Portal:Trains/Did you know/October 2020

October 2020

An Avelia Liberty train on a test run in June 2020 passes Claymont, Delaware

• ...that the 28 new Avelia Liberty trains ordered to replace the 20 existing Bombardier-Alstom trainsets are expected to allow Amtrak to provide more frequent service on the Northeast Corridor route, including half-hourly peak service between New York City and Washington, D.C.?

An automatic train stop pickup is seen installed on the leading truck of a San Diego Coaster F40PH locomotive in 2010

• ...that automatic train stop equipment have been installed on railway rolling stock as early as 1878 with the first fully mechanical systems invented in France?

ARTC Central Traffic Control infrastructure at Broadmeadow in 2007

• ...that the Australian Rail Track Corporation provides and maintains the infrastructure for train operators in all Australian states except Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania?

Aurizon locomotive Q 4001 leads a bulk freight west train at Fremantle in July 2018

• ...that Aurizon, formerly known as QR National, is the largest rail transport company in Australia?

Postcard view of Auburndale station in the early 20th century

• ...that despite the many accolades bestowed on the Auburndale station building designed by H. H. Richardson in 1881, the structure was demolished in 1961 for construction of a Massachusetts Turnpike extension?

A CrossCountry train passes under the bridge at Par station on the Atlantic Coast Line in May 2019

• ...that portions of Network Rail's Atlantic Coast Line in Cornwall follow the route of the original Cornwall Minerals Railway, built in the 1840s along the course of the even earlier Par Canal through an area designated as a World Heritage Site containing early 19th century industrial remains?

Atlantic Coast Express bound for Exeter passes near Tisbury in 1960

• ...that summer service on the Atlantic Coast Express between London and seaside resorts in the South West England required as many as five trains departing from Waterloo station due to seasonal passenger demand?

An NJ Transit train passes the closed WINSLOW tower at Winslow Junction, just north of Hammonton, New Jersey, in 2008

• ...that unlike all other NJ Transit railway lines, the Atlantic City Line does not have traditional rush hour service?

Postcard showing a Santa Fe train at the station in Fort Madison

• ...that the preserved train station within the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Passenger and Freight Complex Historic District in Fort Madison, was the Santa Fe's only passenger station in Iowa?

A Line 8 tram at Astrid station in April 2015

• ...that from the opening of Antwerp premetro's Astrid station in 1996 until the opening of route 8 and the Reuzenpijp tunnel in 2015, only the platforms on the -3 and -4 levels were in use?

Drawing of "Novelty" at its exhibition in the Rainhill Trials

• ...that it is likely that Novelty, the first tank locomotive ever built, used many of the same parts as the fire engines already being built by John Ericsson and John Braithwaite?

View of the Grand Central Parkway passing under Astoria Boulevard station in 2008

• ...that although the northern exit stairs of New York City Subway's Astoria Boulevard station were demolished and relocated to accommodate the Grand Central Parkway, the southern stairways date to the station's opening in 1917?

Aston station with the bridge over Lichfield Road visible in 2010

• ...that the steel bridge over Lichfield Road installed in 1906 at Aston railway station replaced a section of viaduct that was described as "one of the most beautiful structures on the line of the Grand Junction"?

Asia Express running on the South Manchuria Railway in the 1930s

• ...that the Asia Express, operated by South Manchuria Railway from 1934 to 1943, was the first passenger train to use fully enclosed, air-conditioned carriages, and was the fastest train in Asia for its time, reaching maximum speeds of up to 120 km/h (75 mph)?

Asbury Park station looking northbound in January 2018

• ...that from the station's opening in 1875 until 1911, the New York and Long Branch Railroad did not stop trains at Asbury Park station on Sundays to honor a request of the Ocean Grove Campmeeting Association due to religious requirements?

Frank Arnold in his later years

• ...that Frank W. Arnold, who served as Grand Master and Secretary-Treasurer of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, also opened a cigar and tobacco shop in Columbus, Ohio?

The tracks and platforms at Armadale station in 2011

• ...that the current Armadale railway station in Scotland, which opened in 2010, is located on the northeast side of the adjacent road bridge while the original station, which closed in 1956, was situated just to the southwest?

An ÖBB train on the Arlberg Railway in 2007

• ...that the Arlberg railway, one of the highest standard gauge railways in Europe, is Austria's only east-west mountain railway?

An AL&M locomotive passing through Norfolk Southern's Norris Yard in 2010

• ...that Genesee & Wyoming Inc. subsidiary Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi Railroad traces its origins back to the Arkansas, Louisiana and Gulf Railway incorporation in 1906?

Argo Bromo Anggrek passing Cikampek station in April 2019

• ...that Kereta Api Indonesia's Argo Bromo Anggrek luxury passenger train was launched in 1997, following the successful launch of JS950 Argo Bromo in conjunction with Indonesian National Technology Day in 1995?