Portal:Trains/Did you know/May 2020

May 2020

The former turntable pit excavated near Westbourne Park tube station

• ...that industrial archaeologists have found the remains of buildings including a broad gauge train shed for Brunel's original lines, a turntable, and engine sheds in excavations east of Westbourne Park tube station as part of the land clearance work for the Crossrail project?

A train at Westall station in 2013

• ...that Westall railway station on the Gippsland line in Melbourne originally opened in 1954 as a workers only platform for the adjacent Martin & King railway coachbuilding factory?

A 2012 view along the Central Line at West Ruislip station, to where this track ends

• ...that due to the original scheme to continue the extension to Denham, the Central line tracks at West Ruislip station continue for a short distance beyond the station before ending at buffers?

One of West Penn Railways' interurban cars in 1891

• ...that at its peak, West Penn Railways electric interurban lines extended 339 miles (546 km)?

A West Midland Metro T-69 tram on the former Birmingham Snow Hill to Wolverhampton Low Level Line in 2005

• ...that the original proposal for the West Midlands Metro included plans to run into the former Wolverhampton Low Level station?

A First ScotRail train to Fort William on the West Highland Line crosses Rannoch Moor in August 2007

• ...that the West Highland Line in Scotland, on which the Glenfinnan Viaduct was a filming location for the Harry Potter series of films, is the westernmost railway line in Great Britain?

A train at West Haven station in July 2013 shortly before its opening in August

• ...that Metro-North Railroad's West Haven station, which opened in 2013 in Connecticut, is only the second new station on the New Haven Line in a century, after Fairfield Metro in 2011?

The western end of the high level platforms at West Ham station in 2014

• ...that West Ham station was built with four platforms and served in that configuration from its 1901 opening until it was damaged by bombs in World War II?

Postcard of trains at Concord Junction station circa 1910

• ...that by the 1890s, Concord Junction, which is now West Concord station, was a busier village center than Concord itself, with 125 trains stopping per day?

A preserved West Clare Railway at Moyasta station in 2009

• ...that in 1945 Local campaigners urged that the 3 ft (914 mm) gauge West Clare Railway, which was the last operating narrow gauge passenger system in Ireland when it closed in 1961, be converted to the standard Irish gauge of 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)?

The facade of West Chicago station in 2009

• ...that the city of West Chicago contributed $25,000 from the city's capital projects fund to alter the modern architectural style of Metra's West Chicago station to a vintage, 19th-century look?

The Underground tracks and platforms at West Brompton station in 2006

• ...that West Brompton station's location on the West London line forms a borough boundary and its tracks are shared between Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham?

West Bank station in May 2015

• ...that West Bank station on the METRO Green Line in Minneapolis is the westernmost station only served by Green Line trains?

A passenger train on the last day of service at Seelingstädt station in May 1999

• ...that in the 1990s, the Werdau–Mehltheuer railway was the route of Deutsche Bahn's "slowest" Regional-Expresses?

CRH2-139E, the trainset that was destroyed in the accident, seen here five months before the accident

• ...that the July 2011 Wenzhou train collision, although being the third-deadliest high-speed rail accident in history, is to date the only fatal crash involving high-speed rail in China?

Three VAL 256 trains on the Wenhu line in 2008

• ...that Taipei Metro's Wenhu line is one of only two lines worldwide to use VAL 256 type trains, the other being O'Hare International Airport's Airport Transit System?

The tracks and platforms at Wells-next-the-Sea railway station in 1963

• ...that the Wells and Fakenham Railway opened Wells-next-the-Sea railway station in 1857 hoping that it would help offset the area's downturn as larger ships began using other ports?

Portrait drawing of Arthur Wellington in 1895

• ...that Arthur M. Wellington, who was chief engineer for several 19th century railroads North America, is credited as the originator of the saying "An engineer can do for a dollar what any fool can do for two"?

Wellington station in 1953

• ...that Wellington railway station, which opened in 1937, was the first major New Zealand structure to incorporate a significant measure of earthquake resistance?

Postcard from 1910 showing the Wellington Cable Car emerging from the tunnel at the Salamanca Station stop

• ...that in 1903, a number of old horse-drawn Wellington trams were converted into Wellington Cable Car trailers to increase the line's capacity?

The preserved GWR 3440 City of Truro in 2009

• ...that in 1904 the London-bound Ocean Mails pulled by 3700 Class No. 3440 City of Truro was timed at 102.3 mph (164.6 km/h) on its descent of Wellington Bank, but to preserve their reputation for safety, Great Western Railway allowed only the overall timings for the run to be put into print?

Preserved locomotive No. 86 that ran on the Tramway until 1966, seen at the Irchester Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in 2010

• ...that the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge Wellingborough Tramway, which was first opened in the 1870s, was the last industrial narrow-gauge railway operating in The Midlands ironstone industry when it closed in 1966?

Preserved E2E No 1 at Freilassing Locomotive World, Germany, in 2009

• ...that a pair of Swiss E2E electric locomotives built in 1899 and formerly operated by Burgdorf Thun Bahn are the oldest preserved three phase locomotives designed for full service operation?

NZR A class No. 428 at Frog Rock on the Weka Pass Railway in 2017

• ...that one of the turntables on the Weka Pass Railway was found in a scrap heap in Christchurch?

The original Wittenberg station building seen in 2006

• ...that the Węgliniec–Roßlau railway connecting Germany and Poland includes one of the oldest extant station buildings in Germany, the original Wittenberg station built in 1841?