1954 in rail transport

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

Events

January events

• 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 24 – Cleveland, Ohio, streetcars make their last revenue run.
• January – General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces the EMD F9.

February events

• 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 events

• March 30 – The first segment of the Toronto Subway begins operation.

April events

• April 30 – Last day of steam locomotive operations and passenger train service on the Clinchfield Railroad.

May events

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

June events

• June 13 – Last day of steam locomotive operation on the Maine Central Railroad.
• June 14 – New York Central management loses a proxy fight for control of the railroad to Robert Ralph Young and his Alleghany Corporation.

August events

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

October events

• 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 events

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

December events

• 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.

Unknown date events

• General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces the EMD GP9.
• General Electric delivers the first diesel-electric locomotives built for the narrow gauge White Pass and Yukon Route.
• American Car and Foundry officially changes its name to ACF Industries, Inc.
• New Zealand Railways Department introduces DF class (built by English Electric) into service, the country's first mainline diesel-electric locomotives.
• 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.

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.