411 REFERENCE · Wikipedia
1958 in rail transport
Reference material by Wikipedia contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
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February 2012
1957 1958 1959 1950
Events
January
January
Unable to keep his promises to shareholders, Robert Ralph Young suspends dividends on New York Central stock, a factor in his subsequent suicide on January 25.
Last steam locomotive operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen.
January 1 – The Chicago & North Western Railway acquires the Litchfield and Madison Railway.
February
February 4 – Canada's Kellog Commission releases a report on the use of firemen as part of diesel locomotive crews.Colin Churcher's Railway Pages August 16, 2005 http://www.railways.incanada.net/candate/candate.htm Significant dates in Canadian railway history February 4, 2006 https://web.archive.org/web/20060202004341/http://www.railways.incanada.net/candate/candate.htm February 2, 2006 dead
February – The Alaska Railroad sells six ex-USATC S160 Class 2-8-0 locomotives to the standard gauge Ferrocarril de Langreo in northern Spain, where they are used on a new diversion built to avoid a cable railway. This will be the third Transatlantic crossing for #3410.R. Tourret United States Army Transportation Corps Locomotives Abingdon Tourret Publishing 1977 0-905878-01-9 63–64
March
March 4 – The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority begins operating the remnant passenger services of the Pacific Electric and Los Angeles Railway.Transit Authority Begins Operating LATL and Metro: Public Now Owns Big Bus Lines Los Angeles Times March 4, 1958 B1 https://www.proquest.com/docview/167260104 subscription April 10, 2021 June 30, 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170630235113/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/doc/167260104.html live 167260104
March 13 – Queensland BB18¼ class locomotive No. 1089, completed by Walkers, Maryborough, Queensland, is the last main-line steam locomotive built in Australia.http://www.corporate.qr.com.au/about_qr/heritage/heritage.asp Heritage Services QR Corporate January 15, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20091025182105/http://www.corporate.qr.com.au/about_qr/heritage/heritage.asp October 25, 2009 dead mdy-all
April
April 20 – The Key System discontinues streetcar service.East Shore & Suburban Railway & other El Cerrito Railroad Chronology http://www.elcerritohistoricalsociety.org/ecprintfiles/railchron.pdf El Cerrito Historical Society 18 October 2020 February 23, 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220223070811/http://www.elcerritohistoricalsociety.org/ecprintfiles/railchron.pdf dead
April 26
Last day of regularly scheduled passenger service on the Maine Central Railroad Mountain Division.The Best of Maine Railroads Johnson Ron Portland Litho 1985 112
Last run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Royal Blue.
May
May 24 – The Pacific Electric Bellflower Line, then being operated by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority, ceases passenger operations,77 relegating the West Santa Ana Branch to a freight line.
June
June 22 – The Chicago Transit Authority Congress Branch opens for service in the median of the Eisenhower Expressway, pioneering the first use of rail rapid transit and a multi-lane automobile expressway in the same grade-separated right-of-way. It replaced the 1895-built Garfield Park 'L' route and alignment from Des Plaines Avenue, Forest Park to the Loop.
June 25 – The Pennsylvania Railroad discontinues the Afternoon Steeler passenger train between Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
July
July – General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces the EMD SD24.
July 7 – The Hudson & Manhattan Railroad reintroduces women-only cars on the railroad's commuter trains in New York City.Klapouchy, B. 2005 http://www.hudsoncity.net/tubesenglish/3-operatinghistory.html Hudson and Manhattan Railroad – Hudson Tubes – PATH: Operation History July 7, 2005 https://web.archive.org/web/20050908135514/http://www.hudsoncity.net/tubesenglish/3-operatinghistory.html September 8, 2005 usurped
July 17 – The Railway Enthusiasts Society is formed to promote rail transportation and preservation in New Zealand
July 25 – Pacific Great Eastern Railway completes construction of the line to Fort St. John, British Columbia.
August
August 9 – The Moccasin, the longest running named passenger train in Canada thus far, is discontinued.
August 12 – The Transportation Act of 1958 passes in the US, loosening Interstate Commerce Commission regulation and guaranteeing loans to railroads.
September
September – On the Drachenfels Railway, Königswinter, Germany, a rack railway train derails, killing 17.
September 15 – A Central Railroad of New Jersey commuter train plunges off the Newark Bay Bridge while raised for water traffic, killing 48.
October
October – After building only 59 examples of the type, Fairbanks-Morse and Canadian Locomotive Company discontinue construction of the H-24-66 model Train Master diesel locomotive.
October 1 – Northern Ireland's Ulster Transport Authority and the Republic of Ireland's Córas Iompair Éireann take over from the Great Northern Railway Board in running the remaining cross-border route (Dublin–Belfast) of the Irish railway system. The GNR assets are split between the two state companies.
November
November 1 – The Strasburg Rail Road is purchased by a non-profit group.
December
December 31 – The Harcourt Street railway line between Dublin and Bray, Ireland, closes.
right|180px|thumb|The last Beyer Garratt, returned from South Africa to the UK for the Welsh Highland Railway
Unknown date
South African Railways takes delivery of its last steam locomotives for the 3ft6in gauge, GMAM class Garratt locomotives.Hills R. L. Patrick, D. Beyer, Peacock, locomotive builders to the world Glossop Venture Publications 1982 978-1-898432-05-0
Last Garratt locomotive to be built in Manchester by Beyer, Peacock & Company is delivered as South African Railways NGG16 class no. 143 (2ft gauge).Durrant A. E. Garratt Locomotives of the World Newton Abbot David & Charles 1981 978-0-7153-7641-6D. F. Holland Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, vol. 2 Newton Abbot David & Charles 1972 978-0-7153-5427-8NGG16 no. 143 http://whr.bangor.ac.uk/143.htm Project Rheiffordd Eryri January 22, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20081224111306/http://whr.bangor.ac.uk/143.htm December 24, 2008 dead
SNCF electrifies its Paris–Lille line in France.
Ernest S. Marsh succeeds Fred Gurley as president of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway.
Accidents
uncollapsed
Deaths
January deaths
January 25 – Robert Ralph Young, financier and controlling stockholder of the New York Central commits suicide after suspending company dividends (born 1897)
References
(April 3, 2005), Significant dates in Canadian railway history. Retrieved July 22, 2005 and August 9, 2005.