1.
1877 in rail transport
–
This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1877. May 1 – Opening of first railway in Burma, from Rangoon to Prome, July 14 – Workers on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad walk off their jobs in an act that is seen as the start of the great railroad strike of 1877. July 16 – Railroad workers on strike in Martinsburg, West Virginia, derail and loot a train, July 19 – The New York and Manhattan Beach Railway opens. July 20 – Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers riot in Baltimore, nine railroad employees are killed as the Maryland militia attempts to quell the riot. July 21 – Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, stage a strike for the workers killed in Baltimore. Rioting erupts throughout Pittsburgh as a result, July 24 – Joel Tiffany is awarded U. S. Patent 193,357 for his design of the first successful refrigerator car, august 31 – The first 2 ft gauge narrow gauge railroad in America, the Billerica and Bedford Railroad, begins operations. November 4 – Opening of Gustave Eiffels Maria Pia Bridge carrying the railway across the Douro into Porto, december 27 – The Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Occidental Railway opens, traversing a route from Montreal through Lachute to Hull. Tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad from Los Angeles, cross the Colorado River at Yuma, William Henry Vanderbilt, son of Cornelius Vanderbilt, is promoted to President of the New York Central system. Second railway in Estonia connecting Tapa with Tartu, the biggest city in Southern Estonia is opened, approximate date – Ephraim Shay develops the first Shay locomotive. March 7 – Walter Kidde, president of New York, Susquehanna, edgar Alcock, general manager and chairman of Hunslet Engine Company of Leeds, England. January 4 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American financier who created the New York Central, april 22 – James P. Kirkwood, designer of Starrucca Viaduct. August 3 – William Butler Ogden, president of the Chicago, september 2 – Alvin Adams, founder of Adams Express, one of the first LCL freight companies in the United States, dies. Oliver Ames, Jr. president of Union Pacific Railroad 1866–1871, matthew Baird, second owner of Baldwin Locomotive Works. Jean-Jacques Meyer, French-born steam locomotive designer Brief biographies of major mechanical engineers, rivanna Chapter, National Railway Historical Society, This Month in Railroad History, July. Retrieved July 12 and July 22,2005, white, John H. Jr. Americas most noteworthy railroaders. A history of the American locomotive, its development, 1830-1880
2.
Rail transport
–
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, also known as tracks. It is also referred to as train transport. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles run on a flat surface. Tracks usually consist of rails, installed on ties and ballast, on which the rolling stock, usually fitted with metal wheels. Other variations are possible, such as slab track, where the rails are fastened to a concrete foundation resting on a prepared subsurface. Rolling stock in a transport system generally encounters lower frictional resistance than road vehicles, so passenger. The operation is carried out by a company, providing transport between train stations or freight customer facilities. Power is provided by locomotives which either draw electric power from a railway system or produce their own power. Most tracks are accompanied by a signalling system, Railways are a safe land transport system when compared to other forms of transport. The oldest, man-hauled railways date back to the 6th century BC, with Periander, one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Rail transport blossomed after the British development of the steam locomotive as a viable source of power in the 19th centuries. With steam engines, one could construct mainline railways, which were a key component of the Industrial Revolution, also, railways reduced the costs of shipping, and allowed for fewer lost goods, compared with water transport, which faced occasional sinking of ships. The change from canals to railways allowed for markets in which prices varied very little from city to city. In the 1880s, electrified trains were introduced, and also the first tramways, starting during the 1940s, the non-electrified railways in most countries had their steam locomotives replaced by diesel-electric locomotives, with the process being almost complete by 2000. During the 1960s, electrified high-speed railway systems were introduced in Japan, other forms of guided ground transport outside the traditional railway definitions, such as monorail or maglev, have been tried but have seen limited use. The history of the growth, decline and restoration to use of transport can be divided up into several discrete periods defined by the principal means of motive power used. The earliest evidence of a railway was a 6-kilometre Diolkos wagonway, trucks pushed by slaves ran in grooves in limestone, which provided the track element. The Diolkos operated for over 600 years, Railways began reappearing in Europe after the Dark Ages. The earliest known record of a railway in Europe from this period is a window in the Minster of Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany
3.
