Portal:Trains/Did you know/May 2014

Cape Government Railways 1st Class 4-4-0T no. 6, a Neilson locomotive from the 1870s

...that in addition to building up the steam locomotive manufacturing business of Neilson and Company, which later merged with others into North British Locomotive Co. Ltd., Walter Montgomerie Neilson also supplied expertise and advice to the French builders of the Suez Canal?

Builder's photo of Cape Copper Company 0-6-2 Clara Class no. 5 Marie circa 1891

...that Namaqualand Railway's Clara Class of 0-6-2 steam locomotives were acquired to meet the traffic needs of the upper mountainous section of the line, and as such they became known as the railway's Mountain type?

...that the 28.7 km (17.8 mi) long section of the Muroran Main Line between Shiraoi and Numanohata is said to be the longest straight railway section in Japan?

...that JR East introduced the first mini-shinkansen service in 1992 on a section of the Ōu Main Line between Fukushima and Yamagata stations, but while the track gauge was converted from 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in), the line's loading gauge remained unchanged which required the construction of new shinkansen trains with a narrower cross-section?

...that in 1949, France sent 49 4-wheel covered goods wagons to the United States (one for each state then in existence and one for Washington, D.C., and Hawaii to share), in a gesture that has become known as the Merci Train, laden with various treasures, as a show of gratitude for the liberation of France in World War II?

...that Pennsylvania Railroad's Manhattan Limited passenger train, which served as a lower-fare alternative to the railroad's flagship Broadway Limited between Chicago and New York City, was originally introduced as an eastbound-only train named the Seashore Limited?

...that Luohu Station, which opened in 2004 as a terminus of the Shenzhen Metro Luobao Line in China, has three platforms for the two tracks to implement the Spanish solution of avoiding crowding from boarding and alighting passengers?

...that the Linha do Vouga, which opened in 1908 and now connects Espinho and Aveiro, is the last surviving metre gauge railway line in Portugal still operated by Comboios de Portugal?

Illinois Central's Land O'Corn in the 1960s

...that Illinois Central Railroad's Land O'Corn passenger train was inaugurated in 1941 using self-propelled "Motorailers" manufactured by the American Car and Foundry Company but was eventually re-equipped with EMD E7 locomotives and conventional lightweight passenger cars?

...that the construction of the current Kyōto Station building in Japan began a wave of new high-rise developments in the city that culminated in the 20-story Kyocera Building, which has led some to criticize the station's design for taking part in breaking down the traditional cityscape?

...that although Kowloon station, on the Tung Chung Line and the Airport Express of Hong Kong's MTR, provides an in-town check-in service for flights departing Hong Kong International Airport and about 10,000 passengers use this station daily, it is one of the least used stations in the MTR system?

...that Kinosaki Onsen Station, the dividing point between the electrified segment of the line up to Kyoto, and the non-electrified segment down to Hōki-Daisen, is the farthest along the line that any regularly scheduled train from Kyoto will go?

...that Kawatiri Railway Station, in the Tasman District of New Zealand’s South Island, was one of the shortest-lived stations operated by the Railways Department, being active for only 5 years, 21 days between 1926 and 1931?

...that when the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension to Kanazawa Station, in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan, is opened later in fiscal 2014, it is expected to reduce the travel time to Tokyo from four hours to two hours and thirty minutes?

The preserved Joplin, Missouri, Union Station in 2010

...that Joplin Union Depot in Joplin, Missouri, designed by Louis Curtiss and completed in 1912, used mining waste as a component of the concrete in its construction?

...that Japan Transport Engineering Company, a manufacturer of heavy rail cars in Japan, was originally formed as Tokyu Car Corporation, and was a licencee of early-generation (early-1960s) stainless-steel commuter EMU train body and related bogie technology from the Budd Company of the United States?

...that Indian Railways used WCAM class dual-voltage electric locomotives on intercity trains in the Mumbai DC suburban region because that area used a 1500 V DC overhead system, as opposed to other parts of India which have 25,000 V AC overhead?

...that before the original Hitachi passenger train services in Japan were phased out in 1998 and fully replaced with Super Hitachi and Fresh Hitachi services, Hitachi trains sometimes consisted of fourteen-car formations of seven-car 485 series EMUs with no Green car accommodation?

...that the former Richmond and Danville Railroad depot in Herndon, Virginia, which now houses the Herndon Depot Museum, was the site of a raid that Confederate Army Captain John S. Mosby led on St. Patrick’s day in March 1863?

...that because China's southeast coast is the only region of high-speed rail construction where no previous conventional railroads existed, the high-speed rail lines built there, such as the Hangzhou–Fuzhou–Shenzhen High-Speed Railway, are designed to carry both passenger and freight traffic?

...that until the end of 1888, construction on the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad in Mississippi was accomplished using prisoners contracted through the Mississippi State Penitentiary convict-lease system, but the convict lease was terminated when a state commission found abuse of the prison workers?
...that the former Glenrowan railway station, on the North East railway in Victoria, Australia, is located at the highest point of the line north of Seymour, with grades of 1 in 75 in both direction?