Portal:Trains/Selected article/2010 archive

This is an archive of article summaries that have appeared in the Selected article section of Portal:Trains in 2010. For past archives, see the complete archive page.

Week 53, 2009: January 1 - January 3

Gevingåsen Tunnel is a 4.4-kilometre (2.7 mi) railway tunnel under construction between Hommelvik and Hell, Norway, on the Nordland Line. Blasting was started in 2009, and the tunnel is scheduled for completion in 2012 at a cost of 635 million kr. Built by the Norwegian National Rail Administration, the tunnel will shorten travel time south of Stjørdal by five minutes and increase the capacity of the Trondheim–Stjørdal to four trains per hour in each direction. The tunnel is the first stage of a high-speed rail connection between Steinkjer and Trondheim. Because the tunnel is being built with curves with too small diameter, the section will not be suitable for high-speed trains. There was a political debate about if the tunnel should be built with too tight curves and if it should instead be built with double track, but construction has commenced as originally planned. The whole project involves laying of 5.7 kilometres (3.5 mi) of new tracks and permanent way. The blasted rock will be used to build a new apron at Trondheim Airport, Værnes.

Recently selected: Pere Marquette 1225 - Indian Railways - Florida East Coast Railway

Week 1: January 4 - January 10

Copenhagen Metro train on approach to Flintholm station in 2006

Copenhagen Metro (Danish: Københavns metro) is a rapid transit system serving Copenhagen, Frederiksberg and Tårnby in Denmark. The 20.5-kilometer (12.7 mi) system opened between 2002 and 2007, and has two lines, M1 and M2. The driverless light metro supplements the larger S-train rapid transit system, and is integrated with DSB local trains and Movia buses. Through the city center and west to Frederiksberg, both M1 and M2 share a common line. To the south-east the system serves Amager, with the 13.7-kilometer (8.5 mi) M1 running the new neighborhood of Ørestad, and the 14.2-kilometer (8.8 mi) M2 serves the eastern neighborhoods and Copenhagen Airport. The metro has 22 stations, of which 9 are underground. In 2008, the metro carried 47 million passengers. Planning of the metro started in 1992 with the development plans for Ørestad. A tramway and light rail were considered, but discarded in the process. Construction started in 1996, and stage 1, from Nørreport to Vestamager and Lergravsparken, opened in 2002. Stage 2, from Nørreport to Vanløse, opened in 2003, followed by stage 3, from Lergravsparken to Lufthavnen, in 2007. Construction of the City Circle Line is underway, and is planned to open in 2018. It will form a circle around the city center, be entirely underground and not share any track with M1 and M2. A further expansion towards Brønshøj is being considered.

Recently selected: Pere Marquette 1225 - Indian Railways - Florida East Coast Railway

Week 2: January 11 - January 17

The Class 180 is a type of British diesel multiple unit built by Alstom between 2000 and 2001 for use on then-new express services by First Great Western (FGW). They were built at Washwood Heath in Birmingham and are part of the Coradia 1000 family along with the Class 175. The first unit, 180101, was unveiled on April 18, 2000. However, following a string of problems, full main line testing did not begin until December 2000, six months after it was intended to start. FGW stopped using the class on 27 March 2009, and they are now employed by other operators. The Class 180s were given the name Adelante upon entry into service with FGW, a name devised by First Group that they retain with First Hull Trains. Grand Central renamed their units as Zephyrs leading some enthusiasts to nickname the units A to Z.

Recently selected: Copenhagen Metro - Pere Marquette 1225 - Indian Railways

Week 3: January 18 - January 24

Anderson Street Station is a New Jersey Transit rail station on the Pascack Valley Line. The station is one of two rail stations in Hackensack, New Jersey, United States, and is located at Anderson Street near Linden Street. The Essex Street station is also located in Hackensack. This line runs to Hoboken Terminal with connections via the Secaucus Junction transfer station to New Jersey Transit one-stop service to New York Penn Station and to other NJ Transit rail service. All normal schedule trains service this station seven days a week, except for the Metro-North Railroad Express trains to Spring Valley, New York. The station house was built in 1869 (and opened on September 9, 1869) by the Hackensack and New York Railroad on a track extension from Passaic Street in Hackensack. The station was turned over to the Erie Railroad in 1896 and New Jersey Transit in 1983. The next year, the station was listed on the List of Registered Historic Places in New Jersey. The station building, which was 139 years old, was destroyed in a three-alarm fire and explosion at 5:55 AM on January 10, 2009. At the time the station house was the second-oldest in New Jersey (second to Ramsey's Main Street station.) The station building was also the site for the Green Caboose Thrift Shop, a charity gift shop maintained by a branch of the Hackensack University Medical Center.

Recently selected: British Rail Class 180 - Copenhagen Metro - Pere Marquette 1225

Week 4: January 25 - January 31

Railway bridge on the Trans-Siberian across the Kama River near Perm

The Eurasian Land Bridge, sometimes called the New Silk Road, is a term used to describe the rail transport route for moving freight and/or passengers overland from Pacific seaports in eastern Russia and mainland China to seaports in Europe. The route, a transcontinental railroad and rail land bridge, comprises the Trans-Siberian Railway, which runs through Russia and is sometimes called the Northern East-West Corridor and the New Eurasian Land Bridge or Second Eurasian Continental Bridge, running through China and Kazakhstan. Completed in 1916, the Trans-Siberian connects Moscow with Russian Pacific seaports such as Vladivostok. From the 1960s until the early 1990s the railway served as the primary land bridge between Asia and Europe, until several issues caused the use of the railway for transcontinental freight to dwindle. One issue is that the railways of the former Soviet Union (USSR) use a wider rail gauge than most of the rest of Europe and China. Recently, however, the Trans-Siberian has regained ground as a viable land route between the two continents. In 1990 China linked its rail system to the Trans-Siberian via Kazakhstan. China calls its uninterrupted rail link between the Chinese port city of Lianyungang and Kazakhstan the New Eurasian Land Bridge or Second Eurasian Continental Bridge. In addition to Kazakhstan, the railways connect with other countries in Central Asia, including Iran, but do not connect all the way to Europe through south Asia. Proposed expansion of the Eurasian Land Bridge includes construction of a railway across Kazakhstan that is the same gauge as Chinese railways, rail links to India, Burma, Thailand and Malaysia, construction of a rail tunnel or bridge across the Bering Strait to connect the Trans-Siberian to the North American rail system, and construction of a rail tunnel between Korea and Japan. The United Nations has proposed further expansion of the Eurasian Land Bridge, including the Trans-Asian Railway project.

Recently selected: Anderson Street (NJT station) - British Rail Class 180 - Copenhagen Metro

Week 5: February 1 - February 7

The Rodeløkka Line (Norwegian: Rodeløkkalinjen) is a former line of the Oslo Tramway of Norway. It was in use from 1900 to 1961, serving the neighborhood of Rodeløkka. After closing, the southern part of the line was designated as part of the Sinsen Line. The Rodeløkka Line was built by Kristiania Kommunale Sporveie (KKS) in 1900, and was subsequently taken over by Kristiania Sporveisselskab (KSS) in 1905. In 1924, the ownership was transferred to Oslo Sporveier. It was served by Line 9 until 1949, when it was replaced by a bus service. In 1955, a new route from Carl Berners plass to Rodeløkka was built, and the line was served by Line 13 until 1961, when the service was terminated. The tracks were removed between 1962 and 1964.

Recently selected: Eurasian Land Bridge - Anderson Street (NJT station) - British Rail Class 180

Week 6: February 8 - February 14

PRR 4859 is a GG1-class electric locomotive located in the Transportation Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. It was operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad and its successors, Penn Central and Conrail. 4859 pulled the first electrically-powered train from Philadelphia to Harrisburg on January 15, 1938. It was used in various freight and passenger service until November 22, 1979, when it pulled the last GG1-powered freight train. Originally located in Strasburg, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and was moved to its current location in 1986. It was designated the official Pennsylvania state electric locomotive in 1987 by the Pennsylvania General Assembly and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places again in 2004.

