Portal:Trains/Did you know/December 2010: Difference between revisions

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Builder's photo of a Shay locomotive circa 1900

...that geared steam locomotives such as the Shay, Climax or Heisler locomotive types were designed to provide a low speed locomotive with ample starting tractive effort especially on temporary industrial and logging railway tracks that were not as robustly constructed as on main line railroads?

...that the 565-metre (1,854 ft) long Garabit viaduct, a railway arch bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel spanning the Truyère river near Ruynes-en-Margeride, Cantal, France, was the highest railway bridge in the world when it opened in 1885?

...that the G22C Series of diesel locomotives, first introduced in 1968 to replace the popular G12, was the first model series exported by EMD to be available with a low nose as a standard option?

...that during World War II an ammunition storage depot was built near Longparish, England, and the Fullerton to Hurstbourne Line handled a considerable amount of military traffic, but freight traffic on the line was suspended in 1956 and passenger service on the line ended in 1960?

...that the Fuji Kyūkō Line, the earliest section of which began operation as the Tsuru Horsecar in 1900, is the only railway service to access the northern Yamanashi side of Mount Fuji and Fuji Five Lakes, part of Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park in Japan?

...that Flagstaff railway station is the fifth busiest metropolitan railway station in Melbourne, Australia, but is the least used of the stations that serve the central business district with an average of only 14,300 passenger boardings per day in 2009?

...that the FS E428 class electric locomotive, intended to provide a fast service on the newly-electrified Milan-Rome mainline, was originally designed in the early 1930s with a 2-Do-2 wheel arrangement but was modified to 2-Bo-Bo-2 based on unfavorable experiences with the earlier E326 class?

...that the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) built the Exeter to Plymouth railway line piecemeal by independent companies supported by the LSWR as a means to compete with the Great Western Railway and its associated companies from London to Exeter and Plymouth in Devon, England?

...that because the El Paso and Northeastern Railway connected Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) tracks in El Paso to Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P) tracks (via the El Paso and Rock Island Railway), the line served as a bridge route for the joint SP/CRI&P Golden State Limited passenger trains between Chicago and Los Angeles?

...that passenger service on the Echuca railway line in Victoria, Australia, was partly funded by the Department of Education until 1975 using a 153hp Walker railmotor to provide transportation for schoolchildren between Echuca and Kyabram?

...that the CRH2 trains delivered to China for use on new high-speed railway lines there are based on latter versions of the E2 Series Shinkansen trains that entered regular service on the Tōhoku Shinkansen in December 2002?

...that the Dresdner Parkeisenbahn, a 15 minimum gauge railway which was founded in 1950 in Dresden, Germany, and planned to only last for one year, has continued in operation and is a survivor of the many children's railways that were built in the former Eastern Bloc countries?

...that although the 121 class locomotives proved successful, a model among the earlier diesel locomotives of Ireland, one drawback of their design was the single cab construction requiring the locomotive to be turned at the end of each journey as the drivers refused to operate them "long hood" forward?

...that with an infrastructure complex more than 5 km (3.1 mi) long including a commuter passenger terminal and two additional train stops, several sorting yards and locomotive and railcar depots, Darnytsia Railway Station is the largest railroad station and the main freight station of the Ukrainian capital Kiev?

...that when the first line of the DART Light Rail system in Dallas opened on time and on budget in June 1996, it became the first light rail system in Texas and the American Southwest?

...that the original "Crocodile" locomotives, the SBB Ce 6/8 II and Ce 6/8 III electric locomotives of the SBB, Swiss Federal Railways, built between 1919 and 1927, were highly successful and served until the 1980s and several were preserved and continue in operation on heritage railways?

...that a fleet of three converted trams that run on selected standard tram routes through Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and some nearby inner suburbs serves as the dining area for the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant?

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 === December 2010 ===
+{{Trains portal/DYK image|Steam locomotive shay.jpg|Builder's photo of a Shay locomotive circa 1900}}
+{{*mp}} ...that '''[[geared steam locomotive]]s''' such as the [[Shay locomotive|Shay]], [[Climax locomotive|Climax]] or [[Heisler locomotive|Heisler]] locomotive types were designed to provide a low speed locomotive with ample starting [[tractive effort]] especially on temporary [[industrial railway|industrial]] and logging railway tracks that were not as robustly constructed as on main line railroads?<!-- December 18, 2010 -->{{-}}
 {{Trains portal/DYK image|Garabit.jpg|The Garabit Viaduct in 2005}}
 {{*mp}} ...that the {{convert|565|m|0|adj=on}} long '''[[Garabit viaduct]]''', a railway [[arch bridge]] designed by [[Gustave Eiffel]] spanning the [[Truyère]] river near [[Ruynes-en-Margeride]], [[Cantal]], [[France]], was the highest railway bridge in the world when it opened in 1885?<!-- December 17, 2010 -->{{-}}