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In rail transport, a train is a vehicle or (more frequently) a string of vehicles capable of being moved along a continuous line of rails or other guideway for the purpose of conveying freight or passengers between points on a predetermined route. The train may be hauled or propelled by one or more vehicles designed exclusively for that purpose (locomotives) or may be driven by a number of motors incorporated in all or several of the vehicles (multiple units).

As of 2017^[update], there are approximately 1,051,767.605 kilometres (653,538.091 mi) of railway track in use worldwide. (World Bank)

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Pullman porters were men hired to work on the railroads as porters on sleeping cars. Starting shortly after the American Civil War, George Pullman sought out former slaves to work on his sleeper cars. Their job was to carry passenger's baggage, shine shoes, set up and maintain the sleeping berths, and serve passengers. Pullman porters served American railroads from the late 1860s until the Pullman Company ceased operations on December 31, 1968, though some sleeping-car porters continued working on cars operated by the railroads themselves and, beginning in 1971, Amtrak. Until the 1960s, Pullman porters were exclusively black, and have been widely credited with contributing to the development of the black middle class in America. Under the leadership of A. Philip Randolph, Pullman porters formed the first all-black union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1925. Formation of the union was instrumental in the advancement of the Civil Rights Movement.

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Restored Garratt steam locomotive no. 6029 hauls a load test train over the Queanbeyan River bridge in September 2014. The locomotive was originally built for the New South Wales Government Railways by Beyer, Peacock and Company in 1956.

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Did you know...

...that Brno hlavní nádraží is one of the oldest railway stations in the Czech Republic, having been in operation since 1839?
...that Brighton is the seventh-busiest station in England outside London, with over 17 million passenger entries and exits in 2018/19?
...that industries supplying materials to the railway, including John Browne's Brick and Tile Works, and George Hennet's iron works, were situated near Bridgwater railway station, which itself was the nearest station to the halfway point on the Bristol and Exeter Railway line?
...that the junction between the branch built in 1843 to Bricklayers Arms railway station and the main line was the first in the world to be controlled by a signal box?

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Selected anniversaries

March 3

1831 – George Pullman (pictured), American inventor and industrialist, and founder of the Pullman Company, is born (d. 1897).
1849 – The Pacific Railroad, a predecessor of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, is chartered in Missouri.
1859 – Construction begins on the first railway in northern India as tracks are laid between the present day locations of Allahabad and Kanpur.
1997 – Union Pacific Railroad reopens the former Western Pacific Railroad Feather River Canyon line in California after repairs are made from flooding that occurred in January.

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Trains News

December 31, 2020 – Following a complete restoration, Chesapeake and Ohio 1309, a 2-6-6-2 Mallet locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1949, the last steam locomotive built by Baldwin for the North American market, is operated under its own power for test runs. When returned to service on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, it will be the largest steam locomotive in regular scheduled service in the United States and take 2-8-0 No. 734’s place as the largest active steam locomotive in the state of Maryland. (Trains.com Newswire)

September 28, 2020 – Amtrak operates a test run using one of the 28 new Avelia Liberty trains manufactured by Alstom along the full length of the Northeast Corridor to Boston South Station. Previous test runs had occurred from Washington, D.C., only as far north as New Jersey and Delaware. Barring any problems, the trains are expected to enter regular service on the route in 2021. (Universal Hub)

June 13, 2020 – The Bay Area Rapid Transit Silicon Valley BART extension opened its stations in Milpitas and North San Jose. (San Jose Spotlight, SF Gate)

March 29, 2020 – The Wuhan Metro and other railway services in Wuhan partially restart after a 65 day shutdown to combat the effects of Covid-19. Six of the nine lines on the Wuhan Metro restarted operation on March 29, while the other 3 lines restarted in April. (CGTN.com, Reuters, China.org.cn)

March 22, 2020 – Indian Railways announces that it will suspend passenger service as part of the 2020 India coronavirus lockdown. (Metrosaga.com, Business Traveller.com)

December 19, 2019 – Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and rail company CSX Transportation announced a deal to expand rail service in Virginia including Amtrak Virginia service and the Virginia Railway Express, and doubling the Long Bridge across the Potomac River. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Washington Post)

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General images

The following are images from various train-related articles on Wikipedia.

