Portal:Trains/Did you know/April 2018

April 2018

The speed record setting attempt in 2007

• ...that the LGV Est line connecting Paris to eastern France was used as the test track to set a new world speed record at 574.8 km/h (159.6 m/s, 357.2 mph) in 2007?

A Central Line train at Leytonstone station in 2015

• ...that during World War II, the new London Underground tunnels at Leytonstone tube station were used as an aircraft component factory with the part closest to Leytonstone being used as a public air raid shelter?

A LEO Express train in May 2012

• ...that as part of the door to door concept of public transportation, in 2015 the Czech open-access train operator Leo Express announced a partnership with Uber in major cities?

North portal of the 1915 Leipzig tunnel in 2010

• ...that preceding the Leipzig City Tunnel completed in 2013, the Saxon State Railway had planned and partially built a tunnel to Bayerischer Bahnhof in 1915?

Railways in front of Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1860

• ...that with the exception of the curve at Mauch Chunk, the original line of the Lehigh Valley Railroad from Mauch Chunk to Easton had no curve of less than 700-foot (210 m) radius?

A poster showing the timetable for the Leek & Manifold Valley Light Railway

• ...that the two narrow gauge, outside-cylindered 2-6-4Ts, built by Kitson & Co. for the Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway were the first 2-6-4T locomotives to run in Britain?

Engraving of Joshua Leach in 1889

• ...that while traveling to Terre Haute, Indiana, on behalf of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen in February 1875, Joshua A. Leach inspired the 19-year old Eugene V. Debs to become active in the organization, starting him on a career as a trade union organizer?

LB&SCR J1 class number 326 pulls a passenger train

• ...that following successful trials of London, Brighton and South Coast Railway's first J1 class 4-6-2T steam locomotive, construction of the second locomotive was delayed because its designer went on extended sick leave?

A train crossing the Langwieser Viaduct in 2011

• ...that the 284-metre long (932 ft) Langwieser Viaduct, which opened in 1914, was the world's first railway bridge to be constructed of reinforced concrete?

The Lake Shore Limited at Poughkeepsie in 1978

• ...that Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited was the last train to use the decaying Buffalo Central Terminal, departing on October 28, 1979?

La Brugeoise car from the Buenos Aires metro during its first heritage trip in 2017

• ...that the La Brugeoise cars introduced in 1913 on the Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company's first underground line were originally designed to run both as metro and tramway cars?

An L0 Series train on a test run in 2013

• ...that the nose of L0 Series maglev trains being developed by Central Japan Railway Company extends 15 metres (49 ft) for better aerodynamics and reduced noise in tunnels?

L&YR Class 32 Nº1505

• ...that the two 21+1⁄2-by-26-inch (546 mm × 660 mm) inside cylinders on Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway's Class 32 0-8-2T steam locomotives were the largest in size of any non-compound engine in England?

A train made of R143 cars in cars in L service at New Lots Avenue, bound for Manhattan in 2015

• ...that New York City Subway's L service is the first in the system to be automated using communications-based train control?

Southern Pacific locomotive number 9011 at a servicing facility in San Jose, California, in 1964

• ...that a special track was installed at Southern Pacific Railroad's locomotive facility in Roseville, California, to service the imported Krauss-Maffei ML-4000 diesel–hydraulic locomotives purchased in the 1960s?

A HEMU-430X train on a test run at Seodaejeon Station in 2014

• ...that a HEMU-430X train, the next model train for Korea Train eXpress, achieved 421.4 km/h in 2013, making South Korea the fourth country in the world to develop a high-speed train running on conventional rail above 420 km/h?

A sign for construction of the Koralm Railway tunnel

• ...that when the Koralm Railway construction in Austria is completed, the railway is expected to reduce travel time from Klagenfurt to Graz from three hours to 45 minutes?

The last train on the Kent and East Sussex Railway line at Tenterden station in 1954

• ...that when British Railways discontinued passenger services on the former Kent and East Sussex Railway in 1954, four different locomotives were used on the last passenger train?