May 2013

A Kintetsu Series 5800 train at Kanie station in 2006

• ...that although the official origin of the Kintetsu Nagoya Line in Aichi and Mie prefectures, Japan, is Ise-Nakagawa Station and the end is Nagoya, operationally "down" trains originate from and "up" trains travel to Nagoya?

Keiō 8000 series EMU heading for Keiō-Hachiōji Station in 2006

• ...that unlike most narrow gauge railway lines in Japan that were built to 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in), the first section of the present Keiō Line was opened in 1913 using 1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in) gauge track which led to a three-year-long break-of-gauge at Chōfu Station until the entire line from Shinjuku to Higashi-Hachiōji was regauged to 1,372 mm in 1928?

A 10 series (first batch) EMU on an express service bound for Kintetsu Nara in 2007

• ...that on the Karasuma Line of Kyoto Municipal Subway the Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau and Kintetsu Corporation jointly operate through services, which continue to the Kintetsu Kyoto Line to Kintetsu Nara Station in Nara, Japan?

A steam-hauled museum train crosses the Jänhijoki railway bridge in 2008

• ...that the Jänhijoki railway bridge, originally built in 1898 for the narrow gauge Jokioinen Railway to cross the Jänhijoki river, located approximately 0.5 kilometres (0.3 mi) south of Minkiö railway station, is the oldest railway bridge in Finland still in railway use?

Class C51 locomotive C51 5 at Ōme Railway Park in 2006

• ...that the introduction of Class C51 4-6-2 steam locomotives built by Japanese National Railways (JNR) beginning in 1919 allowed JNR to increase the average speed on the Tōkaidō Main Line from 47.3 km/h (29.4 mph) to 55.3 km/h (34.4 mph)?

The Jamestown station in 2010

• ...that following a two-year restoration project that began in 2010, Jamestown station, which was originally opened by Erie Railroad in Chautauqua County, New York, in 1932 and listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places in 2003, was reopened as a commercial and transit hub serving Chautauqua Area Regional Transit System and Coach USA buses?

Illinois Central Missouri River Bridge in 2012 with one of its two swing spans in the open position to allow river traffic to proceed

• ...that when the Illinois Central Missouri River Bridge opened in 1903 to connect Council Bluffs, Iowa, with Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States, the 521 ft long (159 m) through truss double swing bridge was the longest swing bridge in the world, and as late as 1975, it was still the third longest swing bridge in the world?

The southern entrance to the Seikan Tunnel showing the extra-wide track slabs in preparation for dual gauge track in 2006

• ...that initially the maximum speed for Hokkaido Shinkansen trains through the Seikan Tunnel in Japan will be 140 km/h (87 mph) due to the risk of a narrow gauge freight train traveling in the opposite direction being derailed by the shockwave of air that moves ahead of Shinkansen trains at higher speeds in tunnels?

The platforms and tracks of Higashi-Yodogawa Station in 2006

• ...that when the Tōkaidō Shinkansen and Shin-Osaka Station opened in Japan in 1964, the original plan was to close Higashi-Yodogawa Station situated only 0.7 km (0.43 mi) from Shin-Osaka in what was then a largely rural area, but neighborhood residents' objections succeeded in keeping the station open, and the distance between the two stations remains as the shortest distance between any two stations on JR Kyoto Line or the Tōkaidō Main Line?

A Bury Bar Frame locomotive featuring a haycock boiler

• ...that in early steam locomotive development in the 1830s and 1840s, the haycock boiler, which featured a prominently raised firebox, incorporated the steam dome into the firebox assembly, which itself was often highly decorated with polished brass?

Mikage Station on the Hanshin Main Line in 1910

• ...that the Hanshin Main Line, the southernmost of three lines to connect Osaka and Kobe, Japan, originally opened in 1905 as one of the oldest interurban railways in Japan by using the Tram Act as the basis to construct a line competing with a governmental line?

Kami-Ōhiradai station, one of the switchback locations on the Hakone Tozan Line, in 2007

• ...that the Hakone Tozan Line, a mountain railway that was originally opened in 1919 in Japan, traverses Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, so the line was carefully designed to limit the impact on scenery, including three switchbacks to ascend particularly tight spots?

Killarney station circa 1890

• ...that in an effort to encourage tourism, the Killarney Junction Railway, which was operated by the Great Southern and Western Railway, opened a hotel next to Killarney station in 1854, which made it the first railway-owned hotel in Ireland and it is purported to be one of the first railway hotels in the World?