Portal:Trains/Did you know/June 2013

June 2013

An Odakyu 60000 series MSE at Ono depot in 2007

• ...that Odakyu Electric Railway's 60000 series MSE electric multiple unit trains, introduced in 2008 for through service to the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line, sometimes also travel over the Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line making them the first limited express trains with reserved seats to operate through a subway line in Tokyo?

BA class number 552 at Mainline Steam's Parnell depot in 2010

• ...that although New Zealand Railways B^A class 4-8-0 locomotives 552 and 498 were both rebuilt in 1928 with wider fireboxes, it was almost two decades before the alterations were performed on any other members of the class?

North Coast Hiawatha at Yakima, Washington, in August 1971

• ...that in mid-1971 Amtrak started running a section of the Empire Builder over Northern Pacific Railway's tracks between Minneapolis and Spokane, Washington, which was partly a reaction to pressure from Mike Mansfield (D-Montana), then Senate Majority Leader, who noted that the Empire Builder bypassed Montana's major population centers, an intervention that earned the train that would become the North Coast Hiawatha the nickname “Mike Mansfield Limited”?

The tracks and platforms of Nishi-magome station in 2007

• ...that Nishi-magome Station, the southern terminal of the Toei Asakusa Line operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation located in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, is the southernmost station of the Tokyo subway network?

Withdrawn D class 0-6-0 number 68470 in at Bathgate Locomotive Depot in 1962

• ...that North British Railway's D class 0-6-0T steam locomotives, which entered service in 1900-1901 and were withdrawn in the 1950s, were considered successful with only three of the class failing to complete one million miles (1,600,000 km) during their lifetime, and No. 9830 managed to complete two million miles (3,200,000 km)?

Noto Railway NT200 series DMU at Anamizu Station in 2007

• ...that JR West owns the entire Nanao Line between Tsubata and Anamizu stations in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, but it only operates the southern section between Tsubata and Wakura-Onsen while Noto Railway operates the section between Nanao and Anamizu?

Naha-kūkō Station in 2011

• ...that Naha-kūkō Station, the terminus of the Okinawa Monorail, located in Naha, Okinawa, Japan, and connected directly to the second floor of Naha Airport, is the westernmost station in Japan, and the southernmost airport station in the country?

The summit station of the Montreux–Glion–Rochers-de-Naye railway in 2004

• ...that the 800 mm (2 ft 7+1⁄2 in) gauge Montreux–Glion–Rochers-de-Naye railway above Lake Geneva in Switzerland was originally built as two separate lines, the Glion–Rochers-de-Naye railway, which opened in 1892, and the Montreux–Glion railway, which opened in 1909?

Aftermath of the Mitaka incident in 1949

• ...that many details surrounding the Mitaka incident of July 15, 1949, in which an unmanned 63 series train with its operating handle tied down drove into Mitaka Station on the Chūō Line in Tokyo, Japan, killing 6 people and injuring 20, remain unknown but it is commonly said to have been part of a plot along with the Shimoyama and Matsukawa incidents carried out by the National Railway Workers' Union?

A section of Miller's line where the first experiments in electric traction took place, seen in the early 1900s

• ...that in 1875, on a section of the Miller's line between Miller's pier and Sestroretsk rail station in Russia, Fyodor Pirotsky experimented on the adaptation of electrogalvanic cells for use in rail transport, eventually leading to a patent for the creation of the first electric tram?

A Z3 class tram on route 3a in St Kilda in 2012

• ...that the origins of Melbourne tram route 3 in Australia lie in separate tram lines: an electric line from Melbourne University to Queensberry Street, a cable tram from Queensberry Street to Milton Street and an electric line from Acland Street to Darling Road?

A modern Bombardier tram on Marseille tramway's line 2 in 2008

• ...that unlike tram systems that were built in most other French cities, the Marseille tramway, which originally opened in 1876 using horsecars, has never closed and continues in operation?

The railway bridge known as MacNeill's Egyptian Arch in 2006

• ...that much of Ireland's modern railway network still follows routes that were originally proposed by John Benjamin Macneill in the late 1830s and early 1840s and many of the impressive original structures he designed for the railway, such as MacNeill's Egyptian Arch, remain?

A statue of Thomas Lowry in Minneapolis in 2007

• ...that a number of sites in and around Minneapolis–Saint Paul are named in honor of Thomas Lowry in recognition for his efforts to extend the Minneapolis Street Railway Company and later the Twin City Rapid Transit lines that served to drive development in the area?

The platforms and tracks of Lod station in 2011

• ...that for many years Lod Railway Station (then called Lydda) was the main railway hub of Palestine and later Israel as it sits at the intersection of several major rail lines located in the central part of the country, and the station is now the 11th most heavily used station of Israel Railways by ticket sales numbers?

A section of the Mumbai Monorail under construction in Chembur in 2012

• ...that upon its projected completion in August 2013, Mumbai Monorail Line 1 will become the first monorail line in India and the world’s second longest monorail route after the 21.2-kilometre long (13.2 mi) Osaka Monorail Main Line in Japan?

A preserved hopper car used by Lambton Colliery in pit service

• ...that although the Lambton Railway, which was built to serve Lambton Collieries in North East England, converted to steam locomotive traction beginning in 1814 using 0-6-0T locomotives, the route over Warden Law was worked as a rope-incline with stationary engines until 1864?

Namiti Bridge on the Kunming-Hekou Railway in 1911

• ...that the Kunming–Hai Phong Railway, which was originally built by France during 1904-1910, connecting Haiphong, Vietnam with Kunming, Yunnan province, China, is the only main line in China using metre gauge?