1996 In Rail Transport

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1996 In

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1996

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1996 In Rail Transport

EVENTS

January events

January 6 - A computer-controlled Washington Metro train overran the platform at the Shady Grove station, colliding with a parked train and fatally injuring the operator. (See 1996 Gaithersburg Metrorail Accident ).

March events

March 4 - A Wisconsin Central freight train derails on a broken switch in Weyauwega, Wisconsin . The Weyauwega Derailment forced the evacuation of the entire town until March 20 while fire crews worked to control the resulting blaze.

March 28 - Mucha Line of Taipei Mass Rapid Transit , the first subway line of Taiwan , opens.

June events

June 26 - The Atlanta And St. Andrews Bay Railroad and the A&G Railroad merge to form the Bay Line Railroad .

July events

July 27 - Ron Burns becomes president of Union Pacific Railroad .

July 28 - The Talleyrand Terminal Railroad (a subsidiary of Genesee And Wyoming, Inc. ) begins operations in Jacksonville, Florida .

July 31 - Canadian Pacific Railway makes the last run of a grain load in a 40 Ft Boxcar with the final deliveries of grain to Thunder Bay, Ontario .¹

September events

September 14 - The York-Durham Heritage Railway begins operations on CN 's former Branch between Uxbridge and Stouffville, Ontario .

October events

October - The first stage of Cairo Metro 's Line Two (the Yellow line) opens.

November events

November 18 - Fire erupts in the Channel Tunnel seriously damaging 200 M of the tunnel's lining.

November 21 - Limited freight service in the Channel Tunnel resumes while construction crews make repairs at the location of the fire three days earlier.

December events

December 1 - Norges Statsbaner , the national railway of Norway , is created by the Norwegian National Rail Administration .

December 4 - Passenger service resumes through the Channel Tunnel .

December 5

--- Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway reopens Stampede Pass in Washington and resumes operating freight trains over the line.²

--- Canadian National Railway (CN) operates its last train of grain to be hauled in 40 Ft (12 M ) Boxcar s; CN SD40 s numbered 5256 and 5051 depart Canora, Saskatchewan , with a train of 114 such boxcars bound for Winnipeg, Manitoba , and Thunder Bay, Ontario .³

2005 .

Unknown date events

The Union Pacific Railroad finishes the acquisition that was effectively begun almost a century before with the purchase of the Southern Pacific Railroad . The merged company retains the name "Union Pacific" for all railroad operations.

The Hell Gate Bridge , built in 1916 , is overhauled, including its first paint job in 80 years.

A coal train in Beresfield , New South Wales , Australia passes a red signal ( SPAD ) and collides with the rear of a second coal train on the same track in the Beresfield Rail Disaster ; due to the accident, a somewhat random factor has been added to the Vigilance Control signals' intervals.

Construction begins on San Juan, Puerto Rico 's Tren Urbano mass transit system.

DEATHS

May deaths

May - Carl Fallberg , cartoonist who created Fiddletown & Copperopolis (b. 1915).⁴

REFERENCES

Notes