View source for 1938 in rail transport

{{short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Year in rail transport|prev=1937|curr=1938|next=1939|decade=1930}}

==Events==

===January===
* January 1 &ndash; Creation of the following [[Europe]]an railway networks under government control:
** [[SNCF]] (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français), bringing the principal railway companies of [[France]] together.
** [[Nederlandse Spoorwegen|NS]] (Nederlandsche Spoorwegen), merging the [[Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij]] (HSM) and the [[Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen]] (SS) in the [[Netherlands]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Nederlandse Spoorwegen|url=http://nols-maatschappij.info/Exploitanten/Nederlandse-spoorwegen.htm|date=2011-06-12|accessdate=2011-12-27|archive-date=2020-11-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103194713/http://nols-maatschappij.info/Exploitanten/Nederlandse-spoorwegen.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* January 22 &ndash; The [[Pacific Electric]] [[Whittier Line]] is truncated to Walker.<ref name=1958History />

===February===
* February 22 &ndash; The [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] introduces the ''[[El Capitan (train)|El Capitan]]'' [[passenger train]] between [[Chicago]] and [[Los Angeles]].
* February 26 &ndash; A second all-lightweight trainset enters service on the ''[[Super Chief]]''.
[[Image:Test run of streamlined 20th Century Limited 1938.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Streamlined ''[[20th Century Limited]]'' departs Chicago, 1938]]

=== March ===
* March 6 &ndash; The [[Pacific Electric]] [[Whittier Line|Walker Line]] is discontinued.<ref>{{cite web |title=Whittier Line |url=http://www.erha.org/pesw.htm |publisher=Electric Rail Heritage Association |accessdate=17 September 2020}}</ref>
* March 18 &ndash; ''Bundesbahn Österreich'' (BBÖ, Federal Railway of Austria) integrated into [[Deutsche Reichsbahn]].
* March 27 &ndash; [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] inaugurates the ''[[San Diegan (train)|San Diegan]]'' [[passenger train]] between [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]] and [[San Diego, California|San Diego]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Rivanna Chapter National Railway Historical Society|title=This Month in Railroad History: March|url=http://avenue.org/nrhs/histmar.htm|accessdate=27 March 2006| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20060417075629/http://avenue.org/nrhs/histmar.htm| archivedate= 17 April 2006 | url-status= live}}</ref>

=== May ===
* May 8 — President [[Manuel L. Quezon]] inaugurates regular services on the [[PNR South Main Line|Main Line South]] of the [[Philippine National Railways|Manila Railroad]] in [[Del Gallego]], [[Camarines Sur]]. Trial runs already began five months prior.<ref>{{cite report|title=Report of Survey of the Manila Railroad Company and the Preliminary Survey of Railroads for Mindanao|publisher=De Leuw, Cather & Company|location=Chicago|pages=1–12|chapter=Chapter I: Present Conditions|year=1951}}</ref>
* May 15
** The [[Lake Shore Electric Railway (Ohio)|Lake Shore Electric Railway]] in [[Ohio]] ceases operations.
** Inauguration of a major [[Nederlandse Spoorwegen]] [[Railway electrification|electrification scheme]] in the central [[Netherlands]], centred on [[Utrecht]].
[[Image:1938 501-at-Harlesden.jpg|thumb|200px|right|[[London Underground 1938 Stock]]]]

=== June ===
* June 1 &ndash; [[Pacific Electric]]'s [[Owensmouth Line]] and [[San Fernando Line]] are truncated to Sherman Way.<ref name=1958History>{{Veysey-PE-1958|page=42}}</ref><ref name=ERHA>{{cite web |title=San Fernando Valley Line |url=http://erha.org/pewsfv.htm |publisher=Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California |accessdate=8 September 2020}}</ref>
* June 15 &ndash; [[New York Central Railroad]] introduces an all-streamlined consist on the ''[[20th Century Limited]]'' and also introduces the ''[[New England States]]'' [[passenger train]] between [[Chicago]] and [[Boston]].
* June 16 &ndash; The [[Pike's Peak Cog Railway]] in [[Colorado]] operates [[gasoline]]-powered railcar number 7, the first [[Rack railway|rack]] [[railcar]] in the world, for the first time.<ref>{{cite web|author=Manitou & Pike's Peak Cog Railway|year=2005|url=http://www.cograilway.com/history.htm|title=Cog Railway History|accessdate=2005-06-13| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20050701005316/http://www.cograilway.com/history.htm| archivedate= 1 July 2005 | url-status= live}}</ref>
* June 19 &ndash; [[Custer Creek train wreck]] kills at least 47 near [[Saugus, Montana]]. A bridge, weakened by a flash flood, collapses under the Milwaukee Road's [[Olympian Hiawatha|Olympian]] plunging the locomotive and seven lead cars into the rain-swollen creek. It remains the worse rail disaster in [[Montana]] history.  
* June 30 &ndash; [[London Underground 1938 Stock]] enters public service, on [[Northern line]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Desmond F.|last=Croome|author2=Jackson, Alan A.|title=Rails through the Clay: a history of London's Tube railways|edition=2nd|location=Harrow Weald|publisher=Capital Transport|year=1993|isbn=1-85414-151-1|pages=258–62}}</ref>