Recently selected: Rodeløkka Line - Eurasian Land Bridge - Anderson Street (NJT station)

Week 7: February 15 - February 21

Upminster Bridge tube station is a London Underground station on Upminster Road in the Upminster Bridge neighbourhood of the London Borough of Havering in northeast London, England. The station is on the District line and is the penultimate station on the eastern extremity of that line. The station was opened on 17 December 1934 by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) on the local electrified tracks between Upminster and Barking that were constructed in 1932. The station was operated by LMS but was only served by District line trains. After nationalisation of the railways in 1948 management of the station passed to British Railways and in 1969 ownership transferred to the London Underground. The main station building is of a distinctive polygonal design. Since 2006, the station has been one of the first on the network to operate without a staffed ticket office. It has low usage for a suburban station with 0.93 million entries and exits during 2008.

Recently selected: PRR 4859 - Rodeløkka Line - Eurasian Land Bridge

Week 8: February 22 - February 28

NSB Di 3 is a class of 35 diesel-electric locomotives built by Nydqvist och Holm (NOHAB) for the Norwegian State Railways (NSB). The class was built between 1954 and 1969, and delivered in two series, Di 3a and Di 3b. They are based on the Electro-Motive Division F7 and are equipped with EMD 567 engines. They have a distinct bulldog nose and were numbered 602–633 (a-series) and 641–643 (b-series). The locomotives had a prime mover that gives a power output of 1,305 kilowatts (1,750 hp). The a-series has a Co'Co' wheel arrangement, while the b-series has (A1A)'(A1A)'. The b-series has higher top speed, but lower tractive effort. The class was the dominant locomotive on NSB's unelectrified lines. It was ordered as part of the company's dieselization of services during the 1950s and 1960s, and was initially used on the three mainline route of the Bergen, Dovre and Nordland Lines. During the 1960s, the Bergen and Dovre Lines were electrified, and the Di 3 units transferred to smaller lines, such as the Meråker, Valdres, Røros, Solør and Rauma Lines. They remained in service with NSB until 2001, five years later than planned due to NSB returning their successor, the Di 6. The units are still in use by the private operator Ofotbanen, the Kosovo Railways, an operator in Sicily and the Norwegian Railway Museum. The class is similar to the DSB Class MY and MÁV M61.

Recently selected: Upminster Bridge tube station - PRR 4859 - Rodeløkka Line

Week 9: March 1 - March 7

The Great Notch train station was a small New Jersey Transit facility in the Great Notch section of Little Falls, New Jersey. Located at the intersection of Notch Road and Long Hill Road, it was the second of three stations in Little Falls, the other two being Montclair State University and Little Falls, and was the first on the line to be strictly served by diesel trains. However, most trains bypassed this station and continued on to Little Falls (westbound) and Montclair State University (eastbound). The station at Great Notch was first constructed in 1905 as a double station building for the Erie Railroad. The station was a green and red building serving the New York and Greenwood Lake Railway along with the Caldwell Branch. The station also used an old boxcar as a tool shed for maintenance. By the early 1970s, the station had fallen into disrepair, and by 1974, was repainted Erie Railroad-style red with the tool shed boxcar removed. The station was abandoned when the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad went out of business and was later picked up by New Jersey Transit. After making deals with the mayor of Little Falls, New Jersey Transit gave the station a one year "trial" to attract ridership. On December 18, 2009, this was canceled as Little Falls was contacted by New Jersey Transit that the Great Notch Station would be closed on January 17, 2010 due to the "anemic" ridership at the station. The last train stopped at the station on January 15, 2010, at 7:41pm.

Recently selected: NSB Di 3 - Upminster Bridge tube station - PRR 4859

Week 10: March 8 - March 14

The Follo Line (Norwegian: Follobanen) is a planned 22.5-kilometer (14.0 mi) high-speed railway between Oslo and Ski, Norway. Running parallel to the Østfold Line, it will be engineered for 200 km/h (120 mph). Terminal stations will be Oslo Central Station and Ski Station. Most of the railway will run in a tunnel. Construction is estimated to start in 2013, and may be completed by 2018. The Follo Line will increase capacity from twelve to forty trains per hour along the South Corridor, and will allow express and regional trains to decrease travel time from Ski to Oslo from 22 to 11 minutes. The line is prospected to cost 11 billion kr. The project is a continuation of the Norwegian National Rail Administration's plan to build four tracks along the three main corridors out of Oslo; the Gardermoen Line was completed in 1998, and the Asker Line will be completed in 2011. Between 1989 and 1996, the Østfold Line south of Ski to Moss was upgraded to double track and higher speeds. To take full advantage of this and allow the rest of the Østfold Line to be upgraded for high speeds, it is necessary to increase capacity through the bottleneck from Oslo to Ski. The first plans for the Follo Line were launched in 1995, and also included an intermediate station at Vevelstad and Kolbotn. The new line is predicted to increase rush hour rail ridership 63%, and increased freight on rail would remove 750 trucks daily from European Route E18.

Recently selected: Great Notch (NJT station) - NSB Di 3 - Upminster Bridge tube station

Week 11: March 15 - March 21

The Hawkhurst Branch Line was a short railway branch line in Kent that connected Hawkhurst, Cranbrook, Goudhurst and Horsmonden with the town of Paddock Wood and the South Eastern and Medway Valley lines, a distance of 11 miles 24 chains (18.19 km). The line was promoted by the Cranbrook and Paddock Wood Railway (C&PWR), which was incorporated in 1877, but took until 1892 to open the first section of the line to Hope Mill. Services were worked by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR). The line was extended to Hawkhurst in 1893. In 1900, the SECR absorbed the C&PWR. Sunday services ceased in 1917. In 1923, the SECR was absorbed into the Southern Railway at the Grouping. The line became part of British Railways at Nationalisation on 1 January 1948. The line was closed in June 1961, before the Beeching Report was published.

Recently selected: Follo Line - Great Notch (NJT station) - NSB Di 3

Week 12: March 22 - March 28

Class B and Class E, normally referred to as Gullfisk (Norwegian for "goldfish"), were a class of 46 trams built by Strømmens Værksted and Skabo Jernbanevognfabrikk for Oslo Sporveier and Bærumsbanen of Oslo, Norway, in 1935 and 1937. They were the first aluminum trams to operate on the Oslo Tramway and the first bogie trams to operate on street lines. They had contemporary modern electronic equipment, a streamlined shape, and comfortable accommodation. Six prototype trams were delivered by Strømmen in 1935, with four different motor solutions, from AEG, Siemens, Vickers and Norsk Elektrisk & Brown Boveri (NEBB). None of these were particularly successful, and the 40 serial production trams used conventional motors from ELIN. These were delivered in 1937, with 20 being used by Oslo Sporveier mainly on the Kjelsås Line, but also on other services. The remaining 20 trams were leased to Bærumsbanen, that used them on the Kolsås and Østensjø Lines, and later on the Ekeberg Line. From 1967, Oslo Sporveier transferred all its trams to Bærumsbanen, where they remained in use until 1985. The class has been involved in several fatal incidents, including the Strømsveien tram fire in 1958. Six trams remain at the Oslo Tramway Museum; whilst Oslo Sporveier has kept two and converted them to maintenance vehicles, painted them yellow with zebra stripes.

