Portal:Trains/Did you know/September 2007

September 2007

• ...that the Main Southern railway line connecting Melbourne and Sydney, Australia has undergone a number of realignments in places to ease the steep grades of the original alignment, including the construction of a spiral?

• ...that the design of the New Zealand Railways Corporation EF class Bo-Bo-Bo electric locomotives was developed by manufacturer Brush Traction as the basis for the Eurotunnel Class 9 locomotives used to haul the Eurotunnel Shuttle service through the Channel Tunnel?

• ...that the Dublin Area Rapid Transit 8100 Class electric multiple units in Ireland were originally designed to offer seating for a total of 176 passengers per two-car set, but in response to growing passenger numbers 48 seats have been removed to offer more standing room?

• ...that the 1:76.2 scale OO gauge standard for model railways was introduced in 1921 when manufacturer Bing found it was unable to fit propulsion mechanisms into the 1:87 scale HO scale models of British trains, given the relatively small size of the prototypes?
• ...that Jeme Tien Yow was a distinguished Chinese railroad engineer, responsible for construction of the Imperial Peking-Kalgan Railway (Beijing to Zhangjiakou), the first railway constructed in China without foreign assistance?

• ...that among the 600 mm (1 ft 11 ⁵⁄₈ in) gauge rolling stock preserved on the Froissy Dompierre Light Railway in France are steam locomotives built by Alco-Cooke and Franco-Belge as well as a speeder built by Fairbanks-Morse in 1917?

• ...that the first locomotive on the Brill Tramway (a little used single-track section of the Metropolitan Railway in Buckinghamshire, England) was a geared steam locomotive built by steam roller manufacturer Aveling and Porter?

• ...that after the 6-2-0 locomotives from the 1840s, a six-wheel leading truck was not seen on another locomotive until Pennsylvania Railroad's S1 in 1939?
• ...that although tank locomotives enjoy advantages such as bidirectionality, compactness and increased efficiency over tender locomotives, they also suffer from disadvantages such as limited fuel or water capacity as well as variable adhesive weight and potentially high axle load?

Trans-Mongolian Railway in the Gobi Desert

• ...that before construction began on the Trans-Mongolian Railway in 1947, the only railways in Mongolia had been a 43 km (27 mi) line connecting the coal mines at Nalaikh to the capital and a Soviet-built 236 km (147 mi) freight-only branch from Borzya on the Trans-Siberian Railway to Bayantümen near Choibalsan in north-eastern Mongolia?

• ...that one of the two lift shafts built in Holloway Road tube station on the London Underground system was used for an experimental spiral escalator that did not prove successful and was therefore never used by the public?

Preserved SSW 819

• ...that St. Louis Southwestern locomotive #819, one of a group of five 4-8-4 locomotives approved by the United States federal wartime administration for construction by the St. Louis Southwestern Railway (more commonly known as the "Cotton Belt Route"), was the last engine built by the railway and the last locomotive built in Arkansas to date?

• ...that EuskoTran ("BasqueTram"), the metre gauge tramway system in Bilbao, Spain, runs along a 4.4 km (2.7 mi) line that features grass covered tracks along the Nervión river?

• ...that German-based MTU Friedrichshafen is a manufacturer of diesel engines for a variety of diesel locomotives and multiple unit trains, including Iarnród Éireann's (Irish Rail's) IE 22000 Class?

Z 27526 at the Part-Dieu, Lyon, France

• ...that France's Autorail à grande capacité multiple-unit trains comprise four key variants, diesel, electric, and two dual-mode variants including one able to run on diesel-electric power, 1,500 V DC or 25 kV AC power?

Tranz Rail DQ locomotive

• ...that the NZR DQ class locomotives were purchased second-hand by New Zealand's Tranz Rail from Australia's Queensland Rail, but were later exported back to Australia after Tranz Rail took part-ownership of Tasmania's TasRail?

Preserved MTV-82 tram in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

• ...that Russian broad gauge MTV-82 trams, built from 1947 to 1961, saw service in Moscow, Kiev, Gorky, Sverdlovsk, Vladivostok and many other Soviet cities and towns before they were retired in the 1980s, and they were well liked by drivers and repair crews for their simplicity, reliability and durability?

InterCity 225 at Peterborough main railway station in 2003.

• ...that the InterCity 225, comprising a Class 91 electric locomotive, nine Mark 4 coaches and a Driving Van Trailer, is the fastest locomotive-hauled domestic train in the United Kingdom with a top speed of 140 mph (225 km/h)?

• ...that the Finnish Railway Museum's collection includes, in addition to 10 preserved steam locomotives, the only surviving imperial train of the Russian Emperor?

• ...that KTM Intercity operates Malaysia's Inter-city rail network with diesel-powered services to major cities in Malaysia as well as services to Singapore and Thailand?

• ...that locomotive driver Ben Chifley, who joined the New South Wales Government Railways at age 15, was a founding member of the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen before being elected as the Australian Labor Party candidate for the seat of Macquarie and later becoming the 16th Prime Minister of Australia?

Preserved K 36 locomotive

• ...that of the ten K 36 class narrow gauge steam locomotives built for the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad in 1924-25, all but one (No. 485, scrapped in 1955 after sustaining irreparable damage in an accident) have survived into preservation?

A 209 series train on the Keihin-Tōhoku Line

• ...that the East Japan Railway Company's 209 series trains were introduced in 1993 as low-cost, minimal lifespan (approximately 15 years) train that would be replaced rather than rebuilt, and in 2006 JR East announced their replacement from Autumn 2007 by the E233 series?

• ...that Steam locomotive condensing apparatus was used on various locomotive designs either to recover water and allow increased range through arid areas, or to avoid excessive emissions to the atmosphere for use in environments such as underground railways?

• ...that Brisbane, Australia's Airtrain airport rail service uses Citytrain rolling stock, but is privately operated with ticket prices almost four times that of TransLink fares levied for comparable Citytrain services?

• ...that the Great Eastern Railway (GER) Decapod was an experimental British 0-10-0 steam locomotive designed to match the acceleration of electric trams, and although it met its objective of accelerating a 300 ton (305 tonne) train from a stand to 30-mile-per-hour (48 km/h) in 30 seconds, its axle load was too high for it to be put into regular service?

A 9300 series EMU in Hankyu Maroon livery

• ...that passengers on the Hankyu Railway are able to travel using PiTaPa, a contactless smart card ticketing and electronic money system used in the Kansai region (and some areas in Okayama Prefecture) of Japan?

Arlanda Express Train at Stockholm Central Station

• ...that Sweden's Arlanda Express, introduced in 1999, is capable of running at up to 210 km/h (130 mph), allowing passengers from Arlanda Airport to travel the 42 km (25 miles) to Stockholm Central Station in just 20 minutes?

• ...that the Heartland Flyer service operating between Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Fort Worth, Texas, in the United States was threatened with closure in 2005, but saved after a public campaign by community and rail advocates?