Events
January
- January 3 – The last steam locomotive powered passenger train departs Washington Union Station; Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad engine number 622 Carter Braxton pulls the train, leaving at approximately 1:40 PM bound for Richmond, Virginia.
- January 8 – Southern Pacific Railroad's Sunset Limited becomes the first train to use the new New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal.
- January 20 – The Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line, the second line in the system and the first built after World War II, is opened between Ikebukuro and Ochanomizu stations. [1]
- January 24 – Cleveland, Ohio, streetcars make their last revenue run.
- January – General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces the EMD F9 and GP9.
February
- February 21 – An SNCF electric train hits 151 mph (243 km/h) in tests, setting a world’s record.
- February – General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces the EMD FP9.
March
- March 30 – Yonge subway, the first segment of the Toronto subway and the first underground rapid transit line in Canada, begins operation. [2] [3]
April
- April 20 – The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad ("Milwaukee Road") opens a new station in Tacoma, Washington.
- April 30 – Last day of steam locomotive operations and passenger train service on the Clinchfield Railroad.
May
- May – General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces the EMD E9.
June
- June 6 – The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway introduces the San Francisco Chief passenger train between Chicago and San Francisco.
- June 13 – Last day of steam locomotive operation on the Maine Central Railroad. [4]
- June 14 – New York Central management loses a proxy fight for control of the railroad to Robert Ralph Young and his Alleghany Corporation.
- June – General Electric delivers the first diesel-electric locomotives built for the narrow gauge White Pass and Yukon Route. [5]
July
- July 2 – SNCF electrifies first section of Valenciennes – Thionville line, the first non-experimental 25 kV AC railway electrification.
- July 4 – Budd delivers the first Château series car, Château Bienville, to Canadian Pacific Railway in Montreal.
- July – New Zealand Railways Department introduces DF class (built by English Electric) into service, the country's first mainline diesel-electric locomotives. [6]
August
- August 7 – The last streetcars operate on the Altoona and Logan Valley Electric Railway in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
October
- October 16 – The Southern Pacific dieselized its 3 foot (914 mm) gauge Keeler branch.
- October 20 – To commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Horseshoe Curve, the Sylvania Electric Products Corporation sponsors a night photograph of the Curve using more than 6500 flashbulbs.
November
- November 29 – The first dome cars built by Budd Company enter revenue service on Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway's North Coast Limited .[ citation needed ]
December
- December – Louisville and Nashville Railroad and Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway open the new Radnor Yard in Nashville, Tennessee.
- December – Pullman-Standard builds the first bilevel commuter coaches for the Southern Pacific Railroad to use in the south San Francisco Bay Area.
- December – The last steam locomotive on the Southern Railway (U.S.) is retired from standby service.
Unknown date
- Circular Koltsevaya Line of the Moscow Metro completed.
- American Car and Foundry officially changes its name to ACF Industries, Inc.
- Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway divests itself of the Grand Canyon Hotel and other buildings at the north end of the Grand Canyon Railway.
- Netherlands Railway Museum moves to the former Maliebaan station.