Portal:Trains/Did you know/December 2018

December 2018

Port Richmond station in 2010

• ...that when work was completed to elevate Staten Island Railway's Port Richmond station as part of a grade-crossing elimination project in the 1930s, the 1-mile long (1.6 km) viaduct leading up to it was claimed to be the longest in the United States?

The western portal of the Otisville Tunnel, the longest tunnel on the Metro-North system

• ...that Metro-North Railroad's Port Jervis Line runs over the system's longest bridge and through its longest tunnel?

Port Huron & Detroit Railroad locomotive in 1976

• ...that with its purchase of two ALCO S-1 diesel locomotives in 1945, the 19.1-mile long (30.7 km) Port Huron and Detroit Railroad claimed to be the first completely dieselized railroad in Michigan?

A PRR M1a on display at the 1939 World's Fair

• ...that although Pennsylvania Railroad's class M1 4-8-2 steam locomotives were mostly used on freight trains, their dual-purpose design for passenger train service as well entitled them to have smokebox-mounted, keystone-shaped numberplates?

Aerial view of Porirua and the station in 2013

• ...that in 1981 a car got stuck in the pedestrian subway at Porirua railway station after the driver tried to imitate the Wellington, New Zealand, railway station chase scene from the film Goodbye Pork Pie?

A Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway train at Whistle Inn Halt in 2015

• ...that the 2-mile long (3.2 km) Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway in South Wales is the highest preserved standard gauge railway line in the United Kingdom?

A train on the Plochingen–Tübingen railway in 2009

• ...that the Plochingen–Tübingen railway line has the only two level crossings in Germany that are manually operated by gatekeepers?

PKP EP08-009 at Poznan Glowny in November 2017

• ...that PKP's class EP08 electric locomotives were the first locomotives in Poland to exceed the top speed limit of 125 km/h (78 mph) in regular service?

A Pittsburgh Railways PCC car on route 10 in 1968

• ...that of the 68 streetcar routes operated by Pittsburgh Railways, three were used by the Port Authority of Allegheny County as light rail routes until 2010?

Builder's photo of PRR 2106, an H6 class 2-8-0, in 1907

• ...that the class H6 of 2-8-0 steam locomotives was the most numerous class on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the second most prolific 2-8-0 class in North America behind the USATC S160?

Pinkenba station ca. 1935

• ...that during World Wars I and II, Pinkenba railway station served troop camps located in Pinkenba and Meeandah to take advantage of deep berthing available to ships on the mouth of the Brisbane River?

Piedmont & Northern electric locomotive circa 1912

• ...that throughout its existence the Piedmont and Northern Railway stressed interchange traffic over its efficient electric lines, with connections to its 126 miles (203 km) of track to no less than 10 other railroad companies' lines?

A Piedmont train passing High Point, NC, in November 2012

• ...that in order to get approval for the Piedmont service to operate, Norfolk Southern, which leased the track, insisted that the state of North Carolina construct a wye in Charlotte for turning the trains around?

Preserved Pennsylvania Railroad G5 number 5741 on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in 2015

• ...that except for a single Southern Pacific 4-6-0 that outweighed it by 5,500 lb (2,500 kg), Pennsylvania Railroad's class G5 was the largest and most powerful 4-6-0 locomotive in regular service in the United States?

A Piccadilly line train at Hillingdon station in 2014

• ...that although London Underground's Piccadilly line is the second-longest line on the system and runs to the system's second-largest number of stations, it is the fourth-busiest line overall?

An AA class locomotive built by Phoenix Foundry around 1900

• ...that from around 1858 the employees at Australian steam locomotive manufacturer Phoenix Foundry were working an eight-hour day while doing as much work as English workers did in ten hours?

A Metro-North train in heritage New Haven Railroad livery passes through Philipse Manor station in 2007

• ...that Philipse Manor and Poughkeepsie are the only two out of 29 stations on Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line that are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places?

A Philadelphia & Western train in 1907

• ...that most structures on the Philadelphia and Western Railroad's line were designed to ultimately accommodate four tracks, but the added tracks were never built?

John Jay Phelps, date unknown

• ...that in the 1820s while still a teenager, John Jay Phelps, who later helped found and became president of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, owned and edited the New England Weekly Review?

PRR #4465, preserved at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania

• ...that Pennsylvania Railroad's class E44 electric locomotives were nicknamed "bricks" due to their utilitarian box-shaped body?

Returning holiday express to Leicester arriving at Peterborough East Station in 1962

• ...that the booking office at Peterborough East railway station contained three small windows marked GER, LNWR and Midland Railway, that were still used individually in latter days when one booking clerk issued all the tickets?

Peter Witt streetcar from Toronto Transit Commission preserved at Halton County Radial Railway museum

• ...that the Peter Witt streetcar was named after Cleveland Railway commissioner Peter Witt who was awarded a patent on the car design in 1916?

A Pesa-built EMU operated by PKP in 2015

• ...that Pesa SA, which now manufactures new DMU and EMU trains as well as trams and locomotives, was formed as a reorganization of one of PKP's former repair shops?

Preserved PRR 1223 in operation on the Strasburg Railroad in 1989

• ...that of the 426 examples of Pennsylvania Railroad's class D16 4-4-0 steam locomotives built between 1895 and 1910 some had 80 in (2,030 mm) diameter driving wheels for service in level territory, while others had 68 in (1,730 mm) drivers for mountainous terrain?