Portal:Trains/Did you know/July 2015

Berea Union Depot in 2004

...that both the sandstone and the Gothic Revival architecture styling of Berea Union Depot are uncommon in northeastern Ohio, where masonry depots were typically brick, and where wooden stations outnumbered masonry?

Paul Wild of CSIRO standing in front of a TGV in France in 1989

...that although the Very Fast Train Joint Venture remains the most substantial investment into a high-speed rail project in Australia, speculation on its failure in 1991 included a difficult relationship between joint venture members, the deregulation of the Australian airline market and accusations that the scheme was in fact a disguised land development project?

Preserved UEC Preston tram number 2 in 2013

...that the four UEC Preston trams built by United Electric Car Company in 1912 for the Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company underground tramway in Buenos Aires remained in service until they were finally withdrawn in 1977?

A tram on Tramlink Route 2 at Beckenham Junction in 2001

...that the conversion of the Crystal Palace Line in London to single track allowed Tramlink route 2 to use the second track alignment between Birkbeck and Beckenham Junction for tram services?

Former Canadian National Tempo cars in use on the Ski Train in 2008

...that when Canadian National Railway introduced its new Tempo cars on the Toronto–Windsor and Toronto–Sarnia corridors in 1968, they were hauled by six rebuilt MLW RS-18 locomotives that were equipped with HEP and painted in a unique red-orange and gray livery?

Aerial view showing Stockholm Central Station and surrounding buildings in 2014

...that because Stockholm Central Station is the busiest station in Sweden (not counting metro stations), engineers use the heat generated by the thousands of visitors everyday to help heat a nearby office building?

Two class 14E1 locomotives at Beaufort West, Western Cape, in 2007

...that unlike the later South African dual voltage electric locomotive Classes 19E, 20E and 21E that were equipped to automatically transition between AC and DC mode on the run, the Class 14E1 had to be stopped and then restarted under the different voltage?

Sierra Railway 28 in 2006

...that after Sierra Railroad dieselized in 1955, 2-8-0 steam locomotive number 28 was preserved with four other locomotives for occasional railfan trips and movie work that extended through 1963?

The Sand Lake Road station during an open house event in 2014

...that SunRail's Sand Lake Road station is the first passenger station to exist in the Pine Castle area of Orange County, Florida, since the decline of service from the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad?

Aerial view of Rangierbahnhof Kornwestheim yard in Germany in 2008

...that the railML data exchange format development began in 2002 as part of an effort to mitigate the chronic difficulty of connecting different railway IT applications, especially between European railway companies, and now includes schema for infrastructure, rolling stock and timetable information?

Observers gathered to see the opening of the Dandenong Road line opening in 1911

...that when it was dissolved in 1920 and its assets transferred to the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board, the Prahran and Malvern Tramways Trust had 90 trams and operated on 35 miles (56 km) of tramway routes in Melbourne's southeastern suburbs?

A Península Valdés Railway train hauled by a Krauss 0-4-0T locomotive, leaving Puerto Pirámides

...that after the Ferro y Piaggio company folded in 1916, entrepreneur Alejandro Ferro reportedly acquired the assets of the Península Valdés Railway in Argentina, but the lack of documents or titles that proved his rights led to its complete closure in 1920?

Map of electric lines in Indiana and Ohio

...that at its height in the early 20th century, the Ohio Electric Railway was the largest interurban railroad in Ohio operating over 617 miles (993 km) of track connecting Toledo, Lima, Dayton, Columbus, and Cincinnati?

The facade of New Jersey Avenue station in the late 1800s

...that in consideration of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) moving their station in Washington, D.C., to New Jersey Avenue Station in 1850, which was the only rail service into or out of the capital, Washington proposed to allow the B&O to use steam locomotives all the way into the depot?

Two M-Trains on the Kwun Tong Line near Kowloon Bay Station in 2008

...that the M-Trains, built by Metro Cammell from 1976 to 1997 for Hong Kong's MTR, are the oldest variation of electric multiple unit train that is used on the system?

A Materfer CMM 400-2 railcar on the Mitre Line in 2015

...that at its peak production levels, the 66,000-square-metre (710,000 sq ft) Materfer factory in Ferreyra, Córdoba Province, Argentina, produced about one railway coach per day?

One of the extant stone piers of Nethan Viaduct in 2007

...that Lesmahagow Railway's now demolished Nethan Viaduct was rebuilt soon after opening by inserting iron piers between the existing stone piers to raise the track level by 19+1⁄2 feet (5.9 m), making it one of the tallest viaducts in Scotland?

A Kintetsu Ise-Shima Liner at Ujiyamada Station in 2008

...that although Kintetsu owned both the Nagoya Line and the Yamada Line, direct service between Nagoya and Ujiyamada was initially not possible because the Sankyū Main Line (Yamada Line) was built to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge while the Sankyū Ise Line (Nagoya Line) was built to 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge with the break-of-gauge at Ise-Nakagawa?

A pair of EF63s leading a 489 series EMU on a Hakusan service in June 1997

...that trains ascending the Usui Pass section of the Shinetsu Main Line from Yokokawa in Japan were driven by the driver in the rearmost cab of the banking EF63 pair at the rear of the train, with the driver in the front cab of the train acting only as signal look-out?

The platforms and tracks at Hiwa Station in 2008

...that Hiwa Station, located within a bend in the Takahashi River in a valley between two tunnels in Okayama Prefecture, Japan, is within one kilometer (0.6 miles) of thirteen Shinto shrines and four Buddhist temples?

A Hisatsu Orange Railway 100 series train in 2010