Portal:Trains/Did you know/August 2017

August 2017

 * ...that the preserved gauge Fichtelberg Railway has become popular among winter sports enthusiasts because it connects the standard gauge Deutsche Bahn network at Cranzahl to the ski resort of Oberwiesenthal, the highest town in Germany?


 * ...that Clarence Railway's goods yard at Ferryhill railway station was one of the busiest in Europe from the 1920s to the 1950s?


 * ...that the first steam railway line in Latin America, later part of Ferrocarriles de Cuba, opened before the first line in Spain?


 * ...that Fenway is not the nearest station to Fenway?


 * ...that at the port end of the Felixstowe branch line in England it is possible to follow part of the original 1877 route to the Port of Felixstowe then over numerous level crossings to the North Freightliner Terminal and then back to Trimley?


 * ...that the FasTracks public transportation expansion plan under construction in metropolitan Denver is estimated to have injected $3 billion into the local economy from 2005 to 2013 and is responsible for creating 12,000 direct full-time jobs since 2005?


 * ...that despite frequent service cancellations, a June 2016 count showed that ridership on MBTA Commuter Rail's Fairmount Line in Boston had nearly tripled from 2012?


 * ...that several Los Angeles Metro Rail Expo Line stations are built in the same location as former Pacific Electric Santa Monica Air Line stations?


 * ...that with the addition of the Expo '74 to the Empire Builder and North Coast Hiawatha, Amtrak provided thrice-daily service between Seattle and Spokane, the highest level seen since Amtrak's formation and unmatched since?


 * ...that in 1848, Exeter St Thomas station was worked by atmospheric trains, but since there was no engine house at the station, the driver had to hold the train on its brakes against the pressure in the pipes while it was stopped there?


 * ...that although Exeter Central is the most centrally located of the railway stations in the City of Exeter, St Davids is the city's main station serving the principal fast services to London?


 * ...that Everett station on the MBTA Orange Line was intended to be a temporary station so was constructed of wood like a house rather than like a permanent transit station?


 * ...that although the metre gauge Ethio-Djibouti Railways line has been superseded and replaced by the standard gauge Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway, much of the original infrastructure is visible on satellite imagery, including two trains at Adigale station?


 * ...that Chemins de fer de l'Est's série 11s 2-8-2T steam locomotives introduced in 1911 made up the railway's largest tank locomotive class and maintained the suburban service for Eastern Paris until the electrification of the line in 1962?


 * ...that Alfred Escher served as chairman of Gotthardbahn-Gesellschaft (Gotthard Railway Company) from its founding in 1871 to 1878, but was not invited to the tunnel hole-through ceremony of the Gotthard Tunnel in 1880?


 * ...that the New York & Erie Rail Road, an early predecessor of Erie Railroad, was built with wide gauge track, as it was believed to be a superior technology to standard gauge, providing more stability?


 * ...that the Solid State Interlocking system installed at Epping railway station in 1989 was the first fully computerised interlocking system in Melbourne?


 * ...that the day after the obituary of Epes Randolph, president of Southern Pacific Railroad of Mexico and Arizona Eastern Railway, was published, the Retail Merchant's Association and the Tucson Chamber of Commerce passed resolutions requesting all members to close at 4 PM for funeral services scheduled at 5?


 * ...that RŽD ordered only twelve EP10 electric locomotives and that in 2006 RŽD chief engineer Valentin Gapanovich called the type a не слишком перспективный локомотив (English: not very promising locomotive)?


 * ...that the frequent bomb threats during the Troubles against the Enterprise train service between Belfast and Dublin led to the establishment of the Peace Train Organisation in 1989?


 * ...that Amtrak adjusted the Empire Builder's schedule in 2014 to combat delays that were caused by an abundance of BNSF Railway oil and grain trains in Montana and North Dakota?


 * ...that while building the Elham Valley Railway, South Eastern Railway reluctantly agreed to build Bourne Park tunnel in the 1880s instead of two bridges due to the objections of Matthew Bell who refused to see trains pass by the back of his mansion?


 * ...that while single-phase AC railroad electrification has become commonplace, its use for the electrification of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad in 1907 was unprecedented at the time?


 * ...that one of the main stone piers of the North Bridge in Edinburgh, Scotland, is situated and hidden within the central booking hall of Edinburgh Waverley railway station?