1862 in rail transport
Encyclopedia
January events
- January - United States Military RailroadUnited States Military RailroadThe United States Military Railroad was an organization during the American Civil War that ran railroads for the Union Army wherever they were needed. It was established in 1862 under General Daniel McCallum.- Petersburg Campaign :...
is authorized by the United States CongressUnited States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
to coordinate military operation of designated railroads during the American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. - January 1 - Maj. Gen. “Stonewall” JacksonStonewall Jacksonຄຽשת״ׇׂׂׂׂ֣|birth_place= Clarksburg, Virginia |death_place=Guinea Station, Virginia|placeofburial=Stonewall Jackson Memorial CemeteryLexington, Virginia|placeofburial_label= Place of burial|image=...
marches his troops northward with the objective of disrupting traffic on the Baltimore and Ohio RailroadBaltimore and Ohio RailroadThe Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
and C&O Canal; the Battle of HancockBattle of HancockThe Battle of Hancock, also called the Romney Campaign, was a battle fought during the Romney Expedition, occurred January 5–6, 1862, in Washington County, Maryland, and Morgan County, West Virginia, as part of Maj. Gen. Thomas J...
is unsuccessful and the Confederate Army withdraws. - January 31 - Opening of first rail line in the (at this time) Grand Duchy of FinlandGrand Duchy of FinlandThe Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed 1809–1917 as part of the Russian Empire and was ruled by the Russian czar as Grand Prince.- History :...
, between HelsinkiHelsinkiHelsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
and HämeenlinnaHämeenlinnaHämeenlinna is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Häme in the south of Finland and is the birthplace of composer Jean Sibelius. Today, it belongs to the region of Tavastia Proper, and until 2010 it was the residence city for the Governor of the...
, on the Imperial Russian track gauge of .
April events
- April 12 - Andrew's Raiders steal The GeneralThe General (locomotive)The General is a type 4-4-0 steam locomotive that was the subject of the Great Locomotive Chase of the American Civil War. The locomotive is preserved at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, Georgia, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.-...
and drive it north toward Chattanooga, TennesseeChattanooga, TennesseeChattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...
, with Western and Atlantic RailroadWestern and Atlantic RailroadThe Western and Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia' is a historic railroad that operated in the southeastern United States from Atlanta, Georgia to Chattanooga, Tennessee....
conductor William FullerWilliam Allen FullerWilliam Allen Fuller was a conductor on the Western & Atlantic Railroad during the American Civil War era. He was most noted for his role in the 1862 Great Locomotive Chase, a daring espionage mission and raid conducted by non-uniformed personnel of the Union Army in northern Georgia...
chasing it in the Great Locomotive ChaseGreat Locomotive ChaseThe Great Locomotive Chase or Andrews' Raid was a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862, in northern Georgia during the American Civil War. Volunteers from the Union Army, led by civilian scout James J...
. - April–September - William Powell FrithWilliam Powell FrithWilliam Powell Frith , was an English painter specialising in genre subjects and panoramic narrative works of life in the Victorian era. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1852...
's oil painting The Railway Station, depicting London Paddington, goes on public display.
May events
- May 6 - The bill that would become the Pacific Railroad Act is passed by the United States House of RepresentativesUnited States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
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June events
- June 16 - CowesCowesCowes is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east Bank...
and NewportNewport, Isle of WightNewport is a civil parish and a county town of the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England. Newport has a population of 23,957 according to the 2001 census...
Railway opens the first section of passenger line on the Isle of WightIsle of WightThe Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
(EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) between the two towns of its title (4.5 mi (7.2 km)). - June 20 - The bill that would become the Pacific Railroad Act is passed by the United States SenateUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
. - June 28 - The St. Paul and Pacific Railroad makes an inaugural run led by the William Crooks, the first locomotive to run in the state of MinnesotaMinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. - June 29 - Robert E. LeeRobert E. LeeRobert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
had the first railway gunRailway gunA railway gun, also called a railroad gun, is a large artillery piece, often surplus naval ordnance, mounted on, transported by, and fired from a specially designed railway wagon. Many countries have built railway guns, but the best known are the large Krupp-built pieces used by Germany in World...
used in combat pushed by a locomotive over the Richmond and York River line (later part of the Southern Railway) for the Battle of Savage's StationBattle of Savage's StationThe Battle of Savage's Station took place on June 29, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, as fourth of the Seven Days Battles of the American Civil War. The main body of the Union Army of the Potomac began a general withdrawal toward the James River. Confederate Brig. Gen. John B. Magruder pursued...
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July events
- July 1 - The Pacific Railroad Act is signed into law by PresidentPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Abraham LincolnAbraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. - July 1 - The Union Pacific RailroadUnion Pacific RailroadThe Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
is incorporated. - July 1 - Effective date of creation of Great Eastern RailwayGreat Eastern RailwayThe Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...
in EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
by amalgamation of Eastern Counties RailwayEastern Counties RailwayThe Eastern Counties Railway was an early English railway company incorporated in 1836. It was intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then on to Norwich and Yarmouth. Construction began in late March 1837 on the first nine miles, at the London end of the line.Construction was...
, Eastern Union RailwayEastern Union RailwayThe Eastern Union Railway was an early English railway, initially sanctioned by Act of Parliament on 19 July 1844, with authorised capital of £200,000 to build from Ipswich to Colchester. Further Acts of 21 July 1845 and 26 June 1846 authorised further increases in capital of £50,000 and £20,000...
, East Anglian Railway, Newmarket Railway and Norfolk Railway Companies. - July 28 - The first railway post officeRailway post officeIn the United States a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery. The RPO was staffed by highly trained Railway Mail Service postal clerks, and was off-limits to...
car in North AmericaNorth AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
is operated over the Hannibal and St. Joseph RailroadHannibal and St. Joseph RailroadThe Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was the first railroad to cross Missouri starting in Hannibal in the northeast and going to St. Joseph, Missouri, in the northwest...
