1865 in rail transport
# 1865 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1865.

## Events

### January events

* January 5 – The Festiniog Railway in North Wales officially opens to passengers, the first narrow gauge railway in the British Isles to do so.
* January 10 – The California Pacific Railroad absorbs the Sacramento and San Francisco Rail Road Company and the San Francisco and Marysville Rail Road Company.

### February events

* February – The Confederate States of America authorize military control of railroads for the American Civil War.
* February 4 – The assets of Dayton, Xenia and Belpre Railroad in Ohio are sold in bankruptcy proceedings and split between the Little Miami Railroad and Columbus and Xenia Railroad.
* February 9 – The Colorado and Clear Creek Railroad, predecessor to the Colorado Central Railroad, is chartered.
* February 15 – The Chicago and North Western Railway and Galena and Chicago Union Railroad merge.

### March events

* March – The Central Pacific Railroad hires agents to recruit thousands of Chinese workers from Guangdong Province.
* March 17 – The Jackson and Woodin Manufacturing Company shops in Berwick, Pennsylvania, are destroyed by fire.

### April events

* April – The funeral train for Abraham Lincoln travels from Washington, D.C., to Illinois.

### May events

* May – Opening of Talyllyn Railway in Wales.
* May 5 – The first train robbery in the United States takes place, in North Bend, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati), committed by armed guerillas from the American Civil War.
* May 25 – The first steel rails are rolled at a foundry in Chicago from Bessemer steel made in blast furnaces in Wyandotte, Michigan.

### June events

* June 7 – The Rednal rail crash in England, a derailment at a permanent way work site, kills thirteen.
* June 9 – The Staplehurst rail crash in England, a derailment at a permanent way work site, kills ten and injures 49; Charles Dickens is amongst the survivors.
* July 31 – Opening of the narrow gauge (3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)) main line from Ipswich to Grandchester, Queensland, Australia.

### August events

* August 7 – The Lawrence Railroad and Transportation Company, with tracks in Pennsylvania and Ohio, is reorganized as the Lawrence Railroad Company.

### September events

* September 1 – The English company John Trevor-Barkley begins construction on the Bucharest–Giurgiu line, the first railroad line built in the territory of Romania.
* September 13 – Algernon S. Buford becomes president of the Richmond and Danville Railroad.
* September 14 – The Brockville and Ottawa Railway begins operations between Arnprior and Sand Point, Ontario, a distance of about 6 miles (10 km).

### October events

* October 2 – First section of Sri Lanka Railways, at this time known as Ceylon Government Railways, officially opens from Colombo to Ambepussa (54 km (34 mi)) on 5 ft 6in (1676 mm) gauge.
* October 18 – Almelo railway station in the Netherlands is opened.

### December events

* December 20 – Alkmaar railway station in the Netherlands is opened.

### Unknown date events

* The United Kingdom Institution of Civil Engineers forms the Engineer and Railway Staff Corps.
* The Union Pacific Railway, later to become the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad and not to be confused with the Union Pacific Railroad, begins operations.
* A group of businessmen in San Francisco, led by Timothy Guy Phelps, found the Southern Pacific Railroad to build a rail connection between San Francisco and San Diego.
* Erastus Corning resigns from his executive post for the New York Central Railroad.
* The Canadian Engine and Machinery Company, predecessor of the Canadian Locomotive Company, is founded from the assets of the bankrupt Kingston Locomotive Works.
* Missouri Car and Foundry Company, later to become part of American Car and Foundry, is founded in St. Louis, Missouri.
* Pittsburgh & Steubenville Extension Railroad Tunnel opens for rail service.

## Births

### March births

* March 2 – Frederick Methvan Whyte, mechanical engineer for the New York Central Railroad, creator of Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives (d. 1941).

### October births

* October 9 – George Hughes, Chief Mechanical Engineer for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway 1904–1922, the London and North Western Railway 1922–1923 and the London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1925–1931 (d. 1945).

## Deaths

### Unknown date deaths

* William T. James, American inventor of the link motion and spark arrester (b. 1786).