===July===
* July 3 &ndash; The [[London and North Eastern Railway]] [[4-6-2]] [[LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard|''Mallard'']] reaches a speed of 126&nbsp;mph (203&nbsp;km/h), the highest certified speed for a [[steam locomotive]].
[[Image:Mallard locomotive 625.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard|LNER No. 4468 ''Mallard'']] as running in 1938]]
* July 31 &ndash; The [[Pennsylvania Railroad]], in its public [[Public transport timetable|timetable]] issued today, boasts that “19% of all passengers are carried on the Pennsylvania Railroad.”

===October===
* October &ndash; [[Electro-Motive Diesel|Electro-Motive Corporation]] introduces the [[EMC E4]].

===November===
* November 1 &ndash; Passenger service ends on the [[Maine]] [[narrow gauge]] [[Monson Railroad]].<ref>{{cite book| title=Two Feet to the Quarries |author=Jones, Robert C. |publisher=Evergreen Press |year=1998 |isbn=0-9667264-0-5 |page=93}}</ref>

===December===
* December 13 &ndash; The [[Reading Company|Reading Railroad]]'s ''Crusader'' [[passenger train]] is introduced.
* December 15
** The first [[diesel locomotive]]s in the southeast United States, [[EMC E4]]s, appear on the ''[[Orange Blossom Special (passenger train)|Orange Blossom Special]]''.
** The second section of the [[Itō Line]], connecting [[Ajiro Station|Ajiro]] to [[Itō Station|Itō]] in [[Japan]], opens.
* December 23 &ndash; [[Jean Renoir]]'s film of ''[[La Bête Humaine (film)|La Bête Humaine]]'' released in France.

===Unknown date===
* [[Pennsylvania Railroad]]'s ''[[Broadway Limited]]'' is completely re-equipped based on an [[industrial design]] by [[Raymond Loewy]].
* Overhead wire on the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]]'s mainline from [[New York City]] reaches [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]].
* Overhead wire on the newly formed [[SNCF]] system between [[Tours]] and [[Bordeaux]] in France completes electrification from Paris to the Spanish frontier.
* The first [[Passenger car (rail)|passenger car]] equipped with [[fluorescent lights]] is operated on the [[New York Central Railroad]].

==Births==

=== January births ===
* January 11 &ndash; [[Alastair Morton]], chief executive of [[Eurotunnel]] 1987–1996, chairman of British [[Strategic Rail Authority]] 1999-2001 (d. 2004).

===Unknown date births===
* [[John H. Kuehl]], editor of ''Private Varnish'' magazine, [[Passenger car (rail)|passenger car]] historian and photographer (died 2005).<ref>{{cite journal|date=May 2005|title=Obituaries|journal=Trains Magazine|pages=21}}</ref>

==Deaths==

===February deaths===
* February 2 &ndash; [[Frederick William Vanderbilt]], director of the [[New York Central]] system (born 1856).
* February 9 &ndash; [[Arturo Caprotti]], [[Italy|Italian]] inventor of [[Caprotti valve gear]] for [[steam locomotive]]s (born 1881).<ref>{{cite book|author=Marshall, John|title=Biographical Dictionary of Railway Engineers|edition=2nd|location=Oxford|publisher=[[Railway and Canal Historical Society]]|year=2003|isbn=0-901461-22-9|authorlink=John Marshall (railway historian)}}</ref>

===October deaths===
* October 16 &ndash; [[Sir Henry Fowler]], [[Chief Mechanical Engineer]] of the [[Midland Railway]] 1909&ndash;1923 and the [[London, Midland and Scottish Railway]] 1925&ndash;1931 (born 1870).

===December deaths===
* December 1 &ndash; [[David Blyth Hanna]], first president of [[Canadian National Railway]] (born 1858).

==Accidents==
{{1938 railway accidents|state=uncollapsed}}

==References==
{{reflist}}