Portal:Trains/Anniversaries/October 17

1817 – Alexander Mitchell, president of Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad 1864-1887, is born (d. 1887).^[1]
1849 – Sir William Mackenzie, part-owner of the Toronto Street Railway and builder of Canadian Northern Railway predecessors, is born (d. 1923).
1968 – Kintetsu in Japan activates the ATS system over its entire Suzuka Line.
2000 – The Hatfield rail crash, south of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK, occurs when a train traveling at 115 mph (185 km/h) derails due to a rail that breaks under it (memorial pictured).

References

^ "MITCHELL, Alexander, (1817 - 1887)". Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress. Retrieved January 4, 2006.