1998 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1998.

Events

February events

• February 14 - A freight train passing through Yaounde, Cameroon, collides with another freight; some tank cars carrying fuel oil are ruptured in the derailment. The oil is ignited by a lit cigarette causing a flash fire and an explosion when the flames reach the tank cars, killing 120 people. See: Yaounde train explosion.
• February 20 - The Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad files an application with the Surface Transportation Board to build new railroad track to haul coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming.

April events

• April 27 - Spain's Madrid Metro opens the section between Esperanza and Mar de Cristal on Line 4.

June events

• June 3 - The Eschede train disaster, the worst railroad accident in German history, occurs when a wheel on the high speed InterCity Express breaks; the derailed train's forward momentum caused it to slam into a bridge pier which increased the damage to the train and caused a higher injury toll than would otherwise have occurred.
• June 6 - The majority of Conrail's railroad assets are split between CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern
• June 19 - The government of Panama relinquishes control of the Panama Railway to the Panama Canal Railway Company, a subsidiary of Kansas City Southern.

September events

• September - Construction begins to convert the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel in Alaska from rail traffic only to combined rail and highway traffic.

November events

• November 9 - The St. Thomas and Eastern Railway begins operations on a former Canadian National Railway branch line between St. Thomas and Delhi, Ontario.
• November 20 - The Okanagan Valley Railway begins operations on the former Canadian Pacific Railway branch between Sicamous and Kelowna, British Columbia.

December events

• December 5 - Trinity Railway Express in Texas adds Saturday train schedules to its timetables and begins operating the first regular Saturday trains.^[1]
• December 10 - The Surface Transportation Board gives preliminary approval to Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad's application to build into the Powder River Basin, pending completion of an Environmental Impact Statement.

Unknown date events

• Canadian National Railway acquires the Illinois Central, giving the CN direct access to the Gulf of Mexico port of New Orleans, Louisiana.
• The former Lima Locomotive Works erecting shed and heavy Shay locomotive shops are razed.

Deaths

September deaths

• September 9 - James B. McCahey, Jr., president of Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad (b. 1920).^[2]

References

• Colin Churcher's Railway Pages (August 16 2005), Significant dates in Canadian railway history. Retrieved November 8 and November 20 2005.

1. ^ Trinity Railway Express, Trinity Railway Express Facts. Retrieved December 5 2005.
2. ^ The Political Graveyard (March 10 2005), Politicians in Railroading in Illinois. Retrieved December 30 2005.

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