Portal:Trains/Did you know/July 2016

Passenger trains at the original downtown Miami station in the 1930s

...that the new MiamiCentral mixed-use railroad station development under construction in Miami, Florida, is being built on the site of the original Florida East Coast Railway terminus that was demolished in 1963 and converted to a parking lot?

...that the thirty Reading Company T-1 class 4-8-4 steam locomotives were built between 1945 and 1947 at the Reading Company's main locomotive shop in Reading using the boiler, firebox, and several other components of thirty existing I-10sa class 2-8-0s?

Milwaukee Road locomotive E50 in the Deer Lodge, Montana engine house, October 1974

...that Milwaukee Road's EP-1 and EF-1 classes of electric locomotives introduced in 1915 proved highly successful, replacing a much larger number of steam locomotives, cutting costs and improving both freight and passenger train schedules?

Aftermath of the Nidareid train disaster the morning after the accident

...that a contributing factor in the Nidareid train disaster in 1921 on the Trondhjem-Størenbanen in Norway was the use of the phrase "night to Monday the 19th" which was misinterpreted by train crews to mean the night one day after the incident?

PRR 4859 preserved in Harrisburg in 2008

...that Pennsylvania Railroad GG1-class electric locomotive number 4859 pulled the first electrically powered train from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1938 as well as the last GG1-powered freight train while under Conrail ownership in 1979?

A METRANS locomotive at Prague-Uhříněves in 2013

...that METRANS Rail, founded by engine drivers Petr Šimral and Radan Stift in August 2003, became the first Czech open access operator offering regular passenger trains from Liberec to German Zittau using Uerdingen railbuses?

The County Road 605 bridge over McMickle Cut in April 1989

...that the 1.04-mile long (1.67 km) McMickle Cut, which is being rebuilt by NJ Transit for rail service to Andover to begin in 2018, is the longest cut on the Lackawanna Cut-Off railroad line in northwest New Jersey?

Union Pacific heritage equipment, led by EMD E9 number 949, was used on an excursion train from Chicago to Clinton, Iowa, in 1995

...that almost one third of the entire production of 144 EMD E9 diesel-electric locomotives built in the 1950s and 60s have been preserved by railroad museums as well as by several railroad companies across the United States?

A section of the McCaul Loop in 2009

...that when The Village by the Grange shopping and residential complex was built in 1976 around and on top of McCaul Loop on Toronto Transit Commission's 502 Downtowner line, two Peter Witt streetcars were placed within the loop to serve as a theme restaurant?

Streetcar stop on Loyola Avenue at Poydras Street, New Orleans, in 2013

...that the Loyola-UPT Streetcar Line is unique in New Orleans in that the streetcar stops are built to light rail system standards as opposed to typical streetcar stops that utilize a simple concrete platform?

A Balloon Route car in 1905

...that stops along the Balloon Route streetcar line of the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad included the Sunset Boulevard studio of painter Paul de Longpré, the bean fields of Morocco in Beverly Hills, Old Soldiers' Home in Sawtelle, Camera Obscura at Santa Monica and Redondo's Moonstone Beach?

D&RG Salt Lake City depot

...that the Denver and Rio Grande Western Depot in Salt Lake City was designed and built specifically to outshine their rival's depot 3 blocks to the north?

The Beipanjiang River Railway Bridge on the Liupanshui–Baiguo Railway in 2011

...that 64% of the total length of the Liupanshui–Baiguo Railway in China consists of 50 tunnels and 102 bridges, including the Beipanjiang River Railway Bridge, which is the highest railway bridge in the world?

Little Italy-University Circle station in September 2015

...that Cleveland RTA's Little Italy–University Circle station, the first new station on the Red Line since 1969, reuses an old vault under the railroad bridges that was built in the 1920s as a potential commuter rail station by the Van Sweringen brothers?

Aftermath of the 1903 Pere Marquette accident

...that an investigation after the 1903 East Paris train wreck in Michigan revealed that nearby station staff on the Pere Marquette Railway knew of signal problems as much as ten minutes earlier but could not prevent the accident?

Diagram of Eurobalise and related equipment placement on a track

...that a Eurobalise transponder installed on the European rail network can transmit at least 3 copies of a 'telegram' to be received by a train passing above it at any speed up to 500 km/h (311 mph)?

Caltrain trains at San Francisco station in 2010

Sandplace station platform on the Liskeard to Looe line in January 2013

...that a peculiarity of the Liskeard and Looe Railway line in Cornwall, England, is the circuitous route from Liskeard to Coombe, which includes a steep gradient to descend from Liskeard into the valley, and sharp curves?

Leith Walk station site in 2015

...that the 1930 closure of Leith Walk railway station in Edinburgh, Scotland, was likely due to competition from Edinburgh Corporation Tramways as the tram journey from the city centre to Leith Walk was quicker than travelling by train?

London Chatham & Dover Railway Class C (Europa) 2-4-0, America, in 1880

...that London, Chatham and Dover Railway's four Europa class 2-4-0 steam locomotives built in the 1870s were designed by William Martley, the LCDR's locomotive superintendent, for the mail trains as the punctuality of these services was essential to their retention?

A tram built by La Brugeoise et Nivelles for use in Buenos Aires

...that Belgian locomotive and rolling stock manufacturer La Brugeoise et Nivelles, which was acquired by Bombardier Inc. in 1988, could trace its corporate history back to a hardware store founded by Joseph De Jaegher in Bruges in 1851?

Tunnel portals in Zurich in 2008 with the Käferberg Tunnel to the right

...that the Käferberg Tunnel in Zurich, Switzerland, which now sees traffic of six different Zürich S-Bahn lines connecting to Zürich Hauptbahnhof, was built in 1969 so freight trains could bypass the Hauptbahnhof?