Portal:Trains/Did you know/February 2008

...that Deutsche Bundesbahn's class E 41 electric locomotives, introduced in 1956, earned the nickname Knallfrosch (firecracker), as the steering makes loud cracking noises when accelerating?

...that after the goods yard tracks at Severn Tunnel Junction railway station in Wales were lifted in the early 1990s, part of the site of the former goods yard was used for the toll booths for the Second Severn Crossing?

...that CNR Radio, created by the Canadian National Railway in 1923 (officially the Canadian National Railways Radio Department), was the first radio network in North America?

... that even as he embarked on a 24-year career in the U.S. Congress, William Alden Smith oversaw construction of the Grand Rapids, Kalkaska and Southeastern Railroad in Michigan?

Preserved railcar DRC43 at the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre, Victoria

...that in the 1980s, the DRC railcars were the fastest trains in Australia by average speed, running 107 kilometres (66 mi) from Ararat to Hamilton in 72 minutes, for an average speed of 89.17 km/h (55 mph)?

JŽ class 361 locomotive

...that following World War II, 17 class E.626 electric locomotives of Italy's Ferrovie dello Stato were ceded to Yugoslav Railways where they were designated class E361?

...that multiple working is the term used in the United Kingdom where more than one operational diesel or electric locomotive is coupled together under the control of one driver?
...that the San Francisco and San Mateo Electric Railway was San Francisco's first electric streetcar company?

...that the Patiala State Monorail Trainways, which operated in the Indian state of Punjab from 1910 to 1927, was the only monorail train system to operate in regular service in India?

"Happy passengers" melody

...that Le chemin de fer, a piano composition from 1844 by Charles-Valentin Alkan in France, is often cited as the first musical depiction of a railway?

...that only the shorter of the two Berks and Hants Railway lines built by the Great Western Railway in England actually entered Hants, the longer being entirely in the county of Berkshire?

...that Frank Sprague is known as "The Father of Electric Traction" because many of his inventions related to electric motors and electric railways are still in use today?

...that the class E.632 electric locomotives, introduced in the 1980s by Ferrovie dello Stato, were the first Italian locomotives that used electronic traction control systems?

...that former French steam locomotive manufacturer Corpet-Louvet is still in business, manufacturing Caterpillar earth moving equipment under license?

...that First TransPennine Express is one of the few train operating companies in the United Kingdom running 24 hours a day, including through New Year's Eve night?
...that the Wellsville, Addison and Galeton Railroad, which operated in Pennsylvania and New York, was also known as "The Sole Leather Line" because some of its main customers were tanneries?

...that the FS class E.444 locomotives were designed in the 1960s to be the first Italian electric locomotives capable of reaching 200 km/h (124 mph) in regular service?

N469 leads a passenger train at Lara in 2006

...that fitted with 6,800-litre (1,496 imp gal) fuel tanks Victorian Railways' N class diesel-electric locomotives are capable of running from Melbourne to Adelaide, Australia, without refueling?

Sugar cane train in the Lafayette Refinery in Arroyo, Puerto Rico

...that between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Puerto Rico's rail transport system expanded significantly, becoming one of the largest rail systems in the Caribbean at the time thanks to an economic boom in agriculture industries, especially the sugarcane industry?
...that the two-unit power car of Union Pacific's M-10002 streamliner was not articulated with the rest of the train, making it the first separable diesel-electric locomotive on the UP roster?

...that Dent railway station, on the historic Settle–Carlisle line in Cumbria, is the highest station on the National Rail network in England, at an altitude of 1,150 feet (351 metres)?

...that the main concourse building of Wuppertal Hbf was built in 1848 by Düsseldorf-Elberfelder Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, the first steam locomotive hauled railway in Germany?

Tōkaidō Shinkansen 700 & 300, at Tokyo Station

...that since beginning operations in 1906, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Company in Japan has produced more than 90,000 railroad vehicles, including the majority of the Shinkansen trains for JR Group?

...that the Ashfork-Bainbridge Steel Dam, built by the Santa Fe to supply water for steam locomotives in Arizona, is one of only three steel dams built in the United States?

...that to help Stanmore railway station in Greater London, England, to blend with its surroundings the station building was designed to resemble a church, including a short spire?

...that although the first steam locomotive hauled trains in present day Serbia operated in 1856, the official start of Serbian Railways operations is designated as August 23, 1884, when the first royal train traveled from Belgrade to Niš?

...that although plans for a railway connecting the Israeli coastal plain and Jerusalem in present-day Israel had been discussed as early as 1839, construction on the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway didn't begin until 1889?

...that the Iron Range and Huron Bay Railroad never operated a single train, despite completing a 42-mile (68 km) line and its own ore dock at a cost of over two million dollars?