Portal:Trains/Did you know/September 2018

September 2018

The Class G 1 locomotive, "Landwührden"

• ...that although Belpaire in Belgium was developing the same idea independently, the first use of fluted I-section steel for connecting rods on steam locomotives was in 1867 in Oldenburg on the G1 Class 0-4-0s?

Several tracks at Old Oak Common depot in 2007

• ...that when it opened in 1906, Great Western Railway's Old Oak Common TMD was the largest depot on the entire Great Western system?

A CapeFLYER train at Hyannis station in 2013

• ...that the CapeFLYER operating on MBTA Commuter Rail's Old Colony Lines is the first regular passenger service to Cape Cod from Boston since the 1960s?

Odakyu 5000 series EMU near Mukōgaoka-Yūen Station in 2006

• ...that the name of Odakyu Electric Railway, an abbreviation of Odawara Kyūkō Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha, was made popular by the title song of the 1929 movie Tokyo Kōshinkyoku?

A portion of the former Pacific Electric Railroad right of way that is planned for use as the site of the Harbor Transit Center

• ...that the proposed OC Streetcar line in Santa Ana and Garden Grove, California, will use a portion of the former Pacific Electric West Santa Ana Branch right-of-way?

Builders photo circa 1899 of B class 4-8-0 steam locomotive, NZR number 178

• ...that the B class 4-8-0 steam locomotives built for New Zealand's national rail network beginning in 1899 proved so successful that most of the class were still averaging 20,000 miles (32,000 km) in service in the 1950s?

NX Bridge in 2010

• ...that due to its use as a filming location for Annie, the NX Bridge built by Erie Railroad in New Jersey is sometimes referred to as the 'Annie Bridge' by local residents?

An NSB Class 69 train at Lørenskog Station in 2006

• ...that the last series of NSB Class 69 electric multiple unit trains was delivered in 1993 as part of the stock for the 1994 Winter Olympics?

Northern Rail number 323224 at Alderley Edge station in 2015

• ...that the English train operating company Northern Rail operated the most stations of any train operating company in the United Kingdom?

Amtrak's North Coast Hiawatha at Missoula in July 1976

• ...that the preserved and NRHP-listed Northern Pacific Railroad Depot in Missoula, Montana, is the third depot built in Missoula by the Northern Pacific Railway?

A Northeast Regional train crosses the James River near Lynchburg in 2011

• ...that in the first month of service for Amtrak's Northeast Regional extension into Virginia in 2010, ridership doubled expectations?

Southbound train emerging into Roade cutting having climbed the incline on the Northampton loop line in June 2011

• ...that the Northampton loop, opened by London and North Western Railway in 1881, doubled capacity on the line from Roade to Rugby without the expense of widening Kilsby Tunnel?

An MBTA train at North Scituate station in April 2013

• ...that with 532 inbound riders on an average weekday, North Scituate is the second-busiest station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Greenbush Line?

North Quincy station in January 2016

• ...that MBTA Subway's North Quincy station is the only one of the four Red Line stations in Quincy not located at a former Old Colony Railroad station site?

A Class 378 "Capitalstar" n the North London line at Canonbury in June 2010

• ...that the North London line between Richmond and North Woolwich derives from five connecting sections which were opened over 25 years from 1846?

North Acton station with the former New North Main Line visible

• ...that the 1903 joint "New North Main Line" (NNML; the present day Acton–Northolt line) of the Great Central and Great Western can still be seen at North Acton tube station?

N&W 2156 on display at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis in 2008

• ...that N&W's improved Y5/Y6 classes of 2-8-8-2 steam locomotives, including the preserved 2156, could pull trains at speeds up to 50 mph (80 km/h) while other locomotives of similar class, such as Virginian's AE class 2-10-10-2s, could only reach 8 miles per hour (13 km/h)?

Tourists arrive at a station on a norry in Battambang, Cambodia, in December 2010

• ...that although originally propelled by hand using punt poles, propulsion for a norry can be provided by small gas engine with belt drive direct to the rear axle, delivering top speeds of 40 km/h (25 mph) or more?

Holt station on the North Norfolk Railway in 2007

• ...that the proposed route of the Norfolk Orbital Railway would include track and stations on two heritage railways, the Mid-Norfolk Railway and the North Norfolk Railway?

N&W 1218 pulling an excursion train in 1988

• ...that during its excursion train service in the 1980s, the preserved Norfolk and Western Railway Class A 2-6-6-4 number 1218 was the most powerful operational steam locomotive in the world?

A Superpacific leading the Fleche d'Or in Paris circa 1926

• ...that although the Chemins de Fer du Nord 3.1201 to 3.1290 class of 4-6-2 "Superpacific" steam locomotives were designed as four cylinder compounds, with superheating, and a narrow 3-metre long (9 ft 10 in) firebox, they were not equipped with mechanical stokers?

The still active upper level of Ninth Avenue station

• ...that the lower level of New York City Subway's Ninth Avenue station has not been used since 1975 except for filming of the original Crocodile Dundee movie?

The first Night Tube train arrives at Pimlico station on August 20, 2016

• ...that strikes over wage disagreements for proposed Night Tube services on London Underground and Overground lines led to a complete Underground system shutdown on August 6, 2015?

Map showing Boxmoor station location with the Nickey line veering off to the north

• ...that initially the Nickey line's connection to Boxmoor (today's Hemel Hempstead railway station on the West Coast Main Line) was via an awkward turntable arrangement?

An NI Railways train at Helen's Bay station in 2009

• ...that NI Railways is the only commercial non-heritage passenger operator in the United Kingdom to operate a vertical integration model, with responsibility of all aspects of the network including running trains, maintaining rolling stock and infrastructure, and pricing?

1901 Baldwin builder's photo of Zululand Railway number 2, later an NGR Class I locomotive

• ...that the Zululand Railway 2-6-0 locomotives that were later classified by Natal Government Railways as Class I were built to American specifications and then current narrow-gauge practice except for their Johnston link-and-pin couplers and brake gear?

The tracks and footbridge of Newport railway station viewed from the Clytha Road bridge in 2011

• ...that the 2007 redevelopment at Newport railway station in Wales did not allow for disabled access, resulting in station staff using a locally contracted taxi firm to move some passengers from one side of the station to the other?