Portal:Trains/Did you know/Main page, 2012

The following facts related to rail transport have appeared in the Did you know section of Wikipedia's Main page in 2012.


 * ... that a tunnel (pictured) constructed in 1901 by the Beaver Dam Railroad of Tennessee was originally too low for trains to pass through?
 * ... that coal loading in the Tatanagar–Bilaspur section has helped South East Central Railway to be the largest freight handling zonal railway in India?
 * ... that the locomotive depot near West Auckland railway station was the only one to be both closed completely and later reopened by the London and North Eastern Railway?
 * ... that the Potomac, Fredericksburg and Piedmont Railroad cost less than US$1 million to build?


 * ... that after it was retired in 1945, Virginia and Truckee Railway Motor Car 22 (pictured) was a diner and office space until 1995?
 * ... that some of the breakdowns in the 2011 Singapore MRT disruptions were the worst in its operator SMRT's 24-year history?
 * ... that Neil Young's 2012 autobiography Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream reveals the musician's love for model trains?
 * ... that the Hackensack Drawbridge, once part of the "costliest railroad" in the United States, was abandoned after being struck by the collier Jagger Seam?


 * ... that 120 Polish miners died in the rubble when the newly built train tunnel collapsed along the Poprad River Gorge (pictured) in the Beskid Mountains?
 * ... that the tunnel beneath Parson's Lodge Battery originally carried a railway built to take stone to improve the Gibraltar Harbour?


 * ... that the Astoria Riverfront Trolley (pictured), which runs along the Columbia River in Astoria, Oregon, uses a 1913 trolley car acquired from an art museum in Texas?
 * ... that 50 new E-class Melbourne trams will be the first trams built in Australia in 12 years, with the last locally built Melbourne tram a B class built in 1994?


 * ... that at the Fort Smith Trolley Museum, in Arkansas, one can ride to the National Cemetery in Birney Safety Streetcar No. 224 (pictured), which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places?
 * ... that after operating for a single year, the Yokohama Dreamland Monorail spent 35 years awaiting repair or replacement before it was finally demolished?
 * ... that Israel plans to build a railway from the Red Sea city of Eilat to its Mediterranean ports that will compete with the Suez Canal?
 * ... that Nové Spojení, a series of railway tunnels and bridges built in Prague, won the transport category of the Czech Construction of the Year award in 2009?
 * ... that the Baltimore and Lehigh Railroad was split along state lines in 1894?
 * ... that in the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Porter subway station there are gloves attached to the escalator and embedded in the floor?
 * ... that Joshi's Museum of Miniature Railway was the first ever Indian museum to have scale models with digital control and simulated movements of trains?
 * ... that although the town of Saint Saëns provided 60,000 francs towards the construction of its own railway line, it was only enough to pay for the station?
 * ... that Great Eastern Railway engineers discovered chalk while digging the Narborough Railway Line?


 * ... that the Silver Star Cafe, in Port Hedland, Australia (pictured), is housed in a railway carriage built in 1939 for a midwest American streamliner, the General Pershing Zephyr?


 * ... that Edward Griffin Beckwith (pictured) was engaged in the Pacific Railroad Survey from 1853 to 1857, and that the First Transcontinental Railroad followed his recommended route?
 * ... that Princeton is the terminus of the Dinky, the shortest commuter rail line in the United States?
 * ... that until 1951, when the Seward Highway was finished, in order for travelers to drive on the Hope Highway, they had to transport their cars on the Alaska Railroad?
 * ... that Humboldt Bay Life-Saving Station has the only marine railways still in an operational Pacific Coast U.S. Coast Guard station?
 * ... that five people died at the Shimonoseki Station in Japan when a man drove a car onto the platform in a deliberate attack?
 * ... that naval architect William K. MacCurdy developed the Hydra-Cushion rail coupling at SRI International, significantly changing freight transportation?


 * ... that the opening of Eston railway station (pictured in 1902) enabled passengers to travel from Middlesbrough, England, to California in only 15 minutes?
 * ... that the Nevada–California–Oregon Railway Station in Lakeview, Oregon, was built in 1912 for $15,000?


 * ... that retired steam locomotive Illinois Central 790 (pictured) was frequently put back into service during floods because any amount of water made the diesel-electric locomotives short out?
 * ... that the Shapoorji Pallonji Group built the Mumbai Central railway station for ₹16 million in 1930 and was commended by the then Governor of Bombay for completing the project within 21 months?
 * ... that to house his collection of vintage steam locomotives the former CEO of Ohio Central RR built the Age of Steam Roundhouse, the first full-sized, working roundhouse built in the U.S. since 1951?
 * ... that after the O&C Lands were revested to the United States government, 18 Oregon counties received federal payments that may have ended in 2012?


 * ... that Charles Cruft (pictured), the founder of the Crufts dog show, invented special train carriages to carry dogs to his shows?
 * ... that Indian rail minister Dinesh Trivedi caused a change in the script of a James Bond action sequence when he insisted that people not be shown travelling on the roofs of trains, which is illegal?


 * ... that the Engaña Tunnel (pictured) was once the longest railway tunnel in Spain, but was never used?
 * ... that the Thomas Cook European Timetable, in publication since 1873, was called "the most revered and accurate railway reference in existence" by travel guide-book editor Stephen Birnbaum?
 * ... that the former Spa Road railway station, opened in 1836, was London's first railway terminus?
 * ... that the Helena train wreck of 1989 occurred during a record cold snap that ranked No. 4 on the NOAA's list of Montana's Top Weather/Water/Climate events of the 20th century?
 * ... that the Ingalls 4-S was the only locomotive ever built by Ingalls Shipbuilding?
 * ... that the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad was at the heart of a scandal that affected the Republican nomination for President in 1876?


 * ... that Varda Viaduct (pictured), a 98 m high railway viaduct in the Taurus Mountains, will be a shooting location of the next James Bond movie Skyfall?