Bristol and Exeter Railway
–
The Bristol & Exeter Railway was an English railway company formed to connect Bristol and Exeter. It was built on the gauge and its engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It opened in stages between 1841 and 1844 and it was allied with the Great Western Railway, which built its main line between London and Bristol, and in time formed part of a through route between London and Cornwall. At first it contracted with the GWR for that company to work the line, avoiding the expense of acquiring locomotives, but after that arrangement expired in 1849, the B&ER operated its own line. It opened a number of branches within the area it served, to Clevedon, Cheddar, Wells, Weston-super-Mare, Chard, Yeovil. The B&ER was financially successful but amalgamated with the GWR in 1876, the Great Western Railway obtained its authorising Act of Parliament in 1835, to build its line between London and Bristol. The merchants of Bristol were anxious to secure a route to Exeter, an important commercial centre. They promoted the Bristol and Exeter Railway and when they issued a prospectus on 1 October 1835, the Bill had an easy passage and was enacted on 19 May 1836. The Act did not specify the gauge of the track, branches at Bridgwater, notwithstanding the apparent family connection to the neighbouring GWR, none of the B&ER directors was also a GWR director at this time. The GWR was still under construction, the early euphoria turned to great difficulty in raising finance for construction. 4,000 of the 15,000 subscribed shares were forfeited for non-payment of calls before the line was built, a contract was let for the first part of the line, from a temporary terminus at Pylle Hill, west of the New Cut. The position improved somewhat in 1838, and indeed the Company obtained Parliamentary powers for four short branches, of only one. It was not until 5 March 1839 that the Company adopted the broad gauge, five locomotives were ordered from Sharp, Roberts & Co for the purpose. By the end of 1839 the Directors had decided to avoid the capital outlay by arranging with the GWR—by now in operation—to operate the line for them, by this time three Directors were also directors of the GWR, and the alliance was beginning to strengthen. The proposal to lease the line to the GWR was ratified by shareholders at a meeting in September 1841. The rent was to increase proportionally with the completion of the system, the first section of the line was opened between Bristol and Bridgwater on 14 June 1841, just before the GWR completed its line from London to Bristol. It was 33½ miles in length and double track, with a 1½ mile single-line branch to Weston-super-Mare, the Exeter station was at the site now known as Exeter St Davids station. The opening to Exeter competed the B&ER main line, and with the GWR formed a broad gauge line from London to Exeter with a mileage of 194 miles
4.
England
–
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
5.
Great Western Railway
–
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England, the Midlands, and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835, Goods wagons were painted red but this was later changed to mid-grey. Great Western trains included long-distance express services such as the Flying Dutchman, the Cornish Riviera Express and it also operated many suburban and rural services, some operated by steam railmotors or autotrains. The company pioneered the use of larger, more economic goods wagons than were usual in Britain and it operated a network of road motor routes, was a part of the Railway Air Services, and owned ships, docks and hotels. The Great Western Railway originated from the desire of Bristol merchants to maintain their city as the port of the country. The company was founded at a meeting in Bristol in 1833 and was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1835. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, then aged twenty-nine, was appointed engineer and this was by far Brunels largest contract to date. Firstly, he chose to use a gauge of 7 ft to allow for the possibility of large wheels outside the bodies of the rolling stock which could give smoother running at high speeds. Secondly, he selected a route, north of the Marlborough Downs and this meant the line was not direct from to London to Bristol. From Reading heading west, the line would curve in a northerly sweep back to Bath, the first 22.5 miles of line, from Paddington station in London to Maidenhead Bridge station, opened on 4 June 1838. When Maidenhead Railway Bridge was ready the line was extended to Twyford on 1 July 1839, the cutting was the scene of a railway disaster two years later when a goods train ran into a landslip, ten passengers who were travelling in open trucks were killed. This accident prompted Parliament to pass the 1844 Railway Regulation Act requiring railway companies to provide carriages for passengers. The next section, from Reading to Steventon crossed the Thames twice, a 7. 25-mile extension took the line to Faringdon Road on 20 July 1840. Meanwhile, work had started at the Bristol end of the line, on 17 December 1840, the line from London reached a temporary terminus at Wootton Bassett Road west of Swindon and 80.25 miles from Paddington. The section from Wootton Bassett Road to Chippenham was opened on 31 May 1841, as was Swindon Junction station where the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway to Cirencester connected. That was an independent line worked by the GWR, as was the Bristol and Exeter Railway, in 1851, the GWR purchased the Kennet and Avon Canal, which was a competing carrier between London, Reading, Bath and Bristol. The GWR was closely involved with the C&GWUR and the B&ER, the South Wales Railway had opened between Chepstow and Swansea in 1850 and became connected to the GWR by Brunels Chepstow Bridge in 1852. It was completed to Neyland in 1856, where a port was established
6.