, the mail being transferred to stagecoachStagecoachA stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
in St. Joseph, Missouri, for the rest of the journey to CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. - July 29 - The Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company began streetcar operations on Pennsylvania AvenuePennsylvania AvenuePennsylvania Avenue is a street in Washington, D.C. that joins the White House and the United States Capitol. Called "America's Main Street", it is the location of official parades and processions, as well as protest marches...
in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
August events
- August 15 - Opening of first railroad in AlgeriaAlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, from AlgiersAlgiers' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
to BlidaBlidaBlida is a city in Algeria. It is the capital of Blida Province, and it is located about 45 km south-west of Algiers, the national capital. The name Blida, i.e...
(48 km (29.8 mi) of 1445 mm gaugeRail gaugeTrack gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...
).
September events
- September 1 - James Staats Forbes becomes General Manager of the London, Chatham and Dover RailwayLondon, Chatham and Dover RailwayThe London, Chatham and Dover Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1859 until the 1923 grouping which united it with other companies to form the Southern Railway. Its lines ran through London and northern and eastern Kent to form a significant part of the Greater London...
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October events
- October 3 - KongsvingerbanenKongsvingerbanenThe Kongsvinger Line is a railway line between the towns of Lillestrøm and Kongsvinger in Norway and onwards to Charlottenberg in Sweden. The railway was opened on 3 October 1862 and is Norway's second standard gauge line . It was electrified in 1951...
opens between LillestrømLillestrøm StationLillestrøm Station is a railway station located at Lillestrøm in Skedsmo, Norway. The station serves as the main transportation hub of the eastern parts of Greater Oslo and all trains east of Oslo stop at Lillestrøm...
and KongsvingerKongsvinger StationKongsvinger Station is a railway station located in downtown Kongsvinger, Norway, on the Kongsvinger Line and Solør Line. The station was built in 1862 as part of the Kongsvinger Lin and designed in Swiss chalet style by Heinrich Ernst Schirmer and Wilhelm von Hanno...
, NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. - October 13 - The Winchburgh rail crashWinchburgh rail crashThe Winchburgh rail crash occurred on Monday 13 October 1862, a mile and a half northwest of Winchburgh in Linlithgowshire . At that point, the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway passes through a cutting on a curve. On the day of the accident, only one line was in use due to track maintenance when two...
in England kills 15 people. - October 28 - Portland gauge Maine Central RailroadMaine Central RailroadThe Maine Central Railroad Company was a railroad in central and southern Maine. It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. It operated a mainline between South Portland, Maine, east to the Canada-U.S...
is formed by merger of the Androscoggin and Kennebec RailroadAndroscoggin and Kennebec RailroadThe Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad is a historic U.S. railroad which operated in Maine.The Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad Co. received a charter on March 28, 1847 and by January 1850 had built a line between Waterville, Maine and Danville, Maine . At Waterville, the A&K connected with the...
with the Penobscot and Kennebec RailroadPenobscot and Kennebec RailroadThe Penobscot and Kennebec Railroad is a historic U.S. railroad which operated in Maine.The Penobscot and Kennebec Railroad Co. received a charter on April 5, 1845 and built a line between Bangor, Maine and Waterville, Maine. At Waterville, the P&K connected with the Androscoggin and Kennebec...
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November events
- November 10 - Chicago and North Western RailwayChicago and North Western RailwayThe Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was a Class I railroad in the Midwest United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s...
reaches Green Bay, WisconsinGreen Bay, WisconsinGreen Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
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December events
- December 9 - The Winona and St. Peter Railroad makes its first run between WinonaWinona, MinnesotaWinona is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, in the U.S. State of Minnesota. Located in picturesque bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf....
and Stockton, MinnesotaStockton, MinnesotaStockton is a city in Winona County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 697 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
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Unknown date events
- Cornelius VanderbiltCornelius VanderbiltCornelius Vanderbilt , also known by the sobriquet Commodore, was an American entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads. He was also the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family and one of the richest Americans in history...
acquires the New York and Harlem RailroadNew York and Harlem RailroadThe New York and Harlem Railroad was one of the first railroads in the United States, and possibly also the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and 1852 between Lower Manhattan to and beyond Harlem...
. - Bergisch-Märkische EisenbahnBergisch-Märkische EisenbahnThe Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company was a Germany railway company that together with the Cologne-Minden Railway and the Rhenish Railway Company was one of the three private railway companies that in the mid-19th...
opens Essen HauptbahnhofEssen Hauptbahnhofis the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Essen in western Germany. It is situated south of the old town centre, next to the A 40 motorway.It was opened in 1862 by the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn...
station.
Unknown date deaths
- Frederick W. LanderFrederick W. LanderFrederick West Lander was a transcontinental United States explorer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and a prolific poet.-Birth and early years:...
, Chief Civil Engineer for the Pacific RailroadPacific RailroadThe Pacific Railroad was a railroad based in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was a predecessor of both the Missouri Pacific Railroad and St. Louis-San Francisco Railway.The Pacific was chartered by Missouri in 1849 to extend "from St...
(b. 1822). - Septimus NorrisSeptimus NorrisSeptimus Norris was an American mechanical engineer and steam locomotive designer. He was the youngest of three brothers all active in the field — his eldest brother William Norris founded the Norris Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Richard Norris took over the firm in about...
, steam locomotiveSteam locomotiveA steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
designer often credited as designing the first 4-6-04-6-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This wheel arrangement became the second-most popular...
(b. 1818).