This article will list events related to rail transport that occurred in 1936.

Events

May events

• May 12 - The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway inaugurates the all-diesel powered Super Chief passenger train between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California.
• May 15 - The first City of Los Angeles passenger train makes its debut, using the streamliner trainset M-10002, running from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California on the Chicago and Northwestern Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad.
• May - Union Pacific Railroad takes delivery of the first of the M-10003-6 streamliner power cars.

June events

• June 14 - The M-10004 streamliner trainset enters service on the City of San Francisco passenger train.
• June 18 - The first City of Denver passenger train makes its debut running from Chicago, Illinois to Denver, Colorado on the Chicago and Northwestern Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad.

Unknown date events

• Illinois Central's Green Diamond trainset is built by Pullman-Standard and placed in service between Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri.
• Bruce Church, T. R. Merrill, Gene Harden and Ken Nutting form the Growers Ice Company to ship bulk carloads of lettuce by rail from Salinas, California

Births

Deaths

Unknown date deaths

• Orris Paxton Van Sweringen, American financier who, with his brother Mantis, controlled the Nickel Plate Road and other eastern United States railroads (b. 1879).