Events January events January 1 – The national railway operator in the Republic of Ireland, Great Southern Railways, with responsibility for the southern part of the Irish railway network is merged into a new national transport operator, Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). January 10 – Los Angeles streetcars make their last run. January 12 – Bituminous Coal Research Incorporated's Locomotive Study Group, made up of representatives from eastern railroads and locomotive manufacturers in the United States, meets to find ways to combat the rise of the diesel locomotive. They decide reciprocating steam is dead, and to explore coal-fired turbines. January 19 – United States Army Transportation Corps personnel operate their first train on the Luzon Military Railway (over Manila Railway Company track) in the Philippines. February events February 23 – The Treuchtlingen railway station in Bavaria is bombed during World War II; with over 600 killed and 1500 injured, it is the worst railroad disaster in German history. February – General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces the EMD E7. March events March 6 – German military engineers blow up the Deutsche Reichsbahn's Hohenzollern Bridge across the Rhine at Cologne to inhibit the Allied assault on the city. March 25 – Virginian Railway takes delivery of its first 2-6-6-6 (class AG) steam locomotives from Lima Locomotive Works. April events April 13 – Franklin D. Roosevelt's funeral train begins its journey. April 27 – Austria's state railway becomes independent of the Deutsche Reichsbahn as the Österreichische Staatseisenbahn (ÖStB). April – The first airlifts of U.S. Army Transportation Corps metre-gauge petrol locomotives into Burma take place. May events May 12 – The Rev. W. V. Awdry's book for children The Three Railway Engines is published in Leicester, England, the first in what is to become The Railway Series. May 14 – Lima Locomotive Works ships the last Shay locomotive: Western Maryland Railway number 6. May 25 – 'La Trochita' narrow gauge railway in Patagonia is completed throughout to Esquel, Argentina. July events July 16 A train collision near Munich, Germany kills 102 prisoners of war. Canadian National Railway opens its ore dock at Port Arthur, Ontario. July 23 – Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad introduces the first Vistadome car, Silver Dome, in the consist of the Twin Cities Zephyr. July 30 – First SNCF Class 141R 2-8-2 steam locomotive completed by Lima Locomotive Works in the United States for service in France. 1340 of the