View source for Portal:Trains/Did you know/June 2008

=== June 2008 ===

{{Trains portal/DYK image|LNER V2 60800 'Green Arrow' at Crewe Works.jpg|LNER Class V2 60800 "Green Arrow", the sole survivor of the class}}
* ...that although the [[London and North Eastern Railway]]'s '''[[LNER Class V2|Class V2]]''' [[2-6-2]] locomotives were built for [[Mixed-traffic locomotive|mixed traffic]] use, they could almost match LNER's express passenger [[4-6-2]] Pacifics for sustained high speed running and were timed at speeds of up to {{convert|101.5|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on}}?<!-- June 30, 2008 -->{{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|Skansen_Bridge.jpg|Skansen Bridge}}
* ...that the '''[[Skansen Bridge]]''' in [[Trondheim]], [[Norway]], was designed by [[Joseph Strauss (engineer)|Joseph Strauss]], who among other things also constructed the [[Golden Gate Bridge]] in [[San Francisco]], [[United States|USA]]? <!-- June 29, 2008 -->{{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|Westminster station barrier.jpg|A train passes through a station protected by platform screen doors}}
* ...that although '''[[platform screen doors]]''' have been installed at stations to reduce the movement of air caused by the trains at they pass through the tunnels as well as to reduce [[air conditioning]] costs for stations in warmer climates such as [[Singapore]], they also serve a safety purpose in preventing passengers falling onto the tracks or in front of an oncoming train? <!-- June 28, 2008 -->{{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|Marielund station Upsala lenna.jpg|Marielund station at Upsala- Lenna heritage railway in 2006}}
* ...that [[Sweden]]'s '''[[Upsala-Lenna Jernväg]]''' [[narrow gauge railway]] is built to the [[rail gauge|gauge]] of 3 Swedish feet (891&nbsp;mm/35.1&nbsp;in), a gauge not used anywhere in the world outside Sweden other than a mine railway on the [[Norway|Norwegian]] island of [[Spitsbergen]]? <!-- June 27, 2008 -->
* ...that [[London and South Western Railway]]'s '''[[LSWR T9 class|T9 class]]''' of [[4-4-0]] [[steam locomotive]]s gained the nickname '[[Greyhound]]s' early in their operational career due to the speed that these locomotives were capable of achieving while pulling LSWR express trains? <!-- June 26, 2008 -->
* ...that the '''[[Tōkaidō Main Line]]''', the busiest trunk line of [[Japan Railways Group|Japan Railway]] (JR), is paralleled by the high-speed [[Tōkaidō Shinkansen]] line and other than certain overnight services there are now no passenger trains that operate over the entire length of the line? <!-- June 25, 2008 -->{{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|Baby Bullet MPI MP36PH-3C 923.jpg|A JPBX (Caltrain) Baby Bullet MPI MPXpress locomotive}}
* ...that the '''[[MPI MPXpress]]''' model passenger [[locomotive]] currently offered by [[Motive Power, Inc.]] can be ordered with different [[Prime mover (locomotive)|prime mover]] and [[traction motor]] models as well as the option of [[head end power]] (HEP) generated by a separate engine or by the prime mover? <!-- June 24, 2008 -->
* ...that the '''[[Australian National Railways Commission]]''' was formed in 1975 after [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]] [[Gough Whitlam]] invited the six states of Australia to hand their railways over to the [[Government of Australia|Federal Government]] to create a single unified system, however only [[Tasmania]] and [[South Australia]] accepted the offer? <!-- June 23, 2008 -->{{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|D Class No 140 at Ferrymead Railway.jpg|NZR D class No. 140 at the Ferrymead Railway}}
* ...that [[New Zealand]]'s '''[[Ferrymead Railway]]''', the first public railway in the country, was originally laid to {{Track gauge|63in}} [[broad gauge]] to suit rolling stock obtained second-hand from the [[Melbourne and Essendon Railway Company]] in [[Australia]]?<!-- June 22, 2008 -->{{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|Locomotiva E424.075.jpg|E424 075 in its original livery, at the FerAlp Team museum, in Bussoleno}}
