1954 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1954.

Events

January

• January 3 – The last steam locomotive powered passenger train departs Washington Union Station; Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad engine number 622 Carter Braxton pulls the train, leaving at approximately 1:40 PM bound for Richmond, Virginia.
• January 8 – Southern Pacific Railroad's Sunset Limited becomes the first train to use the new New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal.

• January 20 – The Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line, the second line in the system and the first built after World War II, is opened between Ikebukuro and Ochanomizu stations.
• January 24 – Cleveland, Ohio, streetcars make their last revenue run.
• January – General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces the EMD F9 and GP9.

February

• February 21 – An SNCF electric train hits 151 mph (243 km/h) in tests, setting a world’s record.
• February – General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces the EMD FP9.

March

• March 30 – Yonge subway, the first segment of the Toronto subway and the first underground rapid transit line in Canada, begins operation.^[1][2]

April

• April 20 – The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad ("Milwaukee Road") opens a new station in Tacoma, Washington.
• April 30 – Last day of steam locomotive operations and passenger train service on the Clinchfield Railroad.

May

• May – General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces the EMD E9.

June

• June 6 – The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway introduces the San Francisco Chief passenger train between Chicago and San Francisco.
• June 13 – Last day of steam locomotive operation on the Maine Central Railroad.^[3]
• June 14 – New York Central management loses a proxy fight for control of the railroad to Robert Ralph Young and his Alleghany Corporation.
• June – General Electric delivers the first diesel-electric locomotives built for the narrow gauge White Pass and Yukon Route.^[4]

July

• July 2 – SNCF electrifies first section of Valenciennes–Thionville line, the first non-experimental 25 kV AC railway electrification.
• July 4 – Budd delivers the first Château series car, Château Bienville, to Canadian Pacific Railway in Montreal.
• July – New Zealand Railways Department introduces DF class (built by English Electric) into service, the country's first mainline diesel-electric locomotives.^[5]

August

• August 7 – The last streetcars operate on the Altoona and Logan Valley Electric Railway in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

October

• October 16 – The Southern Pacific dieselizes its 3 foot (914 mm) gauge Keeler branch.
• October 20 – To commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Horseshoe Curve, the Sylvania Electric Products Corporation sponsors a night photograph of the Curve using more than 6500 flashbulbs.

November

• November 29 – The first dome cars built by Budd Company enter revenue service on Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway's North Coast Limited.^{[citation needed]}

December

• December – Louisville and Nashville Railroad and Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway open the new Radnor Yard in Nashville, Tennessee.
• December – Pullman-Standard builds the first bilevel commuter coaches for the Southern Pacific Railroad to use in the south San Francisco Bay Area.
• December – The last steam locomotive on the Southern Railway (U.S.) is retired from standby service.

Unknown date

• Circular Koltsevaya Line of the Moscow Metro completed.
• American Car and Foundry officially changes its name to ACF Industries, Inc.
• Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway divests itself of the Grand Canyon Hotel and other buildings at the north end of the Grand Canyon Railway.
• Netherlands Railway Museum moves to the former Maliebaan station.

Accidents

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Railway accidents in 1954 (1954)

Location and date

• Châteaubourg, Ardèche, France (3 July)
• Fabrica, Negros Occidental, Philippines (2 September)
• Wilsele, Belgium (2 December)

1953 1955

Births

Deaths

January deaths

• January 5 – Death Valley Scotty (born Walter Edward Scott; pictured), con man who chartered the Scott Special record-breaking run on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1905, dies (born 1872).

December deaths

• December 15 – Ernest Lemon, Chief Mechanical Engineer (1931–1932) and later Vice President of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (born 1884).

References

• Bianchi, Curt (May 1995), "By steam to the Grand Canyon", Trains Magazine, p. 38–45.
• Horseshoe Curve Chapter, National Railway Historical Society, "Under the Wire", The Altoona and Logan Valley Electric Railway: 1891–1954. Retrieved August 7, 2005.
• Rivanna Chapter, National Railway Historical Society (2005), This month in railroad history – November. Retrieved November 28, 2005.