1858 in rail transport

• April 13 – The Virginia Central Railroad begins operations through the Blue Ridge Tunnel at Rockfish Gap, Virginia.Virginia Central Railroad Company. [https://books.google.com/books?id=bYo4AAAAIAAJ Annual Report of the Virginia Central Railroad Company to the Stockholders 1853–1859]. H.K. Ellyson, 1853.

• May – First known slip coach working, at Haywards Heath on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway.{{cite book|author=Fryer, C.E.J.|title=A History of Slipping and Slip Carriages|year=1997|location=Usk|publisher=Oakwood Press|isbn=978-0-85361-514-9}}
• May 3 – While under lease to Bristol and Exeter Railway, the Somerset Central Railway is extended to Burnham-on-Sea.
• May 31 - Carl Abraham Pihl presents the results of his investigation of the area along the river Drammenselva which concludes that the terrain between Drammen and Randsfjorden, in Norway, is favorable for a rail line.

• June 17 – The Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad opens, operating 95 miles from Goldsboro to New Bern, North Carolina.{{cite web|url=http://www.historync.org/railroads.htm|title=Railroads — prior to the Civil War|work=North Carolina Business History|year=2006|accessdate=2010-02-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726152211/http://historync.org/railroads.htm|archive-date=2011-07-26|url-status=dead}}

• August 23 – The Round Oak rail accident in England kills 14.

• October 30 – The Oriental Railway Company opens the first section of railway in the Ottoman Empire, from İzmir to Seydiköy.

• John Ramsbottom (engineer) on the London and North Western Railway introduces the first Class DX 0-6-0 goods locomotives. There will be 943 engines built to this design, the largest steam locomotive class in the British Isles.{{cite web|url=http://www.lnwrs.org.uk/GoodsLocos/Loco21.php|title=DX Goods|publisher=London and North Western Railway Society|year=2003|accessdate=2010-03-31}}

• December 15 – Wien Westbahnhof railway station, the terminal of the Western Railway (Austria) in Vienna, opens.

• John W. Garrett becomes president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.{{cite book|title=Biography of John Work Garrett|url= http://www.bookrags.com/biography/john-work-garrett/|accessdate=2005-03-02| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20050208200709/http://www.bookrags.com/biography/john-work-garrett/| archivedate= 8 February 2005 | url-status= live}}{{cite web|author=Garrett State Bank |title=About Us |url=http://www.garrettstatebank.com/about.htm |accessdate=2005-03-02 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050211082028/http://www.garrettstatebank.com/about.htm |archivedate=2005-02-11 |url-status=dead }}

• February 18 – Wilhelm Schmidt, German pioneer of superheated steam for use in locomotives (d. 1924).{{cite book|first=John|last=Marshall|authorlink=John Marshall (railway historian)|title=Biographical Dictionary of Railway Engineers|edition=2nd|location=Oxford|publisher=Railway and Canal Historical Society|year=2003|isbn=0-901461-22-9}}

• April 23 - Leonor F. Loree, president of Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 1901–1903, D&H 1907-1938 and Kansas City Southern Railway 1918–1920.{{cite web|author=Kansas City Southern Historical Society|title=The Kansas City Southern Lines|url=http://www.kcshs.org/schedule/subs/images/history/kcs_hist.htm|accessdate=2005-08-15| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20050828172330/http://www.kcshs.org/schedule/subs/images/history/kcs_hist.htm| archivedate= 28 August 2005 | url-status= live}}

• December 20 – David Blyth Hanna, first president of Canadian National Railway (d. 1938).

• July 31 – Edward Pease, first promoter of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (b. 1767).

• November 25 – Edward Bury, English steam locomotive builder (b. 1794).{{cite web|title=Edward Bury |url=https://steamindex.com/people/bury.htm |date=2004-10-30|accessdate=2005-02-09 }}

{{Reflist}}