Portal:Trains/Did you know/Main page, 2010

The following facts related to rail transport have appeared in the Did you know section of Wikipedia's Main page in 2010.


 * ... that Zakopane Style architecture became so popular that designs inspired by it were built in Warsaw, Łódź, and even a train station in Saldutiškis, Lithuania?
 * ... that the only remaining original scrolled station sign on the New York City Subway can be found at the Van Cortlandt Park – 242nd Street station?


 * ... that before Dr. Andrea Crestadoro became Chief Librarian in Manchester, he patented improvements to the horse powered locomotive Impulsoria (pictured)?
 * ... that after the Woodlawn subway station was opened in The Bronx in 1917, nearby Woodlawn Cemetery built a new sales office to meet demand?
 * ... that La Stazione, a restaurant and former train station in New Paltz, New York, burned down in 1907, killing the station agent's dog?


 * ... that some chemical reactions are used for welding rail tracks (example pictured)?


 * ... that the Peacekeeper Rail Garrison Car (pictured) was designed not only to hide the MGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM from Soviet attack but also to act as a platform for launching the missile?


 * ... that the Class 15F 4-8-2 steam locomotives (example pictured) were the most numerous on South African Railways?
 * ... that despite being a builder of railroad rolling stock, US Railcar has no facilities with which to construct their products?
 * ... that William Huskisson MP was killed at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway by Stephenson's Rocket?
 * ... that Burnham-on-Sea's lifeboat used to be pulled by horses along a railway line from its lifeboat station to the beach where it could be launched?
 * ... that after the Nürnberger Platz Berlin U-Bahn station was replaced by Spichernstraße and demolished, the Augsburger Straße station had to be built to reduce the distance between stations?
 * ... that the Furuset and Grorud Lines of the Oslo Metro each serve one side of the Grorud Valley, and several proposals have been made to connect the two?
 * ... that Troy, an unincorporated area in the U.S. state of Virginia, is named after the president of the defunct Virginia Air Line Railway?
 * ... that when the Queensbury mill-owner William Henry Foster died in 1908, a special train brought the Lord Mayor of Bradford to his funeral near Hornby Castle?
 * ... that the National Docks Secondary freight rail line uses a short tunnel that took eight years to build at twice the originally estimated cost because of a frog war with the Pennsylvania Railroad?


 * ... that William J. Olcott (pictured), captain of the 1882 and 1883 Michigan Wolverines football teams, became the president of a railroad and a mining company?
 * ... that disputes between rival railway companies during the building of the Cleveland Railway became so intense that they led to a "battle" on the River Tees?


 * ... that the Cavell Van (pictured before restoration) carried the bodies of Edith Cavell, Charles Fryatt and The Unknown Warrior?
 * ... that Rygge Station, opened in 1879, became an airport rail link when Moss Airport, Rygge had its first flight in 2008?
 * ... that Kjeld Rimberg, who was CEO of the Norwegian State Railways, earlier had worked as a ski instructor in Davos?
 * ... that the Cross River Rail planned for Brisbane will be the largest transport project ever built in Queensland?
 * ... that the Arlanda Line &mdash; a high-speed airport rail link to Sweden's largest airport &mdash; and its three stations, Arlanda North, Arlanda Central and Arlanda South, were partly financed by giving the Arlanda Express a 40-year monopoly?
 * ... that when part of Norway's Jæren Line was upgraded to double track in 2009, the Jæren Commuter Rail received four new stations: Paradis, Mariero, Jåttåvågen and Gausel?
 * ... that on 21 June 2001, on the Mount Newman railway, a BHP Billiton iron ore train consisting of 682 cars broke the world record for the heaviest train, weighing 99,734 tons and being 7.3 kilometres long?
 * ... that, with 1300 km of track, Rio Tinto's Hamersley & Robe River railway is the largest privately owned heavy freight rail network in Australia?
 * ... that the proposed North Bothnia Line will allow high-speed trains to travel from Stockholm to Luleå Central Station?


 * ... that in 2011, the Swedish Transport Administration will upgrade a 57 km section of the Coast-to-Coast Line electric railway (pictured) to shave seven minutes off the travel time?
 * ... that Arne Wam, as director of the Norwegian State Railways, ended the practice of turning all the seats in whatever direction a train was facing?


