1896 in rail transport
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This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1896.
Events
January events
- January 23 â Construction begins on the Northwestern Elevated Railroad of the Chicago "L" with the first structure erected at the intersection of Fullerton and Sheffield Avenues.[1]
February events
- February 14 â Northern Pacific Railway opens its Union Station in Portland, Oregon.
- February 19 â Braamfontein Explosion: A train carrying 56 tons of dynamite explodes at Braamfontein, Johannesburg, killing more than 78 people.[2]
- February 24 â Erie Railroad purchases the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad.[3]
March events
- March 20 â The Grand Trunk Railway purchases the Central Vermont Railway and begins operating it as a wholly owned subsidiary.
April events
- April 6 â The Snowdon Mountain Railway in North Wales, the only Abt rack system line in the British Isles, commences public operation; however, a derailment leading to one fatality causes services to be suspended for a year.[4]
- April 15 â Passenger rail service of the Henry Flagler Florida East Coast Railway arrives at its new terminus in Miami from West Palm Beach at the persuasion of Julia Tuttle; this quickly leads to incorporation of the city of Miami months later and extensive development of the Greater Miami, South Florida and the Keys.[5][6][7][8]
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May events
- May 2 â Budapest Metro Line 1 (Hungary), the world's second, is opened by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria.[9]
- May 9 â First Nord Express, Paris, France/Oostend, Belgium, to Saint Petersburg, Russia.
- May 13 â The PretoriaâPietersburg Railway, a predecessor of the Central South African Railways, is incorporated in London.
- May 30 â Construction of the Uganda Railway starts at Mombasa.[10]
June events
- June 29 â The St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Company (predecessor of the St. LouisâSan Francisco Railway) is incorporated.
July events
- July 23 â Delivery of world's first commercially-built oil-engined locomotive, from Richard Hornsby & Sons of Grantham, England to the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, London (18 in (460 mm) gauge).[11]
- July 30 â Atlantic City rail crash: Shortly after 6:30 PM, at a crossing just west of Atlantic City, New Jersey, two trains collide, crushing five loaded passenger coaches, killing 50 and seriously injuring around 60.
August events
- August 14 â The Uganda Railway Act, 1896, is approved in the United Kingdom for construction of a railway in Africa from Mombasa to Lake Victoria.[12]
September events
- September 15 â The MissouriâKansasâTexas Railroad (the 'Katy') conveys 40,000 people to Crush, Texas to witness a staged train wreck as a publicity stunt arranged by its general passenger agent, William George Crush. Three spectators are accidentally killed.[13]
October events
- October 5 â Norwegian Railway Museum established at Hamar.[14]
December events
- December 14 â Glasgow Subway, the third oldest metro system in the world, begins operations in Glasgow, Scotland.
- December 25 â Japanese National Railways opens two lines out of Tabata: an extension of the Tsuchiura Line from Tsuchiura, and the Sumidagawa Line to Sumidagawa.
- December 30 â SS Pere Marquette, the first steel train ferry, makes its first voyage.
Unknown date events
- The Green Bay & Western Railroad is formed from the bankruptcy proceedings of the Green Bay, Winona and Saint Paul Railroad.
- The Loup Creek & Deepwater Railway (predecessor of the Deepwater Railway) is formed.
- Atlas Car & Manufacturing Company of Cleveland, Ohio, begins building steam locomotives.
- Beyer, Peacock & Company of Manchester, England, deliver the first five New South Wales T524 class 'Australian Consolidation' 2-8-0 type heavy goods locomotives to the New South Wales Government Railways, forerunners of the system's numerically largest class, finally totalling 280 representatives.
- Narrow gauge Ferrocarril de Tacubaya begins passenger service to Mexico City's Tacubaya amusement park.[15]
- The first narrow gauge (750 mm) railway in Estonia connecting Valga with Pärnu is opened.[16]
Deaths
January deaths
- January 23 â Ferdinand Schichau, German mechanical engineer and founder of locomotive manufacturing company Schichau-Werke, dies (b. 1814).
June deaths
- June 4 â Austin Corbin, president of Long Island Rail Road (b. 1827).
October deaths
- October 21 â James Henry Greathead, English inventor of the tunnelling shield used for the London Underground (b. 1844).[17]