* ...that the [[Italian Railways]] (FS) '''[[FS Class E424|Class E424]]''' first appeared in 1943 as a prototype, but mass production began only after the end of [[World War II]], with part of the funds provided by the [[United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration]] program? <!-- June 21, 2008 -->{{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|RK 0706 01250 LSE Obermatt.jpg|Trains of Luzern-Stans-Engelberg-Bahn in Obermatt}}
* ...that [[Switzerland]]'s '''[[Luzern-Stans-Engelberg-Bahn]]''' was [[railway electrification system|electrified]] from its beginning in 1898, making it the longest electrically operated railway line in the country at the time? <!-- June 20, 2008 -->
* ...that '''[[Harold Winthrop Clapp|Harold Clapp]]''''s "fiendish efficiency" in improving [[Victorian Railways]]' train reliability in [[Australia]] was credited with losing [[Melbourne]] commuters "another excuse for being late for work in the mornings"? <!-- June 19, 2008 --> {{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|Schaku 612.JPG|Scharfenberg coupler (Schaku) at german railcar type 612}}
* ...that '''[[Coupling (railway)#Scharfenberg coupler|Scharfenberg coupler]]s''' have a distinct advantage over conventional AAR (Janney/Knuckle) automatic couplers as they also automatically connect and disconnect electrical and hydraulic systems, but their low maximum tonnage rating makes them unsuitable for heavy freight service? <!-- June 18, 2008 --> {{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|Barcelona metro pl Catalunya.JPG|Barcelona Metro's Catalunya station}}
* ...that [[Barcelona Metro]]'s '''[[Catalunya (Barcelona Metro)|Catalunya]]''' station in [[Spain]], built in 1926 as the terminus of Ferrocarril Metropolitano Transversal, boasted an underground shopping centre called Avinguda de la Llum until 1990? <!-- June 17, 2008 -->{{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|Flying Scotsman in Doncaster.JPG|Flying Scotsman at the Doncaster Works Open day in 2003}}
* ...that as well as becoming in 1934 the first [[steam locomotive]] to be officially recorded as reaching {{convert|100|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on|sigfig=4}}, [[London and North Eastern Railway]] '''[[LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman|Class A3 4472 ''Flying Scotsman'']]''' set another record in 1989 by traveling {{convert|442|mi|km}} non-stop, the longest such run by a steam locomotive ever recorded?<!-- June 16, 2008 -->{{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|Vline-a70-fss.jpg|V/Line A class locomotive A 70}}
* ...that 15 of the [[V/Line]] [[V/Line N class (diesel)|N class]] [[diesel-electric locomotive]]s were built using surplus parts from a cancelled program to rebuild 1952-era [[Victorian Railways B class (diesel)|B class]] [[streamliner]] locomotives into the [[EMD 645]]-powered '''[[V/Line A class (diesel)|A class]]'''? <!-- June 15, 2008 -->{{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|The Little Belt Bridge (1935) (far).jpeg|Little Belt Bridge}}
* ...that [[Denmark]]'s '''[[Little Belt Bridge]]''' (da: Gamle Lillebæltsbro) was built without the benefit of mass machinery, and molds both for the piles and each end of the bridge were first constructed of wood and later manually filled with [[cement]] from [[bucket]]s?<!-- June 14, 2008 -->
* ...that the '''[[Tōkaidō Shinkansen]]''', the original [[Japan]]ese [[Shinkansen]] line, goes through Japan's three largest [[metropolitan area]]s and is the most heavily traveled of all Shinkansen routes, carrying a total 4.16&nbsp;billion passengers in its first 40 years?<!-- June 13, 2008 -->
* ...that the only original [[steam locomotive|locomotive]] design of '''[[Charles Fairburn]]''' to emerge during the year that he served as [[Chief Mechanical Engineer]] for [[London, Midland and Scottish Railway]] before his death in 1945 was the [[LMS Fairburn 2-6-4T]]? <!-- June 12, 2008 -->{{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|Warsaw Metro Plac Wilsona 2.jpg|The Warsaw metro station "Plac Wilsona"}}
* ...that the '''[[Plac Wilsona (Warsaw Metro)|Plac Wilsona]]''' (Wilson Square) station on the [[Warsaw Metro]] in [[Poland]] was selected as the Metro Award recipient for the "Best New Station" in 2008? <!-- June 11, 2008 -->{{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|IORE Kiruna.jpg|IORE from Narvik approaching Kiruna with an empty ore train}}
