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The Flying Scotsman pulled by locomotive 2547 "Doncaster" in 1928
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In rail transport, a train is a vehicle or (more frequently) a string of vehicles capable of being moved along a continuous line of rails or other guideway for the purpose of conveying freight or passengers between points on a predetermined route. The train may be hauled or propelled by one or more vehicles designed exclusively for that purpose (locomotives) or may be driven by a number of motors incorporated in all or several of the vehicles (multiple units).

As of 2018, there are approximately 1,052,000 kilometres (654,000 mi) of railway track in use worldwide. (World Bank (via Archive.org))


Selected article of the week


Preserved 46229 "Duchess of Hamilton" at Birmingham Railway Museum in 2006

The London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Coronation Class is a class of express passenger steam locomotives designed by William Stanier. They were an enlarged and improved version of his previous design, the LMS Princess Royal Class. The locomotives were specifically designed for power as it was intended to use them on express services between London Euston and Glasgow Central; their duties were to include the hauling of a proposed non-stop express, subsequently named the Coronation Scot. The first ten locomotives of the Coronation class were built in a streamlined form in 1937 by the addition of a steel streamlined casing. Five of these ten were specifically set aside to pull the Coronation Scot. The very last of the 38 locomotives was completed in 1948. No. 6220 Coronation held the British steam speed record between 1937 and 1939. No. 6234 Duchess of Abercorn holds the record to this day for the greatest British power output to be officially recorded on an attached dynamometer car, achieved in 1939. Unfortunately the most memorable event in the history of the class was the Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash precipitated by 46242 City of Glasgow. This was the second worst rail crash in British history, the death toll being 112. After a successful decade of operations in the 1950s, the 1960s' modernisation plan was the ultimate undoing of the Coronations. Not only did the increasing use of diesel locomotives make many of the class redundant, but the electrification of the main line between London Euston and Crewe also resulted in their banishment from this important section of the main line as there was insufficient clearance between the locomotives and the live wires. With no useful role to play, the survivors were scrapped en masse in late 1964. Three locomotives were saved for preservation. As of October 2016, two are static in museums whilst the third is fully certificated for main line service

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CP 4708 pulls a container train
CP 4708 pulls a container train

CP 4708, a Class 4700 electric locomotive, pulls a train consisting of intermodal containers on flatcars in June 2016.

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The former Recess Hotel Platform on the Galway to Clifden railway in 1906
The former Recess Hotel Platform on the Galway to Clifden railway in 1906

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June 26
Hiawatha Line train
Hiawatha Line train

Train News

The preserved C&O 1309 at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in October 2009
The preserved C&O 1309 at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in October 2009
An Avelia Liberty train on a test run in Delaware in May 2020
An Avelia Liberty train on a test run in Delaware in May 2020
Berryessa/North San José station on the first day of service
Berryessa/North San José station on the first day of service


General images

The following are images from various train-related articles on Wikipedia.

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See also Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/Todo and Wikipedia:Pages needing attention/Railroads

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