Recently selected: Hawkhurst Branch Line - Follo Line - Great Notch (NJT station)

Week 13: March 29 - April 4

Roseville Avenue was a transfer station on New Jersey Transit's Morris & Essex Lines (consisting of the Montclair Branch, Morristown Line and Gladstone Branch) in Newark, New Jersey, United States. The station was built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1903 during a track depression to serve Newark's Roseville neighborhood. It once had two tracks (one each eastbound and westbound) on the Lackawanna mainline and two low-wall platforms, with an additional platform along the Montclair-Boonton Line. The station remained in service during most of the 20th century, until New Jersey Transit closed the station on September 16, 1984. Today, the only landmarks that mark the former station site are a metal utility box labeled "Roseville," and several flights of concrete stairs in the sides of the concrete-lined depression in which the track of the Morristown Line runs between the East Orange and Newark Broad Street stations. Shortly eastward of this structure, the Montclair-Boonton Line splits from the Morristown Line on its way to Montclair, Boonton, and Denville.

Recently selected: Gullfisk - Hawkhurst Branch Line - Follo Line

Week 14: April 5 - April 11

The Mountain railways of India refer to the railway lines built in the mountains of India. Three of these railways, Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Nilgiri Mountain Railway, and Kalka–Shimla Railway have been collectively designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, also named as "Mountain Railways of India", while the fourth railway, Matheran Hill Railway is in tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Site. These are the only narrow-gauge railways remaining in India. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is also, the only rack railway in India. Given the terrain that they were constructed on, in the British Raj, they were considered, "outstanding examples of the interchange of values on development in technology" and engineering marvels. Some railways are under construction like Jammu–Baramulla line. Few railways are proposed to be built in future, such as Bilaspur–Leh line, Jammu–Poonch line, Srinagar–Leh line and Chota Char Dham Railway. Mountain railways constructed in recent times all use 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge.

Recently selected: Roseville Avenue (NJT station) - Gullfisk - Hawkhurst Branch Line

Week 15: April 12 - April 18

The Central London Railway (CLR), also known as the Twopenny Tube, was a railway company established in 1889 to construct a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London. Funding for construction was obtained in 1895 through a syndicate of financiers and work took place from 1896 to 1900. When opened in 1900, the CLR served 13 stations and ran completely underground in a pair of tunnels for 9.14 kilometres (5.68 mi) between its western terminus at Shepherd's Bush and its eastern terminus at the Bank of England, with a depot and power station to the north of the western terminus. After a rejected proposal to turn the line into a loop, it was extended at the western end to Wood Lane in 1908 and at the eastern end to Liverpool Street station in 1912. In 1920, it was extended along a Great Western Railway line to Ealing to serve a total distance of 17.57 kilometres (10.92 mi). After initially making good returns for investors, the CLR suffered a decline in passenger numbers due to increased competition from other underground railway lines and new motorised buses, leading in 1913 to its take-over by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL), operator of the majority of London's underground railways. In 1933 the CLR was taken into public ownership along with the UERL. Today, the CLR's tunnels and stations form the central section of the London Underground's Central line.

Recently selected: Mountain Railways of India - Roseville Avenue (NJT station) - Gullfisk

Week 16: April 19 - April 25

The Trøndelag Commuter Rail (Norwegian: NSB Lokaltog Trøndelag, previously Trønderbanen) is a commuter train service operated in Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. It is operated by Norwegian State Railways (NSB) with Class 92 diesel multiple units. The service acts as a commuter rail connecting Trondheim to its suburbs, between towns in Innherred and as an airport rail link for Trondheim Airport, Værnes. Although passenger services have operated along the lines since 1864, the commuter train was created with an increase of service with existing rolling stock in 1993. In 2006, the system had at least 1,180,000 passengers. The main service operates from Lerkendal in Trondheim via Trondheim Central Station and Trondheim Airport Station to Steinkjer on the Nordland Line. The service runs every hour, with additional rush-hour services, and reduced service in the evenings and on the weekend. The secondary services runs from Trondheim along the Dovre Line to Støren and along the Røros Line to Røros. The Mittnabotåget service operates twice a day from Trondheim along the Meråker Line and the Middle Line in Sweden to Östersund Central Station.

Recently selected: Central London Railway - Mountain Railways of India - Roseville Avenue (NJT station)

Week 17: April 26 - May 2

PRR 460, nicknamed the "Lindbergh Engine", is a Pennsylvania Railroad E6s class 4-4-2 steam locomotive now located in the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, outside of Strasburg, Pennsylvania in the United States. It was built in 1914 and became famous after racing an aircraft to New York City carrying newsreels of Charles Lindbergh's return to the United States after his transatlantic flight in 1927. In the late 1930s, No. 460 was operated by the Long Island Rail Road, and the Pennsylvania–Reading Seashore Lines in the early 1950s, before being retired in 1953. No. 460 is the only surviving locomotive of its class and was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1979. </noinclude> Recently selected: Trøndelag Commuter Rail - Central London Railway - Mountain Railways of India

Week 18: May 3 - May 9

The Delhi Metro (Hindi: दिल्ली मेट्रो Dillī Meṭro) is a rapid transit system serving Delhi and Noida in the National Capital Region of India. The network consists of five lines with a total length of 110 kilometres (68 mi). The metro has 97 stations of which 17 are underground. It has a combination of elevated, at-grade and underground lines and uses both broad gauge and standard gauge rolling stock. Delhi Metro is being built and operated by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC). As of April 2010, DMRC runs 99 trains daily on routes spanning 110 kilometres (68 mi), operating with a frequency of 3 to 4.5 minutes between 6:00 — 23:00. The trains have four to six coaches and the power output is supplied by 25-kilovolt, 50 Hz AC through overhead catenary. The metro has an average daily ridership of 950,000, and has carried over a billion commuters in seven years since its inception. Planning for the metro started in 1984, when the Delhi Development Authority and the Urban Arts Commission came up with a proposal for developing a multi-modal transport system for the city. The Government of India and the Government of Delhi jointly set up the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in 1995. Construction started in 1998, and the first section, on the Red Line, opened in 2002, followed by the Yellow Line in 2004, the Blue Line in 2005, its branch line in 2009 and the Green Line in 2010. Subsequently, these lines have been extended and new lines are under construction in Phase II of the project, including the Delhi Airport Metro Express and the Violet Line which are scheduled to be completed by September 2010.

Recently selected: PRR 460 - Trøndelag Commuter Rail - Central London Railway

Week 19: May 10 - May 16

Westcott railway station was a small station built to serve the village of Westcott, Buckinghamshire, and nearby buildings attached to Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild's estate at Waddesdon Manor. It was built by the Duke of Buckingham in 1871 as part of a short horse-drawn tramway to allow for the transport of goods from and around his extensive estates in Buckinghamshire and to connect the Duke's estates to the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway at Quainton Road. A lobbying campaign by residents of the town of Brill led to the tramway being converted for passenger use and extended to Brill railway station in 1872, becoming known as the Brill Tramway. Cheaply built and ungraded, and using poor quality locomotives, services on the line were very slow, initially limited to 5 miles per hour (8 km/h). In the 1890s it was planned to extend the tramway to Oxford, but the scheme was abandoned. Instead, the operation of the line was taken over by the Metropolitan Railway in 1899. Following the 1933 transfer of the Metropolitan Railway to public ownership to become the Metropolitan Line of London Transport, Westcott station became a part of the London Underground, despite being over 40 miles (60 km) from central London. The management of London Transport believed it very unlikely that the line could ever be made viable, and Westcott station was closed, along with the rest of the line, from 30 November 1935. The station building and its associated house are the only significant buildings from the Brill Tramway to survive other than the former junction station at Quainton Road.

