December events December 3 - The longest cantilever bridge in the world, Canadian National Railway's Quebec Bridge across the St. Lawrence River near Quebec City, opens for rail traffic after nearly 20 years of planning and construction including two partial collapses. December 12 - Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne derailment, on the Culoz–Modane railway in the French Alps, a grossly overloaded troop train jumps the tracks near the entrance of the station at Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, after running away down a steep gradient from the entrance to the Fréjus Rail Tunnel due to inadequate brake power. At least 543 are killed, hundreds more are injured by the official count; the actual count is assumed to be considerably higher. Until 1981 this was the worst train wreck in history. December 26 - United States President Woodrow Wilson uses the Federal Possession and Control Act to nationalize American railroads under the United States Railroad Administration during World War I. December 28 - The United States Railroad Administration officially takes control of American railroads. Unknown date events The Tanana Valley Railroad in Fairbanks, Alaska (a predecessor of the Alaska Railroad) enters receivership. The Arcade and Attica Railroad is incorporated. Estación Constitución in Buenos Aires, Argentina, opens. The Hershey Electric Railway on Cuba opens. Russia's Railway Worker Day national holiday, established in 1886, is abolished under Bolshevik rule. Births Unknown date births John Shedd Reed, president of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 1967-1986 (died 2008). Deaths October deaths October 2 - William Sykes, English railway signalling engineer (born 1840). References