* ...that [[Sweden|Swedish]] mining company [[LKAB]]'s '''[[IORE]]''' locomotives, used for transporting [[iron ore]], are so named because IORE is an [[acronym]] of "iron ore", as well as an intentional close-match of the name carried by the fictional donkey [[Eeyore]] (Swedish: ''Ior'')? <!-- June 10, 2008 --> {{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|TTC UTDC ICTS Mark I 3012.jpg|Toronto Transit Commission ART train}}
* ...that '''[[Bombardier Advanced Rapid Transit|Advanced Rapid Transit]]''', the current name given to a [[rapid transit|metro]] system manufactured by [[Bombardier Transportation]], uses [[linear motor|linear electromagnetic propulsion]] which removes the need for a motor with moving parts? <!-- June 9, 2008 -->{{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|2395 LNER U1 Garratt official photo.jpg|An official photograph of No. 2395 from 1925}}
* ...that the [[London and North Eastern Railway]] '''[[LNER Class U1|Class U1]]''', a solitary [[2-8-0+0-8-2]] [[Garratt|Beyer-Garratt]] locomotive designed for [[Bank engine|banking]] coal trains over the steeply graded Worsborough Bank in [[South Yorkshire]], was fitted with crew [[respirator]]s due to the poor ventilation in the two tunnels on the bank? <!-- June 7, 2008 --> {{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|Southern Pacific 4294 08.jpg|Southern Pacific 4294}}
* ...that '''[[Southern Pacific 4294]]''', the last in a group of 20 locomotives that comprised [[Southern Pacific Railroad]]'s [[Southern Pacific class AC-12|AC-12]] class of [[4-8-8-2]] [[cab forward]] locomotives and now preserved at the [[California State Railroad Museum]], was the last new [[steam locomotive]] ordered by the Southern Pacific Railroad? <!-- June 6, 2008 --> {{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|STAR LRT train car.jpg|An Adtranz electric multiple unit train at the Masjid Jamek LRT station}}
* ...that [[Kuala Lumpur]]'s '''[[Ampang Line]]''' was the first railway system in [[Malaysia]] to adopt [[standard gauge]] as its [[rail gauge]], in contrast to the [[metre gauge]] railway lines that span the country? <!-- June 5, 2008 -->{{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|Subway-Nagahori Tsurumi.jpg|Series 70 linear motor EMU heading to Kadoma-Minami}}
* ...that under its original plan the '''[[Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line]]''' (the first [[linear motor]] [[Rapid transit|metro]] railway built in [[Japan]]) would have provided access to the [[Osaka Prefecture|Osaka prefectural government]] offices near [[Osaka Castle]], however the presence of underground artifacts around the castle area made this plan impractical and the line was thus shifted farther south? <!-- June 4, 2008 -->{{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|Locomotive VL10-582 Tomsk.jpg|Locomotive VL10-582 in Tomsk}}
* ...that the [[Russian Railways]] '''[[VL10]]''' ([[Russian language|ru]]: ВЛ10) class [[electric locomotive]], introduced in 1961, takes its class designation from the initials of [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] leader [[Vladimir Lenin]]? <!-- June 3, 2008 --> {{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|Napier deltic animation large.gif|Animation of a schematic Napier Deltic diesel engine}}
* ...that the [[British Rail]] '''[[British Rail Class 55|Class 55 'Deltic']]''' express passenger locomotives take their name from the [[Napier Deltic]] [[Two-stroke engine|2-stroke uniflow]] [[Opposed piston engine|opposed-piston]] high-speed [[diesel engine]] that powers them? <!-- June 2, 2008 -->{{-}}
{{Trains portal/DYK image|Re 450 100-3 zwischen Winterthur - Zürich.jpg|SBB-CFF-FFS train service}}
* ...that '''[[SBB-CFF-FFS|Swiss Federal Railways]]'''' origins date back to 20 February 1898, when the [[Switzerland|Swiss]] people agreed in a [[referendum]] to the creation of a state-owned railway company after the collapse of a number of private railway companies? <!-- June 1, 2008 -->{{-}}

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[[Category:Rail transport did you know archives|08-06]]