1878 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1878.

Events

January events

• January 18 – Construction on The Ghan route south of Port Augusta, Australia, begins.

Unknown date events

• Fred Harvey enters a partnership with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to build and operate the Harvey House chain of restaurants and hotels that will serve the railroad's passengers.
• The first Shay locomotive is built.
• The Richmond and Danville Railroad acquires the Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad.
• The Canadian Engine and Machinery Company is reorganized after a bankruptcy as the Canadian Locomotive and Engine Company.

Births

March births

• March 2 – William Kissam Vanderbilt II, heir to Cornelius Vanderbilt and president of the New York Central system (d. 1944).

Unknown date births

• Angus Daniel McDonald, president of the Southern Pacific Company, parent company of the Southern Pacific Railroad, 1932–1941 (d. 1941).

Deaths

March deaths

• March 29 – Mark Hopkins, a member of The Big Four group of financiers in California.

References

• The McDonald bloodline. Retrieved February 15 2005.
• Yenne, Bill (1985). The history of the Southern Pacific. Bonanza, New York, NY. .