Portal:Trains/Did you know/Main page, 2017

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2017[edit]

The following items were used in the Did you know section of Wikipedia's Main page in 2017.

... that one train rear-ended another at Singapore's Joo Koon station last month (November 2017) because its new signalling system determined the first train to be half its actual length?
... that the High Capacity Metro Trains on order for the Melbourne rail network will have the ability to automatically estimate their passenger load?
... that the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad built the Bergen Tunnels due to congestion in the competing Erie Railroad's tunnels?
... that trains on the 42nd Street Shuttle, the shortest route in the New York City Subway system, run a distance of 2,700 feet (820 m) in 90 seconds?
... that only 20.5 percent of registered Slovenians turned out to vote in a 2017 railway referendum?
... that the Carillon and Grenville Railway was the last broad-gauge railway to operate in Canada?

... that AirTrain JFK (vehicle pictured), an airport rail link in New York City, took almost 30 years to plan?
... that California High-Speed Rail's proposed Pacheco Pass Tunnel is expected to become the longest rail tunnel in North America?
... that the California Central Valley city of Porterville purchased an abandoned rail right-of-way to preserve it for the proposed Cross Valley Corridor passenger rail service?
... that the Delaware Railroad was sued in 1863 because it did not have enough freight cars to transport a bumper crop of peaches?
... that the 3.5 miles (5.6 km) separating the New York City Subway's JFK Airport and Broad Channel stations is the longest distance between two consecutive stations in the system?
... that scrap metal from demolition work during construction of the Capitol Hill station was sold to fund meals for the homeless?
... that the navigator and cartographer Matthew Flinders is thought to be buried under Platform 15 at Euston railway station?

... that Minneapolis–Saint Paul's Metro system (train pictured) provided 23 million rides across its 37 light rail stations in 2016?
... that additional fire sprinklers were installed in Seattle's Westlake station to accommodate parties and receptions on the station's mezzanine?
... that in the 1970s Amtrak had two new locomotives, the GE E60 and the EMD SDP40F, which had trouble staying on the tracks?
... that the Brookville Liberty Modern Streetcar has a hybrid design that allows it to run on either battery power or via pantograph and overhead line?

... that the Amfleet (coaches pictured) was Amtrak's first new intercity passenger cars and the Budd Company's last?
... that the New York City Subway G train is the only non-shuttle service that does not run through Manhattan?

... that several freight cars of the Disneyland Railroad (locomotive pictured) originally had no seats because Walt Disney wanted passengers to feel like cattle riding in a real cattle train?
... that Science Express, a scientific exhibition for children mounted on a train, is included in the Limca Book of Records for being the largest, the longest running and the most visited mobile exhibition?
... that the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel is the only tunnel with stations shared between trains and buses in the United States?
... that the Superliner was the last rail passenger car manufactured by Pullman-Standard?
... that despite years of investigation and a manhunt, the 1939 City of San Francisco derailment remains unsolved?
... that a "food innovation district" and farmers' market are proposed for the immediate vicinity of Rainier Beach station?
... that a cable car flywheel found during construction of Pioneer Square station in Seattle now sits on display at the station's mezzanine?
... that Seattle's University Street station was designed in a "high-tech" style to match nearby high-rise office buildings?
... that Newcastle Interchange railway station was completely redesigned in response to criticism of the original proposal?
... that for decades, Long Island commuters knocked knees on the Long Island Rail Road's PRR MP70 cars?
... that freight derailments occurred at both of Wachusett's predecessor stations?
... that when passenger service was resumed on Sweden's Lysekil Line after 33 years, the train driver had to switch on the line's power himself?
... that when the Red Rock Bridge was no longer needed for trains, it was converted to carry the auto traffic of U.S. Route 66 over the Colorado River?
... that the Train Track Park, containing 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) of walking and biking trails, was built over the century-old route of the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway?
... that the pendulum car was an experimental forerunner of the tilting train, but was not widely adopted on American railroads?
... that the Whitehorse Trail uses a railroad that was abandoned after major floods in 1990?
... that Morrison-Knudsen built four Popsicles for the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1978?
... that the engine frames of the Mississippi River and Bonne Terre Railway "had to be extra heavy ... to withstand rough usage"?

... that within a year of implementing express service (train pictured), San Francisco Bay Area commuter rail system Caltrain experienced a 12 percent increase in ridership?
... that federal funding for the project to electrify Bay Area commuter railroad Caltrain was pulled days before construction was scheduled to begin?
... that passenger service on the Staten Island Railway's North Shore Branch was discontinued 16 years after it was rebuilt?
... that the dignitaries at the opening of the Barbados Railway wondered why the railway ended so abruptly among barren sand hills?
... that in Canada, ten dollars will get you an EMD F40PH diesel locomotive?
... that Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue is the New York City Subway's first solar-powered subway station?
... that the planned Toluca–Mexico City commuter rail suffered four construction accidents in a three-month period in 2016?
... that despite the Reich Ministry of Transport running trains to extermination camps during the Holocaust, the US later ruled some of their personnel only had "lukewarm" connections to the Nazi Party?
... that Fitzsimons station in Aurora, Colorado, was moved away from the Anschutz Medical Campus after concerns that vibrations and electromagnetic interference from trains would affect research equipment?
... that construction on the 179th Street terminal station on the New York City Subway's Queens Boulevard Line was delayed for almost 20 years?

... that in 1889, a US company built the Miami Railway Station (pictured) in Canada, now a National Historic Site and museum?
... that the architecturally outstanding Kensington Railway Station, now a National Historic Site of Canada, is referred to as a "boulder station" because of its fieldstone walls?
... that when completed, the proposed Damen station will be the third new Chicago "L" station of Rahm Emanuel's tenure as Mayor of Chicago?
... that the Huntly rail bridge bombing was called an "infamous act of terrorism" by New Zealand Prime Minister Sidney Holland?
... that SeaTac/Airport station in Seattle was opened in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics, held in Vancouver, Canada?
... that you can go directly from Aqueduct Racetrack to Manhattan, but not directly back?

... that the dome cars of the Train of Tomorrow (pictured) were inspired by a ride in the Rocky Mountains in either an F-unit or a caboose's cupola?
... that the Nanjing Metro system in Nanjing, China, has a total of 139 stations, with transfer stations counted once for every line they serve?
... that an environmental assessment for the future Grimsby train station included review of an 1876 historical atlas of Ontario, Canada, to find features of historic value?

... that the Walt Disney World Railroad (pictured), with 3.7 million passengers each year, is one of the most popular railroads in the world powered by steam locomotives?
... that the Mexican Southern Railroad was originally run by executives from the United States, including former President Ulysses S. Grant?
... that Tukwila International Boulevard station near Seattle's international airport features an angular roof shaped like the wings of an airplane?
... that the walls of the Woodhaven Boulevard subway station in New York City still prominently display the name of a plaza that was demolished in the 1950s?
... that Pinchinthorpe railway station closed 13 years before the rest of the Middlesbrough and Guisborough Railway fell victim to the Beeching Axe?
... that the Old Depot Museum has an immersive audio exhibit about the Pottawatomie massacre?