ON THIS DAY: RAILFREIGHT

July 24

1870 THE first railroad car to travel the entire distance from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast of the United States arrives in New York City.

1877 JOEL Tiffany (1811-1893) is awarded US Patent 193,357 for his design of the first successful refrigerator car.

2011 EUROPEAN-SIZED freight wagons operate on the UK’s High Speed 1 for the first time: two wagons from DB Schenker's Spanish logistics business Transfesa and four curtain-sided Mega Combi swap bodies, a type commonly used in the automotive industry.

July 25

1870 GEORGE Stephenson puts his first steam locomotive, Blücher, in service at Killingworth Colliery on Tyneside. The locomotive has two cylinders, each 7.9 in (203mm) in diameter with a 2 ft (610mm) stroke, and an eight foot (2.5m) cylindrical boiler. It is named in honour of the Prussian general Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher who had lead his army against Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813 and would later lead his army against Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

2015 AT 8:36 am a Canadian National Railway Company (CN) yard conductor died after he tripped, slipped or fell while trying to board a train. He was working at the CN Markham Yard in Homewood, Illinois. The crew included a locomotive engineer, a conductor (the deceased), a brakeman, and a utility man; train #R96991-25 consisted of two locomotives and 12 cars. The NTSB determines that the probable cause of the accident was that the conductor slipped, tripped or fell during his attempt to board locomotive GTW #4927 as it passed at 12.5 mph (20 km/h), three times the maximum authorised speed to board moving equipment.

July 26

1803 THE Surrey Iron Railway opens throughout as the first public railway in England. The 8¼ mile (13.23 km) route follows the shallow valley of the heavily industrialised River Wanfle, from the River Thames southwards to Croydon, with a short branch from Mitcham to Hackbridge. The line is double-track and the rails are cast-iron tram-plates of 'L' section made in 3 feet (914 cm) lengths with a 3.5 in tread. The gauge was 4 ft 2 in and the rails were secured to stone blocks. Because the route was almost flat it was possible for a horse to pull five or six wagons loaded to 3½ tons (3.2 tonnes) each.

July 29

1803 SURREY Iron Railway formally opens throughout. It is the first public railway in England. The 8¼ mile (13.23 km) route follows the shallow valley of the River Wandle, then heavily industrialised with numerous factories and mills, from the River Thames southwards to Croydon, with a short branch from Mitcham to Hackbridge.

The line is double-track and the rails are cast-iron tram-plates of 'L' section made in 3 feet (914 cm) lengths with a 3.5 in tread. The gauge was 4 ft 2 in and the rails were secured to stone blocks.