Portal:Trains/Did you know/April 2009

April 2009

 * ...that the Crystal Palace pneumatic railway, an experimental atmospheric railway built in 1864 near London's Crystal Palace on which a carriage fitted with a large collar of bristles would be sucked along an airtight tunnel by a large fan, later became the subject of urban legend with rumours that it was haunted?


 * ...that the Statens Järnvägar (State Railways of Sweden) Rc class electric locomotive has not only served on Swedish railways, but has also been exported as far afield as the Austrian Railways, where the design was modified with extra brakes for alpine conditions, and to Iran, where sand-proof air filters were fitted?


 * ...that Sir Thomas Bent KCMG, regarded as one of the most colourful as well as one of the most corrupt politicians in the history of Victoria, Australia, used his position as Commissioner for Works and Railways during 1881-83 to extend railway lines through his own property developments, thus enormously increasing their value?


 * ...that China Railways SS8 electric locomotive number 0001 broke the Chinese rail speed record by achieving a top speed of 240 km/h on a test run between Xuchang and Xiaoshangqiao on June 24, 1998?


 * ...that in an eventful life, English railway financier George Hudson, who fled his home village in disgrace at age 15, went on to build a successful career and eventually became a Member of Parliament and a railway director known as the "Railway King" in control over 1000 mi of railway, before being ruined after charges of fraud and bribery were made against him?


 * ...that the SNCF (French National Railways) Class 241P express passenger compound 4-8-2 steam locomotives developed a maximum 4000 hp, but their frames were not robust enough to handle this output and they were prone to hot axle boxes?


 * ...that the exterior design of the SBB-CFF-FFS (Swiss Federal Railways) IC 2000 double-decker push-pull intercity train was created by Italian automobile design house Pininfarina?


 * ...that the Guangshen Railway linking Guangzhou and Shenzhen was the first railway in the People's Republic of China to reach a speed of 220 km/h, and with construction of a fourth track having commenced in 2005, it will be the first four-track railway in mainland China?


 * ...that the Eschede train disaster, the world's deadliest high-speed train accident, which occurred on June 3, 1998, near the village of Eschede in Germany, was caused by a single fatigue crack in one wheel?


 * ...that SNCF's Class CC 7100 locomotives in France have twice set rail speed records, with CC 7121 reaching 243 km/h in February 1954, and CC 7107 reaching 331 km/h in March 1955?


 * ...that although the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway was named in part for the capital of New Mexico, the city was served by a branch line from Lamy because the terrain around Santa Fe made laying a main line too difficult?


 * ...that among the survivors of the Staplehurst rail crash at Staplehurst, Kent, England, in 1865 was the famous novelist Charles Dickens, who was psychologically affected by the accident for the rest of his life after helping dying and injured passengers from the wreckage?


 * ...that due to gauge conversion of some sections of Japan's Ōu Main Line from 3 ft narrow gauge to standard gauge to allow Shinkansen trains to travel over the section, there are now no trains that run the entire 486 km length of the line?


 * ...that in 1972 the Danske Statsbaner (Danish State Railways), the largest Danish train operating company and the largest in Scandinavia, celebrated 125 years of railways in Denmark with the introduction of a new red and black livery?


 * ...that concrete sleepers, railroad ties made out of steel reinforced concrete that are now produced and in use worldwide, were first made in Germany in 1906 for use between Nurenburg and Bamberg?


 * ...that the Canadian comfort cab, a broad-nosed diesel locomotive cab design originally specified for the Canadian National Railway in the late 1980s, not only features a broad, spacious crew area, but also has safety features including ⅛-inch-thick (3 mm) armor steel rather than sheet metal, and windows that can withstand the impact of a .22 caliber bullet or a cinder block?


 * ...that the Australian Commonwealth Railways CL class built in the early 1970s was originally planned to have a Do-Do wheel arrangement and an EMD FP45 cab, but the design was modified to a Co-Co wheel arrangement with a streamlined carbody and an EMD bulldog nose, becoming the last new EMD design in the world to be built with this feature?


 * ...that the Willamette locomotive was a type of geared steam locomotive of the Shay locomotive type, built after key patents on the Shay locomotive had expired, making it possible for other manufacturers to produce Shay "clones"?


 * ... that Punktförmige Zugbeeinflussung ("point-wise train protection"), an intermittent cab signalling system and train protection system used in Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania and on one line in Canada, uses tuned inductors to trigger whatever action is required based on the location (e.g., an audible/visual warning, enforced speed limit, or enforced stop)?


 * ... that the Córas Iompair Éireann (Irish State Railways) 001 Class locomotives built by Metropolitan Vickers in the mid-1950s were plagued with problems relating to their Crossley loop-scavenge type diesel engines, such that the entire class was reengined with 12-cylinder EMD 645E engines?


 * ...that the 191 C32 class 4-6-0 steam locomotives, first introduced on the New South Wales Government Railways in Australia in 1892, had a remarkably long service life with No. 3210 travelling a total of 4185685 km, the entire class remaining intact until 1957, and No. 3246 having the honour of working the last regular steam-hauled passenger train in New South Wales on July 24, 1971?


 * ...that Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) J-1 class steam locomotive number 611 escaped being scrapped in part because O. Winston Link's offer to purchase the locomotive himself embarrassed the N&W into donating it to the Virginia Museum of Transportation?


 * ...that although the Baker valve gear used on many steam locomotives had more pivot bearings than the ubiquitous Walschaerts valve gear, it could provide longer valve travel and required less service because it lacked the wear-prone sliding die block?
 * ...that by March 2007, over 10 million Oyster cards (a credit card-sized stored value card electronic ticketing system) had been issued in the United Kingdom, and more than 80% of all journeys on services run by Transport for London (which include London Underground, buses, the Docklands Light Railway, London Overground, trams and some National Rail services) used the Oyster card?


 * ...that the 14"/50 caliber railway guns, used in France during World War I, were created when the US Navy mounted five spare battleship guns on specially-made railway cars?


 * ...that the D55 class locomotive of the New South Wales Government Railways in Australia utilised the relatively rare Southern valve gear and were withdrawn ahead of other comparable locomotives as the valve gear's steam distribution made the locomotives somewhat sluggish when hauling heavy loads?


 * ...that in what was billed as an experiment toward high speed rail, the New York Central Railroad fitted a pair of jet engines atop one of their Budd Rail Diesel Cars and set the United States speed record in 1966 when it traveled at just short of 184 mph?
 * ...that the British Rail Class 92 locomotive number 92003 Beethoven was used to haul the 2315 service from Dollands Moor to Wembley on November 21, 1997, the last train ever to travel under British Rail?


 * ...that Miniature Wonderland, a model railway attraction in Hamburg, Germany, consisting of 11000 m of track in H0 scale and occupying 1500 m² of floor space, is the largest display of its kind in the world?
 * ...that the Grizzly Flats Railroad, a 500 ft long narrow gauge railroad in San Gabriel, California, owned by Disney animator Ward Kimball, and operated from 1942 to 2006, was the first full-sized backyard railroad in the United States?
 * ...that the track plan for the Timesaver, a well-known model railroad train shunting puzzle created by John Allen, was first published in the November 1972 issue of Model Railroader, in what would be Allen's last article before his death?
 * ...that T scale, a model railroad scale introduced in 2006 by KK Eishindo at the Tokyo Toy Fair, is presently the smallest commercial model train scale in the world with a standard gauge of 3 mm?