1831 in rail transport
List of events in the history of railways
| Years in rail transport |
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| Timeline of railway history |
This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1831.
Events
February events
- February 18 – The West Chester Railroad is chartered in Pennsylvania.
April events
- April 23 – the Pontchartrain Rail-Road begins operation.
- April 25
- Matthias W. Baldwin displays a model steam locomotive at the Philadelphia City Museum a year before building his first full-size locomotive for a working railroad.[1]
- The New York and Harlem Railroad is incorporated as a passenger carrier.[2]
May events
- May – Members of a Manchester (England) Sunday School are conveyed by a special train on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to Liverpool, the first recorded private railway excursion.[3]
June events
- June 17 - The first boiler explosion in the United States occurs when the engineer on the Best Friend of Charleston ties the steam safety pressure release valve shut.[4]
- June 18 – The John Bull is constructed by Robert Stephenson and Company in England.
- June 21 – The Boston and Providence Rail Road is incorporated and chartered to build a railroad connection between Boston, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island.
- June 23 – The Boston and Worcester Railroad is chartered to build a railroad between its namesake cities in Massachusetts.
July events
- July 1 – The first railroad built in Virginia, the Chesterfield Railroad, begins operations.
- July 4 – Opening of first section of Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway in Scotland[5] including St Leonards Tunnel, Scotland's earliest tunnel on a public railway.
(Image from the collection of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, America On The Move exhibit, used with permission)
- July 14 – The John Bull departs Liverpool aboard the steamship Allegheny bound for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
August events
- August 9 – The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, the first railroad built in New York state, opens.
September events
- September 4 – The John Bull arrives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from Liverpool.
- September 15 – The John Bull is operated for the first time on the Camden and Amboy Railroad.
- September 24 – The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad opens between Albany and Schenectady, New York.
November events
- November 12 – Robert L. Stevens, president of the Camden and Amboy Railroad hosts a demonstration run of the John Bull for New Jersey politicians and dignitaries.
Unknown date events
- First rail carriage of United States mail, by South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company, according to some sources.[6]
- John B. Jervis becomes the chief engineer for the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, a predecessor of the New York Central.
Births
January births
- January 14 – William D. Washburn, first president of Soo Line Railroad 1883–1889, is born (d. 1912).
March births
- March 3 – George Pullman, American inventor and industrialist, founder of the Pullman Company (d. 1897)
August births
- August 26 – T. Jefferson Coolidge, president of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 1880–1881 (d. 1920).[7]
Unknown date births
- Eli H. Janney, inventor of the knuckle coupler (d. 1912).
Deaths
References
- White, John H. Jr. (Spring 1986). "America's Most Noteworthy Railroaders". Railroad History. 154: 9–15. ISSN 0090-7847. JSTOR 43523785. OCLC 1785797.
- ^ Mitchell, Frank (March 1999). "M. W. Baldwin". Archived from the original on February 5, 2005. Retrieved February 15, 2005.
- ^ Valentine, David T. (1866). A Compilation of the Existing Ferry Leases and Railroad Grants Made by the Corporation of the City of New York. pp. 345–346
- ^ Thomas, R. H. G. (1980). The Liverpool & Manchester Railway. London: Batsford. p. 195. ISBN 0-7134-0537-6.
- ^ Rivanna Chapter, National Railway Historical Society (2005), This Month in Railroad History – June. Retrieved June 13, 2005.
- ^ Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-049-7.
- ^ Bigham, Truman C.; Roberts, Merrill J. (1952). Transportation: Principles and Problems. 2nd edn. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- ^ The Political Graveyard (March 10, 2005), Politicians in Railroading in Massachusetts Archived 2006-06-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 29, 2005.
