Portal:Trains/Did you know/February 2021

February 2021

The main entrance of Brno main station in July 2016

• ...that Brno hlavní nádraží is one of the oldest railway stations in the Czech Republic, having been in operation since 1839?

Two Southern trains at Brighton station in 2012

• ...that Brighton is the seventh-busiest station in England outside London, with over 17 million passenger entries and exits in 2018/19?

The track and platform side of Bridgwater station in 1963

• ...that industries supplying materials to the railway, including John Browne's Brick and Tile Works, and George Hennet's iron works, were situated near Bridgwater railway station, which itself was the nearest station to the halfway point on the Bristol and Exeter Railway line?

Drawing of the Bricklayers Arms station facade in 1844

• ...that the junction between the branch built in 1843 to Bricklayers Arms railway station and the main line was the first in the world to be controlled by a signal box?

The longer east side of the Braunstone Gate Bridge in 2008 showing the River Soar passing under both the railway and Western Boulevard

• ...that in 2009, Leicester Civic Society applied to English Heritage to have the former Great Central Railway's 1898-built Braunstone Gate Bridge listed, but it was rejected on the basis that the bridge was "not old enough or sufficiently innovative to justify preservation"?

Braunschweig Hauptbahnhof shortly after it was opened in 1961

• ...that as part of the relocation of Braunschweig Hauptbahnhof in the 1960s, the city's main post office was moved from the inner city to Berliner Platz outside the new station?

Artist's depiction of brakemen working atop a train in inclement weather

• ...that although the Brakemen's Brotherhood was organized in secret, it is believed to have had a presence in the late 19th century on virtually every railroad in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois?

The tracks and platforms at Bow Road station in 1961

• ...that the 1 in 28 gradient of the tunnel approach just east of Bow Road tube station is the steepest on the London Underground network?

Bourke station at an unknown date, probably circa 1900

• ...that Bourke railway station, which opened in 1885 as the terminus of the Main Western line, was the first railway station building in New South Wales to be air conditioned?

A view of the extant buildings at Botanic Gardens TMD in the mid 2010s

• ...that in the early 20th century, Botanic Gardens TMD, in Kingston upon Hull, had three turntables with one sited at the Paragon station end for visiting locomotives to be turned quickly for return trips?

A train at Boston College station in December 2018

• ...that except for occasional service disruptions, Boston College has been the terminus of MBTA's Commonwealth Avenue line (B branch) since 1900?

A portion of the wall mosaic at Borough Hall station in 2009

• ...that a portion of the New York City Subway's Borough Hall/Court Street station on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line is listed on the National Register of Historic Places?

Henry Booth circa 1850

• ...that although officially appointed as treasurer of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, Henry Booth made some technical contributions to the railway including suggestions for locomotive lubrication and rolling stock buffers?

One of the Flexity 2 trams in Blackpool in 2012

• ...that the 2011 worldwide launch of Bombardier's Flexity 2 family of trams took place with the unveiling of the first Blackpool Flexity 2 tram?

Cutaway diagram of a superheater in a steam locomotive boiler

• ...that superheated steam boilers on steam locomotives allow higher steam temperatures than with saturated steam, enabling the steam to carry more energy resulting in more efficient locomotives?

The main entrance to Bochum Hauptbahnhof in 2007

• ...that construction of Bochum Hauptbahnhof in the 1950s included moving 250,000 cubic metres of soil to raise 2.1 km (1.3 mi) of railway embankment by more than 4 metres (13 ft)?

The Cleveland RTA Blue Line's Tri-C–Campus District station in 2018

• ...that Cleveland RTA Rapid Transit's Blue Line uses private right-of-way originally acquired in 1930 to bring intercity trains into Cleveland Union Terminal?