Recently selected: Delhi Metro - PRR 460 - Trøndelag Commuter Rail

Week 20: May 17 - May 23

NSB El 17 is a class of twelve electric locomotives built by Thyssen-Henschel and Norsk Elektrisk & Brown Boveri (NEBB) for the Norwegian State Railways (NSB). The class was built in two series, the first delivered in 1982 and numbered 2221–2226, and the second delivered in 1987 and numbered 2227–2232. They were based on DB Class 120 of Germany and were among the first in the world to feature three-phase asynchronous motors. The units were ordered to be used on the intercity Bergen, Dovre and Sørland Lines, but were plagued with technical faults. The unreliability and lack of sufficient power forced NSB to instead take the locomotives into use on the regional Vestfold and Gjøvik Lines. With the delivery of the El 18, the first series was retired or used as shunter. The second series has since 1998 been used on the Flåm Line. The locomotives have a 3,000 kilowatts (4,000 hp) power output and a 240 kN (54,000 lb_f) tractive effort, allowing the locomotive to haul a six-car train. They run on a 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC power supply and are capable of operating at 150 km/h (93 mph). The units have a Bo'Bo' wheel arrangement, have regenerative brakes and weigh 64 tonnes (63 long tons; 71 short tons). The series was delivered at the same time as the Di 4 and have some similarities with the class.

Recently selected: Westcott railway station - Delhi Metro - PRR 460

Week 21: May 24 - May 30

Metrolink is a commuter rail system in Southern California, United States. Established in 1991 as the Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA), it began service the following year. The rail system operates lines in Ventura County, Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County, Orange County and San Diego County. It connects with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Metro Rail lines at Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles and with the San Diego Coaster and Sprinter lines at Oceanside. It also connects with Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner, Coast Starlight, Southwest Chief, and Sunset Limited trains. As of December 2009, it served 55 stations on 388 miles (624 km) of track (excluding shared miles) throughout Southern California. Average weekday ridership for the fourth quarter of 2009 was 38,400. Ridership increases almost every year; in July 2008 ridership saw a record 16% increase over the previous year. For 2010, Metrolink was allotted an operating budget of $168.1 million. It is headquartered in the MCI Center in Los Angeles.

Recently selected: NSB El 17 - Westcott railway station - Delhi Metro

Week 22: May 31 - June 6

The Baghdad Railway (Turkish: Bağdat Demiryolu, German: Bagdadbahn), was built from 1903 to 1940 to connect Berlin with the (then) Ottoman Empire city of Baghdad with a 1,600 kilometres (990 mi) line through modern-day Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. Funding and engineering was mainly provided by German Empire banks and companies, which in the 1890s had built the Anatolian Railway (Anatolische Eisenbahn) connecting Istanbul, Ankara and Konya. Completion of the Baghdad Railway was to connected Berlin and Baghdad, from where the Germans attempted to establish a port at the Persian Gulf. The Ottoman Empire desired to maintain its control of Arabia and to expand its influence across the Red Sea into Egypt, which was controlled by Great Britain. The Germans gained access to and ownership of oil fields in Iraq, and with a line to the port of Basra would have gained better access to the eastern parts of the German colonial empire, bypassing the Suez Canal. The railway became a source of international disputes during the years immediately preceding World War I. Although it has been argued that they were resolved in 1914 before the war began, it has also been argued that the railway was a leading cause of the First World War. Technical difficulties in the remote Taurus Mountains and diplomatic delays meant that by 1915 the railway was still 480 kilometres (300 mi) short of completion, severely limiting its use during the war in which Baghdad was occupied by the British while the already completed Hejaz railway in the south was attacked by guerrilla forces led by T. E. Lawrence. Construction resumed in the 1930s and was completed in 1940.

Recently selected: Metrolink (Southern California) - NSB El 17 - Westcott railway station

Week 23: June 7 - June 13

Brill railway station was the terminus of a small railway line in Buckinghamshire, England, known as the Brill Tramway. Built and owned by the Duke of Buckingham, it was later operated by London's Metropolitan Railway, and in 1933 briefly became one of the two north-western termini of the London Underground, despite being 45 miles (72 km) and over two hours traveling time from the City of London. Approximately 3⁄4 of a mile (1.2 km) north of Brill, the station was opened in March 1872 as the result of lobbying from local residents and businesses. As the line was cheaply built, ungraded, and used poor quality locomotives, services were very slow, taking 1 hour 45 minutes to travel the six miles (10 km) from Brill to the junction station with mainline services at Quainton Road. Although serving a lightly populated area and little used by passengers, the station was a significant point for freight traffic, particularly as a supplier of milk from the dairy farms of Buckinghamshire to Aylesbury and London. A brickworks was also attached to the station, but it proved unable to compete with nearby rivals and closed within a few years of opening. During the 1890s, plans were made to extend the tramway to Oxford, but the scheme was abandoned. Instead, the operation of the line was taken over by the Metropolitan Railway in 1899, and the line became one of the railway's two north-western termini. It was upgraded and better quality locomotives were introduced, reducing the journey time to Quainton Road by almost two-thirds. In 1933, the Metropolitan Railway was taken into public ownership and became the Metropolitan Line of London Transport. The management of London Transport aimed to reduce goods services, and it was felt that there was little chance of the more distant parts of the former Metropolitan Railway ever becoming viable passenger routes. The line was closed on 30 November 1935, and all buildings and infrastructure at Brill associated with the line were sold at auction and subsequently demolished. The site of the station is now a light industrial development known as the "Tramway Business Park".

Recently selected: Baghdad Railway - Metrolink (Southern California) - NSB El 17

Week 24: June 14 - June 20

Bergen Light Rail Variotram 201 in Inndalsveien, in January 2010

Bergen Light Rail (Norwegian: Bybanen i Bergen) is a light rail system under construction in Bergen, Norway. The first stage of the project is a fifteen-station, 9.8-kilometre (6.1 mi) stretch between the city center and Nesttun, scheduled to open on 22 June 2010. Construction will continue from Nesttun to Rådal in August 2010; further plans for the project involve three lines, stretching to Bergen Airport, Flesland; Åsane and Storavatnet. Plans for rail transit have existed since the 1970s, following the 1965 closing of the Bergen Tramway. A rapid transit design was first discarded, and in the 1990s a light rail was proposed. The final decision to start construction was made in 2005. The first stage of the line is being built by the municipality, with financing from the state and the toll road ring, based on the Bergen Program. Ownership, maintenance and further extensions of lines and vehicles will be the responsibility of Hordaland County Municipality through their wholly-owned limited company Bybanen AS. Operation is done after public service obligation contracts issued by the county public transport authority Skyss. From 2010 to 2017, the system will be operated by Fjord1 Partner, who will operate the system's twelve Variotrams.

Recently selected: Brill railway station - Baghdad Railway - Metrolink (Southern California)

Week 25: June 21 - June 27

The Sloatsburg Metro-North station serves the residents of Sloatsburg, New York, via Port Jervis Line commuter trains to New York City via Hoboken, 35.4 miles (57.0 km) away, and Secaucus Junction. The estimated travel time to Hoboken Terminal is about 50 minutes on express trains. It is the least-developed station anywhere on the Metro-North system to receive regular daily service. It is located just south of a grade crossing and consists of short concrete platforms, and a shelter. There is limited parking available nearby. Construction of the Sloatsburg station dates back to the 1830s, when the station was built along the Erie Railroad. The station served the line heading to Port Jervis northward, along with a stagecoach to Greenwood Lake three times a day. The station was populated by fishermen on their way to the lake, but has been the site of several accidents. These calamities include a derailed milk train in 1843 and a fatal accident between the train line and several mules and their owner in 1855. The station became part of Metro-North in 1983, when the service was created. The station was listed under a revitalization plan in 2005 to help serve its commuters.

