Portal:Trains/Did you know/November 2016

November 2016

ALP-45DP locomotives for NJT and AMT on display in Germany in 2011

• ...that each of the two Caterpillar 3512HD engine systems installed in the ALP-45DP electro-diesel locomotives built for New Jersey Transit and Agence métropolitaine de transport can be operated independently in case of failure, or under low load?

The platforms of Aldgate East station in 2014

• ...that because Aldgate East tube station was built after concrete had started to be used as a construction material, the platforms have a high headroom, which combined with the late-1930s style of tiling, typical of the London Passenger Transport Board stations, gives the platform area an airy and welcoming appearance?

Tracks of the Alamein Line at Alamein Station in 2004

• ...that the Alamein suburban electric line in Melbourne has only two level crossings, one of which carries tram tracks, one of three such tram/train crossings in Melbourne?

An MTR Airport Express train at Airport Station in September 2007

• ...that Airport station, which opened in July 1998 on the Airport Express of Hong Kong's MTR, is the westernmost railway station in Hong Kong?

The 2013 CTA Holiday Train

• ...that the Chicago Transit Authority Holiday Train tradition began in 1992 when CTA employees used an 'L' train to deliver food to various charities around the city with a sign posted on the front that read "Seasons Greeting from the CTA"?

Locomotive 148 preserved in the Bulgarian National Transport Museum at Ruse

• ...that Bulgarian State Railways locomotives 142-150, built in 1868 were the only locomotives built in the United Kingdom specifically for service in Bulgaria?

A Manchester Metrolink tram on the Mersey viaduct

• ...that Manchester Metrolink's Airport Line, part of phase three of the system's expansion, opened on 3 November 2014, more than one year early?

AEG E60 locomotive built circa 1930 preserved in Koblenz

• ...that AEG was involved in the development and manufacture of the electrical parts of almost all German electric locomotive series and contributed to the introduction of electrical power in German railways?

Photo of the original Adler locomotive circa 1850

• ...that although Adler, built in 1835, is often cited as the very first locomotive used by a railway company on German soil, a serviceable steam locomotive was designed by the Royal Prussian Steelworks in Berlin as early as 1816?

SEPTA 2308, the last operating ALP-44 at the Fern Rock Transportation Center in 2008

• ...that as of 2016, only one of the 33 ALP-44 electric locomotives built by Asea Brown Boveri throughout the 1990s, SEPTA number 2308, remains in regular service?

SP 4451 leading Peninsula Commute #149 in 1979

• ...that Southern Pacific Railroad's (SP) SD9 diesel locomotives 4450 and 4451 were the only two SD9s out of 150 owned by SP to retain their steam generators through SP's General Rehabilitation and Improvement Program rebuilds?

SAR Class 2C number 11 circa 1910

• ...that the two South African Railways Class 2C 4-6-2 steam locomotives were given their class designation after their popular Hendrie C nickname and SAR subsequently never used the 2A and 2B classifications?

3237 in preservation in 2007

• ...that in its 78 years of revenue service for the New South Wales Government Railways, from 1892 to 1971, 4-6-0 steam locomotive 3237 ran a total of 2,225,224 miles (3,581,151 km)?

PRR 4876 preserved at the Baltimore Railroad Museum in 2008

• ...that following the 1953 Pennsylvania Railroad train wreck, NBC News was able to broadcast live from Union Station in Washington, D.C., just 67 minutes after the wreck occurred, which was then one of the fastest live nationwide broadcasts ever made?

A westbound streetcar crosses the Queen Street Viaduct over the Don River in 2011

• ...that at 24.8 kilometres (15.4 mi), the 501 Queen route is the longest surface route operated by the Toronto Transit Commission, the longest streetcar route operating in North America and one of the longest streetcar routes operating in the world?

A former JR 103 series EMU on a Depok Express in Indonesia in 2007

• ...that four former JR East 103 series 4-car units (Musashino Line sets KeYo 20, 21, 22, and 27) were shipped to Indonesia in 2004 to operate on the KRL Jabotabek system in Jakarta?

Northbound local platform and tracks of the IRT 34th Street–Penn Station stop in 2006

• ...that the Interborough Rapid Transit Company's 34th Street–Penn Station station was built as part of an extension that changed the system from an S-shaped line to an H-shaped network with two parallel lines and a shuttle at 42nd Street connecting them?

The 25 de Abril Bridge in 2005

• ...that despite its resemblance to the Golden Gate Bridge, the 25 de Abril Bridge, which carries long distance rail tracks and a highway over the Tagus River in Portugal, was built by the American Bridge Company, the builder of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, which carried subway tracks and a highway?

An R36 WF 7 local northbound at 33rd Street–Rawson Street

• ...that the 7 was the last New York City Subway service to run using "Redbird" cars, and the 7's fleet consisted entirely of R33/36 WF Redbird cars until December 2001?

A concept painting showing a 5AT locomotive in 2011

• ...that work on the 5AT Advanced Technology Steam Locomotive project to build a new 4-6-0 steam locomotive for use in Great Britain was suspended in March 2012 due to the failure to raise the finance needed to complete the detail design and construction of the locomotive?

A scale model of Locomotive No. 1, the first locomotive built in Scotland

• ...that several early railways in Scotland were built to 4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm) gauge, which came to be known as Scotch gauge, but this gauge was outlawed in Great Britain by law in 1846?