Portal:Trains/Did you know/June 2015

June 2015

The Chard Central station building in 2006

• ...that although the two Chard Branch Lines built in the 1860s in South West England connected in Chard, each branch had its own Chard passenger station at first?

Glasgow and Milngavie Junction Railway system map in 1863

• ...that a demonstration section of inventor George Bennie's overhead express passenger railway system known as the Bennie Railplane was built above a dormant industrial siding that branched from the Glasgow and Milngavie Junction Railway in Scotland?

A GAIA locomotive in 2008

• ...that the GAIA locomotives introduced in 1962 in Argentina were the first locomotives to be painted in Ferrocarriles Argentinos corporate colors of bordeaux, yellow and red?

A Fiat-Materfer train on the Buenos Aires Metro at Plaza de Mayo station in 2014

• ...that the Fiat-Materfer trains introduced on the Buenos Aires Metro in the 1980s were designed to become a standard train type, accommodating the 1100 V electrification on Line A and the 1500 V electrification on the rest of the system?

Estação Júlio Prestes in 2013

• ...that Estação Júlio Prestes, which still serves as a station for Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos Line 8 trains, is also a cultural arts center, Centro Cultural Júlio Prestes, with a performance space, Sala São Paulo, and administrative offices for state-run arts programs?

Postcard view of the Erie Railroad's Rochester station in 1908

• ...that the Erie Railroad Depot in Rochester, New York, was one of the Erie Railroad's few electrified railroad stations, and was one of the first stations to provide electric commuter services in 1907?

Diridon station in 2005

• ...that the passenger platform at Diridon Station in San Jose, California, was featured in the opening scene of Alfred Hitchcock's film Marnie (1964) as representing the Hartford, Connecticut, train station?

The preserved experimental Class 951 shinkansen car 951-1 at Hikari Plaza, Kokubunji in Tokyo in 1997

• ...that in 1972 the experimental Class 951 Shinkansen recorded a world speed record of 286 km/h (178 mph) on the Sanyo Shinkansen between Himeji and Nishi-Akashi, Japan, breaking the previous record of 256 km/h (159 mph) set by the Class 1000 Shinkansen?

Carmel Beach Railway Station in 2009

• ...that a few days after a Hezbollah Katyusha rocket hit a train depot in Haifa on July 16, 2006, Carmel Beach Railway Station became the northernmost Israel Railways station to operate during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict?

The Benalla station building in 2008

• ...that the 241.7-metre long (793 ft) iron plate-girder railway bridge over the Broken River near Benalla railway station was the longest metal girder bridge in Australia at the time of construction in the 1870s?

An Astra Dome car on the City of Los Angeles train in 1955

• ...that after Union Pacific Railroad exited the passenger business in 1971, Auto-Train Corporation purchased most of the fleet of Astra Dome cars and operated them for an additional ten years?

A MED set arriving at Lisburn railway station in May 1976

• ...that the three-car Ulster Transport Authority Multi-Engined Diesel trains introduced in 1952 in Northern Ireland proved popular enough that a fourth car and engines with higher power capacities were added beginning in 1956?

Tokyo Freight Terminal, just north of Haneda Airport, in 2010

• ...that although both JR and the Tokyo government have indicated that improved Haneda Airport access is a high priority, JR has indicated that the connection and necessary upgrades to the Tōkaidō Freight Line will take around ten years to complete and are unlikely to be completely ready for the 2020 Summer Olympics?

A Train Navette Rapide at Rabat-Ville railway station in 2008

• ...that in 2010 the Train Navette Rapide service connecting Casablanca and Kenitra, Morocco, carried over 15 million passengers, half of the entire ONCF traffic, with 3 million season-ticket holders?

A TecnoTren railbus in 2011

• ...that railbuses built by TecnoTren use readily available parts from the Argentine automotive industry, such as the 1.7-litre engine from a Fiat Duna?

Track maintenance equipment operated by SŽDC

• ...that in August 2010 SŽDC was ordered to stop work on all railway infrastructure projects as part of broader Czech government austerity measures, but in September 2010 works were revived for all projects whose contractors agreed to grant a discount against the tender price?

Overall view of Beijing South station in 2010

• ...that as the terminus for high-speed trains on the Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Rail and the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, Beijing South Railway Station in China has become the city's largest station and is one of the largest stations in Asia?

South African Railways number 1756 in 1979

• ...that about six years after the South African Railways Class 14B 4-8-2 locomotives were commissioned, a report claimed that the loss of haulage power and increased water and coal consumption due to the lack of superheaters on these locomotives represented a loss to the SAR of approximately £100,000?

The Sibelius at Saint Petersburg in 2007

• ...that the daily Sibelius passenger train service operated by VR between Helsinki, Finland, and St. Petersburg, Russia, reduced travel times between its endpoints by over an hour?