This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1885.
Events edit
February events edit
- February 8 – The Midland Railway of England opens its extension to Birmingham New Street station.
- February 12 – The Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield Railway is incorporated in Missouri.[1]
- February 17 – The Southern Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad are combined under a single holding company, the Southern Pacific Company.
April events edit
- April 1 – The Southern Pacific Railroad takes over operations of the Central Pacific Railroad.
- April 6 – The Meriden and Cromwell Railroad, a Connecticut predecessor of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, opens.[2]
June events edit
- June – John J. Hagerman gains control of Colorado Midland.
July events edit
- July 19 – The Zanesville and Ohio River Railway enters receivership.
- July 20
August events edit
- August – International Railway Congress Association established in Brussels to provide an international forum for technical discussion.[5]
November events edit
- November – First train crosses Garabit viaduct in the Massif Central of France.
- November 6 – Phase 3 of the Novara–Varallo railway in Italy opens connecting Grignasco to Borgosesia.[6]
- November 7 – The last spike on the Canadian Pacific Railway is driven at Craigellachie, British Columbia, Canada.
- November 9 – The last spike is driven on the California Southern Railroad between Barstow and San Bernardino through Cajon Pass, completing the connection to the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad.[7]
- November 12 – The first train to travel the entire route of California Southern Railroad's track through Cajon Pass carries rails from Barstow to Riverside.[8]
- November 17 – The first through train from Chicago via Santa Fe lines arrives in San Diego.[9]
- November 29 – The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway leases trackage rights over the Southern Pacific Railroad from San Bernardino to Los Angeles at $1,200 per mile per year.[8]
Unknown date events edit
- Cornelius Vanderbilt II is promoted to president of the New York Central system.
- The New Zealand Government Railways become the first major railway to place a 2-6-2 steam locomotive into service, having ordered ten V class from Nasmyth, Wilson & Company of Manchester, England.[10]
Births edit
Unknown date births edit
- Richard M. Dilworth, General Motors Electro-Motive Division chief engineer credited with developing the diesel-electric locomotive concept in the 1930s (d. 1968).[11]
Deaths edit
January deaths edit
- January 12 – John B. Jervis, Chief mechanical engineer of the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad, pioneer of the use of the leading truck on steam locomotives (b. 1795).
July deaths edit
- July 31 – Robert F. Fairlie, Scottish steam locomotive builder (b. 1831).[12]
December deaths edit
- December 6 – Robert Gerwig, German civil engineer, designer of the Schwarzwaldbahn and the Höllentalbahn in the Black Forest (b. 1820).
- December 8 – William Henry Vanderbilt, son of Cornelius Vanderbilt and president of the New York Central system (b. 1821).
References edit
- Dodge, Richard V.; San Diego Railroad Museum (March 5, 2000), Perris and its Railroad. Retrieved November 8, 2005.
- (1902), Ohio Railway Report. Retrieved July 18, 2005.
- Santa Fe Railroad (1945), Along Your Way, Rand McNally, Chicago, Illinois.
- White, John H. Jr. (1968). A history of the American locomotive; its development: 1830–1880. New York, NY: Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-23818-0.
- ^ Truman Area Community Network Corporate History Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis Railroad Company Archived 2012-07-18 at archive.today. Retrieved February 12, 2006.
- ^ Blakeslee, Philip C. "A Brief History Lines West of The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Co". Archived from the original on 7 April 2006. Retrieved 6 April 2006.
- ^ Parkes, G. D. (1946). The Hull & Barnsley Railway. Chislehurst: Oakwood Press.
- ^ "Vietnam Railway". VietnamTravelKey. Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
- ^ "The International Railway Congress". Railway Gazette. 13. 1910.
- ^ "Prospetto cronologico dei tratti di ferrovia aperti all'esercizio dal 1839 al 31 dicembre 1926".
- ^ Waters, Leslie L. (1950). Steel Trails to Santa Fe. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Press. p. 74.
- ^ a b Duke, Donald; Kistler, Stan (1963). Santa Fe ...Steel Rails Through California. San Marino, California: Golden West Books. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-87095-009-4.
- ^ Signor, John R. (1988). The Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad Company; Union Pacific's Historic Salt Lake Route. San Marino, California: Golden West Books. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-87095-101-5.
- ^ Balkwill, Richard; Marshall, John (1993). The Guinness Book of Railway Facts and Feats (6th ed.). Enfield: Guinness Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85112-707-1.
- ^ "You ought to know: Electro-Motive's Dilworth is dead; diesel pioneer". Railway Age. 165 (16): 40. 21 October 1968.
- ^ "Robert Francis Fairlie". Retrieved 2005-02-09.