| Years in rail transport |
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| Timeline of railway history |
This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1850.
Events
January events
- January – Maine Central Railroad predecessor Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad is completed between Auburn, Maine and Waterville, Maine.
May events
- May 13 – The Mecklenburgische Eisenbahngesellschaft opens the Rostock-Bützow-Bad Kleinen and Güstrow-Bützow railway lines in northern Germany.
July events
- July 1 – Joseph Hamilton Beattie succeeds John Viret Gooch as locomotive engineer for London and South Western Railway.
- July 4 – Chile: The first section of the Copiapó-Caldera railway line – the second in South America – between Caldera and Monte Amargo is inaugurated today in honour of the nationality of William Wheelwright, the American businessman responsible for the project.
August events
- August 29 – Robert Stephenson's Royal Border Bridge for the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway at Berwick-upon-Tweed, England is opened by Queen Victoria.
September events
- September 20 – The land grant for construction of the Illinois Central Railroad, the first railroad land grant in the United States, is approved.
October events
- October 19 – Robert Stephenson's Britannia Bridge, completing the Chester and Holyhead Railway over the Menai Strait in North Wales, is opened.
November events
- November 19 – Farmers around Detroit, Michigan, burn down the Michigan Central Railroad's freight house in Detroit; the farmers were angry at the railroad's policy regarding not reimbursing them for livestock killed by trains when the stock wandered onto the tracks.
- November 20 – The first train operates on the Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, a predecessor of the Milwaukee Road.
Unknown date events
- The Richmond and Danville Railroad begins operation in Virginia.
- Construction begins on the first transcontinental railroad to be completed, the Panama Railway.
Births
February births
- February 27 – Henry Huntington, nephew of Collis P. Huntington and executive in charge of Pacific Electric in the early part of the 20th century (d. 1927).
November births
- November 19 – Jule Murat Hannaford, president of Northern Pacific Railway 1913–1920 (d. 1934).
Deaths
July deaths
- July 7 – Timothy Hackworth, English steam locomotive builder (b. 1786).
References
- University of Newcastle upon Tyne. "SINE: Structure Details". Archived from the original on March 24, 2006. Retrieved July 13, 2007.
- Brownson, Howard Gray (1967) . History of the Illinois Central Railroad to 1870 (first reprint ed.). University of Illinois. p. 157 – via Google Books.
The first land grant ever given by Congress to assist in the construction of a railroad ...
- Sanborn, John Bell (1897). Railroad Land Grants 1850-1857; a Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Master of Letters in History and Economics. University of Wisconsin. p. 59 – via Google Books.
The Illinois Central ... law was approved Sept. 20, 1850 ...
- Baughan, Peter E. (1972). The Chester & Holyhead Railway, vol. 1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-5617-8.
- "Irate farmers burn freight house in 1850". Detroit Free Press. November 14, 2010. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
- Rivanna Chapter, National Railway Historical Society (2005). "This month in railroad history – November". Retrieved November 20, 2005.
- Northern Pacific. Annual Report. St. Paul : Northern Pacific, 1934, p. 17.
- Railway Age, September 29, 1934, p. 390.
- Howson, Elmer T.; D. A. Steel; J. B. Tebo, eds. (1922). The Biographical Directory of the Railway Officials of America (1922 ed.). New York: Simmons-Boardman. p. 267.
- "Timothy Hackworth". September 22, 2004. Retrieved February 9, 2005.