- October 12
- 1842 – Robert Gillespie Reid, builder of many Canadian railway bridges as well as the Newfoundland Railway, is born (d. 1908).
- 1859 – Robert Stephenson (pictured), English steam locomotive builder, dies (b. 1803).
- 1934 – The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is created from the merger of five industry organizations.
- 1945 – Charles Fairburn, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1944-1945, dies (b. 1887).