Portal:Trains/Did you know/September 2011

September 2011

 * ...that Cal State San Marcos station, situated on an entirely new alignment of the San Diego Northern Railway's Escondido Branch that crosses over State Route 78 to serve California State University, San Marcos, is the only elevated station along the North County Transit District's Sprinter light rail line?


 * ...that following the construction of Busan–Gimhae Light Rail Transit, a 23.92 km long light rail transit system between the cities of Busan and Gimhae in South Korea, the system's opening was delayed for almost two months due to noise abatement issues?


 * ...that the depots (garages) at Brisbane Tramway Museum in Australia are composed of bays from the former Ipswich Road tram depot, the museum's direct current substation was built from equipment retrieved from former Brisbane tramway substations and the museum's very short section of track was constructed from recovered rails from the Brisbane tramway?


 * ...that Taipei Metro's Blue Line, a high-capacity rapid transit line, comprises three lines – the Nangang Line, the Banqiao Line, and the Tucheng Line – that are divided at Ximen Station and Fuzhong Station, and offer through traffic to one another?


 * ...that Messe Nord/ICC station on the S-Bahn in Berlin, Germany, originally opened in 1916 as Witzleben but then was out of use between 1980 and 1993 owing to the cessation of services on the route it served, finally reopening in 1993 and then receiving its current name in 2002?


 * ...that only three of the many gauge Class 10-12-D 4-6-0 pannier tank steam locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works (USA) for the British War Department Light Railways for service in France during World War I are known to be preserved, including one each for the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway and Welsh Highland Railway in the United Kingdom and one on the Dreamworld Railway in Coomera, Queensland, Australia?


 * ...that although the current Awaji Station at the intersection of Hankyu Railway's Senri and Kyoto lines in Higashiyodogawa-ku, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, is currently a ground-level station, there are plans to rebuild the station as an elevated station by 2021?


 * ...that Ashfield railway station on the Midland Line in Perth, Western Australia, was originally opened as a signal box named Cresco in 1930, with passenger facilities not provided until 1954?


 * ...that the Arco passenger trains operated by Renfe in Spain on the Barcelona–Málaga –Sevilla–Badajoz–Almería–Granada line consist of refurbished B11x-10200 series trains with bogies rebuilt by CAF that allow the trains to operate at speeds up to 220 km/h?


 * ...that Anesrif, a transport business created in 2005 by the government of Algeria to expand and modernise the Algerian railway system, is developing the High Plateau line as well as a railway from Tlemcen to the Moroccan border at Akid Abbas, a southern loop line and the modernisation and doubling of several existing lines?


 * ...that after selling his interest in the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, a company which he helped found in 1851 that controlled the shipping routes of steamers, railroads, and freight lines in Washington and Oregon, John C. Ainsworth founded the Ainsworth National Bank in Portland and the Central Bank of Oakland in California?


 * ...that on the Zagreb Tramway in Croatia, a 116 km long metre gauge tram system whose origins can be traced to the first horsecar line in the city in 1891, almost every station serves at least two routes?


 * ...that Yunoki Station in Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, was established as Magarikane Station in 1908, then renamed to Gokoku Jinjamae Station in 1942 due to its proximity to the Shizuoka Prefectural Gokoku Jinja, a Shinto shrine to the war dead, and finally given its present name after World War II?


 * ...that prior to 2004, all long-distance trains serving Seoul, South Korea, terminated at the nearby Seoul Station, but with the opening of the Korea Train Express (KTX), Yongsan Station took over some of Seoul's services and is now the terminus for high-speed and long-distance trains on a number of railway lines?


 * ...that Yarra Trams in Melbourne, Australia, operates the biggest tram network in the world with over 249 km of double track, over 1770 tram stops and 28 tram routes including Melbourne's free City Circle Tram?


 * ...that Y Griega Station, which opened in 1991 on Line 1 of the Monterrey Metro in the Acero neighborhood of Monterrey, Mexico, was named after the Y-junction that Avenues Colón and Madero make?


 * ...that in conjunction with the new Wong Chuk Hang Station on the MTR South Island Line in Hong Kong construction work also includes a new depot that will be underground and completely sealed, to avoid noise pollution to surrounding areas, for service and maintenance of South Island Line trains?


 * ...that the 8 mi long White Top Railway in Virginia, United States, was created to protect the Hassinger Lumber Company's rail operations at points of intersection with the Virginia-Carolina Railway from possible condemnation for the V-C's own, expanding line?


 * ...that due to their prevalence before the grouping of 1923 with classes like the LNWR Webb Coal Tank and afterwards with classes like the GWR 5600 Class, the Welsh 0-6-2T locomotives could well be described as the standard steam locomotive types of the railways of South Wales?


 * ...that Warnbro railway station, which opened in 2007 as part of the New MetroRail Southern Suburbs Railway project for Transperth in Australia, is the southernmost station in Perth's metropolitan area?


 * ...that Wadō-Kuroya Station on the Chichibu Railway Main Line in Japan originally opened as Kuroya Station in 1914 but was renamed Wadō-Kuroya in 2008?


 * ...that of the Volgograd Metrotram line shares a surface-level right-of-way with a previously constructed railway line for 10.2 km while the three downtown stations were built underground over a total length of 3.3 km, meeting design standards consistent with existing Russian metro systems?


 * ...that Val de Fontenay station, an interchange station between RER's A and E lines in Paris, France, is the busiest station on the A line in terms of trains, being served by every train running on the line?


 * ...that following the success in Bilbao of the first iteration of Urbos trams, built by CAF in Spain, subsequent versions featuring supercapacitors, allowing brief operation without an external electrical supply, have been ordered for use on systems throughout Europe?


 * ...that the South African Railways' Class 5E1, Series 2 electric locomotives built in the 1960s by Union Carriage & Wagon were the first electric locomotives to be produced in quantity in South Africa?


 * ...that the UGL Rail C44aci class diesel-electric locomotive was designed to meet a tender issued by Pacific National, in Australia, who required a locomotive to match the performance of their existing 90 class units when hauling heavy coal traffic, while still having the ability to work high speed intermodal freight services, with the change between applications to be simple?