 * ... that in 2009 the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail (pictured), a public walkway in upstate New York, nearly doubled in length?
 * ... that the Ådalen Line of Sweden will be upgraded to become part of a high-speed railway corridor between Stockholm and Umeå?


 * ... that Linx (train pictured) cited competition from low-cost airlines for terminating their Oslo−Stockholm train service?
 * ... that two Berlin U-Bahn stations, Paradestraße and Platz der Luftbrücke, have been called "Flughafen" (airport) because Hitler wanted the entrance to Tempelhof Airport moved?


 * ... that, in 1996, operation of the ore trains (pictured) on the Iron Ore Line and the Ofoten Line were privatized and transferred to Malmtrafik?
 * ... that Talyllyn Railway locomotives No. 3 Sir Haydn and No. 4 Edward Thomas both hold the unusual distinction of carrying the same number through the ownership of four different railway companies?
 * ... that the discovery of asbestos in B5 coaches during renovation has led to a legal dispute between the Norwegian State Railways and Bombardier Transportation?
 * ... that the NSB Class 72 trains could at first not be used on the high-speed Gardermoen Line because their electronics interfered with the signaling system?
 * ... that William White built the Southbridge and Pleasant Point branch railways?
 * ... that Norway's train radio system Scanet was replaced by GSM-R after only 13 years of operation?
 * ... that the underground Elisenberg railway station at Elisenberg, Oslo, was only partially finished and never taken into use?
 * ... that the name of Bjørnsletta Station of the Oslo Metro is ultimately derived from a bear sighting in 1852?
 * ... that a railway station once served Aberchalder but the line closed in 1935?
 * ... that the last remains of Tonbridge Priory were demolished in 1842 to make way for the building of Tonbridge railway station?
 * ... that Chesham tube station on the Chesham branch is both the northernmost and westernmost point of the London Underground?
 * ... that Grainsby Halt railway station served a Victorian hall in Lincolnshire which was later said to be haunted?


 * ... that Portland, Maine's Eastern Promenade (pictured) is home to a narrow gauge railroad museum, the mast of the WWII-era USS Portland heavy cruiser, and a mass grave of US prisoners of war from the War of 1812?
 * ... that when St Gregory's Church, Vale of Lune, Cumbria, was built, the London and North Western Railway sent a scripture reader to the church to minister to the navvies building their Ingleton Branch?
 * ... that the Rrashbull Tunnel of the Durrës–Tiranë railway in Albania was dug by Bulgarian volunteers, members of the Youth section of their Communist Party?
 * ... that the Podgorica–Shkodër railway, built in 1985, was the first international railway of Albania?
 * ... that Bajzë Rail Station was completely cleaned up in 2009 from toxic chemicals dumped in 1991–92?
 * ... that in 1881, Florida granted 2.8 million acres of public land to the Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad to build a rail line that ended the Panhandle's isolation from the rest of the state?


 * ... that two of the twelve 4-6-0T locomotives (E332 pictured) built for the Réseau Breton have been preserved?
 * ... that although most of the bridges of the Dresden–Görlitz railway were destroyed near the end of World War II, the line was usable once again by late 1945?
 * ... that Kensington (Olympia) station lies on part of the grounds of Lee and Kennedy, the prominent nurserymen in Hammersmith, London, who introduced the Chilean fuchsia, Fuchsia magellanica, to English gardens in 1788?
 * ... that the Pennsylvania Railroad Anacostia Bridge collapsed in the wake of a hurricane on August 24, 1933, causing the Crescent Limited train to plunge into the river below?


 * ... that the Dashaveyor (pictured) was originally designed as a high-tech conveyor belt, but was later turned into an automated guideway transit system used at the Toronto Zoo?


