1885 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1885.

[edit] Events

[edit] February events

• 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.

[edit] April events

• 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 Haven Railroad, opens.^[2]

[edit] June events

• June - John J. Hagerman gains control of Colorado Midland.

[edit] July events

• July 19 - The Zanesville and Ohio River Railway enters receivership.
• July 20 - The Hull and Barnsley Railway opens in Yorkshire, England. It is intended to challenge the near-monopoly on export coal traffic in its region of the North Eastern Railway.^[3]

[edit] August events

• August - International Railway Congress Association established in Brussels to provide an international forum for technical discussion.^[4]

[edit] November events

The last spike is driven on the Canadian Pacific Railway

• 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.^[5]
• 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.^[6]
• November 17 - The first through train from Chicago via Santa Fe lines arrives in San Diego.^[7]
• 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.^[6]

[edit] Unknown date events

• Cornelius Vanderbilt II is promoted to president of the New York Central system.

[edit] Births

[edit] Unknown date births

• Richard M. Dilworth, General Motors Electro-Motive Division chief engineer credited with developing the diesel-electric locomotive concept in the 1930s (d. 1968).^[8]

[edit] Deaths

[edit] July deaths

• July 31 - Robert F. Fairlie, Scottish steam locomotive builder (b. 1831).^[9]

[edit] December deaths

• December 6 - Robert Gerwig, German civil engineer, designer of the Schwarzwaldbahn and the Höllentalbahn in the Black Forest (b. 1820).^[10]
• December 8 - William Henry Vanderbilt, son of Cornelius Vanderbilt and president of the New York Central system (b. 1821).

[edit] Unknown date deaths

• John B. Jervis, Chief mechanical engineer of the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad who pioneered the use of the leading truck on steam locomotives (b. 1795).

[edit] References

• 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.