Portal:Trains/Did you know/October 2008

October 2008

• ...that
  Haxo, a ghost station on the Paris Métro
  , has never had a regular in-service train call at the station and no access to street level was ever constructed?

• ...that the
  Garratt locomotives had the highest tractive effort of any steam locomotive in Australia
  ?
• ...that in
  turntables
  to be operated by vacuum powered motors worked from the locomotive's vacuum ejector or pump via a flexible hose or pipe?

• ...that an Ausbesserungswerk is a railway facility in German-speaking countries, the primary function of which is the repair (and formerly also the construction) of railway vehicles or their components?

• ...that
  cant
  , the difference in elevation of rails around a curve also known as superelevation, helps steer a train around a curve, keeping the wheel flanges from touching the rails and minimizing friction and wear?

• ...that
  European continent
  departed?
• ...that while the
  turntable at Brockenhurst
  ?

• ...that the New South Wales Government Railways' 43 class locomotives, built by Australian Electrical Industries Pty. Ltd., were unusual in having ALCO power units in General Electric-designed bodies?

• ...that the class DE10 diesel-hydraulic locomotives built for Japanese National Railways rode on five axles in a C-B wheel arrangement and that about half of the class included steam generators for use in passenger train service?

• ...that for many years, Municipal Warehouse No. 1 at the Port of Los Angeles stored the rail car that carried Winston Churchill's body to burial?
• ...that in 1936 an
  carriage ventilation and the effect of passing trains on structures and passengers in stations
  ?

• ...that the
  D57 class, had smaller diameter cylinders which demanded a later cut-off
  and used more steam, thus making the locomotives uneconomical in the use of coal and water when compared with the D57?

• ...that the
  hybrid automobiles for a smaller carbon footprint than previous designs, and won a Japanese
  good design award?

• ...that after their success with the
  William E. Dodge, Jr. and his partners founded the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad
  ?

• ...that
  engine driver for LNER and later General Secretary of Great Britain's National Union of Railwaymen from 1975 to 1983, played professional football with Sunderland
  for two seasons?

• ...that the
  Norwegian National Rail Administration owns all 4,114 km (2,556 mi) of railways and a majority of the stations in Norway
  , but does not operate any trains?

• ...that the neighborhood of
  Winnipeg, Canada, was originally a park created by the Winnipeg Street Railway Company to increase trolley
  use?

• ... that the U.S. Congress incorporated the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad in 1866 to connect Missouri and California, but the company only completed portions at each end?

• ...that the Jolimont Workshops, operated by Victorian Railways beside Jolimont Yard in inner city Melbourne, Australia, were built for the maintenance of Melbourne's new fleet of suburban trains in 1917?

• ...that when the
  Holmenkoll Line the first underground railway in Scandinavia
  ?

• ...that Redruth railway station in Great Britain was only moved to its present site when a viaduct was built 61 feet (19 m) above the streets of the town?

• ...that after receiving the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Gettysburg, Henry S. Huidekoper helped to suppress the Great Railroad Strike of 1877?

• ...that the 1949 Matsukawa derailment was reported to have occurred as the result of sabotage, which the government in Japan blamed on the Japanese Communist Party and the Japan National Railway Union?

• ...that a
  Automatic Train Protection
  system?

• ...that
  track that grip and slow the cars' wheels through friction as they roll through them, are used in classification yards to reduce the speed of freight cars as they are sorted into trains
  ?

• ...that an
  Spårakoff in honour of the 175th anniversary of the Finnish brewery Sinebrychoff
  ?

• ...that
  cutting, bridge, or tunnel, which eliminates the complexities of a switching
  system since both tracks remain discrete?

• ...that
  track and wheels, and can potentially cause a derailment
  ?

• ...that General Motors Diesel's four experimental GMDH-1 locomotives had varied operating careers, with one ending up in Brazil, another in Pakistan, one being preserved in the Canada Science and Technology Museum and one passing through a succession of owners before ending up in the hands of Amoco Canada Petroleum, for whom the locomotive remains operable?

• ...that
  guard
  or any shunter riding on the train must immediately make his way back to the signal box to ensure that the signalman was aware of the presence of the stopped train?