Portal:Trains/Did you know/December 2010

December 2010

Godley East station platforms in 1989

• ...that Godley East railway station in Greater Manchester, England, was one of the locations where trains to and from the Liverpool district changed from diesel or steam to electric traction, and vice versa?

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?

The Garabit Viaduct in 2005

• ...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?

Taiwan Railway Administration's EMD G22CU diesel locomotive number R171 in 2008

• ...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?

The former passenger platform at Fullerton station in 2008

• ...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?

Fuji-san Limited Express EMU in 2003

• ...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?

XTrapolis train at Flagstaff Station in 2006

• ...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?

First-series E428 058 hauling an historical train in 2008

• ...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?

Meldon Viaduct, formerly part of the old railway passing the NW corner of Dartmoor to Tavistock, in 2002

• ...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?

New Mexico Railway and Coal Company's 1903 network and connecting lines

• ...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?

Map of the Bendigo / Swan Hill / Echuca railways of Victoria, Australia

• ...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?

E2-1000 series on Hayate service at Iwate-Numakunai Station, March 2007

• ...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?

Dresden Park Railway locomotive "Moritz" in 2008

• ...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?

121 class locomotive number 124 in 2007

• ...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?

The main facade of Darnytsia commuter station in 2009

• ...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?

DART train stopped at the West End Station, heading to the American Airlines Center in 2004

• ...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?

Preserved Crocodile Ce 6/8 II in Erstfeld in 2004

• ...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?

Colonial Tramcar Restaurant in Bourke Street Mall, Melbourne in 2005

• ...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?