1850 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1850.

Years in rail transport

1849 in rail transport 1850 in rail transport 1851 in rail transport

Events

January events

• January – Maine Central Railroad predecessor Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad is completed between Auburn, Maine and Waterville, Maine.

May events

• May 13 – The Mecklenburgische Eisenbahngesellschaft opens the Rostock-Bützow-Bad Kleinen and Güstrow-Bützow railway lines in northern Germany.

July events

• July 1 – Joseph Hamilton Beattie succeeds John Viret Gooch as locomotive engineer for London and South Western Railway.
• July 4 – Chile: The first section of the Copiapó-Caldera railway line – the second in South America – between Caldera and Monte Amargo is inaugurated today in honour of the nationality of William Wheelwright, the American businessman responsible for the project.

August events

• August 29 – Robert Stephenson's Royal Border Bridge for the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway at Berwick-upon-Tweed, England is opened by Queen Victoria.[1]

September events

• September 20 – The land grant for construction of the Illinois Central Railroad, the first railroad land grant in the United States,[2] is approved.[3]

October events

The original box section Britannia Bridge

• October 19 – Robert Stephenson's Britannia Bridge, completing the Chester and Holyhead Railway over the Menai Strait in North Wales, is opened.[4]

November events

• November 19 – Farmers around Detroit, Michigan, burn down the Michigan Central Railroad's freight house in Detroit; the farmers were angry at the railroad's policy regarding not reimbursing them for livestock killed by trains when the stock wandered onto the tracks.[5]
• November 20 – The first train operates on the Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, a predecessor of the Milwaukee Road.[6]

Unknown date events

• The Richmond and Danville Railroad begins operation in Virginia.
• Construction begins on the first transcontinental railroad to be completed, the Panama Railway.

Births

February births

• February 27 – Henry Huntington, nephew of Collis P. Huntington and executive in charge of Pacific Electric in the early part of the 20th century (d. 1927).

November births

• November 19 – Jule Murat Hannaford, president of Northern Pacific Railway 1913–1920 (d. 1934).[7][8][9]

Deaths

July deaths

• July 7 – Timothy Hackworth, English steam locomotive builder (b. 1786).[10]

References

1. University of Newcastle upon Tyne. "SINE: Structure Details". Archived from the original on March 24, 2006. Retrieved July 13, 2007.
2. Brownson, Howard Gray, Ph.D. (1967) [1915]. History of the Illinois Central Railroad to 1870 (first reprint ed.). University of Illinois. p. 157 – via Google Books. The first land grant ever given by Congress to assist in the construction of a railroad ...
3. Sanborn, John Bell (1897). Railroad Land Grants 1850-1857; a Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Master of Letters in History and Economics. University of Wisconsin. p. 59 – via Google Books. The Illinois Central ... law was approved Sept. 20, 1850 ...
4. Baughan, Peter E. (1972). The Chester & Holyhead Railway, vol. 1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-5617-8.
5. "Irate farmers burn freight house in 1850". Detroit Free Press. November 14, 2010. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
6. Rivanna Chapter, National Railway Historical Society (2005). "This month in railroad history – November". Retrieved November 20, 2005.
7. Northern Pacific. Annual Report. St. Paul [Minn.]: Northern Pacific, 1934, p. 17.
8. Railway Age, September 29, 1934, p. 390.
9. Howson, Elmer T.; D. A. Steel; J. B. Tebo, eds. (1922). The Biographical Directory of the Railway Officials of America (1922 ed.). New York: Simmons-Boardman. p. 267.
10. "Timothy Hackworth". September 22, 2004. Retrieved February 9, 2005.