1887 in rail transport
Encyclopedia
January events
- January 28 – Jay GouldJay GouldJason "Jay" Gould was a leading American railroad developer and speculator. He has long been vilified as an archetypal robber baron, whose successes made him the ninth richest American in history. Condé Nast Portfolio ranked Gould as the 8th worst American CEO of all time...
purchases the Little Rock, Mississippi River and Texas Railway at foreclosure then deeds it to the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad.
February events
- February 4 – The Interstate Commerce Act in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
is signed into law, creating the Interstate Commerce CommissionInterstate Commerce CommissionThe Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...
to regulate the prices for hauling freight on AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
railroads.
April events
- April 20 – The North British RailwayNorth British RailwayThe North British Railway was a Scottish railway company that was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923.-History:...
's Tay BridgeTay Rail BridgeThe Tay Bridge is a railway bridge approximately two and a quarter miles long that spans the Firth of Tay in Scotland, between the city of Dundee and the suburb of Wormit in Fife ....
across the Firth of TayFirth of TayThe Firth of Tay is a firth in Scotland between the council areas of Fife, Perth and Kinross, the City of Dundee and Angus, into which Scotland's largest river in terms of flow, the River Tay, empties....
in ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, reconstructed after its collapse in 1879, is reopened and then shortly closed thereafter. - April 26 – At 11:00 a.m. a silver spike is driven in a ceremony in Indian Territory connecting the KansasKansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
and TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
branches of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. The town of Purcell, OklahomaPurcell, OklahomaPurcell is located in the outer south suburban area of Oklahoma City. It is often called "Quarterhorse Capital of the World" and it is the county seat of McClain County , Oklahoma, United States; it also extends a short distance into Cleveland County. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census...
, rises at the location, named in honor of ATSF railroad director Edward Benton (E.B.) Purcell, of Manhattan, KansasManhattan, KansasManhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...
.
May events
- May 20 – Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RailwayAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RailwayThe Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859...
consolidates eight of its subsidiarySubsidiaryA subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
railroads in 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...
into the California Central Railway. - May 31 – The first Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RailwayAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RailwayThe Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859...
train over the newly constructed San Bernardino and Los Angeles Railroad line arrives in Los AngelesLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
July events
- July 13 – The Chateaugay Railway, a predecessor of the Delaware and Hudson RailwayDelaware and Hudson RailwayThe Delaware and Hudson Railway is a railroad that operates in the northeastern United States. Since 1991 it has been a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway, although CPR has assumed all operations and the D&H does not maintain any locomotives or rolling stock.It was formerly an important...
, is incorporated. - July 20 – The Youngstown, Lawrence and Pittsburg Railroad and the Ashtabula, Niles and Youngstown Railroad, both in OhioOhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, are merged to form the Pittsburg, Youngstown and Ashtabula Railroad (a Pennsylvania RailroadPennsylvania RailroadThe Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
subsidiary).
October events
- October 11
- St. Louis Southwestern RailwaySt. Louis Southwestern RailwayThe St. Louis Southwestern Railway , known by its nickname of "The Cotton Belt Route" or simply Cotton Belt, was organized on January 15, 1891, although it had its origins in a series of short lines founded in Tyler, Texas, in 1870 that connected northeastern Texas to Arkansas and southeastern...
predecessor Paragould and Buffalo Island Railway, in ArkansasArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, is incorporated. - The New York and Northern Railway (a predecessor name for the New York and Putnam Railroad) emerges from reorganization after foreclosureForeclosureForeclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...
the previous July.
- St. Louis Southwestern Railway
November events
- November 10 – Canada Atlantic RailwayCanada Atlantic RailwayThe Canada Atlantic Railway Company , the creation of lumber baron John Rudolphus Booth, was for a short period an important participant in the development of trans-Canada railway systems at the end of the 19th century...
becomes the first CanadianCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
railway to use steam from a train's 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...
to heat the passenger cars instead of coalCoalCoal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
or woodWoodWood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
stoves in each car.
Unknown date events
- Reuben Wells is appointed as shop superintendent of AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
manufacturing company Rogers Locomotive and Machine WorksRogers Locomotive and Machine WorksRogers Locomotive and Machine Works was a 19th-century manufacturer of railroad steam locomotives based in Paterson, in Passaic County, New Jersey, in the United States. It built more than six thousand steam locomotives for railroads around the world. Most railroads in 19th-century United States...
. - Stuyvesant FishStuyvesant FishStuyvesant Fish was president of the Illinois Central Railroad.Fish was born in New York City, the son of Hamilton Fish and his wife Julia Ursin Niemcewicz, née Kean. A graduate of Columbia College, he was later an executive of the Illinois Central Railroad, and as its president from 1887 to 1906...
becomes president of the Illinois Central. - Colorado Midland completes construction of the Hagerman TunnelHagerman TunnelHagerman Tunnel was a 2,161 ft railroad tunnel crossing the Continental Divide in Colorado at an altitude of 11,528 ft ....
.
March births
- March 9 - Nathaniel Lamson HowardNathaniel Lamson HowardColonel Nathaniel Lamson "N.L." Howard was an American railroad executive. He graduated from the United States Military Academy and for his meritorious service commanding military railroad engineers during World War I, he was awarded the Légion d'honneur...
, president of Chicago Great Western RailwayChicago Great Western RailwayThe Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad...
1925-1929 (d. 1949).
September births
- September 5 - Charles FairburnCharles FairburnCharles Edward Fairburn was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.- Biography :...
, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish RailwayLondon, Midland and Scottish RailwayThe London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
1944–1945 (d. 1945).
April deaths
- April 19 - Alexander MitchellAlexander Mitchell (politician)Alexander Mitchell was a Scottish-born banker, railroad financier and Democratic politician in Milwaukee.He was born in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and immigrated to the United States in 1839...
, president of Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway 1864-1887 (b. 1817). - April 20 - Horatio G. BrooksHoratio G. BrooksHoratio G. Brooks worked as chief engineer for the New York and Erie Railroad until the railroad moved its steam locomotive maintenance facilities from Dunkirk, New York, to Buffalo, New York. In 1869 he leased the former NY&E shops in Dunkirk and formed Brooks Locomotive Works...
, founder of Brooks Locomotive WorksBrooks Locomotive WorksThe Brooks Locomotive Works manufactured steam railroad locomotives and freight cars from 1869 through its merger into the American Locomotive Company until 1934.-History:...
(b. 1828).
July deaths
- July 4 - Anson P. MorrillAnson P. MorrillAnson Peaslee Morrill was an American politician. Born in 1803 in Belgrade, Maine, originally a storekeeper and millkeeper, he was the 24th Governor of Maine from 1855 to 1856, represented Maine's fourth district in the United States House of Representatives from 1861 to 1863 and served in the...
, president of 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...
1864-1866 and 1873-1875 (b. 1803).
August deaths
- August 14 - Aaron Augustus SargentAaron Augustus SargentAaron Augustus Sargent was an American journalist, lawyer, politician and diplomat. He was sometimes called the "Senator for the Southern Pacific Railroad".-Biography:...
, AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
journalistJournalistA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, lawyerLawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and politicianPoliticianA politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
; authored the first Pacific Railroad Act (b. 1827)