Portal:Trains/Did you know/July 2012

July 2012

• ...that railway abandonments in the United States are controlled under Title 49, Chapter 10, Part 1152, of the Code of Federal Regulations, and are administered by the Surface Transportation Board, which prescribes various timeframes to be allotted in order for other interested parties to proffer their requests regarding the abandonment, including conversion to rail trails, sale to private parties, or subsequent operation by other railroad entities?

• ...that some early monorail systems, such as the Listowel and Ballybunion Railway, used steam locomotives with an 0-3-0 wheel arrangement (in Whyte notation), meaning the locomotives had zero leading wheels, three driving wheels, and zero trailing wheels?

• ...that although it is regarded as a station of the
  Seibu-Yūenchi and Kodaira
  stations?

• ...that before serving as president of several railroad companies including the Indianapolis and La Fayette Railroad and the
  Committee on Indian Affairs in the United States Senate
  ?

• ...that the main platform at Waterford railway station in Ireland is quite long and due to a crossover it can be operated as two platforms if necessary with the eastern end being platform 3 and the western end being platform 4?

• ...that some early wagonways, commonly cited as the predecessors to the steam locomotive-hauled railways of the early- to mid-19th century, were built with "L" shaped iron rails or plates where the flanges were on the track rather than the wheels?

• ...that
  Edelweiss), Käkikello (cuckoo clock), both referring to the Swiss origin of the locomotive, as well as Marsu (guinea pig
  ), due to their exterior design?

• ...that in 1915, while the
  Vanceboro international bridge bombing was carried out by German spies on a railway bridge between St. Croix, New Brunswick, and Vanceboro, Maine, as a means to prevent Japanese troops from traveling through Canada to join the war in Europe
  ?

• ...that when the Upper Darling Range Railway, connecting Midland Junction and Karragullen, Western Australia, via the Kalamunda Zig Zag, was completed in 1891, it was the only section of railway in Western Australia to have had a zig zag formation?

• ...that in 1927,
  Asakusa Station
  ?

• ...that the
  single line railways, which uses a hard disk called a tablet as a form of token, first devised in Great Britain by engineer Edward Tyer after the Thorpe rail accident of 1874, was used in New Zealand
  until 1994?

• ...that
  Turku Central railway station, in the VII District of Turku, Finland, was opened in 1876, together with the newly built railway between Turku and Tampere, in a celebration attended by the future Tsar Alexander III of Russia
  ?

• ...that
  streetcar lines in most of the larger cities in the United States
  , were often created by the streetcar companies in the 19th century to give people a reason to use their services on weekends?

• ...that trams in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, are the oldest light rail systems in the city, and a major part of the public transport network in Frankfurt, the first routes having started operations in 1872?

• ...that in contrast to
  push-pull operations, in top and tail operations trains have a locomotive
  at each end to simplify direction reversals, but only the locomotive pulling at the front in whichever direction the train is operating is used to propel the train?

• ...that in 1982 after a train derailed on the Upper Maumee Bridge and damaged it, a bridge which was originally built in 1902, the Toledo Terminal Railroad which operated the line in Ohio elected not to fix the bridge but instead abandon it stirring up much controversy?

• ...that the
  pantograph for overhead electric wires even though the railway scenes of the film are set in Europe
  ?

• ...that travelers on the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in Japan must make six transfers between Tateyama and Ōgisawa, including travel on two different funicular railways, on the 37-kilometre-long (23 mi) route?

• ...that the
  Taiwan Railway Administration
  , which closed in 1988?

• ...that
  Redwood Station, the next station immediately to the north of Takapu Road Station on the Kapiti Line, which is part of the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand, are the only two stations on the line not on track built by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company
  ?

• ...that unlike most of the other underground
  cut and cover
  method, giving it an open design and platforms that are not separated?

• ...that although the current Suzuran limited express service operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) between Muroran and Sapporo in Hokkaido, Japan, was introduced in July 1992, the name was first used from 1956 for an express service operated by JNR between Hakodate and Sapporo?

• ...that unlike the rest of the rail network in
  electrified and was the last suburban service in Australia to be operated by a locomotive
  -hauled train?

• ...that
  Pravoberejnaya line of Saint Petersburg Metro
  , does not have a ground-level vestibule or a connecting escalator so passengers have to transfer to one of the connected stations in order to exit to the city?

• ...that since the
  Atlanta and Macon, Georgia; Greenville and Columbia, South Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; and Birmingham, Alabama
  ?

• ...that the South African Class 15CA 4-8-2 steam locomotives were introduced in 1926 with a design almost identical to the Class 15C but with the frames widened under the firebox by means of a bridle casting to overcome a problem with the 15C's design that caused cracks in the frame?

• ...that on July 6, 2011, the new
  Alsthom, hauled their first passenger trains on the Ostend - Brussels - Eupen Intercity-A service, also running through the HSL 2
  at 200 km/h (120 mph)?

• ...that the 41
  Statens Järnvägar on both freight and passenger trains are the longest serving locomotives in Sweden
  ?

• ...that although several railroad companies purchased sharknose-styled locomotives from Baldwin for freight service, it was only the Pennsylvania Railroad that purchased DR-6 locomotives for passenger train service?

• ...that after it was withdrawn from service in 1945,
  Atomic Energy Authority until 1969 when it was moved to Didcot Railway Centre
  where it is now preserved?