Portal:Trains/Did you know/October 2009

October 2009

...that after Sound Transit removed the Seattle University stop from the North Link preferred route in July 2005, subsequent studies into expanding transit to the area showed that neighborhood residents, institutions, and business owners strongly preferred a streetcar, which led to the First Hill Streetcar proposal in 2008?

...that Herston Halt railway station on the Swanage Railway in England did not exist as a station for the line's original owner, the London and South Western Railway, but was opened in 1984 as a temporary terminus for heritage operations?

...that Toronto Transit Commission's 509 Harbourfront line, originally designated 604 Harbourfront, was the first streetcar line in the system to employ a dedicated tunnel, running approximately 600 metres from Queen's Quay north to Union Station?

...that Saphan Taksin Station on the Bangkok Skytrain's Silom Line in Thailand is the only rapid transit station in Bangkok which allows a direct transfer to a river pier for the ferry to Thonburi and the Chao Phraya Express Boat service?

The facade and tower of Boise Depot in 2006

...that the former Boise Union Pacific Depot in Idaho, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, underwent a rebuilding and restoration in 1990 by locomotive builder Morrison-Knudsen and served Amtrak's Pioneer trains until 1997?

...that in August 1869 the Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway in England was converted from broad gauge to standard gauge along with the South Wales Main Line, the conversion took five days to complete and bus services temporarily replaced the railway until the works were complete?

...that the 8-kilometre (5.0 mi) long Thousand Islands Railway, which was constructed in Canada in 1883 and operated independently from 1884 to 1958 then as a subsidiary of Canadian National Railway until 1995, was originally incorporated as the Gananoque & Rideau Railway in 1871?

...that because the origins of the Reisszug at the Hohensalzburg Castle, Salzburg, Austria, can be traced to documents written by Cardinal Matthäus Lang in 1515, it is believed to be the oldest known funicular in the world, and possibly the oldest existing railway?

...that the Nederlandse Spoorwegen class 1000 electric locomotives were originally ordered in 1942 based on the Swiss Ae 4/6 type with modifications to suit Dutch railway needs, but their delivery was delayed until 1948 due to World War II?

...that the manufacturer's nameplate reading "Hudson-Hunslet" on the front of Dolphin, a diesel locomotive now operated by Groudle Glen Railway on the Isle of Man, was added because the locomotive was built by Hunslet Engine Company for Robert Hudson?

...that the Lehigh Valley Terminal Railway was organized in 1891 as a subsidiary of the Lehigh Valley Railroad to serve the harbor and docks at Jersey City, New Jersey, using trackage rights on the National Docks Railway to reach the Hudson River terminal?
...that a consortium of Japanese companies made up of Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Kawasaki and Toshiba, has submitted a plan to build a new Rio–São Paulo High-speed rail line based on Shinkansen technology to connect Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo with an extension to Campinas in operation before the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament?

Mansfelder Bergwerksbahn locomotive number 9 at Benndorf

...that the Mansfelder Bergwerksbahn, now an 11-kilometre (6.8 mi) long 750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in) gauge heritage railway in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, was originally built in the 1880s to serve copper mines in the area that have been in operation as far back as the 13th century?

...that the site of Henley-on-Thames railway station in England once included three platforms, a trainshed, a large goods yard and goods shed, a signal box, engine shed and a turntable, all of which were successively removed in the 1960s and 1970s?

The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Freight House as seen in 2006

...that the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Freight House, built in 1883 in Stillwater, Minnesota, handled more than 70 freight cars per day and remained in use by Milwaukee Road until the 1970s, and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places?

...that the ASVi museum, a tramway museum in Thuin, Belgium, which specialises in the history of the Belgian narrow gauge Vicinal system, operates over parts of the original Vicinal tramway as well as a part of the SNCB which was converted to 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge and equipped with overhead lines?

Locomotive LDP001 in Downer EDI Rail livery leads LDP007 in QRNational livery at South Dynon, Victoria, in July 2009

...that the GT46C-ACe diesel-electric locomotive model built by Downer EDI Rail in Australia uses a turbocharged 16-cylinder EMD 710 engines and AC traction equipment, with a Mitsubishi electric package also used on the EMD SD70ACe?

...that Mitsui Rail Capital, the railway rolling stock leasing company subsidiary of Mitsui Group, operates in the United States as Mitsui Rail Capital, LLC, in Latin America as Mitsui Rail Capital Participacões Ltda. and in Europe as Mitsui Rail Capital Europe BV?
...that after the 1965 closure of Kingsley and Froghall railway station in Staffordshire, Great Britain, preservation work that later became the Churnet Valley Railway led to this station's rebuilding in the late 1990s?

...that the Hyderabad-Godavari Valley Railways in India, built in the early 20th century and now part of the South Central Railway zone of Indian Railways, included both narrow gauge and broad gauge sections?

...that the Historic Union Pacific Rail Trail State Park in Summit County, Utah, which opened in 1992 as the first non-motorized recreational trail in Utah, uses the right-of-way of the narrow gauge Summit County Railroad and Utah Eastern Railroad as well as the broad gauge Echo-Park City Railway, formerly owned by Union Pacific Railroad?

...that because the first thirteen Korail Class 1000 EMUs for Seoul Subway Line 1 were built outside of South Korea, EMU number 1014 has been dubbed "The First Korean EMU"?

A Ravenglass and Eskdale train passing Irton Road station in 1965

...that among the items stored at Irton Road railway station by the 15 in (381 mm) gauge Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway are a coach built in 1928 and Santa's Sleigh which is used in the winter time during the Santa Specials?

...that the Berlin-Hamburg Railway (German: Berlin-Hamburger Bahn), a roughly 286 km (178 mi) long railway line connecting its namesake cities that originally opened in 1846, was the first high-speed line upgraded in Germany to be capable of handling train speeds of over 200 km/h (120 mph)?

...that when it was built in 1904 as a power station of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company in New York City, the IRT Powerhouse originally had six smokestacks designed to echo the smokestacks on the great steamships at the nearby Hudson River piers?

...that battery locomotives, a type of electric locomotive, are used in situations where a conventional diesel or electric locomotive would be unsuitable such as for maintenance trains on electrified lines when the electricity supply is turned off or in industrial facilities where a combustion-powered locomotive could cause a safety issue?

Preserved Fyansford Cement Works Railway locomotive No.4 on The Bellarine Railway

...that the Geelong Steam Preservation Society was formed in 1970 from the Australian Railway Historical Society's Geelong division and now operates the Bellarine Peninsula Railway, a heritage railway between Drysdale and Queenscliff on the former Victorian Railways Queenscliff line?

...that in the United Kingdom, headboards were common on the public railways in the age of steam and into the age of diesel and electric trains, but their use on scheduled trains is now defunct save for the occasion of a 'last train,' such as on the withdrawal of a particular class of train?

...that rather than build a new right-of-way as was proposed in the Schuylkill Valley Metro project to serve Pennsylvania's Upper Schuylkill Valley region, a group called a group called Citizens for the Train is advocating for the purchase of existing right-of-way from Norfolk Southern Railway to begin operations of the proposed Greenline between Paoli and Oaks, Pennsylvania?