February 4 - The assets of Dayton, Xenia and Belpre Railroad in Ohio are sold in bankruptcy proceedings and split between the Little Miami Railroad and Columbus and Xenia Railroad.
May 25 - The first steel rails are rolled at a foundry in Chicago from Bessemer steel made in blast furnaces in Wyandotte, Michigan.
June 9 - Rail accident at Staplehurst, United Kingdom: 10 killed, 49 injured; Charles Dickens is amongst the survivors.
In England a patent was granted in 1840 for the use of rails as conductors of electric current, and similar American patents were issued to Lilley and Colten in 1847.
All that is needed to cause the car to move along the running rails is to supply current through an overhead wire or third "conductor rail." This wire or rail will serve as a "return" for the electric current to the dynamo in the power station.
This conductor rail was set one inch below the level of the running rails, and wooden ramps were provided at points and crossings to carry the collectors over the rails, thus avoiding a short-circuit.
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