Portal:Trains/Did you know/August 2017

August 2017

A Fichtelbergbahn locomotive taking on water at Cranzahl station in February 2003

• ...that the preserved 750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in) gauge Fichtelberg Railway has become popular among winter sports enthusiasts because it connects the standard gauge Deutsche Bahn network at Cranzahl to the ski resort of Oberwiesenthal, the highest town in Germany?

The extant siding at Ferryhill in 2007

• ...that Clarence Railway's goods yard at Ferryhill railway station was one of the busiest in Europe from the 1920s to the 1950s?

Cuban sugar cane train in 1901

• ...that the first steam railway line in Latin America, later part of Ferrocarriles de Cuba, opened before the first line in Spain?

A Type 8 trolley at Fenway station in May 2015

• ...that Fenway is not the nearest station to Fenway?

A footpath level crossing at Felixstowe North terminal in 2013

• ...that at the port end of the Felixstowe branch line in England it is possible to follow part of the original 1877 route to the Port of Felixstowe then over numerous level crossings to the North Freightliner Terminal and then back to Trimley?

New EMU cars for the FasTracks projects on display in 2014

• ...that the FasTracks public transportation expansion plan under construction in metropolitan Denver is estimated to have injected $3 billion into the local economy from 2005 to 2013 and is responsible for creating 12,000 direct full-time jobs since 2005?

An MBTA train at Morton Street station in 2016

• ...that despite frequent service cancellations, a June 2016 count showed that ridership on MBTA Commuter Rail's Fairmount Line in Boston had nearly tripled from 2012?

The platforms and tracks at Expo/Vermont station

• ...that several Los Angeles Metro Rail Expo Line stations are built in the same location as former Pacific Electric Santa Monica Air Line stations?

Expo '74 train near Wenatchee

• ...that with the addition of the Expo '74 to the Empire Builder and North Coast Hiawatha, Amtrak provided thrice-daily service between Seattle and Spokane, the highest level seen since Amtrak's formation and unmatched since?

An Exmouth to Paignton train stops at Exeter St Thomas to pick up commuters in 2008

• ...that in 1848, Exeter St Thomas station was worked by atmospheric trains, but since there was no engine house at the station, the driver had to hold the train on its brakes against the pressure in the pipes while it was stopped there?

Trains of South West Trains and Great Western Railway at Exeter Central station in 2014

• ...that although Exeter Central is the most centrally located of the railway stations in the City of Exeter, St Davids is the city's main station serving the principal fast services to London?

Everett station in 1918

• ...that Everett station on the MBTA Orange Line was intended to be a temporary station so was constructed of wood like a house rather than like a permanent transit station?

Alfred Ilg, founder of the Ethio-Djibouti Railways, and his family at Dire Diwa station before 1906

• ...that although the metre gauge Ethio-Djibouti Railways line has been superseded and replaced by the standard gauge Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway, much of the original infrastructure is visible on satellite imagery, including two trains at Adigale station?

Preserved 141 TB 407 at Longueville shed in 2011

• ...that Chemins de fer de l'Est's série 11s 2-8-2T steam locomotives introduced in 1911 made up the railway's largest tank locomotive class and maintained the suburban service for Eastern Paris until the electrification of the line in 1962?

Alfred Escher, circa 1875

• ...that Alfred Escher served as chairman of Gotthardbahn-Gesellschaft (Gotthard Railway Company) from its founding in 1871 to 1878, but was not invited to the tunnel hole-through ceremony of the Gotthard Tunnel in 1880?

Map of the New York & Erie Rail Road line in 1834

• ...that the New York & Erie Rail Road, an early predecessor of Erie Railroad, was built with 6 ft (1,829 mm) wide gauge track, as it was believed to be a superior technology to standard gauge, providing more stability?

The platforms of Epping station in 2014

• ...that the Solid State Interlocking system installed at Epping railway station in 1989 was the first fully computerised interlocking system in Melbourne?

Epes Randolph

• ...that the day after the obituary of Epes Randolph, president of Southern Pacific Railroad of Mexico and Arizona Eastern Railway, was published, the Retail Merchant's Association and the Tucson Chamber of Commerce passed resolutions requesting all members to close at 4 PM for funeral services scheduled at 5?

EP10-007 at the front of a passenger train in 2010

• ...that RŽD ordered only twelve EP10 electric locomotives and that in 2006 RŽD chief engineer Valentin Gapanovich called the type a не слишком перспективный локомотив (English: not very promising locomotive)?

"Peace Train" stopped at Portadown in 1989

• ...that the frequent bomb threats during the Troubles against the Enterprise train service between Belfast and Dublin led to the establishment of the Peace Train Organisation in 1989?

Amtrak's 'Empire Builder' at St. Paul, MN, in 2010

• ...that Amtrak adjusted the Empire Builder's schedule in 2014 to combat delays that were caused by an abundance of BNSF Railway oil and grain trains in Montana and North Dakota?

A military train with a railway-mounted canon at Bourne Park tunnel in 1941

• ...that while building the Elham Valley Railway, South Eastern Railway reluctantly agreed to build Bourne Park tunnel in the 1880s instead of two bridges due to the objections of Matthew Bell who refused to see trains pass by the back of his mansion?

A New Haven EP-1 class electric locomotive in 1907

• ...that while single-phase AC railroad electrification has become commonplace, its use for the electrification of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad in 1907 was unprecedented at the time?

Edinburgh Waverley station as seen from the east in 2016

• ...that one of the main stone piers of the North Bridge in Edinburgh, Scotland, is situated and hidden within the central booking hall of Edinburgh Waverley railway station?