The FS Frecciarossa 1000
Map of railways of the Iberian peninsula (1921)
Chinese CRH380A high speed train
Baltimore & Ohio electric engine
Catholic priests bless a railway engine in Calais, 1848
Variety of rolling stock in rail yard
The Old Patagonian Express
One power-car of the gas-turbine prototype "TGV 001"
Old type of steam-hauled freight train in 1964
The German Fliegender Hamburger
The TGV at 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph) in 2007
Ventspils narrow-gauge railway
Train in Arizona, with 20-, 40- and-53 foot containers double stacked in well cars
Development of the network up to 1860
Iron ore train in Mauritania
The First Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869.
First railway line by country
A replica of the Planet, which ran on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway from 1830
The Locomotion at Darlington Railway Centre and Museum
The original 0 series Shinkansen train. Introduced in 1964, it reached a speed of 210 km/h (130 mph).
Spanish high speed services
Minecart shown in De Re Metallica (1556). The guide pin fits in a groove between two wooden planks.
Mexican railway bridge, an example of engineering that overcame geographical barriers and allowed efficient movement of goods and people.
Metroliner trains developed in the U.S. for rapid service between New York and Washington, DC
Burlington Zephyr passenger train
A German high-speed line being built along a highway
Fond de Gras railway station, Luxembourg
L0 Series Shinkansen, unconventional world speed record holder (603 km/h or 374.7 mph)
Cast iron fishbelly edge rail manufactured by Outram at the Butterley Company ironworks for the Cromford and High Peak Railway (1831). These are smooth edgerails for wheels with flanges.
Károly Zipernowsky
A German high-speed line, with ballastless track
The 1909 map of railways in India
A container train passing through Jacksonville, Florida, with 53 ft (16.15 m) containers used for shipments within North America
The German DB Class 103
A map of the world showing regions by principal rail track gauge.
Mixed freight running downhill in Caliente, California
Friedrich List's concept for a German railway net from 1833
Bulk freight car scales at the MMA Mack Point yard, Searsport, Maine
The BB 9200 hauled Le Capitole at 200 km/h.
Peak Tram of Hong Kong
The Odakyu 3000 series SE
The Italian ETR 200
Russian railroads construction by year 1837–1989
A typical U.S. classification yard in Denver, Colorado. Intermodal terminal is on the right.
1907 map showing the projected Chicago–New York Electric Air Line Railroad
The TGV Sud-Est, at the Gare de Lyon, in 1982
E6 and E5 series Shinkansen models
Tren a las Nubes
Lichterfelde tram, 1882
The Tōkaidō Shinkansen high-speed line in Japan, with Mount Fuji in the background. The Tokaido Shinkansen was the world's first high-speed rail line.
Freight train on the Suihua–Jiamusi Railway in Yichun, Heilongjiang
A long grain train of the Union Pacific Railroad crossing a bridge in Washington state, United States
The German 1903 record holder
Polish locomotive Pm36-1 (140 km/h) dated 1937.
Rail Passengers in Great Britain from 1829–2019, showing the rapid rise in passenger numbers in the 19th century
V150 train, modified TGV, conventional world speed record holder (574.8 km/h or 357.2 mph)
High-speed line on a viaduct to avoid ramp and road-crossing, with a British Rail Class 373 from Eurostar in old livery crossing it.
The British Salamanca locomotive, 1812
Diagram of Priestman Oil Engine from The Steam engine and gas and oil engines (1900) by John Perry
Historic steam on the Rigi-bahnen
A replica of a "Little Eaton Tramway" wagon, the tracks are plateways.
Grand Trunk's Bonaventure Station, Montreal, 1900s
Freight train in Rostov Oblast, Russia
A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901
Coal awaiting shipment to an electric generating plant in Germany
The Spanish AVE AVE Class 102 "Pato" (duck)
A replica of Trevithick's engine at the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea
Reisszug, as it appears today
Map of first Mexican rail line between Veracruz and Mexico City
0-Series Shinkansen, introduced in 1964, triggered the intercity train travel boom.
A container train in Germany
Cepu Forest Railway – Du Croo & Brauns locomotive
Taiwan High Speed Rail, derived from the Shinkansen
Map of Russian railroads in 1916
The German ICE 1
The Acela Express
Freight trains wait for departure in Zhengzhou, China
Swiss & German co-production: world's first functional diesel–electric railcar 1914
The Korean-developed KTX Sancheon
A maglev train on the Yamanashi Test Track, November 2005
The French CC 7100, 1955 record holder