1946 in rail transport

Years in rail transport

* 1945 in rail transport
* 1946 in rail transport
* 1947 in rail transport

Timeline of railway history

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1946.

## Events[edit]

### January events[edit]

* January 1 – The Lichfield rail crash in England kills 20 people.
* January 18 – The Harvey Girls, a movie starring Judy Garland and Ray Bolger and set in a Harvey House Hotel, makes its American debut. The movie will win a Best Song Oscar for Johnny Mercer’s “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe”.
* January 21 – The Hull Electric Railway in Ottawa is fined $50 for violating a local law against moving freight on the city streets between midnight and 5:00 AM when it was delivering loads to oil companies along Laurier Avenue.[1]

### February events[edit]

* February 1 – Henry G. Ivatt is promoted to Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, succeeding Charles Fairburn.
* February 20 – Pullman Standard delivers the first passenger car built after World War II.
* February 25 – The worst-ever train crash in Japan kills 184 people.

### March events[edit]

* March 29 – The north end of Ottawa's Interprovincial Bridge is destroyed by fire, severing Château Laurier from Hull Electric Railway passenger service.[2]

### April events[edit]

* April 5 – The Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway Act is amended by the Ontario government, to change the name of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway to the Ontario Northland Railway.[3]
* April 25 – Naperville train disaster in Naperville, Illinois, United States: Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad's Advance Flyer, stopped in the station, is rammed by the railroad's Exposition Flyer. 45 killed, more than 100 injured.

### May events[edit]

* May 17 – President Harry Truman seizes control of the railroads to prevent a nationwide strike.
* May 30 – After a short strike earlier in the month, Hudson and Manhattan Railroad trainmen go on strike again when the Pennsylvania Railroad (which owned the H&M at this time) management decides that the recent PRR pay increase does not apply to H&M employees.

### June events[edit]

* June 20 – First use of a Public Address system on a passenger train for station announcements. The system was installed in a New York City Subway car.

### July events[edit]

* July – General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces the EMD F2.
* July 1 – Opening of replacement Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge north of Sydney, Australia.

### August events[edit]

* August 10 – The Pere Marquette Railway inaugurates the Pere Marquette passenger train between Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan, the first new postwar streamliner.
* August 14 – Fréjus Rail Tunnel reopened as reconstructed after wartime closure (first public train September 11).[4]
* August 24 – The Boston and Maine Railroad replaces electric locomotive operation through the Hoosac Tunnel with diesel locomotives.
* August 27 – The last T1 class steam locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Pennsylvania Railroad enters service.[5]

### September events[edit]

* September – The first production ALCO PA diesel-electric units are delivered for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in the United States.
* September 29 – The Illinois Central Railroad fully dieselizes all passenger trains that it is operating between Chicago, Illinois, and St. Louis, Missouri.

### December events[edit]

* December 7 – The power car from the M-10002 streamliner trainset is sold to Northrup-Hendy for gas turbine train testing.
* December 8 – General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces the EMD NW5.
* December 20 – Libyan section of Western Desert Extension Railway closed.
* December 23 – 8,872,244 ride the New York City Subway system, the current one-day record.

### Unknown date events[edit]

* Vulcan Foundry of Newton-le-Willows, England, construct 120 Liberation Class 2-8-0 steam locomotives to British Ministry of Supply order for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration to supply to Eastern Europe.
* United States builders construct 160 KD7 Class 2-8-0 steam locomotives for the UNRRA to supply to China Railway; a similar design is supplied as Class 29 to Belgian Railways.[6]
* General Electric builds the electric locomotive model that will soon become known as the Little Joe.
* André Chapelon’s 4-8-4 SNCF 242A1 prototype compound locomotive is completed in France; it goes on to achieve extraordinary power outputs and efficiencies in coal and water use.[7]
* John W. Barriger III becomes president of the Monon Railroad.
* The Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad is merged into the Atlantic Coast Line.
* The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, under the direction of Robert R. Young, places the largest single passenger car order with Pullman-Standard for nearly 300 cars. These cars entered service beginning in 1950.[8]

## Births[edit]

Main article: births in 1946

Further information: Category:1946 births

## Deaths[edit]

### March deaths[edit]

* March 21 – Oliver Bury, Chief mechanical engineer and manager of Great Western Railway of Brazil 1892-1894, general manager of the Great Northern Railway in England 1902-1912, Director of the GNR and London and North Eastern Railway 1912-1945 (born 1861).[9]

### November deaths[edit]

* November 10 – Patrick H. Joyce, president of Chicago Great Western Railway 1931–1946 (born 1879).

## References[edit]

1. ^ Colin Churcher's Railway Pages (December 3, 2004), Significant dates in Ottawa/Hull street and light railway history Archived 2005-08-27 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 20, 2006.
2. ^ "Significant dates in Ottawa railway history". Colin Churcher's Railway Pages. Archived from the original on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 28 March 2006.
3. ^ "Welcome to www.mytemagami.ca!". Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
4. ^ Stuart, C. R. Gordon (1951). "The First Transalpine Railway Tunnel". Trains Annual: 57–8.
5. ^ Rivanna Chapter, National Railway Historical Society (2005). "This Month in Railroad History: August". Retrieved 2006-08-02.
6. ^ "KD7 Class 2-8-0". Railography : Chinese Steam Profiles. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
7. ^ "French Compound Locomotives' Homepage - Technical Data". chapelon.net. Archived from the original on 11 December 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-01.
8. ^ Wayner, Robert J., ed. (1972). Car Names, Numbers and Consists. New York: Wayner Publications. OCLC 8848690. p. 69.
9. ^ "Biographies of chairmen, managers & other senior railway officers". steamindex.com. 11 January 2023. Bury, Oliver Robert Hawke. Retrieved 10 May 2024.

## Sources[edit]

* Monon Railroad Historical and Technical Society (2004), History of the Monon. Retrieved February 9, 2005.
* Rivanna Chapter National Railway Historical Society (2005), This month in railroad history – August. Retrieved August 23, 2005.

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Railway accidents in 1946 (1946)

Location and date|

* Lichfield, United Kingdom (1 January)
* Browney, United Kingdom (5 January)
* Potters Bar United Kingdom (10 February)
* Aracaju, Brazil (20 March)
* Naperville, Illinois, US (26 April)

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