Portal:Trains/Did you know/December 2008

December 2008

 * ...that when oshiyas, an informal Japanese term for a worker who stands on the platform of a railway station during the morning and evening rush hours to push people onto the train, were first brought in at Shinjuku station, they were called "passenger arrangement staff" (旅客整理係), and were largely made up of students working part-time?


 * ...that Union Refrigerator Transit Line a St. Louis, Missouri- and Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based private refrigerator car line was established in 1895 by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company?


 * ...that the 110 m tall Veresk Bridge in Iran, constructed during the reign of Reza Shah, was known as the Pol-e-Piroozi, or the bridge of victory, during World War II?


 * ...that the gauge Šargan Eight railway, which closed to regular traffic in 1974, was rebuilt between 1999 and 2003 by the Serbian Ministry of Tourism and the Yugoslav Railways (JŽ) to be operated as a heritage railway?


 * ...that shortly after it was completed near Rouen, France, the 100 ft tall, 600 yd long Barentin Viaduct collapsed following heavy rains on January 10, 1846, but was rebuilt with funds supplied by Thomas Brassey, the bridge's contractor, and still stands today?


 * ...that three bays of Canadian Pacific Railway's former John Street Roundhouse in Toronto, Ontario, have been designated as space for a future railway museum situated between a brewery and a furniture store?


 * ...that for several holiday seasons the Indian Pacific has operated a Christmas Train with stops at several locations across Australia to entertain the locals and thank them for their support of the train?


 * ...that the Royal Far West Children's Health Scheme operated a number of railway carriages in regular passenger and goods trains for movement between stations in the western regions of New South Wales, Australia, as Baby Health Clinics from 1931 until 1975?
 * ...that when seen from above, the Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station in Florence, Italy, was designed in 1932 to resemble the fascio littorio, the symbol of Mussolini's fascist movement?


 * ...that the Nærumbanen, a short passenger railway in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, originally opened as the Lyngby-Vedbæk railway in 1900 to serve as a freight carrier for industries in the Mølleå valley?


 * ...that the Pacific Electric Railroad Bridge in Torrance, California, is used as a symbol on the patch of the local police department?


 * ...that the design of China Railways' SS7 class of electric locomotives, which entered production in 1992, was based on that of the 6K class built in Japan during the 1980s?


 * ...that iron ore trains on the Mauritania Railway can extend up to 2.5 km in length, making them among the longest and heaviest in the world?


 * ...that the Berlin, Germany, to Novosibirsk, Russia, passenger train service Sibirjak is the longest route of any that depart from a station within the European Union?


 * ...that pointing and calling is an occupational safety method common in Japan for avoiding mistakes by pointing at important indicators and calling out the status loud?


 * ...that although the last regular passenger train to stop at the Kelso Depot, Restaurant and Employees Hotel in Kelso, California, did so in 1964, the Lunch Room within the depot building remained in service until 1985?


 * ...that the SNCF's class BB 25500 electric locomotives are fitted with monomotor bogies with two different gear ratios that allows them to have increased tractive effort in exchange for a reduction in top speed?
 * ...that the larger size of the V class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives on the Great Northern Railway in Ireland led to the unfounded rumour among railway workers that they had been designed for use in Russia?


 * ...that China Railways' DF4 class of diesel locomotive has been in production from 1969 with various improvements through 2007, and the very first of this class is now preserved at the China Railway Museum in Beijing?


 * ...that although the EMD MRS-1 locomotives failed to earn the US Army contract that went to ALCO for its MRS-1, they did prompt NMBS/SNCB to order EMD-licensed locomotives from NOHAB after the demonstrator locomotives made test runs on their lines?


 * ...that the Lansdowne Bridge near Rohri in present day Pakistan was the 'longest "rigid" girder bridge in the world' when it was opened in 1887?


 * ...that Ferrocarril Central Andino linking the Pacific port of Callao and the capital Lima with Huancayo and Cerro de Pasco, Peru, crosses into Junín Province via the Galera Tunnel, the highest railroad tunnel in the world?


 * ...that when construction began on the Edmonton Light Rail Transit system in 1974, Edmonton became the first city in North America with a population of less than one million to build a modern light rail system?


 * ...that the ALCO MRS-1 was designed with adjustable-gauge trucks, replaceable couplers and narrow bodywork to enable its use by the US Army Transportation Corps on nearly any rail line in the world in the event of war?


 * ...that in the late 1980s, the tracks at Ilkley railway station in West Yorkshire, England, were shortened and the roofed area covering the western end of the platforms was closed in and converted into a small supermarket?


 * ...that the Valmet Nr I class of trams introduced in 1973 were the first type of articulated tram operated by Helsinki City Transport?
 * ...that Fawkner railway station in Melbourne, Australia was once named Fawkner Cemetery station for its location within the Fawkner Crematorium and Memorial Park and from the station's reopening in 1906 until 1939 special mortuary trains stopped at the station?


 * ...that although the Chicago and North Western Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway considered buying EMD SD80MACs, all 30 units built were purchased by Conrail?