1920 in rail transport
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This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1920.
Events
January events
- January 28 â Groundbreaking commences to begin construction of the Cincinnati Subway.[1]
February events
- February 23âMarch 4, May 4â29 - 1920 French railway strikes.[2]
March events
- March 1 â Control of American railroads is returned to private ownership and administration with the disbandment of the USRA.
- March 18 â Fruit Growers Express (FGE) is incorporated in the United States.
April events
- April 1 â Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen merges the German state railways.
May events
- May 15 â The Ministry of Railways of Japan is established.
June events
- June 13 â Baltimore and Ohio Railroad inaugurates passenger service to Detroit's Fort Street Union Depot as the first passenger train departs for Washington, DC.[3]
July events
- July 5 â PortlandâLewiston Interurban carries its heaviest passenger load with trains to the Maine Statehood Centennial Exposition.
October events
- October 1 â Palestine Railways established to manage lines within British Mandatory Palestine, including the Jezreel Valley railway.
November events
- November â H. P. M. Beames succeeds Charles Bowen-Cooke as Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Western Railway.
- November 20 â Work begins on the State Railway of Thailand to convert all 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1â2 in) track to meter gauge.[4]
December events
- December 23 â The KirkenesâBjørnevatn Line in Norway takes electric traction into use.[5]
Unknown date events
- William Sproule succeeds Julius Kruttschnitt as president of the Southern Pacific Company, parent company of the Southern Pacific Railroad. This is Sproule's second term as president.
- Government of India accepts recommendation of Sir William Acworth's East India Railway Committee that the government should take over management of the country's railways.[6]
- Partition of the Ottoman Empire leads to abandonment of the Hejaz railway.
Births
April births
- April 16 â Alan Pegler, British railway preservationist (died 2012).
- April 17 â James B. McCahey, Jr., president of Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad (died 1998).[7]
Deaths
July deaths
- July 22 â William Kissam Vanderbilt, heir to Cornelius Vanderbilt and president of the New York Central system (born 1849).
October deaths
- October 18 â Charles Bowen-Cooke, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Western Railway 1909â1920 (born 1859).
November deaths
- November 17 â T. Jefferson Coolidge, president of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 1880â1881 (born 1831).[8]
December deaths
- December 1 â Edward Ponsonby, 8th Earl of Bessborough, director of London, Brighton and South Coast Railway from 1895 and chairman of same from 1908 (born 1851).