Portal:Trains/Anniversaries/June 3

1864 – The first revenue trains operate over the Central Pacific Railroad between Sacramento and Newcastle, California.
1908 – Robert Gillespie Reid, builder of many Canadian railway bridges as well as the Newfoundland Railway, dies (b. 1842).
1984 – Electrification is commissioned between Wyee and Newcastle allowing the introduction of electric interurban trains between Sydney and Newcastle, Australia, and also the electric operation of freight services on this line.
1998 – The Eschede train disaster (pictured), the worst railroad accident in German history since World War II, occurs when a wheel on the high speed InterCityExpress 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.

See also