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In rail transport, a train is a vehicle or (more frequently) a string of vehicles capable of being moved along a continuous line of rails or other guideway for the purpose of conveying freight or passengers between points on a predetermined route. The train may be hauled or propelled by one or more vehicles designed exclusively for that purpose (locomotives) or may be driven by a number of motors incorporated in all or several of the vehicles (multiple units).

As of 2018^[update], there are approximately 1,052,000 kilometres (654,000 mi) of railway track in use worldwide. (World Bank (via Archive.org))

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Selected article of the week

Ofotbanen Drift AS, trading as Ofotbanen, is a Norwegian passenger and freight railway company. The company operates a fleet of six locomotives, three multiple units, 22 passenger and 48 freight cars. The sole service is the passenger train Unionsexpressen between Oslo and Stockholm, but the company is seeking contracts for other passenger and freight transport. It has previously offered freight haulage on contract. The company was founded in 2001, and took over Norges Statsbaner's (NSB) passenger operation of the Ofot Line in 2003. The following year it entered the freight market, in particular with timber trains for Norske Skog. It further expanded into other services, such as charter trips. In 2006, the company almost went bankrupt, and was taken over by Rail Management. In 2007, the automotive distributor Autolink started purchasing the autorack operations from Ofotbanen, and at the same time bought 40% of the company. 2008 saw a dramatic decline in operations, as both the Norske Skog, Autolink and passenger train services were terminated. In April the company started service with the Unionexpressen between Oslo and Stockholm. The company went bankrupt in October, but was immediately re-established.

Recently selected: Rail transport in Vatican City - Asker Line - Meråker Line

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Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's Kansas City, Kansas, classification yard at night in 1943. Light trails from various brakeman's lanterns and from a passing train can be seen.

Recently selected: Rigi-Bahnen rail cars - 1889 Paris Exposition train - Snowplow train in Japan

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Did you know...

...that the opening ceremonies of the Galway to Clifden railway were very sparsely attended because the event date was a strict church holiday and was reserved for attending church services?
...that following heavy damage to the Galveston Island Trolley track and cars from Hurricane Ike in 2008, substitute service with replica buses was operated until service resumed in October 2021?
...that although the former Santa Fe Railway's Galesburg station was demolished after regular passenger service to the station ended in 1996, the site is still used if derailments cause trains to use the Chillicothe Subdivision instead of the Mendota Subdivision?
...that the Fuzhou–Xiamen railway, which opened in 2010, was so heavily used that it reached capacity in 2015, spurring construction on the parallel Fuzhou–Xiamen high-speed railway for CRH passenger train services?

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Selected anniversaries

November 23

1832 – After assembling the steam locomotive Delaware, Matthias W. Baldwin builds his first entirely new steam locomotive, named Old Ironsides.
1904 – New York City Subway's IRT Lenox Avenue Line opens south of the 145th Street station.
1937 – The Victorian Railways' Spirit of Progress (pictured), Australia's new luxury streamliner, commences regular service between Melbourne, Victoria, and Albury, New South Wales.
2004 – The new Wisconsin Northern Railroad begins operations on leased Union Pacific Railroad (formerly Chicago and North Western Railway) and Canadian National Railway (formerly Wisconsin Central) tracks.

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Train News

Santa Fe No. 2926 at Albuquerque, New Mexico
July 24, 2021 – Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe No. 2926, a 4-8-4 steam locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1944, moves under its own power for the first time since Christmas Eve of 1953, after nearly twenty-two years of being rebuilt by volunteers. The locomotive will be put into mainline excursion service. (NMSL&RHS, Trains Magazine on Facebook)
Big Boy No. 4012 at Steamtown National Historic Site
May 5, 2021 – Steamtown National Historic Site completes thorough cosmetic overhaul on Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy No. 4012, which is moved back on static display before National Train Day. (NEPA Scene)
The derailed Taroko Express trainset, as seen from outside the entrance to the tunnel
April 2, 2021 – 2021 Hualien train derailment – A Taroko Express train operated by the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) derails at the north entrance of Qingshui Tunnel in Heren Section, Xiulin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan, killing 49 people and injuring at least 200 others. North of Hualien City a construction truck had fallen down a slope onto the tracks. The eight-carriage train derailed after colliding with the truck, and then came to a rest in the tunnel, with severe damage and many casualties. (Bloomberg, CNN, CNA, New York Times, Financial Times)

The preserved C&O 1309 at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in October 2009

December 31, 2020 – Following a complete restoration, Chesapeake and Ohio 1309, a 2-6-6-2 Mallet locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1949, the last steam locomotive built by Baldwin for the North American market, is operated under its own power for test runs. When returned to service on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, it will be the largest steam locomotive in regular scheduled service in the United States and take 2-8-0 No. 734’s place as the largest active steam locomotive in the state of Maryland. (Trains.com Newswire)

An Avelia Liberty train on a test run in Delaware in May 2020

September 28, 2020 – Amtrak operates a test run using one of the 28 new Avelia Liberty trains manufactured by Alstom along the full length of the Northeast Corridor to Boston South Station. Previous test runs had occurred from Washington, D.C., only as far north as New Jersey and Delaware. Barring any problems, the trains are expected to enter regular service on the route in 2021. (Universal Hub)

Berryessa/North San José station on the first day of service

June 13, 2020 – The Bay Area Rapid Transit Silicon Valley BART extension opened its stations in Milpitas and North San Jose. (San Jose Spotlight, SF Gate)

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General images

The following are images from various train-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Image 2Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both pantograph and contact shoes. (from Locomotive)
Image 3Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 4The "hump" of a hump yard. Railcars travel past retarders, which control their speed, and are directed onto tracks to be assembled into new trains. The control tower operates the retarders. (from Rail yard)
Image 5World's first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel–electric locomotive) for long distances SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 6The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service. (from Train)
Image 7A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
Image 8Second-class compartment of a China Railways CRH1A-A train (from Train)
Image 9A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 10US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 11This cab car includes a horn (top), a bell (top right), headlights (above the door), classification lights (red lights on side), and ditch lights (white lights on side). (from Train)
Image 12Trains carrying hazardous materials display information identifying their cargo and hazards. This tank car carrying chlorine displays, among other markings, a U.S. DOT placard showing a UN number that identifies the hazardous substance. (from Train)
Image 13A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 14Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 15A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 16Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 17A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)
Image 18Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)
Image 19Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 20The New Orleans Streetcar System is one of the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 21British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 22Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Image 23Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 24Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons. (from Train)
Image 25Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 26Škoda Artic light rail train near the cathedral in Tampere, Finland (from Train)
Image 27Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (from Railroad car)
Image 28Bombardier ALP-45DP at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 29A narrow-gauge battery–electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 30Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 31Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 32The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 33A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 34Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 35An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
Image 36A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 37A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 38The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 39A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 40A number of maintenance vehicles at work on Metro-North Railroad (from Train)
Image 41A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
Image 42Pacific National diesel locomotives in Australia showing three body types, cab unit (front), hood unit (middle) and box cab (rear) (from Locomotive)
Image 43Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 44A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)
Image 45A large Amtrak and Metra coach yard just south of Chicago Union Station. About 25 percent of all rail traffic in the United States travels through the Chicago area. (from Rail yard)
Image 46China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 47A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 48Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 49A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 50A London Underground battery–electric locomotive at West Ham station used for hauling engineers' trains (from Locomotive)
Image 51This map of Cedar Hill Yard in Connecticut shows a variety of different facilities, including receiving yards, departure yards, classification yards, and a repair yard. (from Rail yard)
Image 52Variety of rolling stock in rail yard (from Rolling stock)