1883 In Rail Transport

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1883 In Rail Transport

EVENTS

January events

January 10 - The Columbus, Chicago And Indiana Central Railway enters Bankrupt cy and is sold at Foreclosure .

January 12 - The second Transcontinental Railroad line in North America is completed as the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks from Los Angeles, California , meet the Galveston, Harrisburg And San Antonio at the Pecos River . The golden spike is driven by Col. Tom Pierce , the GH&SA president, atop the Pecos River High Bridge

February events

February - Central Pacific Railroad completes construction of the largest Locomotive in the world for its time, '' El Gobernador ''.¹

March events

March 30 - Construction on the Denver And Rio Grande Railroad reaches Salt Lake City, Utah .²

August events

August - The Toledo, Cincinnati And St. Louis Railway enters receivership.

August - The Atlantic And Pacific Railroad , later to become part of the Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe Railroad , building westward from Albuquerque, New Mexico , reaches Needles, California .

August 4 - The first electric railway in Britain opens near Brighton .

August 18 - Construction on the Canadian Pacific Railway reaches Calgary , Alberta .

September events

September 8 - Northern Pacific Railway completes its connection to the Pacific coast in Washington with a final spike ceremony at Gold Creek , Montana .

October events

October 4 - The first ever '' Orient Express '' Passenger Train service leaves Paris for Constantinople (now Istanbul ) in the Ottoman Empire ( Turkey ), by way of Munich , Vienna , Budapest , Bucharest , and Varna .

Unknown date events

The National Railway Appliance Exhibition is held in Chicago, Illinois .

William Henry Vanderbilt resigns from the presidency of the New York Central system and appoints his heirs to chairmanship positions in the system's constituent railroad companies. James H. Rutter succeeds Vanderbilt as president.

Franklin B. Gowen retires from the presidency of the Philadelphia And Reading Railroad .

Philip Armour founds Armour Refrigerator Line , as a subsidiary of his meatpacking firm Armour And Company , to operate Refrigerator Car s that will carry Armour meat products.

The Colorado Midland Railway is incorporated.

BIRTHS

December births

December 27 - Cyrus S. Eaton , president of the Chesapeake And Ohio Railway in the 1950s (d. 1979 ).

DEATHS

January deaths

January 13 - Webster Wagner , founder of Wagner Palace Car Company , dies (b. 1817).

July deaths

July 23 - Ginery Twichell , president of the Boston And Worcester Railroad beginning in 1857 , president of the Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe Railway 1870 – 1873 (b. 1811 ).

October deaths

October 4 - Henry Farnam , president of the Chicago, Rock Island And Pacific Railroad 1854 – 1863 (b. 1803 ).

Unknown date deaths

William Swinburne , American locomotive designer and builder (b. 1805 ).

REFERENCES

Association of American Railroads (, 2005 .

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, '' Ginery Twichell ''. Retrieved July 15 2005 .

Depew, Chauncey M. My Memories of Eighty Years . Retrieved February 23 2005 .

'' Franklin Gowen ''. Retrieved March 2 2005 .

Left, Sarah, The Guardian Unlimited ( 2005 .

Rivanna Chapter National Railway Historical Society ( 2005 .

Santa Fe Railroad ( 1945 ), ''Along Your Way'', Rand McNally, Chicago, Illinois.

'' Virtual American Biographies - Henry Farnam ''. Retrieved March 1 2005 .

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