Portal:Trains/Did you know/September 2009

September 2009[edit]

The original station at Dunster in the 1920s

...that the community of Dunster, British Columbia, Canada, which was named by a Grand Trunk Pacific Railway surveyor in honor of his home town of Dunster, England, is home to one of the few remaining, original and least altered Grand Trunk Pacific Railway stations?

...that in preparation for trans-Australian passenger service on The Ghan to Darwin, one of the locomotives was named for Steve Irwin in a hope that the internationally-recognized face of Australia would help promote the new service and tourism to the region?

...that since its closure in 1965, the yard and buildings of the former Fordham railway station in Cambridgeshire, England, were used in turn by a roofing/scaffolding contractor, and as a waste management depot?

...that the 100 Series Shinkansen trains were introduced in the late 1980s after the 200 series trains, but their numbering is such because in the days of JNR, Shinkansen types running east of Tokyo were given even numbers and those west of Tokyo odd numbers?

...that the Cleveland Transit System, the major predecessor of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority in Ohio, was the first transit system in the western hemisphere to provide direct rapid transit service from a city's downtown to its major airport?

...that SNCF used a number of gas turbine trains, called the Turbotrain typically consisting of a power car at each end with three cars between them, in non-electrified territory, and that these trains led to the development and introduction of TGV service?

...that the Rushton railway station, opened in 1857 by the Midland Railway on what is now the Midland Main Line, was renamed Glendon and Rushton in 1896, two years after the similarly named Rushden railway station opened?

...that FERISTSA is a proposed 1,600-mile (2,600 km) standard gauge privately-owned commercial railroad planned to link the Panama Canal Railway Company through the entire length of Central America with Mexico's rail system at the Guatemala border?

...that the British-led construction of the Yunnan-Burma Railway in the late 1930s was working against the background of the successful French Yunnan-Vietnam Railway that had been established on the nearby Hanoi to Kunming route from 1904-1910?

...that the route of the Dan Patch Corridor, a proposed commuter rail line connecting Minneapolis to Northfield, Minnesota, originally began service in 1908 as a passenger line marketed as the "Dan Patch Line" under the Minneapolis St. Paul Rochester and Dubuque Electric Traction Company?

...that according to Voith Turbo Lokomotivtechnik GmbH & Co. KG., the Maxima 40CC now in use in mainland Europe is the most powerful single-engined diesel-hydraulic locomotive in the world, rated at 3,600 kilowatts (4,800 hp)?

Cromer High railway station on the East Norfolk Railway, circa 1878

...that although nominally independent, the 25-mile (40 km) long East Norfolk Railway in England was operated by the Great Eastern Railway from the start of services in 1874, and soon passed into ownership of the latter company?

Prince Arthur Arriving for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Toronto Grey and Bruce Railway in 1869

...that the engineering for the 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway in Canada included three major bridges at the crossing of the Humber River, the Grand River, and the Saugeen River at Mount Forest, Ontario; and the ascent of the Caledon Mountains between Mono Road and Charleston (now Caledon village) which involved a reverse curve of 500 ft (150 m) radius and a gradient of 2% or 1:50?

...that the modifications made to the Pullman car Ferdinand Magellan in the 1940s for use in Presidential transportation increased the weight of the car from 160,000 pounds (73,000 kg) to 285,000 pounds (129,000 kg) making it the heaviest passenger railcar ever used in the United States?

...that the 750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in) gauge Thumer Netz in eastern Germany, connecting Wilischthal, Schönfeld-Wiesa and Meinersdorf, used transporter wagons to carry standard gauge freight cars beginning in 1912 and by 1945 their use had completely replaced all of the narrow gauge freight cars on the line?

...that although Dirleton railway station on the North Berwick Branch of the North British Railway in East Lothian, Scotland, was named for the village of Dirleton, the station was actually some distance away, approximately half way between Dirleton and Kingston?

Preserved B74 leading the 'Spirit of Progress' 70th anniversary train, at Benella, Victoria, Australia, in 2007

...that the Victorian Railways' B class of diesel-electric locomotives, built in the early 1950s by Clyde Engineering based on EMD F-unit and E-unit designs, was the first class of mainline diesel locomotives in Victoria, Australia?

...that prior to the New York City Subway's free in-system transfer and the introduction of the MetroCard in 1994, a paper bus-style transfer ticket was handed out at the Franklin Avenue station token booth, the only place in the subway where this was still being done?
...that the 79.732-kilometre (49.543 mi) long Weihe Grand Bridge on the Zhengzhou–Xi'an Passenger Dedicated Line in China will be the longest bridge in the world once opened in December 2009?

...that Didcot Parkway railway station, just south of Didcot Railway Centre in Oxfordshire, England, was opened as Didcot in 1844 and renamed Didcot Parkway in 1985 to reflect its role as a park and ride railhead?

...that the running gear of Western Australian Government Railways' W class steam locomotives, built in the early 1950s, was based heavily on Beyer, Peacock & Co's standard light Garratt, which was built for the South Australian Railways as its 400 class Garratt?

Restored Milwaukee Road depot at Montevideo, Minnesota, in 2007

...that the former Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Depot in Montevideo, Minnesota, is now the home of the Milwaukee Road Heritage Center, a railroad museum that focuses on interpreting the history of the Milwaukee Road as it influenced Montevideo in the late 19th century through the 1980s?

...that South Africa's Flying Dutchman Funicular, built to replace the Flying Dutchman bus, which was no longer adequate for transporting the increasing number of visitors, takes its name from the local legend of the Flying Dutchman ghost ship?

...that the signals at Crossford railway station in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, were controlled by a 'lock and block' system whereby the trains operated treadles on the single line to interact with the block instruments?

...that following a 2003 accident, the Valmet Nr II class trams operated in Helsinki, Finland, were refitted with a new windshield design and better air conditioning systems to prevent the drivers from becoming overheated and losing control of the trams?

Clarksdale Passenger Depot in the early 1900s

...that the former Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad passenger station in Clarksdale, Mississippi, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995, is now the home of the Delta Blues Museum?

...that the Toronto Railway Company (TRC), which became part of the Toronto Transportation Commission services in 1921, was the first operator of horseless streetcars in Toronto, with the first electric streetcar operated on August 15, 1892?

...that the now disused Cromer Tunnel, built by the Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway to take their Cromer Beach to Mundesley line under the Great Eastern's Cromer High to Norwich line, is the only remaining former railway tunnel in Norfolk, England?

...that because Tramvia Blau in Barcelona is operated by Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) and not part of Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (ATM), this heritage streetcar line is not fare-integrated with the other public transportation networks of the metropolitan area?