Recently selected: Bergen Light Rail - Brill railway station - Baghdad Railway

Week 26: June 28 - July 4

Wood Siding railway station was a small halt in Bernwood Forest, Buckinghamshire, England. It was opened in 1871 as a terminus of a short horse-drawn tramway to assist the transport of goods from and around the Duke of Buckingham's extensive estates in Buckinghamshire and to connect the Duke's estates to the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway at Quainton Road. A lobbying campaign by residents of the town of Brill led to the tramway being converted for passenger use and extended a short distance beyond Wood Siding to Brill railway station in 1872, becoming known as the Brill Tramway. Cheaply built and ungraded, and using poor quality locomotives, services on the line were very slow, initially limited to a speed of 5 miles per hour (8 km/h). In the 1890s it was planned to extend the tramway to Oxford, but the scheme was abandoned. Instead, the operation of the line was taken over by the Metropolitan Railway in 1899. Between 1908 and 1910 the station was completely rebuilt on a bridge over the newly built Chiltern Main Line of the Great Western Railway, which passed directly beneath the station. In 1933 the Metropolitan Railway was taken into public ownership and became the Metropolitan Line of London Transport. As a result, Wood Siding became a station on the London Underground network, despite being over 40 miles (60 km) from central London. London Transport's new management aimed to move away from goods services to concentrate on passenger services; as the line served a very lightly populated rural area, the management of London Transport believed it very unlikely that it could ever be made viable, and Wood Siding was closed, along with the rest of the line, from 30 November 1935. Although all infrastructure associated with the station was removed in 1936, the remains of the bridge which supported the station were not demolished and are still in place.

Recently selected: Sloatsburg (Metro-North station) - Bergen Light Rail - Brill railway station

Week 27: July 5 - July 11

The Lillesand–Flaksvand Line (Norwegian: Lillesand–Flaksvandbanen) or LFB was a 16.59-kilometer (10.31 mi) railway between Flaksvand (now called Flaksvatn) and Lillesand in Aust-Agder, Norway. The private line was built with 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauge and was not connected to the national railway network. The line opened on 4 June 1896, and remained in use until 15 June 1953. It was built to carry lumber, but also featured a passenger service and other cargo transport. After 1908, the line was unprofitable and only had a limited service. Plans to connect it to the Sørland Line were proposed but rejected. The line had four stations and four halts, and was served with two 75 kilowatts (100 hp) steam locomotives, Lillesand and Flaksvand. The line was owned and operated by the private company, A/S Lillesand–Flaksvandbanen, although nearly all the shares were held by local municipalities, the county and the national government.

Recently selected: Wood Siding railway station - Sloatsburg (Metro-North station) - Bergen Light Rail

Week 28: July 12 - July 18

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-2-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, two powered and coupled driving wheels on one axle, and no trailing wheels. Other equivalent classifications are 2′A in UIC classification (also known as German classification and Italian classification), 210 in French classification, 13 in Turkish classification and 1/3 in Swiss classification. This type of locomotive, often called a Jervis type, was common on American railroads from the 1830s through the 1850s. The first 4-2-0 built was the Experiment (later named Brother Jonathan) for the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad in 1832. It was built by the West Point Foundry based on a design by John B. Jervis. Having little else to reference, the manufacturers patterned the boiler and valve gears after locomotives built by Robert Stephenson of England. In England, it had developed from the 2-2-2 design of Stephenson's first Long Boiler locomotive, around 1840, which he had altered to place two pairs of wheels at the front with the outside cylinders between them to improve stability.

Recently selected: Lillesand–Flaksvand Line - Wood Siding railway station - Sloatsburg (Metro-North station)

Week 29: July 19 - July 25

Wotton (Metropolitan Railway) railway station was a small station in Buckinghamshire, England, built by the Duke of Buckinghamshire in 1871. Part of a private horse-drawn tramway designed to carry freight from and around his lands in Buckinghamshire, Wotton station was intended to serve the Duke's home at Wotton House and the nearby village of Wotton Underwood. In 1872 the line was extended to the nearby town of Brill, converted to passenger use, equipped with steam locomotives, and renamed the Brill Tramway. In the 1880s, it was proposed to extend the line to Oxford, but the operation of the line was instead taken over by London's Metropolitan Railway. Although situated in an unpopulated area, Wotton station was relatively well used. It saw the highest passenger numbers of any station on the line other than the terminus at Brill railway station and the junction with the main line to London at Quainton Road railway station, and it also carried large quantities of milk from the area's dairy farms. In 1906 the Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway (commonly known as the Alternative Route) was opened, crossing the Brill Tramway at Wotton. Although the lines were not connected, a station (also named Wotton) was built on the new line very near the existing Wotton station; the two stations shared a stationmaster. In 1933 the Metropolitan Railway, which leased the line, was taken into public ownership and became the Metropolitan Line of London Transport. As a consequence, despite being a small rural station 49 miles (79 km) by train from the City of London, Wotton became a station on the London Underground. Frank Pick, the Chief Executive of the London Passenger Transport Board, aimed to abandon freight operations on the London Underground network, and saw no way in which the more distant parts of the former Metropolitan Railway could ever become viable passenger routes. As a result, all passenger services north of Aylesbury were withdrawn between 1935 and 1936; the last trains on the Brill Tramway ran on 30 November 1935. The line then reverted to the descendants of the Duke of Buckingham, but having no funds and no rolling stock they were unable to operate it. On 2 April 1936, the line's entire infrastructure, including Wotton station, was sold for scrap at auction. Except for a small building which once housed the Brill Tramway's forge, all the station buildings at Wotton have been demolished.

Recently selected: 4-2-0 - Lillesand–Flaksvand Line - Wood Siding railway station

Week 30: July 26 - August 1

SL79 is a class of 40 articulated trams operated by the Oslo Tramway of Norway. The trams were a variation of the Duewag trams that had been developed by the German manufacturer since the 1950s. The six-axle vehicles are unidirectional with four doors on the right side. The trams can seat 77 passengers three and four abreast, with an additional 91 people able to stand. Power output is 434 kilowatts (582 hp), provided by two motors on the two end bogies, that supplement a central unpowered Jacobs bogie located under the articulation. The trams are 23.0 metres (75.5 ft) long and 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) wide. They are capable of 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph) and operate on standard gauge track. They were built in two series, the first of 25 units delivered in 1982–84, and the second of 15 units delivered in 1989–90. The first 10 units were built by Duewag, while the last 30 were built in Norway by Strømmen. They were numbered 101 through 140. The two series vary slightly in specifications. The trams were ordered in 1979 after the 1977 decision to not close the tramway, after the SM53 were finished delivered in 1958. The SL79 mainly serves on lines 11, 12 and 19. Except those with an advertising livery, the trams are painted a light blue.

Recently selected: Wotton (Metropolitan Railway) railway station - 4-2-0 - Lillesand–Flaksvand Line

Week 31: August 2 - August 8

An Amtrak Hiawatha Service train at Sturtevant in 2008

Sturtevant is an Amtrak railway station which opened for service on August 14, 2006. It is located at 9900 East Exploration Court, as part of the Renaissance Business Park in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, United States. The facility accommodates travelers who use the Hiawatha Service between Chicago Union Station and the Milwaukee Intermodal Station, and sees fourteen daily arrivals, seven each from Milwaukee and Chicago. Located along tracks owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway, the station was constructed as a replacement for the Milwaukee Road's 1901 Sturtevant depot at 2904 Wisconsin Street, which has since been moved from its former location to Caledonia by October 2009.

Recently selected: SL79 - Wotton (Metropolitan Railway) railway station - 4-2-0

Week 32: August 9 - August 15

The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835, and ran its first trains in 1838. It was engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel who chose a broad gauge of 7 ft (2,134 mm), but from 1854 a series of amalgamations saw it also operate 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard-gauge trains; the last broad gauge services were operated in 1892. The GWR was the only company to keep its identity through the Railways Act 1921, which amalgamated it with the remaining independent railways within its territory, and it was finally wound up at the end of 1947 when it was nationalised and became the Western Region of British Railways. The GWR was called by some "God's Wonderful Railway" and by others the "Great Way Round", but it was famed as the "Holiday Line", taking many people to resorts in South West England. The company's locomotives, many of which were built in the company's workshops at Swindon, were painted a Brunswick green colour, while for most of its existence it used a two-tone "chocolate and cream" livery for its carriages. Wagons were painted red but this was later changed to mid-grey. Great Western trains included long-distance express services such as the Flying Dutchman, the Cornish Riviera Express and the Cheltenham Spa Express. It also operated many suburban and rural services, some operated by steam railmotors or autotrains. The company pioneered the use of larger, more economic goods wagons than were usual in the United Kingdom. It operated a network of road motor (bus) routes, was a part of the Railway Air Services, and owned ships, docks and hotels.

