Portal:Trains/Did you know/August 2019

August 2019

 * ...that George Stephenson's conservative views on the capabilities of locomotives meant he favoured circuitous routes and civil engineering that were more costly than his successors thought necessary?


 * ...that the Vienna U-Bahn platforms at Stephansplatz station station lie up to five storeys below the Stephansplatz?


 * ...that South African Railways ' Class 33-200 locomotives built in 1966 and 67 were the first GM-EMD diesel-electric locomotives to be placed in service by the SAR?


 * ...that in October 1981, the Steamtown Peterborough Railway Preservation Society operated the last steam-hauled train to travel the line between Peterborough and Quorn, South Australia?


 * ...that some pioneering early steam locomotives used steam springs rather than leaf or coil springs for suspension because at the time high quality steel was so expensive as to be regarded as 'a semi-precious metal'?


 * ...that Stanlow and Thornton, which saw only 40 passengers in the 2004-05 fiscal year, is the least used railway station in Cheshire?


 * ...that ALCO's loss of the bid for South African Railways ' Class 32-000 locomotive because they would not provide a 1Co+Co1 bogied locomotive is credited as a major factor in ALCO's demise?


 * ...that Leland Stanford, president of the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads, commissioned photographer Eadweard Muybridge's study of The Horse in Motion?


 * ...that the original Stanford train station was built in 1866 as part of Ambrose Burnside's goal of easier supply transport in central Kentucky?


 * ...that when Stamford Brook station opened in 1912, it was served by both District Railway and London and South Western Railway trains?


 * ...that the South African Class 31-000 type GE U12B diesel-electric locomotive, built by General Electric in 1958, was the first diesel-electric road locomotive type to enter SAR service in quantity?


 * ...that the Class Afro 4000, a Cape gauge version of the Euro 4000, was the first new locomotive type to be acquired by PRASA since its establishment?


 * ...that since the original station building was demolished in 1963, Amtrak set up its St. Albans station, Vermont, using a former switch house as a station building?


 * ...that in the 1990s, the two island platforms at St James railway station in Sydney, Australia, were connected by filling in the space between them, resulting in one single, large island platform?


 * ...that the only South African Railways Class 20 2-10-2 steam locomotive, assembled in 1935 using parts of former Class 19A and Class 8 locomotives, was the third locomotive type to be designed and built in South Africa?


 * ...that the St Ives Bay Line, which opened in 1877, was the last new broad gauge passenger railway to be constructed in England?


 * ...that the St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway, which opened in 1833, included the world's first rail-to-ship facility and the first railway bridge over another railway line?


 * ...that on an average weekday St Erth railway station sees up to 69 trains, making it the busiest station in Cornwall in terms of services?


 * ...that South African Railways ' Class 14A 4-8-2 locomotives had nearly 6 in less boiler diameter than the Class 14 to reduce the axle loading from 16 lt to 15 lt?


 * ...that the former United States Army Transportation Corps S100 Class steam locomotives purchased and adapted by Southern Railway (SR) to become the USA class were given the nickname "Yank Tanks" by SR crews?


 * ...that at the eastern end of St Austell railway station Network Rail replaced a nearly 150-year-old road bridge with a prototype modular fibre reinforced polymer footbridge?


 * ...that the former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway's rail car ferry SS Badger, now operated for passenger service, is the last coal-fired passenger vessel operating on the Great Lakes?


 * ...that South African Railways ' Class 13 4-8-0 tank and tender locomotives were rebuilt from Imperial Military Railways 4-10-2T locomotives?


 * ...that Southern Railway's Merchant Navy class locomotive 35018 British India Line was the first of its class to emerge from a 1950s rebuild programme that influenced the design of the West Country and Battle of Britain classes?


 * ...that London and South Western Railway's class 3SUB electric multiple unit trains introduced in 1915 were the first trains on the LSWR not to offer second class accommodation?