Portal:Trains/Did you know/May 2018

May 2018

LRC locomotive number 38 at Boston South Station in 1980

• ...that before VIA Rail came to depend on the LRC for the majority of its intercity service in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor, Amtrak used two of them on the Beacon Hill (New Haven-Boston) and Shoreliner (New York-Boston) services?

Brisbane Hedley-Doyle Stepless tram, No. 301 circa 1920

• ...that experimental low-floor trams were placed in service as early as 1912?

A ballast cleaning train at work in Germany in 2005

• ...that in the 1950s LORAM Maintenance of Way, Inc. pioneered the process of lifting but not removing tracks to clean and replace ballast?

Car 001 (ex-Portland 512) being delivered in February 2017

• ...that the two replica Brill streetcars built in the 1990s and purchased for the Loop Trolley in St. Louis, feature steel frames under their wooden bodies and more-modern propulsion equipment including rebuilt 1940s trucks?

One of Pacific Electric's "Big Red Car"s in 1955

• ...that the northern terminus of Pacific Electric Railway's Long Beach line was originally at 9th and Main Streets in downtown Los Angeles until the new Pacific Electric Building opened in 1905?

A train on the London Bridge – Greenwich Railway Viaduct above Landmann Way in 2010

• ...that with 851 semi-circular arches and 27 skew arches or road bridges and reaching a length of 3.45 miles (5.55 km), the London Bridge – Greenwich Railway Viaduct is the longest run of arches in Britain?

An LSWR "boat train" between Southampton and Waterloo stations in 1911

• ...that with the opening of its first line in 1838, the London and South Western Railway was the second British railway company to begin running what could be described as a commuter service?

A London and Blackwall Railway train at Minories station circa 1840

• ...that although the 5 ft 1⁄2 in (1,537 mm) track gauge for the London and Blackwall Railway was specified in the railway's authorization act, chief engineer Robert Stephenson, free to choose the method of propulsion, opted for cable haulage from stationary steam engines?

Postcard of the Cornish Riviera Express published by Locomotive Publishing Company circa 1910

• ...that Locomotive Publishing Company began as a library of railway photographs curated by two brothers who were apprentices at the Stratford Works of the Great Eastern Railway?

LNWR Bloomer Class No. 895 Torch in photographic grey livery c.1880

• ...that the adopted official name of LNWR's Bloomer Class of 2-2-2 steam locomotives stemmed from the popular excitement in the 1850s aroused by the appearance of women wearing trousers, as advocated by Mrs Amelia Bloomer?

B17/6 No. 61642 "Kilverstone Hall" pulling a passenger train in 1958

• ...that in 2008 the North British Locomotive Preservation Group launched a project to build two new LNER Class B17 4-6-0 locomotives?

The preserved LNER A4 No. 60007 "Sir Nigel Gresley" in 2009

• ...that the design of Nigel Gresley's LNER Class A4 4-6-2 steam locomotives was inspired by the high-speed streamlined "Flying Hamburger" diesel trains of Germany?

LMS 6229 preserved at the National Railway Museum in 2009

• ...that preservation efforts for LMS Princess Coronation Class 6229 Duchess of Hamilton originally intended the locomotive to be a children's playground exhibit at one of Sir Billy Butlin's holiday camps?

A class 319 electric train at Liverpool Lime Street station in 2015

• ...that although there are now two direct Liverpool–Manchester lines, at one time there were four direct railway routes between Liverpool and Manchester?

Four Amtrak trains on display at Los Angeles Union Station for National Train Day 2010

• ...that from 2008 to 2015 Amtrak sponsored National Train Day on the Saturday closest to May 10 to spread information to the general public about the advantages of railway travel and the history of trains in the United States?

A lithograph of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway crossing the Bridgewater Canal at Patricroft

• ...that the Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the first railway to be entirely double track throughout its length; the first to have a signalling system; the first to be fully timetabled; the first to be powered entirely by its own motive power; and the first to carry mail?

Linimo train approaching Banpaku Kinen Koen in 2005

• ...that Linimo is the first commercial maglev in Japan to use the High Speed Surface Transport (HSST) type technology and is also the world's first unmanned commercial urban maglev?

The rebuilt track and restored platform at North Thoresby in 2009

• ...that since obtaining a Light Railway Order to authorise the reinstatement of the East Lincolnshire Railway, the heritage Lincolnshire Wolds Railway has rebuilt the line from Ludborough to North Thoresby and plans to further extend both ends to Louth and Holton Le Clay?

A locomotive on the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway in 1978

• ...that in the early 1980s the 2 ft (610 mm) gauge Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway carried heavy passenger traffic to and from a large car boot sale on Sundays?

Front view of the preserved NKP 779 in 2010

• ...that after delivering its last production steam locomotive, Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 number 779 in 1949, Lima-Hamilton promoted 4-8-6 locomotives which would have allowed an even larger firebox than the 4-8-4?