Recently selected: Sturtevant (Amtrak station) - SL79 - Wotton (Metropolitan Railway) railway station

Week 33: August 16 - August 22

The Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn (BVZ) – officially known between 1991 and 2002 as the BVZ Zermatt-Bahn – is a metre gauge railway in the Canton of Valais, Switzerland. Its 44-kilometre (27 mi) long line links the communities of Brig and Visp in the Rhone Valley with Täsch and the car-free holiday resort of Zermatt in the Mattertal. The BVZ also forms part of the much travelled and admired route of the Glacier Express between St. Moritz and Zermatt. Opened in 1891 as the Visp-Zermatt-Bahn (VZ), the BVZ merged on 1 January 2003 with the Furka-Oberalp-Bahn (FO) to form the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn (MGB).

Recently selected: Great Western Railway - Sturtevant (Amtrak station) - SL79

Week 34: August 23 - August 29

The Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) 2600 Class were Associated Equipment Company (AEC)–engined diesel multiple units (normally termed railcars in Ireland) that operated intercity and suburban services on the CIÉ system between 1951 and 1975. The first single-unit diesel railcars in Ireland were introduced on the narrow-gauge County Donegal and Clogher Valley railways in the early 1930s. The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) and Northern Counties Committee followed shortly thereafter. In 1951, CIÉ ordered a series of 60 cars similar to the GNR(I) examples, again combining AEC engines and Park Royal bodywork. They were delivered between March 1952 and September 1954 and numbered in the series 2600–59. Six additional cars were ordered in August 1954, however, the cars' bodywork was constructed at CIÉ's Inchicore works to a distinctive design by the company's Chief Mechanical Engineer, Oliver Bulleid. The railcars were employed on mainline express trains, including crack workings such as a three-hour nonstop service between Dublin and Cork. Many were later converted for push–pull operation with diesel locomotives, finally being withdrawn when displaced by the electric Dublin Area Rapid Transit service in the mid-1980s.

Recently selected: BVZ Zermatt-Bahn - Great Western Railway - Sturtevant (Amtrak station)

Week 35: August 30 - September 5

The Romerike Tunnel (Norwegian: Romeriksporten) is a 14.580-kilometre (9.060 mi) railway tunnel in Norway that connects Oslo with Lillestrøm. The longest railway tunnel in Norway, the tunnel forms the first half of the Gardermoen Line. It is double track and electrified, permitting speeds of 210 kilometres per hour (130 mph). Construction started in 1994, with plans to open along with the rest of the Gardermoen Line and the Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, on 8 October 1998. Due to a major leak from Lutvann and several other lakes, the tunnel could not open until 22 August 1999. The leakages increased the cost of the tunnel from 0.5 billion kr to NOK 1.8 billion. The main contractor was Scandinavian Rock Group. While the tunnel was originally owned by NSB Gardermobanen, it is now owned by the Norwegian National Rail Administration. The tunnel allows long-distance, regional and Flytoget Airport Express Trains to bypass the old Hoved Line, reducing travel time from 29 to 12 minutes.

Recently selected: CIÉ 2600 Class - BVZ Zermatt-Bahn - Great Western Railway

Week 36: September 6 - September 12

The Brill Tramway, also known as the Quainton Tramway, Wotton Tramway, Oxford & Aylesbury Tramroad and Metropolitan Railway Brill Branch, was a six-mile (10 km) rail line in the Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire, England. It was privately built in 1871 by the 3rd Duke of Buckingham as a horse tram line to help in the transport of goods between his lands around Wotton House and the national railway network. Lobbying from residents of the nearby town of Brill led to the line's extension to Brill and conversion to passenger use in early 1872. Two locomotives were bought for the line, but as it had been designed and built with horses in mind services were very slow; trains travelled at an average speed of only 4 miles per hour (6.4 km/h). In 1883, the Duke of Buckingham announced plans to upgrade the route to main line railway standards and extend the line to Oxford, creating a through route from Aylesbury to Oxford. In 1888 a cheaper scheme was proposed, in which the line would be built to a lower standard and wind around hills to avoid tunneling. In anticipation of this, the line was named the Oxford & Aylesbury Tramroad. Although the existing line was upgraded in 1894, the extension to Oxford was never built. Instead, the operation of the Brill Tramway was taken over by London's Metropolitan Railway, and Brill became one of their two north-western termini. The line was rebuilt a second time in 1910, and more advanced locomotives were introduced, allowing trains to run faster. The population of the area remained low, and the primary source of income remained goods traffic to and from surrounding farms. Between 1899 and 1910 many other railway lines were built in the area, providing more direct services to London and the north of England. Facing competition from these new lines and the increase in motorised road transport, the Brill Tramway went into severe financial decline. The Brill Tramway became a part of the London Underground, despite being over 40 miles (65 km) from London and not being underground. In 1935 all services on the Brill Tramway were withdrawn, and the line was closed. The infrastructure of the route was dismantled and sold shortly afterwards. Very little trace of the Brill Tramway remains, other than the former junction station at Quainton Road, now the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.

Recently selected: Romerike Tunnel - CIÉ 2600 Class - BVZ Zermatt-Bahn

Week 37: September 13 - September 19

The California Zephyr is a 2,438 mi (3,924 km) long passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the midwestern and western United States. It runs from Chicago, Illinois, in the east to Emeryville, California, in the west, passing through the states of Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California. This route is one of the longest and most scenic routes run by Amtrak, with views of both the upper Colorado River valley in the Rocky Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada mountains. Prior to the formation of Amtrak in 1971, the California Zephyr (the CZ, or "Silver Lady") was a passenger train operated jointly by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q), Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW) and Western Pacific Railroad (WP). The CB&Q, D&RGW and WP christened "The most talked about train in America" on March 19, 1949, with the first departure to happen the following day. It was purposely scheduled so that the train passed through the most spectacular scenery in the daylight. The original CZ ceased operations in 1970. However, the D&RGW continued to operate its own passenger train service, named the Rio Grande Zephyr, between Salt Lake City and Denver using the original equipment until 1983. Since 1983, the California Zephyr name has been applied to a Chicago-San Francisco Amtrak service, which operates daily and is a hybrid route between the route of the original CZ and the route of its former rival, the City of San Francisco. Another former rival was the San Francisco Chief.

Recently selected: Brill Tramway - Romerike Tunnel - CIÉ 2600 Class

Week 38: September 20 - September 26

T1000 and T1300 were two rapid transit train classes used on Oslo Metro in Oslo, Norway. The 197 cars were built by Strømmens Verksted, Norsk Elektrisk & Brown Boveri and AEG between 1960 and 1981. They were the first metro trains used in Oslo, and have remained in use until they started being replaced by MX3000 in 2007. Each car is equipped with a driver's cab at one or both ends and four motors, each with 98 kilowatts (131 hp). The cars are 17 metres (56 ft)^* long, 3.2 metres (10 ft)^* wide and 3.65 metres (12.0 ft)^* tall. The trains use 750 V current, and are capable of 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph). Signaling is provides through automatic train protection. In 1960, two less powerful T single-car units were built, designed to be prototypes used on the Oslo Tramway. After a one-year trial, they were put into scheduled traffic to the Kolsås Line, where they remained in regular service until 1983. The production series is somewhat different in design and performance. T1000 is both used to refer to the class as a whole, or the first 162 cars, that are only equipped with third rail shoes. They have four slight variations, which have been given the designations T1–T4. The T1300 is a series of 33 new and 16 rebuilt T4 trains equipped with pantographs to allow them to operate on the western part of the network, prior to it being upgraded to metro. The newer units were designated T5 and T6, while the rebuilt units were designated T7 and T8.

