Portal:Trains/Did you know/July 2006

LM-49 tram

...that the Soviet-built LM-49 trams earned the nickname "Elephant" by the residents of Leningrad where the trams were operated?
...that the N700 Series Shinkansen trains that will enter service on Japan's Tōkaidō and Sanyō Shinkansen lines in 2007 include tilting train technology that will allow the trains to maintain 270 km/h (168 mph) even on 2,500 m (8,202 ft) radius curves?
...that many steam locomotives in the 20th century were fitted with smoke deflectors that were designed to lift smoke away from the locomotive at speed so that it wouldn't impair the driver's visibility?
...that Pennsylvania Railroad's Q2 duplex locomotive, at 7,987 hp (5,956 kW), was the most powerful steam locomotive type ever static tested?

The station in Dire Dawa

...that although the Imperial Railway Company of Ethiopia was chartered in 1894 to connect Djibouti to Addis Ababa, the company declared bankruptcy in 1906 after only completing the section from Djibouti to Dire Dawa in 1901?

An ICN in Croatia

...that the new InterCity Nagibni (ICN) trains built by Bombardier in Germany for Croatian Railways have reduced travel times between Zagreb and Split by almost three hours?

A transfer table on the Santa Fe in San Bernardino, California

...that like a turntable, a transfer table connects multiple tracks without the space required for switches; but unlike turntables, transfer tables cannot turn equipment around?

El Gobernador

...that El Gobernador was the last of the Central Pacific Railroad's locomotives to be given a name, and the only 4-10-0 to operate in the United States?
...that trains operating in Eurostar Italia service are capable of speeds up to 250 km/h (155 mph) and are built with tilting systems that allow high speeds on existing routes?

Josei Senyō Sharyō of Keio Line, at Shinjuku Station, Tokyo

...that Josei Senyō Sharyō are special passenger cars that exist on some Japanese train lines exclusively for women, as part of Japanese efforts to reduce groping (chikan) on public transport?
...that Qazaqstan Temir Zholy, the national railway of Kazakhstan, is building the TransKazakhstaniTrunk Railways project to connect China to Europe by rail, which could cut freight shipment times between them in half to 7-10 days?
...that Pennsylvania Railroad's DD2 class electric locomotive was designed as a simplified and improved version of the GG1 for a later-cancelled westward extension of the railroad's electrified track?

An electric car of the Drachenfels Railway in 2005

...that after the Drachenfels Railway, in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany, electrified in 1953, steam locomotives were used at times of peak traffic until 1958?
...that the 16 deaths in the Camp Mountain train disaster, approximately 20 kilometers (12 mi) northwest of Brisbane, Australia, in 1947, remains the largest loss of life in a rail accident on the Queensland Rail system?

Warsaw station

...that the Warsaw-Vienna Railway, completed in 1845, was the first rail line built in Congress Poland and the second in the Russian Empire?
...that Pennsylvania Railroad's B6 0-6-0 steam locomotive class was designed in 1902 with Stephenson valve gear and was not revised with Walschaerts valve gear until 1913?

Parenzana locomotive

...that when it was operational in the early 20th century, Parenzana trains traveling between Trieste and Poreč, in present day Italy, Slovenia and Croatia, took around 7 hours to complete the journey?

Luz Station in 2005

Shinkansen 700T train of the Taiwan High Speed Rail system

...that like Japan's Shinkansen, some Taiwan High Speed Rail trains will stop at no stations whereas other trains will stop at every station?

A PRR I1s

...that due to their rough riding qualities, Pennsylvania Railroad's I1s class of 2-10-0 steam locomotives were unpopular with their crews?
...that the Vyrlytsia station of the Kiev Metro is the first in the former Soviet Union to open in honour of International Women's Day?

The signalbox at Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof

...that in 1956, Europe's largest signal box was installed at Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof in Germany, and that it is now a listed building?

Indiana Harbor Belt brakeman demonstrating a fusee signal

...that a fusee is a type of flare that is sometimes used as an emergency railway signal?

Diagram of the USRA Heavy Santa Fe

...that nearly three quarters of all the USRA Heavy Santa Fe type 2-10-2 steam locomotives produced during World War I were purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad?

Hungarian State Railways station, Pécs

...that Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi rode the first steam locomotive-hauled train on July 15, 1846, between Pest and Vác on what has become the Hungarian State Railways?

Gare de La Rochelle, France

...that the French Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'État (State Railway Company) was formed in 1878 from the merger of ten smaller railroad companies operating in the area between the rivers Loire and Garonne?
...that the V/Locity in Victoria, Australia, runs on Irish broad gauge, as with all other V/Line services, and the bogies were made at Bombardier's plant in Derby, UK, and are fully gauge convertible to standard gauge?
...that the 1948-1949 American Freedom Train carried the original documents of the United States Constitution, Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights on its tour of more than 300 cities in all 48 states?
...that Căile Ferate Române, the national railway of Romania, has been operating since 1880, even though the first railway on current Romanian territory was opened in 1854?

Chennai Central station facade

...that Chennai Central station in India served as the main gateway for all people who travelled to South India during British colonial times?

SP 4294, the only surviving cab forward

...that Southern Pacific Railroad's cab forward steam locomotives were designed to prevent train crews from suffocating from exhaust fumes in tunnels and snow sheds, where the fumes could be funneled back toward the cab of a conventional locomotive?