 * ... that although the Montmartre funicular (pictured) is considered part of the Paris Métro, it requires a separate ticket?
 * ... that residents of the Kingman Park neighborhood in Washington, D.C., successfully lobbied the Washington Metro in 1977 to cancel the proposed Oklahoma Avenue Station on the Orange and Blue lines?
 * ... that the Combe Haven Viaduct, on the Bexhill West Branch Line, contained over 9,000,000 bricks?
 * ... that although travel times between downtown Tainan and the Tainan High Speed Rail Station will be halved by the new Shalun Line, residents have complained that it will worsen local road traffic?
 * ... that only 7 km of Vietnam's 84 km-long Da Lat–Thap Cham rack railway remains in service today, operated as a tourist attraction based at the Art Deco-influenced Da Lat Railway Station?
 * ... that among the works of architect Paul Due is the design of Hamar Railway Station from 1896?
 * ... that architects Heinrich Ernst Schirmer and Wilhelm von Hanno designed all stations on Norway's first railway line, the Hoved Line between Christiania and Eidsvoll?
 * ... that as Azerbaijan Commissar of Public Roads, Chingiz Ildyrym oversaw the construction of the first electrified railway in the Soviet Union?
 * ... that Interurban Press, a former publisher of books about streetcars and railways, also published the railfan-oriented magazines, Pacific RailNews and Passenger Train Journal?


 * ... that Steamtown, USA was a steam locomotive museum (pictured) that ran excursions out of North Walpole, New Hampshire, and Bellows Falls, Vermont, from the 1960s until 1983?


 * ... that no train ever stopped at the depot built for the Hawthorne Mill (pictured) in Greenwich, Connecticut, because the planned rail line was never built?
 * ... that the Shepherdsville train wreck, which caused about fifty deaths when two trains collided in December 1917, is the deadliest train wreck in the history of Kentucky?
 * ... that when the Chicago Junction Railway stopped regularly maintaining the Kenwood branch, the Chicago Rapid Transit Company refused to pay rent on the line?
 * ... that John James was awarded the Medal of Honor for "gallantry in action" after defending the Lyman Train from Indian attacks for three days?
 * ... that in 1944, the Lyon to Paris rail line was blown up 22 times by the Special Air Service during Operation Houndsworth?
 * ... that the spray-painting of graffiti on a Mass Rapid Transit train in a depot by Oliver Fricker and an accomplice in May 2010 caused an outcry over the security of protected installations in Singapore?
 * ... that, out of the 2600 km of track in use in Vietnam's national railway network, 85% of passenger volume and 60% of cargo volume is transported along the 1726 km North–South Railway line?
 * ... that LNER CME Nigel Gresley was so concerned about unsafe railway practices shown in the 1929 film The Flying Scotsman that he made the film producers include a disclaimer at the beginning?
 * ... that the old Rouen tramway was once the largest electric tramway in France, with 70 km of route?
 * ... that the underground station at Vienna's Stephansplatz has a foul smell caused by organic material used to stabilise the soil?
 * ... that the guard on the train involved in a derailment at Falls of Cruachan in 2010 was also the guard on a train derailed at the same location in 1997?
 * ... that in 1910, the public library in Dragon, Utah, arranged for the Uintah Railway to deliver borrowed books for free?
 * ... that when an elevated train derailed on Ninth Avenue in New York in 1905, some passengers escaped from one carriage through an apartment window?
 * ... that the abandoned O & W Railroad Station at Port Ben, New York, is so well-preserved that coal remains in its bin more than 50 years after it closed?


 * ... that the Saltburn Cliff Lift (pictured) is the oldest remaining water balance funicular cliff lift and railway in the United Kingdom?
 * ... that one of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's  Commuter Rail stations is located in Rhode Island?
 * ... that journalist Charles E. Maple ended his career as an administrator of the Texas State Railroad, a heritage railroad between Palestine and Rusk, Texas?
 * ... that the railroads controlled by Alfred Holland Smith in 1918 carried one half of United States freight?
 * ... that the oldest running wood-burning locomotive in Hawaii, now at Grove Farm Museum, one of two heritage railways in Kauai, was almost sold for $500 to the Disney Company in the 1970s?
 * ... that ten New Zealand soldiers lost their lives in 1917 in the Bere Ferrers rail accident due to being unaccustomed to the British railway system?


