day of regularly scheduled passenger service on the Maine Central Railroad Mountain Division.[6]
- Last run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Royal Blue.
May edit
- May 24 – The Pacific Electric Bellflower Line, then being operated by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority, ceases passenger operations,[7] relegating the West Santa Ana Branch to a freight line.
June edit
- June 22 – The Chicago Transit Authority Congress Branch opens for service in the median of the Eisenhower Expressway, pioneering the first use of rail rapid transit and a multi-lane automobile expressway in the same grade-separated right-of-way. It replaced the 1895-built Garfield Park 'L' route and alignment from Des Plaines Avenue, Forest Park to the Loop.
- June 25 – The Pennsylvania Railroad discontinues the Afternoon Steeler passenger train between Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
July edit
- July – General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces the EMD SD24.
- July 7 – The Hudson & Manhattan Railroad reintroduces women-only cars on the railroad's commuter trains in New York City.[8]
- July 17 – The Railway Enthusiasts Society is formed to promote rail transportation and preservation in New Zealand
- July 25 – Pacific Great Eastern Railway completes construction of the line to Fort St. John, British Columbia.
August edit
- August 9 – The Moccasin, the longest running named passenger train in Canada thus far, is discontinued.
- August 12 – The Transportation Act of 1958 passes in the US, loosening Interstate Commerce Commission regulation and guaranteeing loans to railroads.
September edit
- September – On the Drachenfels Railway, Königswinter, Germany, a rack railway train derails, killing 17.
- September 15 – A Central Railroad of New Jersey commuter train plunges off the Newark Bay Bridge while raised for water traffic, killing 48.
October edit
- October – After building only 59 examples of the type, Fairbanks-Morse and Canadian Locomotive Company discontinue construction of the H-24-66 model Train Master diesel locomotive.
- October 1 – Northern Ireland's Ulster Transport Authority and the Republic of Ireland's Córas Iompair Éireann take over from the Great Northern Railway Board in running the remaining cross-border route (Dublin–Belfast) of the Irish railway system. The GNR assets are split between the two state companies.
November edit
- November 1 – The Strasburg Rail Road is purchased by a non-profit group.
December edit
- December 31 – The Harcourt Street railway line between Dublin and Bray, Ireland, closes.
Unknown date edit
- South African Railways takes delivery of its last steam locomotives for the 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge, GMAM class Garratt locomotives.[9]
- Last Garratt locomotive to be built in Manchester by Beyer, Peacock & Company is delivered as South African Railways NGG16 class no. 143 (2 ft (610 mm) gauge).[9][10][11][12]
- SNCF electrifies its Paris–Lille line in France.
- Ernest S. Marsh succeeds Fred Gurley as president of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway.
Accidents edit
Deaths edit
January deaths edit
- January 25 – Robert Ralph Young, financier and controlling stockholder of the New York Central commits suicide after suspending company dividends (born 1897)
References edit
- (April 3, 2005), Significant dates in Canadian railway history. Retrieved July 22, 2005 and August 9, 2005.
- ^ "Significant dates in Canadian railway history". Colin Churcher's Railway Pages. August 16, 2005. Archived from the original on February 2, 2006. Retrieved February 4, 2006.
- ^ Tourret, R. (1977). United States Army Transportation Corps Locomotives. Abingdon: Tourret Publishing. pp. 63–64. ISBN 0-905878-01-9.
- ^ "Transit Authority Begins Operating LATL and Metro: Public Now Owns Big Bus Lines". Los Angeles Times. March 4, 1958. p. B1. ProQuest 167260104. Archived from the original on June 30, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- ^ "Heritage Services". QR Corporate. Archived from the original on October 25, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
- ^ "East Shore & Suburban Railway & other El Cerrito Railroad Chronology" (PDF). El Cerrito Historical Society. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
- ^ Johnson, Ron (1985). The Best of Maine Railroads. Portland Litho. p. 112.
- ^ Veysey, Laurence R. (June 1958). A History Of The Rail Passenger Service Operated By The Pacific Electric Railway Company Since 1911 And By Its Successors Since 1953 (PDF). LACMTA (Report). Los Angeles, California: Interurbans. p. 77. ASIN B0007F8D84. OCLC 6565577.
- ^ Klapouchy, B. (2005). "Hudson and Manhattan Railroad – Hudson Tubes – PATH: Operation History". Archived from the original on September 8, 2005. Retrieved July 7, 2005.
- ^ a b Hills, R. L.; Patrick, D. (1982). Beyer, Peacock, locomotive builders to the world. Glossop: Venture Publications. ISBN 978-1-898432-05-0.
- ^ Durrant, A. E. (1981). Garratt Locomotives of the World. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-7641-6.
- ^ Holland, D. F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, vol. 2. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.
- ^ "NGG16 no. 143". Project Rheiffordd Eryri. Archived from the original on December 24, 2008. Retrieved January 22, 2010.