This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1836.

Events

January events

• January 16 – The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, the oldest portion of what is to become the Chicago and North Western Railway, is chartered.

February events

• February 5 – Henry R. Campbell of the Philadelphia, Germantown & Norristown Railroad patents the first 4-4-0, a steam locomotive type that will soon become the most common on all railroads of the United States.^[1]
• February 8 - London and Greenwich Railway opens its first section, the first railway in London, England.^[2]

March events

• March - The Syracuse and Utica Railroad, a predecessor of the New York Central Railroad, is chartered to build a railroad between its namesake cities in New York.

April events

• April – The first railroad car ferry in the U.S., the Susquehanna enters service on the Susquehanna River between Havre de Grace and Perryville, Maryland.^{[3][page needed]}

May events

• May 5 – The Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad is chartered as the successor to the Castleton and West Stockbridge Railroad in Massachusetts and eastern New York.
• May 19 – The Bristol and Exeter Railway receives parliamentary authorization.

July events

• July 13 – John Ruggles is awarded U.S. patent 1 for his improvements to railroad steam locomotive tires.^[4]
• July 21 – The Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad opens between St. John and La Prairie, Quebec, the first steam-worked passenger railroad in British North America.

August events

• August 1 – The Utica and Schenectady Railroad, a predecessor of the New York Central Railroad in New York, opens.
• August 8 – Andover and Wilmington Railroad opens its line to Andover, Massachusetts.

September events

• September 5 – The Lake Wimico and St. Joseph Canal and Railroad, the first steam railroad in Florida, opens.

October events

• The Louisa Railroad of Louisa County, Virginia, an early predecessor of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, begins construction.^[5]
• October 25 – Construction begins on the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad in North Carolina. Due to a lack of support in Raleigh, the route is revised to run from Wilmington to the Petersburg Railroad in Weldon.^[6]

December events

• December 14 – The London and Greenwich Railway opens throughout from London Bridge to Deptford.^[7]

Unknown date events

• The Bangor and Piscataquis Canal and Railroad Company operates the first steam railroad in Maine with two 2-2-0 locomotives manufactured in England.

Births

January births

• January 2 - Fred T. Perris, Chief Engineer of the California Southern Railroad (d. 1916).^[8][9]

February births

• February 9 – Franklin B. Gowen, president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad 1866–1883 (d. 1889).

March births

• March 16 – Andrew Smith Hallidie, who developed the first practical cable car system for San Francisco, California (d. 1900).^[10]

May births

• May 21 – Francis William Webb, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Western Railway (d. 1906).^[11]
• May 27 - Jay Gould, American financier who, with Jim Fisk, took control of the Erie Railroad (d. 1892).

September births

• September 17 - William Jackson Palmer, builder of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (d. 1909).

Deaths

January deaths

• January 7 – John Molson, established the Champlain and Saint Lawrence Railroad, the first railway into Canada (b. 1763).