1926 in rail transport

Events

March events

• March 14 - El Virilla train accident in Costa Rica: 248 people are killed when an overloaded pilgrim special derails on a bridge.

May events

• May 1 - Burlington Refrigerator Express (BREX) is formed as a joint venture between the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) and the Fruit Growers Express (FGE).
• May 3 - UK General Strike commences, continuing to affect railways until May 12.
• May 8 - Asa Randolph organizes the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, considered a major labor as well as civil rights milestone.
• May 20 - The United States Railway Labor Act becomes law.

July events

• July 6 - First electric railway in the Soviet Union opens, connecting Baku, Azerbaijan, with its oil workers’ suburban settlements.
• July 9 - The first use of a radiotelephone on a train, on the New York Central Railroad.
• July 23 - Law enacted to nationalize rail transport in Belgium fully as Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Belges/Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen.

August events

• August - The Milwaukee Road introduces the Arrow passenger train between Chicago, Illinois and Omaha, Nebraska.

September events

• September 12 - The Chemin de Fer du Nord in France introduces the Flèche d’Or all-first-class Pullman boat train service between Paris and Calais.

October events

• October 10 – Yachihata Station in Japan is opened.

December events

• December 20 – Opening of first section of underground railway in Australia, the City Circle between Central and St James stations in Sydney.

Unknown date events

• Atlantic Coast Line Railroad gains control of the Atlanta, Birmingham & Coast Railroad.
• American Car & Foundry acquires the J. G. Brill Company.

Deaths

October deaths

• October 20 - Eugene Debs, American labor leader, founding member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, founder of the American Railway Union, arrested during the Pullman strike in Chicago, Illinois (born 1855).

References