1958 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1958.

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.^[1]
• 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.^[2]

March

• March 4 – The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority begins operating the remnant passenger services of the Pacific Electric and Los Angeles Railway.^[3]
• March 13 – Queensland BB18¼ class locomotive No. 1089, completed by Walkers, Maryborough, Queensland, is the last main-line steam locomotive built in Australia.^[4]

April

• April 20 – The Key System discontinues streetcar service.^[5]
• April 26
  • Last day of regularly scheduled passenger service on the Maine Central Railroad Mountain Division.^[6]
  • 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,^[7] 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.^[8]
• 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.

Unknown date

• South African Railways takes delivery of its last steam locomotives for the 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge, GMAM class Garratt locomotives.^[9]
• Last Garratt locomotive to be built in Manchester by Beyer, Peacock & Company is delivered as South African Railways NGG16 class no. 143 (2 ft (610 mm) gauge).^{[9][10][11][12]}
• SNCF electrifies its Paris–Lille line in France.
• Ernest S. Marsh succeeds Fred Gurley as president of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway.

Accidents

• v
• t
• e

Railway accidents in 1958 (1958)

Location and date

• Dagenham, United Kingdom (30 January)
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (8 May)
• Oslo, Norway (2 August)
• Eastbourne, United Kingdom (25 August)
• Newark, New Jersey, US (15 September)

1957 1959

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.