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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.^[1][2]

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 Railroad 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.
• 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.^[3]
• 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.

Births

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 (b. 1872).

December deaths

• December 15 - Ernest Lemon, Chief Mechanical Engineer (1931–1932) and later Vice President of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (b. 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.