Portal:Trains/Did you know/March 2021

March 2021

 * ...that Camberwell station was mentioned in the 1956 film Private's Progress as a good place to get off a train and avoid paying a fare, despite the fact that it had closed nearly 40 years before the film was set?


 * ...that one of the new locomotives used in Caltrain Express service was named "Jackie Speier" in honor of Congresswoman Jackie Speier who is credited with securing the funding for the service?


 * ...that the California High-Speed Rail system plans to eventually operate on dedicated, grade-separated tracks for the entirety of its route between San Jose and Burbank with speeds of up to 220 mph?


 * ...that a 1912 California Railway Commission investigation found that Patrick Calhoun had concealed a $1.2 million ($0 in dollars) loss in the United Railroads of San Francisco, which led investors to force his resignation in 1913?


 * ...that the original Caldwell station building, completed in 1891, was moved to nearby Verona, New Jersey, to replace the Verona station building which was destroyed by fire in 1905?


 * ...that in 1900 the three private railway companies operating 41 mi of double-track routes of cable cars in Chicago made up the second largest cable car network in the United States?


 * ...that Southern Pacific Railroad's early cab forward steam locomotives placed the cab at the front by the simple expedient of turning the entire locomotive?


 * ...that Alexander Kaye Butterworth, who would become General Manager of the North Eastern Railway and also chairman of the Railway Executive during the First World War, played rackets and rugby while at school as well as tennis at Wimbledon in 1880?


 * ...that the Post & Telegraph Office built in 1886 as part of Burwood railway station in Sydney, Australia, and still standing today, is only about one quarter of its original size?


 * ...that from its formation in 1970, Burlington Northern Railroad was the last "new" Class I railroad in the United States to operate its own passenger trains before Amtrak began operating in May 1971?


 * ...that following a boiler explosion in 1910, the bell from Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad's 4-6-0 steam locomotive number 12 was saved for use at the schoolhouse at Ludlow, California?


 * ...that in addition to designing the Merchant Navy class of 4-6-2 steam locomotives for Southern Railway (SR), Oliver Bulleid played a major role in the electrification of the SR, including the body design for the CC1 and CC2 electric locomotives?


 * ...that Buenos Aires Underground's 200 Series cars introduced in 2013 replaced the La Brugeoise cars that were introduced in 100 years earlier in 1913?


 * ...that the funds for the Pennsylvania and Reading Railroads to purchase the Budd Silverliner cars in the 1960s were supplied by state and local authorities to ensure that Philadelphia-area commuter rail services were maintained?


 * ...that since the British Rail Class 20 diesel locomotives were built with a single cab design, it was common to find two of them paired together with their cabs at opposite ends to allow the driver to more clearly see the line ahead of the train?


 * ...that the Burgdorf Thun Bahn E2E electric locomotives built in 1899 are the oldest three phase locomotives designed for full service operation that have been preserved?


 * ...that the station building and platform at Brynglas railway station are provided on the north side of the track, as the railway's carriages have been modified to have doors only on this side?


 * ...that Brookville Equipment Corporation, which now manufactures diesel locomotives and streetcars, began with production of road–rail vehicles in 1918 by installing flanged railroad wheels on Ford trucks?