Portal:Trains/Anniversaries/January 5/More

20th century

 * 1977 – Gare de Bercy station, near Gare de Lyon in Paris, France, opens.
 * 1985 – At ceremonies held in Nenana and Seward, Alaska, ownership of the Alaska Railroad is officially transferred to the U.S. state of Alaska.

21st century

 * 2006 – A Virginia Railway Express train from Fredericksburg, Virginia, bound for Washington, D.C., derails due to a chipped railroad switch point near Quantico, injuring seven passengers and two crewmembers.
 * 2007 – The first public trains of Taiwan High Speed Rail operate between Taipei and Kaohsiung, a 216 mi journey, in 90 minutes. Although some relatively minor problems still remain, such as ticket machines not accepting credit cards or returning the incorrect change, the trains operated on schedule.

Deaths

 * 1867 – William Norris, American steam locomotive builder and founder of Norris Locomotive Works (b. 1802).
 * 1954 – Death Valley Scotty (born Walter Edward Scott), con man who chartered the Scott Special record-breaking run on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1905, dies (b. 1872).