Recently selected: California Zephyr - Brill Tramway - Romerike Tunnel

Week 39: September 27 - October 3

Aldwych is a closed London Underground station in the City of Westminster, originally opened as Strand in 1907. The station was the terminus of a short Piccadilly line branch from Holborn. The disused station building is situated close to the junction of Strand and Surrey Street. During its lifetime, the branch was the subject of a number of unrealised extension proposals that would have seen the tunnels through the station extended southwards, usually to Waterloo. Suffering from low passenger numbers, the station and branch were considered for closure several times, but survived as a weekday peak hours only service until closed in 1994, when the cost of replacing the lifts at Aldwych was considered too high compared to the income generated. The station has long been popular as a filming location and has appeared as itself and as other London Underground stations in a variety of films.

Recently selected: OS T1000 - California Zephyr - Brill Tramway

Week 40: October 4 - October 10

Chicago Great Western system map circa 1897

The Chicago Great Western Railway (reporting mark CGW) was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad. Through mergers and new construction, the railroad, named Chicago Great Western after 1892, quickly became a multi-state carrier. One of the last Class I railroads to be built, it competed against several other more well-established railroads in the same territory, and developed a corporate culture of innovation and efficiency to survive. Nicknamed the Corn Belt Route because of its operating area in the midwestern United States, the railroad was sometimes called the Lucky Strike Road, due to the similarity in design between the herald of the CGW and the logo used for Lucky Strike cigarettes. It was merged with the Chicago and North Western Railway (CNW) in 1968, which abandoned most of the CGW's trackage.

Recently selected: Aldwych tube station - OS T1000 - California Zephyr

Week 41: October 11 - October 17

The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) is a CHF 9.83 billion railway tunnel under construction in Switzerland. With a length of 57 km (35.4 mi) and a total of 151.84 km (94.3 mi) of tunnels, shafts and passages, it will be the world's longest tunnel (of all railway tunnels) on completion, surpassing the record holder, the Seikan Tunnel (connecting the Japanese islands of Honshū and Hokkaidō). The project has two tunnels with one track each. GBT is part of the Swiss AlpTransit project, also known as New Railway Link through the Alps (NRLA) which includes the Lötschberg Base Tunnel between the cantons of Berne and Valais. Like the Lötschberg tunnel, it will bypass winding mountain routes and establish a direct route suitable for high-speed rail and heavy freight trains. When completed, it should decrease the 3.5 hours travel time from Zürich to Milan by an hour and from Zürich to Lugano to 1 hour 40 minutes. The two portals are near the villages of Erstfeld, Canton Uri and Bodio, Canton Ticino. Completion is projected for late 2017. Nearby are two more St. Gotthard Tunnels: the 1881 Gotthard Rail Tunnel and the 1980 Gotthard Road Tunnel.

Recently selected: Chicago Great Western Railway - Aldwych tube station - OS T1000

Week 42: October 18 - October 24

Ås Station (Norwegian: Ås stasjon) is a railway station located in the village of Ås, Norway, on the railway line named Østfoldbanen. The station was opened 2 January 1879 and was drawn by Peter A. Blix in Swiss chalet style. The station was modernized in 1992, when the section between Ski and Moss was upgraded to high-speed rail standard. In 2006, a cultural meeting place consisting of a café, concert hall and an art exhibition, was established inside the station's building, initiated by the local organization Galleri Texas. However, the maintenance and operation of the meeting place was transferred from Galleri Texas to the governmental corporation Follo Futura in 2010, since Galleri Texas no longer could pay the rental costs. The station is served by commuter trains on Line 550 of the Oslo Commuter Rail between Spikkestad via Oslo to Moss with half hour or hourly headway by Norwegian State Railways. Ski Station and Vestby Station are the preceding and the following stations, respectively.

Recently selected: Gotthard Base Tunnel - Chicago Great Western Railway - Aldwych tube station

Week 43: October 25 - October 31

Albert Henry Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield, PC, TD (8 August 1874 – 4 November 1948), born Albert Henry Knattriess, was managing director, then chairman of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) from 1910 to 1933 and chairman of the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) from 1933 to 1947. Although born in Britain, his early career was in the United States, where at a young age, he held senior positions in the developing tramway systems of Detroit and New Jersey. In 1898, he served in the United States Navy during the short Spanish–American War. In 1907, his management skills led to his recruitment by the UERL, which was struggling through a financial crisis that threatened its existence. He quickly integrated the company's management and used advertising and public relations to improve profits. As managing director of the UERL from 1910, he led the take-over of competing underground railway companies and bus and tram operations to form an integrated transport operation known as the Combine. He was Member of Parliament for Ashton-under-Lyne from December 1916 to January 1920 and was President of the Board of Trade between December 1916 and May 1919, reorganising the board and establishing specialist departments for various industries. He returned to the UERL and then chaired it and its successor the LPTB during the organisation's greatest period of expansion between the two World Wars, making it a world-respected organisation considered an exemplar of the best form of public administration.

Recently selected: Ås Station - Gotthard Base Tunnel - Chicago Great Western Railway

Week 44: November 1 - November 7

The 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings were a terrorist attack that occurred around midnight on 18 February 2007 on the Samjhauta Express, a twice-weekly train service connecting Delhi, India, and Lahore, Pakistan. Bombs were set off in two carriages, both filled with passengers, just after the train passed Diwana station near the Indian city of Panipat, 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of New Delhi. Sixty-eight people were killed in the ensuing fire and dozens more were injured. Of the 68 fatalities, most were Pakistani civilians, but the victims included some Indian civilians and Indian military personnel guarding the train. Investigators subsequently found evidence of suitcases with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and flammable material, including three undetonated IEDs. Inside one of the suitcases containing the undetonated IEDs, a digital timer encased in transparent plastic was packed alongside a dozen plastic bottles containing fuel oils and chemicals. After the bombings, eight unaffected carriages were allowed to continue onwards to Lahore with passengers. Both the Indian and Pakistani governments condemned the attack, and officials on both sides speculated that the perpetrators intended to disrupt improving relations between the two nations, since the attack came just a day before Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri was to arrive in New Delhi to resume peace talks with Indian leaders. There have been a number of breaks in the investigation of the bombings but as of May 2008 nobody has been charged for the crime.

Recently selected: Albert Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield - Ås Station - Gotthard Base Tunnel

Week 45: November 8 - November 14

Vestby Station (Norwegian: Vestby stasjon) is a railway station located at the village of Vestby, Norway, on the railway Østfoldbanen. The station is served by commuter trains between Spikkestad via Oslo to Moss with half hour or hourly headway by Norges Statsbaner. The station opened in 1879, and was modernized in 1989. It has a passenger walkway built in gluelam connecting the two platforms and a small car-parking with place for approximately 120 cars. The station is served by line 550 of the Oslo Commuter Rail and has about 160 passengers to Oslo each day.

Recently selected: 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings - Albert Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield - Ås Station

Week 46: November 15 - November 21

Carlton Hill Station was a former railroad station for the Erie Railroad in the community of Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. Carlton Hill station was the second station along the Erie's main line and the first station after Rutherford Junction, where the Erie's main line forked from the Bergen County Railroad. The station provided service for passengers in Rutherford's Carlton Hill district and freight billing for the Royce Chemical Company, producer of Royox. After Carlton Hill, the main line continued westward to Passaic Park and eastward to Rutherford–East Rutherford and Pavonia Terminal. Carlton Hill Station opened in 1888 on Jackson Avenue and namesake Erie Avenue in Rutherford. The station was served by the main line until 1963, when the Passaic Plan was undertaken, removing tracks at Passaic Park, Passaic, Clifton, and Lake View stations. At that point, the nearby drawbridge was permanently swung open and later removed, leaving a branch to Carlton Hill. For the next few years, Carlton Hill received deadhead trains and a rare Carlton Hill – Rutherford – Hoboken Terminal train schedule. In 1966, when several underused branches, including the Carlton Hill, lost service, the old main line alignment to Carlton Hill was abandoned. The tracks remain, though the building is gone.

