Timeline Date Period

The first through passenger train goes from Cairo to Khartoum.

Great Eastern Railway of England introduces 'Claud Hamilton' 4-4-0 steam locomotive from its Stratford Works.

Nottingham Victoria railway station opens in Nottingham, England, for the Great Central and Northern Railway companies.

Central London Railway (“Tuppenny Tube”) opens from Shepherds Bush in west London to the Bank The Official opening of the Central London Railway, core of the Central Line of the London Underground, means this is the third deep-level electrified "tube" railway in the city.

Paris Metropolitain (or metro underground system) opened during the World's Fair (Exposition Universelle).

The body of Queen Victoria is conveyed by the London & South Western, London, Brighton & South Coast and Great Western Railways from Gosport via London to Windsor, England for her funeral.

The West Highland Railway's Mallaig Extension Railway, operated by the North British Railway, is opened throughout to Mallaig on the west coast of...

The London and South Western Railway in England completes experimental installation at Grateley on its West of England main line of automatic semaphore signals controlled by track circuits and pneumatics, the first such scheme in the United Kingdom.

The New Zealand Government Railways become the first major railway to place a 4-6-2 steam locomotive into service, having ordered thirteen Q class from the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia.

Great Western Railway of England turns out prototype of 'Saint' Class 4-6-0 locomotive from its Swindon Works, beginning a series of successful 2-cylinder designs.

North British Locomotive Company established as a locomotive builder in Glasgow, Scotland, by merger of Dübs and Company, Neilson, Reid and Company, and Sharp, Stewart and Company.

The Mersey Railway, operating between Birkenhead and Liverpool by tunnel beneath the River Mersey, England, converts from steam to electric traction.

The 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge Kalka-Shimla Railway opens in India.

Great Western locomotive 3440, "City Of Truro" heads the Ocean Mail special down Wellington bank at a reputed 102.3mph.

The Great Western Railway of England introduces the express train between London Paddington and Penzance in Cornwall which becomes known as the Cornish Riviera Express.

The Trans-Siberian railway is completed.

The Trans-Siberian Railway officially opens..allowing travel from Paris to Vladivostock in 21 days.

Birth of O. S. Nock ), nicknamed Ossie, was a British railway signal engineer and senior manager at the Westinghouse company; he is well known for his prodigious output of popularist publications on railway subjects, including over 100 books, as well as many more technical works on locomotive performance. He died on 29 September 1994.

The Hall Road rail accident near Liverpool in England kills 21 people.

The Witham rail crash in England kills 11.

Deat of William Dean, Chief Mechanical Engineer of Great Western Railway of England 1877-1902 (b. 1840).

The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway opens in London.

The Simplon Tunnel between Italy and Switzerland, the world’s longest tunnel until 1979, opens to rail traffic.

Death of Francis Webb, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Western Railway (b. 21 May 1836).

24 passengers and 4 railwaymen die as the result of the Salisbury rail crash on the London and South Western Railway of England when an express train passes through Salisbury railway station at excessive speed.

14 die as a result of the Grantham rail accident on the Great Northern Railway (Great Britain) when a sleeping car train is derailed passing through Grantham railway station at excessive speed.

Great Western Railway of England begins production of 'Star' Class 4-6-0 broad-gauge locomotives at its Swindon Works, beginning a series of successful 4-cylinder designs by Robert Stephenson, son of George Stephenson.

The death of Benjamin Baker, British civil engineer, designer of the Forth Railway Bridge born on 31 March 1840.

Opening of the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway in London, a deep tube railway which now forms part of the London Underground's Northern line.

Munich: Experimental train reported to average 81 mph and reaching 98mph maximum.

18 die as a result of the Shrewsbury rail accident on the London & North Western Railway when a sleeping car train is derailed passing through Shrewsbury station, England, at excessive speed.

Birth of Terence Cuneo, British railway artist (d. 03 January1996).

Public inauguration of Midland Railway Lancaster–Morecambe–Heysham electrification system (6.6 kV A.C. at 25 Hz), the first overhead wire scheme on a passenger railway in England.

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway introduces the Southern Belle passenger train between London and Brighton.

Following experiments, the Great Western Railway of England begins to introduce Automatic Train Control on its main lines.

George Whale retires as Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Western Railway; he is succeeded by Charles Bowen-Cooke.

Great Western Railway begins using its Fishguard terminus in Wales for boat trains in connection with the Cunard steamships on Atlantic routes as a first port of call.

Beyer, Peacock and Company of Manchester, England, steam the first Garratt articulated steam locomotive built to the design of Herbert William Garratt, K Class No. K1 for the Tasmanian Government Railways’ North East Dundas Tramway.

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway publicly inaugurates England's first suburban surface railway electrification system on its South London line, known as the "Elevated Electric" (overhead wire 6.7 kV a.c. at 25 Hz).

Henry Fowler is appointed Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Midland Railway, succeeding Richard Deeley.