September 2005

A South African Garratt

• ...that although Garratt steam locomotives were used in Africa, Asia, Australia, South America, a few European countries, and the British Isles, Garratts were not used in North America, the latter favoring Mallet type articulated locomotives?

Korea Train Express, DongDaegu Station

• ...that the high speed Korea Train Express, which opened in March 2004, reduced travel time between Seoul and Busan from 260 minutes to 160 minutes, and a further improvement to 116 minutes is expected in 2010, when the route shifts to run fully on high-speed tracks?

An Erie L-1

• ...that the Erie Railroad's L-1 class of steam locomotives, an 0-8-8-0 type, was the only type of articulated camelback locomotives ever built?

Logo of Ferrocarriles Argentinos

• ...that in the 1960 and 1970, Ferrocarriles Argentinos, the national rail carrier of Argentina, operated on more than 45,000 km (28,000 miles) of track, making it the largest system in Latin America?
• ...that Adelaide Railway Station, in Adelaide, South Australia, has nine platforms, all with broad gauge track?

The real Platform 9¾ at Kings Cross

• ...that the Platform 9¾ sign at Kings Cross railway station occasionally causes congestion as tourists and Harry Potter fans stop to photograph it (and each other "pushing" the luggage trolley through the wall)?

Diagram from Janney's patent application

• ...that Eli H. Janney spent many of his lunches whittling his idea in a block of wood for a replacement to the railroads' link and pin couplers that were in wide use until the 1880?

A Fell mountain railway system in use

• ...that in a Fell mountain railway system, trains are propelled and braked by wheels pressed horizontally on to a raised centre rail by springs, as well as by the standard vertical running wheels?
• ...that the EMD SD39 shares the same common frame design with the EMD SD38, EMD SD40 and EMD SD45?

The Durham Viaduct on England's East Coast Main Line

• ...that since the Mallard's record setting run in 1938, England's East Coast Main Line has become one of the fastest railway lines in the UK, with most of the line rated at 125 mph (200 km/h)?

An M-Bahn train at the Nürnberg railway museum

• ...that like the Transrapid and other magnetic levitation trains, Berlin's M-Bahn used a long stator linear motor for propulsion, but it did not, however, use magnetic levitation, it ran on wheels instead?

Builder's plate from Brooks Locomotive Works

• ...that the former New York and Erie Railroad's Dunkirk, New York, shops facilities served as the basis for Brooks Locomotive Works, which later became American Locomotive Company's ALCO-Brooks plant?

Turnstiles at a Boston MBTA station

• ...that on many rapid transit systems, station turnstiles are often designed to operate only after a payment has been made, usually by inserting a coin or token or by swiping an electronic card?

The Chicago freight tunnels in 1910

• ...that the freight tunnels of the Chicago Tunnel Company under the streets of Chicago, Illinois, were originally built to carry telephone cables?

A rail car mover, brand name Trackmobile

• ...that a rail car mover is a vehicle capable of travelling on both roads and rail tracks, and is fitted with couplers for moving small numbers of railroad cars around in a rail siding or small yard?

Amtrak F40PH number 345 passing Porter, Indiana

• ...that because head end power generated for electrical supply in passenger cars must be delivered at a relatively constant frequency, the prime mover in an EMD F40PH must turn at a constant high speed (as much as 900 rpm)?

A character in The Great Train Robbery and his gun

• ...that in the twelve minute long film The Great Train Robbery produced in 1903, scenes with the gun pointing at the audience and the train rushing towards the audience had audiences at the time screaming in fear, then laughing in relief.

John B. Jervis

• ...that the Jervis wheel arrangement of steam locomotives is named in honor of John B. Jervis who first developed the type in the 1830 while working for the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company?

The Kingston Flyer approaching the terminus at Fairlight

• ...that New Zealand's Kingston Flyer operates over a 14 km (8.7 miles) route that is a remnant of a route connecting to the Main South Railway at Gore, on which the original Kingston Flyer operated from 1878 until the mid 1950?

ART Mark II train

• ...that Bombardier Advanced Rapid Transit, the current name given to a metro system manufactured by Bombardier Transportation, was originally named ICTS (an acronym for Intermediate Capacity Transit System), and is sometimes referred to generically as advanced light rapid transit?

A scale test car owned by Canadian National Railway

• ...that to ensure that railroad cars are accurately weighed for billing, scale test cars are used to calibrate a railroad's track scales?
• ...that Bombardier's JetTrain uses the same LRC-derived tilting carriages as Amtrak's Acela Express, but instead of being powered by overhead electric wires, it uses a small gas turbine?

A bumper at the Linden Railroad Museum, Linden, Indiana

• ...that a buffer stop or bumper (US) is a device to prevent railway vehicles from going past the end of a section of track?

Part of a massive LEGO train layout at the National Train Show 2005

• ...that recently available LEGO train models include versions of BNSF Railway diesel locomotives and Santa Fe Railroad's Super Chief?
• ...that the Pullman Company didn't negotiate a labor contract with the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, organized in 1925 by A. Philip Randolph, until 1937?

The Newfoundland Railway station at St. John's

• ...that with a track gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), the Newfoundland Railway was at one time the longest narrow gauge railway in North America?

A 2-4-4 of the Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad as built in 1886

• ...that the 2-4-4 wheel arrangement (Whyte notation) for steam locomotives was one of the more common configurations for Mason Bogie locomotives?

A BOB train in Interlaken

• ...that Berner Oberland Bahn, in Switzerland, uses racks for steeper grades along its line and friction adhesion methods elsewhere?

The Maidenhead Railway Bridge

• ...that at the time the bridge was built in 1838, the two brick arches of the Maidenhead Railway Bridge across the River Thames in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, were the widest and flattest in the world?