 * ... that the Roa–Hønefoss Line (Jevnaker Station pictured) was built to allow the Bergen Line to both connect to Oslo, Norway, and be built with standard gauge?
 * ... that Waddesdon Road railway station generated only £4 per year in passenger revenue before being taken over by the London Underground?
 * ... that the Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos, in Mexico City, provides more than 85 million public transport rides annually, using exclusively electric trolleybuses and light rail cars?


 * ... that between 1924 and 1975, Oslo Sporveier took over all operators of the Oslo Tramway (SL95 tram pictured)?
 * ... that Nationaltheatret Station, which is located within the Oslo Tunnel and serves all lines of the Oslo Commuter Rail, is Norway's only underground mainline railway station?
 * ... that the currently operating railway lines in Norway have 2487 bridges and 695 tunnels?
 * ... that the New York Central's engines 1290 and 1291 operated for more than 55 years on a single 62 mi branch line in southwestern Ontario?
 * ... that Wood Siding railway station was fitted with a ladder to allow the station porter to see approaching trains?
 * ... that when railroad tracks to Passaic, New Jersey, were severed by the Erie Lackawanna Railway, they left the bridge swung open and kept short service to the Carlton Hill station in Rutherford, New Jersey?
 * ... that Brill railway station was owned and operated by Richard Temple-Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos?
 * ... that in 1935, the Hardanger Line became the first new line of the Norwegian State Railways to open with electrification?
 * ... that Yurii Lomonosov constructed the first operationally successful mainline diesel locomotive?
 * ... that Westcott railway station was a part of the London Underground, despite being more than 40 miles from central London?
 * ... that the only non-industrial private railways of Norway never to be nationalized were the Holmestrand–Vittingfoss, Lier, Lillesand–Flaksvand, Nesttun–Os and Tønsberg–Eidsfoss lines?
 * ... that when the Ålgård Line opened in 1924, it was the last state-owned railway in Norway to be built with narrow gauge?
 * ... that a monument at Mendeleyevskaya station in the Moscow Metro marks the location where stray dog Malchik was stabbed to death by a railway commuter?
 * ... that the Pennsylvania Railroad steam locomotive 7002 was credited for setting a land speed record despite not actually being the engine that set it?


 * ... that the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site (pictured) includes the locations of Washington, D.C.'s first street light, train station, sewage pipe, and Chinatown?
 * ... that where it passes Merrybent, Durham, England, the A1 road runs on the old track bed of the Merrybent railway?
 * ... that the New Zealand member of parliament William Montgomery worked on the extension of the Little River railway to Akaroa?
 * ... that the Pennsylvania Railroad steam locomotive 520 had its boiler explode and pulled a "railfan special", before it was preserved in the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania?
 * ... that the 1995 fire in Baku Metro became the world's deadliest subway accident?
 * ... that among victims of the 1994 Baku Metro bombings was jazzman Rafig Babayev?
 * ... that there are a number of ghost stations along the Paris Métro, including two with no above-ground entrances?
 * ... that at the First Battle of Rellano, Pascual Orozco used the tactic of the máquina loca, a locomotive filled with dynamite, to defeat federal troops, but a similar trick failed him at the Second Battle of Rellano?
 * ... that at 44 tons, the locomotives of the Central London Railway first underground trains were so heavy that they shook buildings as they passed 60 feet below and were scrapped after three years?
 * ... that the steam locomotive Olomana was considered by Walt Disney to have been the closest thing to a "Mickey Mouse engine"?
 * ... that steamboat and railway investor Jacob Kamm started out as a printer's devil and died after being hit by a bicyclist?
 * ... that the Hungarian Railway Museum exhibits an automobile that belonged to Prime Minister Jenő Fock but that was later converted to travel on rails?


 * ... that the locomotive involved in Sweden’s worst rail accident (pictured) was later hit in an air raid near Korsør, Denmark, in 1943 after it had been overhauled and sold to the Danes?
 * ... that with around 250 killed the UNITA 2001 Angola train attack was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks involving railways?


 * ... that Edward Richardson (pictured) was the first person to build a rail tunnel through the side of an extinct volcano?
 * ... that Norwegian MP Tønnes Andenæs died in the Tretten train disaster?
 * ... that the Oak Hill Railroad Depot is the only surviving Virginian Railway depot in West Virginia?
 * ... that the Haramain High Speed Rail Project in Saudi Arabia, will run for 444 km between the Islamic holy cities of Medina and Mecca with 320-km/h (200-mph) electric trains?


