Portal:Trains/Did you know/February 2011

February 2011

...that since the Beeching Axe closures of the 1960s, several of the former routes of railways in Norfolk, England, have been re-opened as heritage lines such as the North Norfolk Railway and the Mid-Norfolk Railway?

A preserved German railbus in 2007

...that railbuses, self-propelled, lightweight railway vehicles that share many aspects of their construction with highway buses, were normally designed to provide passenger train service specifically on little-used railway lines, a service that is now often provided by diesel multiple unit trains?

A RENFE class 334 locomotive at Alicante railway station in 2007

...that RENFE's Class 334 diesel locomotives, built by Vossloh from 2006 to 2008, feature a General Motors EMD 710 engine instead of the EMD 645 used in the Class 333.4, but inherit the main generator, alternator and heating equipment from Class 319.3 locomotives which in turn have inherited the generators and alternators from scrapped Class 333 locomotives?
...that Pretoria railway station in South Africa was originally built in 1910 shortly before the creation of the Union of South Africa in part because the government of the Transvaal Colony decided to spend excess funds on constructing a new station for Pretoria rather than surrendering the money to the new national government?

...that Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 number 4800, the prototype of the GG1 class which is now preserved at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, was the only GG1 to be painted in Conrail's blue livery with the white wheel on white rail logo?

...that despite some initial hostility to the Welsh Highland Railway and local objections to a halt, former visitors to the outdoor centre Plas-y-Nant raised the entire amount to pay for the construction of Plas-y-Nant railway station and turned out in force with members of the local community on the day of opening for a train ride to Rhyd Ddu and back?

The platform at Paradestraße station in 2007

...that Paradestraße station on the Berlin U-Bahn was originally named Flughafen when it opened in 1927 due to its direct terminal access to Tempelhof Airport which made it the world's first direct airport-underground railway connection?

...that on May 23, 1960, a tsunami caused by the Great Chilean earthquake submerged both Otomo Station and neighbouring Wakinosawa Station on the JR Ōfunato Line in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, making the line temporarily impassable?

Oregon Eastern system map

...that the Oregon Eastern Railway, which was later acquired by the Southern Pacific Railroad, built what became the Cascade Line in northern California and southern Oregon and later made surveys and acquired rights-of-way in eastern Oregon which were subsequently sold to Union Pacific Railroad subsidiary Oregon–Washington Railroad and Navigation Company?

The Sapsan high speed train its the way from Moscow to St. Petersburg in 2009

...that the 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) broad gauge Oktyabrskaya Railway, which connects Moscow's Leningrad Terminal in the south to Murmansk beyond the Arctic Circle in the north, includes the Tsarskoye Selo Railway, the first railway built in Russia?

...that the Ocean Beach Railway was the first organisation to preserve a steam locomotive in New Zealand with the intention of operating it, became the first operating heritage railway in New Zealand and the railway owns locomotive A67, a member of the 0-4-0 A class of 1873 built by Dübs & Co., the oldest operational locomotive in the country?

A 3100 series EMU of the Nose Electric Railway in 2008

...that Hankyu Railway subsidiary Nose Electric Railway, which links several areas in the mountainous Nose, Osaka, area to Kawanishi-noseguchi Station in Kawanishi, Hyōgo, Japan, uses second-hand EMUs from its parent corporation on its passenger trains?

...that the proposed Norfolk Orbital Railway line in England would link stations at Sheringham and Wymondham on the national rail network by using tracks of the two standard gauge heritage railways in the county, the Mid-Norfolk Railway and the North Norfolk Railway, and restoring the former Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway line between Holt and Fakenham, creating a circular route which could be used by new passenger services?

...that the first stage of construction to revitalize the 30.2-kilometre (18.8 mi) long 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) gauge Noarlunga Centre railway line, the second longest of the Adelaide suburban railway lines in Australia, included adding new ballast and installing gauge-convertible sleepers?

...that after Niles Car and Manufacturing Company ceased production of new streetcars and interurban cars in 1917, the plant and equipment left behind in Niles, Ohio, were purchased by the Engel Aircraft Company to produce aircraft parts for the United States Army Signal Corps?

...that the roundhouse that makes up the main portion of the Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum, a railway museum located in Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan, was originally built in 1914 and is now designated as an Important Cultural Property being the oldest reinforced concrete-made car shed extant in Japan?

...that the ETR 610 (also known as the Cisalpino Due) New Pendolino high-speed tilting trains built by Alstom Ferroviaria for Trenitalia and Cisalpino are capable of operating on both the 25 kV 50 Hz AC electrification system of Italy as well as the 16.7 Hz systems used in Switzerland and Germany?

A Newfoundland postage stamp issued in 1928 depicting the Newfoundland Railway

...that the largest systems of narrow gauge railways in Canada included the 969 mi (1,559 km) Newfoundland Railway, the 304 mi (489 km) combined Toronto and Nipissing Railway and Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway, the 280 mi (450 km) Prince Edward Island Railway and the 189 mi (304 km) New Brunswick Railway?

NS Class 1300 locomotive 1308 pulling a coal train

...that when Nederlandse Spoorwegen Class 1300 locomotive number 1303 was damaged beyond repair when it collided with EMU 642 after less than a year in service in 1953, some components from the damaged locomotive were salvaged and reused in the locomotive's replacement, number 1311?

Electric multiple units 8106 and 8306 at the level crossing at Bray in 1993

...that although Iarnród Éireann has steadily increased its use of multiple unit trains in Ireland since 1987 when replacing older locomotives and carriages, the majority of passenger services in Northern Ireland have been operated by diesel multiple units since the mid-1950s?

...that since its opening on July 28, 1876, at the intersection of the present-day Tōkaidō Main Line and the Saigoku Highway (西国街道, Saigoku Kaidō) to Kyoto, Mukōmachi Station is the oldest railway station in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan?

Two models of Simplex locomotive at Alan Keef's in 1999

...that although British light diesel locomotive manufacturer Motor Rail ceased production of new locomotives in 1987, the Simplex locomotive business was transferred to Alan Keef Ltd of Ross-on-Wye, who continue to provide spares and have built several locomotives to Motor Rail designs?
...that the original proposal for the Mogadishu-Villabruzzi Railway in present-day Somalia was for the railway to connect to the Somali border with Ethiopia and proceed into the Ogaden, and the 114-kilometre (71 mi) long line reached Villabruzzi in 1928, but the Second Italo-Abyssinian War in 1936 stopped further construction?

...that the Soo Line station in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, now preserved and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1913 in part to symbolize the large amount of traffic shipped there on the Soo Line instead of its predominant rival Great Northern Railway?

...that Minami-Hashimoto Station in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, originally opened in 1932 as Okawara Siding (大河原停留場, Okawara teiryūjō), a rail siding on the Sagami Railway, was renamed as Sagamimachi Siding (相模町停留場, Sagamimachi teiryūjō) in 1940, and finally elevated in status to Sagamimachi Station (相模町駅, Sagamimachi-eki) in 1941?

...that in common with other Gautrain stations, Midrand station, which will open in 2011 in Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa, will act as the focal point of transit-oriented development for far northern Johannesburg?

...that the Merstham and Quarry tunnels on the Brighton main line between Merstham and Coulsdon in Surrey, Great Britain, both feature cuttings on their northern approaches that measure up to 100 feet (30 m) deep near the tunnel portals?

...that because Melbourne tram route 19 is one of the most patronised in Melbourne, Australia, the VicRoads Think>Tram initiative, which included designating the tram track as a dedicated traffic lane, was instated along this route to help increase ontime running?