1817 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1817.

Events

• Approximate date - Britain's longest tramroad tunnel is opened at Pwll du near Blaenavon in South Wales, more than a mile (2400 m) in length. Begun as a mineral adit, at this time it carries a horse-drawn double track plateway of approximately 2 ft (600 mm) gauge carrying material for Blaenavon Ironworks; next summer it will be incorporated in Thomas Hill's Tramroad.^[1]

Births

March births

• March 26 - Herman Haupt, United States railroad civil engineer (d. 1905).

June births

• June 20 - Silas Seymour, chief engineer and/or consulting engineer for several railroads in New York in the mid- to late 19th century (d. 1890).

July births

• July 1 - Hugh J. Jewett, president of the Erie Railroad 1874–1884 (d. 1898).
• July 15 - John Fowler, British civil engineer (d. 1898).

October births

• October 2 - Webster Wagner, founder of Wagner Palace Car Company (d. 1883).
• October 17 - Alexander Mitchell, president of Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway 1864-1887 (d. 1887).^[2]

Unknown date births

• Matthew Baird, second owner of Baldwin Locomotive Works (d. 1877)
• Walter McQueen, Chief mechanical engineer for the Albany and Schenectady Railroad 1845–1850, Hudson River Railroad 1850–1852, and superintendent of Schenectady Locomotive Works 1852–1876 (d. 1893).

References

• White, John H., Jr. (Spring 1986). "America's most noteworthy railroaders". Railroad History 154: pp. 9–15. ISSN 0090-7847. OCLC 1785797. 
• White, John H., Jr. (1968). A history of the American locomotive; its development: 1830-1880. New York, NY: Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-23818-0. 

1. ↑ van Laun, John. Early Limestone Railways. London: Newcomen Society. p. 50. ISBN 0-904685-09-8. 
2. ↑ "Mitchell, Alexander, (1817-1887)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 2012-01-12.