 * ... that three of the five railroads that make up the Mountain Railways of India (pictured) are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List?
 * ... that the Nilgiri Mountain Railway in India is building four new 'X' Class locomotives – a design dating from 1920?
 * ... that ambulanceman Stanley Skinner was awarded the British Empire Medal for his actions in the aftermath of the train crash at Marden, Kent, in 1969?
 * ... that the Salisbury and Yeovil Railway has been described as "the most successful of all railways in Southern England"?
 * ... that the 14.44 mi Stert and Westbury Railway shortened the distance from London Paddington station to Weymouth  by 14.24 mi?
 * ... that Phelps Dodge bought the El Paso and Northeastern Railway and its associated properties to secure access to superior coke for their smelters?
 * ... that the sawmill of Mitford, Alberta, failed partly because most of the good quality lumber to be found in the area was used in the construction of the railway designed to haul said lumber to market?
 * ... that at the time of its 1914 construction, the Railway Exchange Building was the tallest building in St. Louis, Missouri?
 * ... that 2,273 passengers booked travel from Templecombe railway station, England in 1982, despite it being closed from 1966 to 1983?
 * ... that during World War II the Kalamazoo Manufacturing Company made the "Galloping Gertie", a railroad motor car with a large target above it used for gunnery practice?
 * ... that the Coniston Railway, which closed in 1962 owned two steam yachts on Coniston Water in Cumbria, England, one of which, SY Gondola, continues to run on the lake today?
 * ... that the Essex Street Station in New Jersey, was once the terminus and headquarters of the Hackensack and New York Railroad?
 * ... that the Government of Moscow owns 25% of the Moscow Monorail Transit System, for a monetary value of about 3,379,000?
 * ... that although only a 1½ mile (2.41 km) long section of the Cranbrook and Tenterden Light Railway was ever built, it is still in use today as part of the Kent and East Sussex Railway?
 * ... that the 900 South station was the first infill station constructed as part of the UTA TRAX light rail system in Salt Lake City, Utah?
 * ... that when James Cudworth introduced the 0-4-4T to the South Eastern Railway, they were the first locomotives of this wheel arrangement in England?
 * ... that many of the canopies at the light rail transit stations in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah are designed to resemble the canopy of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building?
 * ... that the Great Western Railway operated ships in connection with their trains to provide services to Ireland, the Channel Islands and France?


 * ... that British sculptor Marcus Cornish has created a sculpture of the fictional Paddington Bear (pictured) and a statue of Jesus Christ dubbed "Jesus in Jeans" by the media?
 * ... that during the 1880s, businessman Guillaume Bresse joined a syndicate which bought a railway from the Quebec government, and sold it to Canadian Pacific Railway for substantial profits?


 * ... that the Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 4859 (pictured) pulled the first electric train from Philadelphia to Harrisburg in 1938 and was designated a state symbol of Pennsylvania in 1987?
 * ... that the Pullman Company boycotted Transpo '72 after the US government provided millions in funding so military contractors could show their attempts to enter the mass transit field?
 * ... that the 20 m tall trestle bridge on the former Noojee railway line is the tallest surviving trestle bridge in Victoria, Australia?


 * ... that the prototype Tracked Hovercraft high-speed train (remains pictured) was expected to reach 300 mph on its test track north of London, but had only broken 100 mph on a short portion before the program was cancelled in 1973?
 * ... that five Fablok Luxtorpeda trains were constructed under the leadership of Klemens Stefan Sielecki?
 * ... that disagreement over the relocation of a nursery during construction of the Washington Metro's Anacostia station required an Act of Congress to resolve?
 * ... that two months after the final five Green Line stations on Washington, D.C.'s Metro opened, more than 30,600 riders per day boarded at the stations—three times as many as originally estimated?
 * ... that Liverpool businessman Sir William Bower Forwood raised money for the building of the Liverpool Overhead Railway and Liverpool Cathedral?
 * ... that only one of the thirty-nine DART Light Rail stations in Greater Dallas, Texas, is located underground?