South Devon Railway Company
–
The South Devon Railway Company built and operated the railway from Exeter to Plymouth and Torquay in Devon, England. It was a 7 ft 1⁄4 in broad gauge railway built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the revolutionary system proved to have insuperable technical difficulties and was abandoned. The line continued as a conventional locomotive railway, the Company promoted a number of branches, through the medium of nominally independent companies. Its original main line between Exeter and Plymouth remains in use today as an important part of the line between London and Plymouth. They chose the route over two suggested longer routes, which were similar to the Teignmouth and Okehampton routes that were actually built later. This ambitious scheme was presented to Parliament as a Bill on 29 February 1840 and its supporters continued to argue in its favour, but the more practical scheme via Newton soon gained favour. The failure of this scheme did not suppress the enthusiasm in Plymouth for a railway, the Great Western Railway and the B&ER were working in close harmony, and were known as the Associated Companies, forming a powerful broad gauge interest in railways. The choice of terminal in Plymouth was a point, for the Three Towns of Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse were independent. With Isambard Kingdom Brunel now advising the promoters, a terminal at a location at Eldad was selected. The Companys name was changed to the South Devon Railway and a Parliamentary Bill was submitted in the 1844 session, with little opposition, it obtained its authorising Act on 4 July 1844. Although the route was to follow the coast from Exeter to Newton, from there to Plymouth it would need to run over difficult hilly terrain, and gradients and curvature were challenging. Brunel had planned the route as a double-track locomotive railway, and as late as May 1844 he stated, in reference to the atmospheric system, I have not been called upon to recommend it or not. However Brunel was concerned about the efficiency of steam locomotives. The system is described in the article Atmospheric railway and in the technical section below. Briefly, it involves a pipe laid between the rails, and stationary steam engines located at intervals of a few miles along the line, they exhaust air from the pipe. A piston carriage is placed at the head of each train, the tube is slotted at the top to enable the piston bracket to pass, and a continuous leather seal prevents unwanted admission of air. With a partial vacuum in the pipe ahead of the piston, the leather seal is opened by rollers immediately ahead of the bracket carrying the piston, and closed immediately behind it. In fact the capital outlay would be reduced by £67,000, allowing for the cost of construction of the pumping stations, and annual operating costs would be £8,000 cheaper
7.
Wiese Valley Railway
–
The Wiese Valley Railway is a 27.2 km long, electrified main line in Baden-Württemberg in the triangle where Germany, Switzerland and France meet near the Swiss city of Basel. It runs alongside the Wiese River from Basel Badischer Bahnhof in Basel – initially on Swiss territory – to Zell. The line was built as the first private railway in the Grand Duchy of Baden by the Wiese Valley Railway Company and it was continued up the valley as the Hintere Wiesenthalbahn on 5 February 1876 by the Schopfheim-Zell Railway Company. The transfer of ownership took place to Schopfheim on 1 January 1889 and it was one of the first lines in Germany to be electrified in 1913, together with the Wehra Valley Railway, as a result of its strategic importance and the abundant hydroelectricity available nearby. The railway came to be used by commuting workers, active in the factories of the Wiese Valley. Particularly high ticket sales were made at the stations of Lörrach, Stetten, Steinen, at the latter alone 136,036 tickets were sold in 1924. Between 2003 and 2005 massive modernisation of the line was carried out, with the exception of some residual freight transport and the carriage of cars to Lörrach, the line has changed to an almost pure S-Bahn line without freight. Passenger services on the line are now operated as line S6 of the Basel Regional S-Bahn, in the summer of 2004, the section from Lörrach-Stetten to Haagen was duplicated so that line S5 services on the Weil am Rhein–Lörrach railway could be extended to Steinen. The modernisation of the stations included the building of 55 cm high platforms with a length of 150 metres for coupled Stadler FLIRT electric multiple units. With the loss of traffic, track