1885 in rail transport
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This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1885.
Events
February events
- February 8 â The Midland Railway of England opens its extension to Birmingham New Street station.
- February 12 â The Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield Railway is incorporated in Missouri.[1]
- February 17 â The Southern Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad are combined under a single holding company, the Southern Pacific Company.
April events
- April 1 â The Southern Pacific Railroad takes over operations of the Central Pacific Railroad.
- April 6 â The Meriden and Cromwell Railroad, a Connecticut predecessor of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, opens.[2]
June events
- June â John J. Hagerman gains control of Colorado Midland.
July events
- July 19 â The Zanesville and Ohio River Railway enters receivership.
- July 20
August events
- August â International Railway Congress Association established in Brussels to provide an international forum for technical discussion.[5]
November events
- November â First train crosses Garabit viaduct in the Massif Central of France.
- November 6 â Phase 3 of the NovaraâVarallo railway in Italy opens connecting Grignasco to Borgosesia.[6]
- November 7 â The last spike on the Canadian Pacific Railway is driven at Craigellachie, British Columbia, Canada.
- November 9 â 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 â 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 â The first through train from Chicago via Santa Fe lines arrives in San Diego.[9]
- November 29 â 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
- 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
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).[11]
Deaths
January deaths
- January 12 â 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
- July 31 â Robert F. Fairlie, Scottish steam locomotive builder (b. 1831).[12]
December deaths
- December 6 â Robert Gerwig, German civil engineer, designer of the Schwarzwaldbahn and the Höllentalbahn in the Black Forest (b. 1820).
- December 8 â William Henry Vanderbilt, son of Cornelius Vanderbilt and president of the New York Central system (b. 1821).