Valley Railroad, making it the first narrow gauge railroad to operate in California. October 26 – Grand Trunk Railway converts all of its track east of Montreal to Portland, Maine from 5 ft 6 in (1676 mm) Portland gauge to standard gauge. November events November 7 – The Miami Valley Narrow Gauge Railway, the predecessor of the Miami Valley Railway, is incorporated. November 8 – Tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad reach Bakersfield, California; work begins on the route that would eventually become the Tehachapi Loop. Unknown date events The Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad, an early predecessor of the Milwaukee Road, changes its official name to Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul. The Wm. Mason, an 0-6-6 Mason Bogie by William Mason (locomotive builder), is the first locomotive with Walschaerts valve gear built in the United States. Dr. Livingston Stone of the U.S. Fish Commission (which later becomes the United States Fish and Wildlife Service) "chaperones" a shipment of 35,000 shad fry to stock the Sacramento River in California in the first such delivery by rail aboard a fish car. Deaths March deaths March 27 – Joseph Harrison, Jr., partner in the American steam locomotive manufacturing firm of Eastwick and Harrison (b. 1810). May deaths May 27 – John Edgar Thomson, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad 1852–1874 (b. 1808). June deaths June 20 – John Ruggles, who was awarded for improved driving wheels (b. 1789). References Rivanna Chapter National Railway Historical Society (2005), This month in railroad history: September. Retrieved September 23, 2005.