1836 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1836.

Events

January events

• January 16 – The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, the oldest portion of what is to become the Chicago and North Western Railway, is chartered.

February events

• February 5 – Henry R. Campbell of the Philadelphia, Germantown & Norristown Railroad patents the first 4-4-0, a steam locomotive type that will soon become the most common on all railroads of the United States. ^[1]
• February 8 - London and Greenwich Railway opens its first section, the first railway in London, England. ^[2]

March events

• March - The Syracuse and Utica Railroad, a predecessor of the New York Central Railroad, is chartered to build a railroad between its namesake cities in New York.

April events

• April – The first railroad car ferry in the U.S., the Susquehanna enters service on the Susquehanna River between Havre de Grace and Perryville, Maryland. ^{[3] [ page needed ]}

May events

• May 5 – The Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad is chartered as the successor to the Castleton and West Stockbridge Railroad in Massachusetts and eastern New York.
• May 19 – The Bristol and Exeter Railway receives parliamentary authorization.

July events

• July 13 – John Ruggles is awarded U.S. patent 1 for his improvements to railroad steam locomotive tires. ^[4]
• July 21 – The Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad opens between St. John and La Prairie, Quebec, the first steam-worked passenger railroad in British North America.

August events

• August 1 – The Utica and Schenectady Railroad, a predecessor of the New York Central Railroad in New York, opens.
• August 8 – Andover and Wilmington Railroad opens its line to Andover, Massachusetts.

September events

• September 5 – The Lake Wimico and St. Joseph Canal and Railroad, the first steam railroad in Florida, opens.

October events

• The Louisa Railroad of Louisa County, Virginia, an early predecessor of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, begins construction. ^[5]
• October 25 – Construction begins on the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad in North Carolina. Due to a lack of support in Raleigh, the route is revised to run from Wilmington to the Petersburg Railroad in Weldon. ^[6]

December events

• December 3 – Wetheral train accident: A passenger train on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway in England is wrongly diverted into a siding at Wetheral railway station, derails and crushes three people to death. ^[7]
• December 14 – The London and Greenwich Railway opens throughout from London Bridge to Deptford. ^[8]

Unknown date events

• The Bangor and Piscataquis Canal and Railroad Company operates the first steam railroad in Maine with two 2-2-0 locomotives manufactured in England.

Births

January births

• January 2 - Fred T. Perris, Chief Engineer of the California Southern Railroad (d. 1916). ^{[9] [10]}

February births

• February 9 – Franklin B. Gowen, president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad 1866–1883 (d. 1889).

March births

• March 16 – Andrew Smith Hallidie, who developed the first practical cable car system for San Francisco, California (d. 1900). ^[11]

May births

• May 21 – Francis William Webb, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Western Railway (d. 1906). ^[12]
• May 27 - Jay Gould, American financier who, with Jim Fisk, took control of the Erie Railroad (d. 1892).

September births

• September 17 - William Jackson Palmer, builder of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (d. 1909).

Deaths

January deaths

• January 7 – John Molson, established the Champlain and Saint Lawrence Railroad, the first railway into Canada (b. 1763).

References

• Pennsylvania Railroad Historical and Technical Society (June 2004), PRR Chronology, 1836 (PDF). Retrieved March 5, 2005.
• White, John H, Jr. (Spring 1986), America's Most Noteworthy Railroaders, Railroad History, 154, p. 9–15.

1. Balkwill, Richard; Marshall, John (1993). The Guinness Book of Railway Facts and Feats (6th ed.). Enfield: Guinness Publishing. ISBN   0-85112-707-X.
2. Thomas, R. H. G. (1972). London's First Railway – The London & Greenwich. London: Batsford. ISBN   0-7134-0468-X.
3. Marshall, John (1989). The Guinness Railway Book. Enfield: Guinness Books. ISBN   0-8511-2359-7. OCLC   24175552.
4. 9,957 unnumbered patents have been filed previously.
5. Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company. The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway directory. 1882. pg. 17
6. "Railroad — Wilmington & Raleigh (later Weldon)". North Carolina Business History. CommunicationSolutions/ISI. 2006. Retrieved 2012-04-05.
7. The Times (London) 14 December 1836.
8. Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 260–261. ISBN   0-7126-5616-2.
9. Serpico, Philip C. (1988). Santa Fé Route to the Pacific. Palmdale, California: Omni Publications. pp. 18–24. ISBN   0-88418-000-X.
10. City of Perris, California. "A Brief History of the Perris Valley". Archived from the original on 2006-08-27. Retrieved 2006-07-09.
11. Millard, Bailey (1924). "Andrew Smith Hallidie". History of the San Francisco Bay Region: History and Biography. Vol. 3. Chicago: American Historical Society. pp. 312–317. Retrieved 10 October 2021– via Google Books.
12. Marshall, John (2003). Biographical Dictionary of Railway Engineers. Oxford: Railway and Canal Historical Society. ISBN   0-901461-22-9.