Portal:Trains/Did you know/November 2009

November 2009

West Australian X class locomotive used to haul The Westland from 1954 onwards

...that right up until its demise in 1969 and subsequent replacement by the luxurious new Indian Pacific and Trans Australian trains, the Perth to Kalgoorlie Westland service provided drinking water for passengers in the second class sleeping cars from water bags slung from the carriage platform railing, and a stack of fire wood was kept on the platform of the dining car to fuel its stoves?

...that the Tseung Kwan O Line, one of the eleven rapid transit railway lines forming the MTR system in Hong Kong, is the first MTR line with no track on viaducts?

...that Barlow rail, a rolled rail section used on early railways with wide flaring feet and designed to be laid directly on the ballast without requiring sleepers, was in practice less than successful due to the propensity of the rails to push apart, thus resulting in a serious derailment risk?

...that the 1914 Exeter crossing loop collision occurred as a result of a goods train too long for the crossing loop at Exeter railway station, New South Wales, Australia, being hit head-on by a mail train when an attempt was made to shift the goods train from the crossing loop to a nearby siding?

...that Project Unigauge is an ongoing exercise by Indian Railways to standardise most of the rail gauge in India at 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge; 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge being not commonly found in India?

...that among the various TGV train types operated by SNCF in France are the TGV La Poste trains, essentially TGV Sud-Est trainsets that are modified for transporting mail for the French postal carrier La Poste?

... that among the many standards defined by the International Union of Railways is UIC 568, the 13-corded standardized connection cable used to transmit data and commands between the locomotive and the carriages of a passenger train?

...that the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, a 15 in (381 mm) gauge light railway in southeast England, is the only railway in the United Kingdom to have ever used a 4-8-2 "Mountain" locomotive?

...that at Taiwanese level crossings on electrified routes, the crossbuck (the sign composed of two slats of equal length, fastened together on a pole in a saltire formation resembling the letter "x") features a special symbol in the center cautioning road users about excessive height cargo that may contact the electric wires?

...that the operators of the short-lived Réseau Guerlédan railway in Côtes-du-Nord (now Côtes-d'Armor) in northwest France inherited statutory powers to operate the line from the former metre gauge Réseau Breton railway that previously ran along the route because the Réseau Breton had after closing left lengths of rail in place where there had formerly been level crossings?

...that the Alvia high-speed trains operated by RENFE in Spain are unique in their ability to use both 1,668 mm (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in) Iberian gauge and 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge track?

...that the Bullo Pill Railway was originally opened in 1810 as an approximately 4 gauge plateway, converted to a railway by the 1840s, widened to 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) gauge in 1854 and converted to standard gauge in 1872 before the line was finally closed in 1967?

...that the 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) width between the inner edges of the rails in standard gauge tracks has its origins in the preference of George Stephenson (engineer in chief of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway) for the 4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm) gauge of wagonways used in collieries where he had spent his early engineering career, but with an additional 1⁄2 in (13 mm) of free movement to reduce binding on curves?

...that 11 years before NSWGR 46 class locomotive 4620 was wrecked in the 1977 Granville rail disaster (the worst railway accident in Australian history), it was involved in a spectacular derailment at Wentworth Falls after a goods train it led ran away, careering downhill at speeds up to 95 miles per hour (153 km/h)?

...that Spain's RENFE Class 276 electric locomotives are based on the design of the French SNCF Class CC 7100 and due to their Gallic origins, the locomotives were given the nickname francesa (approximate English translation: Frenchie)?

Model 55 and Model 75 Brill Railcars stand at Adelaide, South Australia, in 1962

...that J. G. Brill and Company, a U.S.-based manufacturer which began fledgling operations in 1868 and operated under the Brill name until 1946, built over 45,000 streetcars, buses, trolleybuses and railway carriages during this time?

...that the PKP class Ok22 of 4-6-0 steam locomotives was the first locomotive class designed in Poland after World War I but during World War II bore German classification numbers?

... that the 2000 class railcars operated by TransAdelaide in South Australia are nicknamed "Jumbos" due to the raised driving cab, similar to that of the Boeing 747 "Jumbo Jet", designed so that two passengers could sit at the front or rear window?

...that a well car, also known as a double-stack car or stack car, is a type of railroad car specially designed to carry intermodal containers, with a depressed section which sits close to the rails between the bogies of the car, making it possible to carry a stack of two containers per unit on railway lines where the loading gauge assures sufficient clearance?

Stereoscopic views of the Flat Rock Tunnel in the 19th century

...that the work in 1858-1859 to widen the Flat Rock Tunnel in Pennsylvania to accommodate the wider rolling stock from the Lebanon Valley Branch was the first construction project to employ electric detonation of multiple explosive charges?

View to the platform area of Gare de Marne-la-Vallée - Chessy in 2006

...that Gare de Marne-la-Vallée - Chessy, a station on RER line A, opened in 1992 inside the Disneyland Resort Paris, just in front of the entrances to the two theme parks and to the Disney Village, and now also serves as a station for TGV trains and some Eurostar services from London?

A G-series train heads south at Rosedale Station circa 1971

...that the G-series cars, built in the 1950s for Toronto Transit Commission with the last cars in this series retired from revenue service in 1990, were frequently described as "robust and reliable" despite being constructed overweight and being energy-inefficient?

Fuji service hauled by EF66 locomotive, June 2004

...that from 1965 to 1980, the Fuji limited express, withdrawn in 2009 after almost 80 years' service, was the longest distance train service in Japanese history, taking just over 24 hours to cover the 1,574.2 kilometres (978.2 mi) between Tokyo and Nishi-Kagoshima stations?

...that although the Prussian State Railways' Class P 6 2-6-0 steam locomotives originally built between 1902 and 1910 were authorised to run at up to 90 km/h (56 mph), design flaws led to poor riding qualities that prevented this speed from being attained in practice?
...that Moscow's Paveletsky Rail Terminal was the place where Muscovites came to meet the train carrying the body of deceased Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, and the Lenin Funeral Train remains there as a permanent exhibit?
...that in June 1968, thousands of mourners lined the tracks and stations between New York City and Washington, D.C., to pay their respects as the funeral train of assassinated U.S. Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy passed by, its slow transport delaying arrival at Arlington National Cemetery and leading to the only night burial to have taken place there?

...that in Japan, the term Blue Train denotes a type of long-distance sleeper train nicknamed as such for the color of the train cars, which have recently seen a severe decline in ridership as the Shinkansen (bullet train), buses, and airplanes have become faster, more popular, and sometimes cheaper?

...that while double heading a passenger train near Brantford, Ontario, Canadian National Railways U-1-f class 4-8-2 steam locomotive No. 6077 was involved in a fatal wreck in February 1945 just a month after its first run?

Four car Tait train at the Spring Vale Cemetery platform

...that in Australian railway terminology, "Red Rattler" is a colloquial term for the former red Tait trains which were wooden-bodied electric multiple unit trains that operated on the suburban railway network of Melbourne?