1836 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1836.

Events

January 16 – The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, the oldest portion of what is to become the Chicago and North Western Railway, is chartered.

February 5 – Henry R. Campbell of the Philadelphia, Germantown & Norristown Railroad patents the first 4-4-0, a steam locomotive type that will soon become the most common on all railroads of the United States.^[1]
February 8 - London and Greenwich Railway opens its first section, the first railway in London, England.^[2]

March - The Syracuse and Utica Railroad, a predecessor of the New York Central Railroad, is chartered to build a railroad between its namesake cities in New York.

April – The first railroad car ferry in the U.S., the Susquehanna enters service on the Susquehanna River between Havre de Grace and Perryville, Maryland.^[3]^{[page needed]}

May 5 – The Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad is chartered as the successor to the Castleton and West Stockbridge Railroad in Massachusetts and eastern New York.
May 19 – The Bristol and Exeter Railway receives parliamentary authorization.

July 13 – John Ruggles is awarded U.S. patent 1 for his improvements to railroad steam locomotive tires.^[4]
July 21 – The Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad opens between St. John and La Prairie, Quebec, the first steam-worked passenger railroad in British North America.

September 5 – The Lake Wimico and St. Joseph Canal and Railroad, the first steam railroad in Florida, opens.

The Louisa Railroad of Louisa County, Virginia, an early predecessor of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, begins construction.^[5]
October 25 – Construction begins on the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad in North Carolina. Due to a lack of support in Raleigh, the route is revised to run from Wilmington to the Petersburg Railroad in Weldon.^[6]

The Bangor and Piscataquis Canal and Railroad Company operates the first steam railroad in Maine with two 2-2-0 locomotives manufactured in England.

January 2 - Fred T. Perris, Chief Engineer of the California Southern Railroad (d. 1916).^[8]^[9]

February 9 – Franklin B. Gowen, president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad 1866–1883 (d. 1889).

March 16 – Andrew Smith Hallidie, who developed the first practical cable car system for San Francisco, California (d. 1900).^[10]

January 7 – John Molson, established the Champlain and Saint Lawrence Railroad, the first railway into Canada (b. 1763).

Pennsylvania Railroad Historical and Technical Society (June 2004), PRR Chronology, 1836 (PDF). Retrieved March 5, 2005.
White, John H, Jr. (Spring 1986), America's Most Noteworthy Railroaders, Railroad History, 154, p. 9–15.

^ Balkwill, Richard; Marshall, John (1993). The Guinness Book of Railway Facts and Feats (6th ed.). Enfield: Guinness Publishing. ISBN 0-85112-707-X.
^ Thomas, R. H. G. (1972). London's First Railway – The London & Greenwich. London: Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-0468-X.
^ Marshall, John (1989). The Guinness Railway Book. Enfield: Guinness Books. ISBN 0-8511-2359-7. OCLC 24175552.
^ 9,957 unnumbered patents have been filed previously.
^ Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company. The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway directory. 1882. pg. 17
^ "Railroad — Wilmington & Raleigh (later Weldon)". North Carolina Business History. CommunicationSolutions/ISI. 2006. Retrieved 2012-04-05.
^ Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 260–261. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
^ Serpico, Philip C. (1988). Santa Fé Route to the Pacific. Palmdale, California: Omni Publications. pp. 18–24. ISBN 0-88418-000-X.
^ City of Perris, California. "A Brief History of the Perris Valley". Archived from the original on 2006-08-27. Retrieved 2006-07-09.
^ Millard, Bailey (1924). "Andrew Smith Hallidie". History of the San Francisco Bay Region: History and Biography. Vol. 3. Chicago: American Historical Society. pp. 312–317. Retrieved 10 October 2021 – via Google Books.
^ Marshall, John (2003). Biographical Dictionary of Railway Engineers. Oxford: Railway and Canal Historical Society. ISBN 0-901461-22-9.