151 people die in the Tangiwai disaster in New Zealand when the Tangiwai Railway Bridge over the Whangaehu River collapses as the overnight express train between Wellington and Auckland passes over it; the bridge supports have been weakened by a lahar (a volcanic ash and debris filled flash flood) a few minutes earlier. December 29 - The last electric locomotive runs through the Detroit River Tunnel. It is replaced by diesel locomotives. December - Norfolk and Western Railway turns out class S1a 0-8-0 switcher #244 from its Roanoke Shops, the last conventional steam locomotive built for a United States Class I railroad. Unknown date events The first Trailer-On-Flat-Car (TOFC, or "piggyback") equipment enters service on the Southern Pacific Railroad in the United States. Baghdad Central Station is opened by Iraqi State Railways. John W. Barriger III steps down from the presidency of the Monon Railroad in the United States. Births Deaths February deaths February 14 – Richard Paul Wagner, locomotive designer for Deutsche Reichsbahn, 1922–1942, dies in Bavaria (born 1882). May deaths May 30 – Sam Fay, General manager of the Great Central Railway, 1902–1922, dies in Hampshire, England (born 1856). References Colin Churcher's Railway Pages (August 16, 2005), Significant dates in Canadian railway history. Retrieved November 8, 2005. John W. Barriger; Rail historian and railfan. Retrieved February 22, 2005. MichiganRailroads.com (2005), Railroad History Timeline, 1950-1959. Retrieved June 13, 2005 White, John H., Jr. (Spring 1986), America's most noteworthy railroaders, Railroad History, Railway and Locomotive Historical Society, 154, p. 9-15. Accidents