1918 in rail transport
Years in rail transport |
Timeline of railway history |
This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1918.
Events[]
January events[]
- January 19 - The Little Salkeld rail accident in England kills 7 people.
February events[]
- February 3 – Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco, California, the longest (11,920 feet or 3,630 metres) streetcar tunnel in the world, opens.[1][2]
- February 11 – The roof of the Portland–Lewiston Interurban carbarn in Gray, Maine, collapses under heavy snow.
March events[]
- March 19 – The United States Congress adopts Standard or "Railroad" time, in use since 1884, as the national standard.
- March 21 – The becomes law in the United States, guaranteeing the return to private ownership and administration of America's railroads from the USRA at the end of World War I.
- March 26 – The Council of the People's Commissars in Russia issues a decree "for the centralization of control, the protection of railroads and increase in their capacity."
June events[]
- June 22 – Hammond Circus Train Wreck, Hammond, Indiana, United States: The engineer of a troop train operating on the Michigan Central Railroad falls asleep while the train is in motion; he misses several signals and runs his train into the rear of a stopped circus train. Several of the passenger cars are completely destroyed in the collision and catch fire; 86 people die and 127 others are injured in the accident.
July events[]
- July 9 – Great train wreck of 1918, Nashville, Tennessee, United States: two Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway trains collide head-on. 101 killed, 171 injured; deadliest train accident in United States history.
- July 10 – The , in Colorado ceases all operations; passenger service is replaced with buses.[3]
- July 15 – Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway opens a new station in San Bernardino, California, to replace the former California Southern Railroad station that was destroyed by fire in 1916.[4]
August events[]
- August 10 – Following its second bankruptcy, the Colorado Midland Railway ceases operations, the largest single United States railroad abandonment to this date.[5]
- August 16 – Grand Trunk Railway's freight sheds in Ottawa are destroyed by fire; the loss is estimated at $85,000.[6]
September events[]
- September 6 – The Canadian Northern Railway is nationalized, later to become part of Canadian National Railway.
October events[]
- October 1 – The Getå Railroad Disaster in Getå, Östergötland, Sweden, kills 41 passengers and the fireman and injures 41 people. It is to date the worst railroad accident in Swedish history.
- October 21 – Canadian Northern Railway opens the Mount Royal Tunnel for regular traffic between Montreal and Toronto.[6][7]
November events[]
- November 1 – The Malbone Street Wreck occurs on the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) in New York City when an inexperienced motorman (pressed into service due to a strike by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers) drives one of the system's subway trains too quickly into a curve, derailing the train in a tunnel and killing 97 and injuring over 100.
- November 11 – The Armistice with Germany is signed between 5:12 AM and 5:20 AM in the "Compiègne Wagon", Marshal Foch’s railway carriage, CIWL #2419, in Compiègne Forest bringing an end to World War I.[8]
- November 15 – Independent Estonian national railway company is established on the basis of Looderaudtee (North-Western Railway), Esimese Juurdeveoteede Selts (First Association of Approach Tracks) and military and other railway lines.[9]
- November 20 – The Government of Canada takes over control of the Canadian Northern Railway, appoints a new board of directors and places the management of the Canadian Government Railways under the new board's control.[6][7]
December events[]
- December 20 – The name "Canadian National Railways" is authorized for use to refer to the collection of railway companies forming Canada's national rail system.[7]
Unknown date events[]
- Narrow gauge Catskill Mountain Railway, Otis Elevating Railway, and Catskill and Tannersville Railway end passenger service to the Catskill Mountain House destination resort.[10]
- Julius Kruttschnitt succeeds William Sproule as president of the Southern Pacific Company, parent company of the Southern Pacific Railroad.
- Sir Edward Wentworth Beatty succeeds Thomas George Shaughnessy as president of Canadian Pacific Railway.
- The provincial government of British Columbia, Canada, agrees to take over control of Pacific Great Eastern Railway.
Births[]
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Deaths[]
April deaths[]
- April 13 – Thomas Fremantle, director for London, Brighton and South Coast Railway beginning in 1868 and chairman of same 1896-1908, dies (b. 1830).
Unknown date deaths[]
- Albert Alonzo Robinson, vice president and general manager of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (born 1844).[11]
References[]
- ^ Wallace, Kevin (March 27, 1949). "The City's Tunnels: When S.F. Can't Go Over, It Goes Under Its Hills". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved July 14, 2008.
- ^ "West of Twin Peaks". Western Neighborhood Projects. 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
- ^ "FCMR History: The Early Years". Fort Collins Municipal Railway Society. 2008. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
- ^ San Bernardino Associated Governments (2004). "A Brief History of the Santa Fe Depot". Archived from the original on September 23, 2006. Retrieved July 17, 2006.
- ^ "Colorado Midland Railway - a short history". Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2009.
- ^ a b c "Significant dates in Ottawa railway history". Colin Churcher's Railway Pages. June 19, 2008. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
- ^ a b c "Significant dates in Canadian railway history". Colin Churcher's Railway Pages. May 30, 2008. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
- ^ Pitt, Barrie (2003). 1918: The Last Act. Barnsley: Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-0-85052-974-6.
- ^ "Ajalugu" (in Estonian). Eesti Raudtee. Archived from the original on 2017-09-23. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
- ^ Helmer, William F. (1970). Rip Van Winkle Railroads. Howell-North Books. p. 113. ISBN 0-8310-7079-X.
- ^ Waters, Lawrence Leslie (1950). Steel Trails to Santa Fe. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Press.
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