Recently selected: Vestby Station - 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings - Albert Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield

Week 47: November 22 - November 28

South Kensington is a London Underground station in Kensington, west London. It is served by the District, Circle and Piccadilly lines. On the District and Circle lines, the station is between Gloucester Road and Sloane Square, and on the Piccadilly Line, it is between Gloucester Road and Knightsbridge. The main station entrance is located at the junction of Old Brompton Road (A3218), Thurloe Place, Harrington Road, Onslow Place and Pelham Street. Subsidiary entrances are located in Exhibition Road giving access by pedestrian tunnel to the Natural History, Science and Victoria and Albert Museums. Also close by are the Royal Albert Hall, Imperial College London, the Royal College of Music, the London branch of the Goethe-Institut and the Ismaili Centre. The station is in two parts: sub-surface platforms opened in 1868 by the Metropolitan Railway and the Metropolitan District Railway as part of the companies' extension of the Inner Circle route eastwards from Gloucester Road to Westminster and deep level platforms opened in 1906 by the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway. A variety of underground and mainline services have operated over the sub-surface tracks, which have been modified several times to suit operational demands with the current arrangement being achieved in the 1960s. The deep-level platforms have remained largely unaltered, although the installation of escalators in the 1970s to replace lifts improved interchanges between the two parts of the station. Parts of the sub-surface station and the Exhibition Road pedestrian tunnel are Grade II listed.

Recently selected: Carlton Hill (Erie Railroad station) - Vestby Station - 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings

Week 48: November 29 - December 5

Sognsvann station, the terminus of the Sognsvann Line, in 2006

The Sognsvann Line (Norwegian: Sognsvannsbanen) is a rapid transit line on the Oslo Metro of Norway. It branches from the Common Tunnel at Majorstuen and runs 6.0 kilometers (3.7 mi) to Sognsvann. After Ullevål stadion, the Ring Line branches off. The Sognsvann Line serves the northwestern and northern neighborhoods of Oslo, mostly within the borough of Nordre Aker. The line is owned and maintained by Kollektivtransportproduksjon and has nine stations. Lines 3, 4, 5 and 6 serve the line, although the latter three branch off and continue along the Ring Line. This gives an average five-minute headway on the southern part and an average fifteen-minute headway on the northern part of the line. The line opened on 10 October 1934 as a light rail. In 1993, it was upgraded to metro standard as the first light rail west of Oslo, with two stations being closed. The Ring Line opened in 2003. Forskningsparken has transfer to the Oslo Tramway and serves Rikshospitalet. Forskningsparken and Blindern both serve the University of Oslo, while Ullevål stadion serves Norway's largest football venue. North of there the line mainly serves residential areas. Sognsvann serves the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and the recreational area Nordmarka.

Recently selected: South Kensington tube station - Carlton Hill (Erie Railroad station) - Vestby Station

Week 49: December 6 - December 12

The Milwaukee Airport Railroad Station is an Amtrak railway station which opened for service on January 18, 2005. It is located at 5601 South 6th Street, just south of Wisconsin Highway 119, near the western edge of General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The facility accommodates travelers who use the Hiawatha Service between Chicago Union Station and the Milwaukee Intermodal Station, and sees fourteen daily arrivals, seven each from Milwaukee and Chicago. There is a shuttle from the station to the terminal of Mitchell Airport.

Recently selected: Sognsvann Line - South Kensington tube station - Carlton Hill (Erie Railroad station)

Week 50: December 13 - December 19

The AnsaldoBreda Driverless Metro is a class of driverless electric multiple units and corresponding signaling system. Manufactured by AnsaldoBreda of Italy, it is or will be used on the Copenhagen Metro, the Brescia Metrobus, the Thessaloniki Metro, Line C of the Rome Metro, Line 5 of the Milan Metro and the Yellow Line of the Taipei Rapid Transit System. The first system to take the class into use was Copenhagen, which opened in 2002. The next systems are under construction and will open in 2011 and 2012. The rolling stock consists of three to six articulated cars, making the trains 39 to 109 meters (128 to 358 ft) long. All but one system is 2.65 meters (8.7 ft) wide, and all use standard gauge. Each car has a power output of 210 or 256 kilowatts (282 or 343 hp), fed from a third rail at 750 volts (except in Rome). The systems are fully automated, consisting of automatic train protection (ATP), automatic train operation (ATO) and automatic train supervision.

Recently selected: Milwaukee Airport Railroad Station - Sognsvann Line - South Kensington tube station

Week 51: December 20 - December 26

Quainton Road railway station was opened in 1868 in undeveloped countryside near Quainton, Buckinghamshire, 44 miles (71 km) from London. Built by the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway, it was the result of pressure from the 3rd Duke of Buckingham to route the railway near his home at Wotton House and to open a railway station at the nearest point to it. Serving a relatively unpopulated area, Quainton Road was a crude railway station, described as "extremely primitive". All goods to and from the Brill Tramway passed through Quainton Road station, making it relatively heavily used despite its geographical isolation, and traffic increased further when construction began on Ferdinand de Rothschild's mansion of Waddesdon Manor. The Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway and the Brill Tramway were absorbed by London's Metropolitan Railway (MR), who already operated the line from Aylesbury to London. The MR rebuilt Quainton Road station and re-sited it to a more convenient location, allowing direct running of services between the Brill Tramway and the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway. In 1933 the Metropolitan Railway was taken into public ownership to become the Metropolitan Line of the London Underground, and despite its distance from London Quainton Road became a part of the London Transport system. From 1936 London Underground services were withdrawn, leaving the GCR as the only operator still using the station, although London Underground services were restored for a short period in the 1940s. In 1958 passenger services on most of the GCR were withdrawn. Trains continued to serve Quainton Road for a short time after that, but in 1963 passenger services were withdrawn and in 1966 goods services were withdrawn and the station was closed. In 1969 the Quainton Road Society was formed, with the aim of preserving the station. In 1971 the Quainton Road Society absorbed the London Railway Preservation Society, taking over its collection of historic railway equipment. The station was fully restored and reopened as a museum, the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. In addition to the original station buildings, the museum has also acquired the former Oxford Rewley Road railway station and a London Transport building from Wembley Park, both of which have been reassembled on the site. Although no scheduled trains pass through Quainton Road, the station remains connected to the railway network. Freight trains still use the line through the station, and passenger trains still call at the station for special events at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.

Recently selected: AnsaldoBreda Driverless Metro - Milwaukee Airport Railroad Station - Sognsvann Line

Week 52: December 27 - January 2, 2011

The Hardanger Line (Norwegian: Hardangerbana or Hardangerbanen) was a 27.45-kilometre (17.06 mi) railway between Voss and Granvin in Hordaland, Norway. The line connected to the Bergen Line in Voss, and ran to the Hardangerfjord and the district of Hardanger. Construction started in 1921, but the line did not open until 1 April 1935. Owned and operated by the Norwegian State Railways (NSB), the passenger transport was provided by three NSB Class 64 electric multiple units. They remained in use until 1985, when passenger transport was terminated. All transport ceased in 1988, and 21 kilometres (13 mi) of the line was demolished in 1991. The 3 kilometres (2 mi) from Voss to Palmafoss remains, and is owned by the Norwegian National Rail Administration. The line featured six stations, fourteen halts, four tunnels and was among Norway's steepest railways. It was NSB's first line to open electrified. The line was known as the Granvin Line (Granvinbanen) until February 1936.

Recently selected: Quainton Road railway station - AnsaldoBreda Driverless Metro - Milwaukee Airport Railroad Station