work was rationalised, particularly at Schopfheim, Lörrach. A new electronic interlocking now controls the entire route of the Wiese Valley Railway from Lörrach to the Swiss border, most of the changes were completed and handed over for operations by the end of 2004. In addition, the new halt of Lörrach-Schillerstraße was opened, on 9 December 2007, the halts of Schopfheim West and Lörrach-Schwarzwaldstraße were opened and Riehen-Niederholz halt followed on 14 December 2008. Lörrach Hauptbahnhof was used by around 3,500 passengers daily in 2009, in 2010, it received a system for displaying dynamic passenger information. All other stations on the Wiese Valley Railway are programmed to have electronic destination indicators installed. Die Wiesentalbahn,70 Jahre elektrischer Betrieb 1913–1983, landesverein Badische Heimat, ed. Zum hundertsten Geburtstag der Wiesentalbahn am 5. Juni 1962, Alter Badischer Bahnhof Basel um 1900, Bahnhof Riehen 1890, Alter Bahnhof Lörrach um 1909, Alter Bahnhof in Lörrach um 1885, Wiesentalbahn, nach Abschluss der Ausbauarbeiten wurde die Regio-S-Bahn eröffnet. SBB vor dem Start ins Wiesental, kisten mit Motor, die Altbau-Turmtriebwagen der Wiesentalbahn
8.
Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway
–
The Grand Duchy of Baden was an independent state in what is now southwestern Germany until the creation of the German Empire in 1871. It had its own state-owned railway company, the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways, at the time when it was integrated into the Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1920, its network had an overall length of about 2,000 kilometres. Baden was the second German state after the Duchy of Brunswick to build, other proposals too by, for example Friedrich List, were unsuccessful at first. The construction of the line was to be funded by the state. The Ministry of the Interior was responsible for the construction of the railway, setting up for that purpose its own authority, later the railway construction authorities were incorporated into the Water and Road Construction Division. Not until the merger of the Baden Post Office into the Reichspost in 1872 did a separate railway administration emerge in Baden, the first route, called the Baden Mainline, was built in sections between 1840 and 1863. The first,18.5 km long, section between Mannheim and Heidelberg was taken into service on 12 September 1840. Other sections followed, to Karlsruhe in 1843, Offenburg in 1844, Freiburg im Breisgau in 1845, Schliengen in 1847, Efringen-Kirchen in 1848, the branches to Kehl and Baden-Baden were opened as early as 1844 and 1845 respectively. In the state treaty of 27 July 1852 an accommodation was reached which enabled the construction and operation of a line on Swiss sovereign territory by the Baden State Railways, the Baden railway lines were initially laid to the 1,600 mm. The line reached Basle in 1855, Waldshut in 1856 and Konstanz in 1863, with that the 414.3 km long Baden main line was completed. Even when the Baden Mainline was being built, plans were already being formulated to link up with the Swiss railway network and this was not achieved until the bridge at Waldshut over the river Rhine, built by Robert Gerwig, was completed on 18 August 1859. Other links were made in 1863 at Schaffhausen, in 1871 at Konstanz, the Basle link line, which connected Baden station on the east of the Rhine with the Central station west of the Rhine, was opened in 1873. Today it is the most important railway connexion between Germany and Switzerland, the connexion to the north towards Weinheim-Darmstadt–Frankfurt had been established since 1846 by the Main-Neckar Line, in which the Grand Duchy of Baden participated. In 1879 the Ried Railway followed, although Baden did not own any section of it, from 1861 there had also been a direct route to France after the completion of the Rhine bridge between Kehl and Strasbourg. The opening up of the Palatinate was first realised in 1865 with a bridge from Karlsruhe–Maxau as well as a link between Mannheim and Ludwigshafen in 1867. A connexion with Bavaria followed the opening of the Baden Odenwald Railway in 1866, negotiations for a route to Württemberg were particularly difficult because both states were competing for traffic between Germany and the Alpine passes. While Baden favoured a line via Pforzheim, Württemberg was interested in a direct connexion at Bruchsal. The connexion with Bruchsal was taken into service in 1853, the subsequent expansion of Baden’s railway network was either aimed at opening up the regions or carried out from a military perspective
