Portal:Trains/Did you know/March 2021

March 2021

The former Camberwell station building in 2015

• ...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?

Detail view of CalTrain locomotive number 925 showing the name Jackie Speier applied to the side

• ...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?

Artist rendering of a proposed train for the California High-Speed Rail system

• ...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 miles per hour (355 km/h)?

Caricature of Patrick Calhoun in 1912

• ...that a 1912 California Railway Commission investigation found that Patrick Calhoun had concealed a $1.2 million ($40,693,333 in 2023 dollars) loss in the United Railroads of San Francisco, which led investors to force his resignation in 1913?

The former Caldwell station building in its new location in Verona in 1909

• ...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?

A grip and trailer on the Chicago City Railway cable car line pulling an electric streetcar circa 1905

• ...that in 1900 the three private railway companies operating 41 miles (66.0 km) of double-track routes of cable cars in Chicago made up the second largest cable car network in the United States?

Postcard photo of a Southern Pacific Railroad Mallet compound steam locomotive used for freight service circa 1910

• ...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?

Clifton RFC team 1874–75. Butterworth is at extreme right of picture

• ...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?

The Parcels Office, formerly railway post office, at Burwood station

• ...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?

Burlington Northern 9822 (ex-NP 6705C) with Train 26, the North Coast Limited, at Butte, MT, on December 20, 1970

• ...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?

Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad locomotive number 12 with a passenger train circa 1909

• ...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?

Oliver Bulleid in 1947

• ...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?

A 200 Series train at San José de Flores station in August 2013

• ...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?

A train of Silverliner II cars in May 2006

• ...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?

A train led by two Class 20 locomotives at Shrewsbury station in 1986

• ...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?

Locomotive De 2/2 in the Lokwelt Freilassing, Germany, in April 2009

• ...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?

Brynglas station as seen from aboard a train in 2009

• ...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?

A Brookville locomotive built for the Central California Traction Company

• ...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?