Portal:Trains/Did you know/October 2013

October 2013

 * ...that the new Ozark State Zephyr service was christened by Mollie Stark, daughter of Governor-elect Lloyd C. Stark, who rode the new train from St. Louis to Kansas City, Missouri, prior to it entering revenue service in 1936 on a combined Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and Alton Railroad route?


 * ...that in the mid-1990s, all four of the Odakyu Electric Railway 7000 series LSE trains introduced in 1980 on Hakone, Super Hakone and Sagami Romancecar passenger train services in Japan were refurbished and repainted into a new livery of wine red and white but by 2012 the two trains remaining in service had been repainted back to their original orange vermilion, grey, and white livery?


 * ...that having multiple engines instead of a single prime mover, a design referred to as a "Genset," the 3GS21B diesel locomotive built by National Railway Equipment is able to reduce overall diesel emissions and improve fuel efficiency?


 * ...that there were four 90-degree diamond crossings at Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, served by the Kōbe Line and the Imazu Line until they were removed in 1984 to build the new station building?


 * ...that many of the New Zealand British Rail Mark 2 carriages, rebuilt/refurbished and regauged passenger cars for use in New Zealand, replaced 56-foot carriages, some of which had been in use for almost 70 years?


 * ...that by 1975, after about ¥34.5 billion had been spent, construction of the Nanpō Freight Line in Japan was 90% complete when construction was suspended, but since 2002 about ¥30 billion has been spent removing portions of the unused line's structure?


 * ...that the track and platform layout of Ise-Nakagawa Station, in Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture, Japan, enables trains on Tracks 2, 3, 4 and 5 to open doors on the both sides of the trains for easy transfer among the three connecting major lines at this station?


 * ...that upon its completion in 2014, the Mumbai Monorail under construction in Mumbai, India, as part of a major expansion of public transport in Mumbai, will be the first monorail in India since the Kundala Valley Railway and Patiala State Monorail Trainways were closed in the 1920s?


 * ...that Miyoshi Station in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, now one of the major central region stations in the Chūgoku region of the island of Honshū, was known for a long time as (Bingo) Tōkaichi Station, a name that was derived from the former Tōkaichi-chō, which is found between the former Miyoshi-chō and Futago-chō?


 * ...that the first train to depart from the Milwaukee Road Depot in Tacoma, Washington, was the eastbound Olympian Hiawatha on April 20, 1954, and the station was closed with the discontinuance of the same service on May 22, 1961?


 * ...that the origins of Melbourne tram route 5 in Australia lie in separate tram lines, namely an electric line from Melbourne University to Queensberry Street, a cable tram from Queensberry Street to St Kilda Junction and a number of electric lines from St Kilda Junction to Burke Road?


 * ...that a power station at Lots Road was originally planned by the Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway (now part of the London Underground Piccadilly line) in 1897 but it wasn't built until after the line was sold in 1901 to Charles Yerkes' Metropolitan District Electric Traction Company (MDR) so the new Lots Road Power Station could provide power to the MDR?


 * ...that Limerick Junction, which originally opened in 1848, is the only remaining railway junction in Ireland where two lines, the Dublin-Cork main line and the line from Limerick to Waterford, cross at a near-90-degree angle?


 * ...that phase 1 of NJ Transit's Lackawanna Cut-Off construction project in New Jersey is scheduled to be completed in 2016 with twelve daily Midtown Direct trains operating between Andover and New York City, bringing passenger trains back to a line that was abandoned in 1983?


 * ...that the 0.2 km Kurama-dera Cable funicular railway climbing Mount Kurama to serve the Kurama-dera Buddhist temple in Sakyō, Kyoto, Japan, is not only the shortest line in the country but also the only railway in Japan that is operated by a religious institution (宗教法人)?


 * ...that because Komaba-Tōdaimae Station, on the Keio Inokashira Line in Meguro, Tokyo, Japan, is located on a slope, the ticket gate at the western entrance is located on ground level, below the level of the platform, and the gate at eastern entrance is located in an above-track station building, higher than the platforms?


 * ...that Kitakinki Tango Railway, which operates the Miyafuku Line in Kyoto Prefecture and the Miyazu Line in Kyoto and Hyōgo Prefectures, Japan, was originally incorporated in 1982 as Miyafuku Railway Corporation to be the main contractor to build and subsequently operate the Miyafuku Line?


 * ...that phase 2 of the Midland Metro will see the former Brettell Lane railway station in England become part of the local tram network with the line reopening between Walsall and Stourbridge, via Dudley Port railway station, Dudley railway station and the Merry Hill Shopping Centre for trams which will share the line with freight trains?