Portal:Trains/Did you know/April 2019

April 2019

MFO locomotive number 2 in 1908

• ...that for the Seebach-Wettingen railway electrification trial in the 1900s, Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon electrified the 19.45-kilometre long (12.09 mi) SBB Seebach-Wettingen line at its own expense?

Several trains at the platforms of Secunderabad Junction station in 2011

• ...that about 170,000 passengers arrive at or depart from Secunderabad Junction railway station, in Hyderabad, India, daily on 229 trains?

An NJTransit train arrives at the upper platform level of Secaucus Junction station in 2007

• ...that Secaucus Junction station in New Jersey serves all but two of New Jersey Transit Rail lines plus two Metro-North Railroad lines?

The Seashore Trolley Museum visitor center and a streetcar in May 2016

• ...that the Seashore Trolley Museum, which was established in 1939, is the world's oldest and largest museum of mass transit vehicles?

A train of 3000 class cars on the Seaford line in 2011

• ...that when the electrification of the Seaford railway line was completed in 2014, only four A-City electric multiple units had entered service, so most services continued to be operated by 3000 class railcars?

Northern Electric Railway line next to a dirt road with horse-drawn wagons in 1908

• ...that increasing car and truck traffic on newly built highways in the 1910s was attributed as one reason the Scranton, Montrose and Binghamton Railroad never reached Binghamton?

A night view of the new Schenectady station from the platform on its first day of service in October 2018

• ...that the current Schenectady station, which opened in 2018, is the third station to be built on the site, the first being constructed in 1908?

Ontario Northland train with unpowered trailer number 1981 at the end undergoing servicing in June 1979

• ...that four of the five former Trans Europe Express trains in classes RAm TEE ^I and DE4 built in 1957 were shipped to Ontario Northland Railway for its Northlander service but the power cars were soon replaced by EMD FP7 locomotives?

A publicity photo of SBB Am4/6 1101 with a passenger train in 1942

• ...that Swiss Federal Railways Am 4/6 class number 1101, built by Brown, Boveri & Cie in 1938, was the first gas turbine-electric locomotive?

Ae 4/7 number 11026 at Bauma station in 2011

• ...that the Buchli drive used on the Ae 4/7 electric locomotives helped to keep the class in regular service from its introduction in the 1920s through to the late 1990s?

An SBB Cargo train passing Quartino station in June 2009

• ...that Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) subsidiary SBB Cargo transports over 175,000 tons of goods, roughly equivalent to the weight of 425 fully loaded jumbo jets, every day?

Postcard view of B&M's Lynn station circa 1907-1913

• ...that in 1893, there were 36 trains per day scheduled on Boston and Maine Railroad's Saugus Branch?

A RENFE Class 730 train similar to the one in the 2013 derailment

• ...that the driver in the 2013 Santiago de Compostela derailment had boasted on his personal Facebook page about the speeds at which his trains would travel during normal operations?

A former VTA tram in Salt Lake City in 2011

• ...that the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light rail system opened in 1987 using a fleet of high-floor light rail vehicles (LRVs) that have since been sold to other systems and replaced with low-floor LRVs?

A BART train at San Francisco International Airport station in February 2019

• ...that although the BART San Francisco International Airport station finally opened in 2009, a BART extension to the airport was first proposed in 1970, before the initial system even opened?

San Diego streetcar number 125 in 1915

• ...that the discontinuance of streetcar lines on the San Diego Electric Railway in 1949 has been linked to the National City Lines's General Motors streetcar conspiracy controversy, as the SDERy's president had been with NCL previously?

Salem station with 2014-constructed high-level platform and garage

• ...that according to an April 2016 ridership count, Salem is the busiest commuter rail station in the MBTA system outside of the central Boston stations, with an average of 2,389 daily inbound boardings?

A bridge over the Salem Branch in 2014

• ...that by the early 2000s, much of the Salem Branch in New Jersey, parts of which were opened as early as 1863, was limited to a maximum speed of 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h)?

Aftermath of the 2010 Sainthia train collision

Aftermath of the 2010 Sainthia train collision

• ...that due to the possibility of the two drivers of Uttar Banga Express being drugged before the Sainthia train collision, drivers and guards in India have been asked not to buy any food or drink at stations?