Portal:Trains/Did you know/September 2010

...that The Overland, a passenger train between Melbourne and Adelaide, Australia, now operated by Great Southern Railway, began service in 1887 over Victorian Railways and South Australian Railways 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) broad gauge tracks as the Adelaide Express?

...that to reduce construction costs, the Teresina Metro in the Brazilian state of Piauí uses a pre-existing metre gauge line, and to reduce interference with road traffic, new sections of the line were placed into a cut in the centre of the city?

...that France's SNCF Class B 81500 multiple units, used on the TER network, are hybrid trains, able to run from either diesel power or 1.5 kV DC electricity supply?

Allan valve gear

...that Scottish mechanical engineer Alexander Allan, Locomotive Superintendent for the Scottish Central Railway from 1853 to 1865, is known for innovations to the steam locomotive that included a balanced slide valve as well as his eponymous straight-link valve gear?

...that Spain's fleet of eight RENFE Class 354 diesel-hydraulic locomotives have encountered a number of serious mishaps during the last decade, with three destroyed in two separate head-on collisions, another unit badly damaged after catching fire, and yet another damaged after a derailment?

...that the ex-Austrian Southern Railway Class 23 locomotive No. 671, built in 1860 and still in service to this day hauling steam specials, is the longest serving steam locomotive in the world?

...that the Hungarian State Railways maintained some of its MÁV Class 424 4-8-0 steam locomotives in regular service until as recently as 1984?

...that the main station building of the former Tavistock North railway station, which was opened by the Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway in England and served the railway from 1890 to 1968, has been completely restored by its current owners and converted to 3 luxury self-catering cottages?

Diagram of a 4-4-0 locomotive built by Taunton in 1850

...that over 900 steam locomotives were produced by the Taunton Locomotive Manufacturing Company, in Taunton, Massachusetts, in its roughly sixty years in existence beginning in 1849?

...that the TX-2000 series electric multiple unit trains built for Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company in Japan are capable of operating in both DC and AC modes, and are therefore capable of running the full 58.3-kilometre (36.2 mi) length of the Tsukuba Express?

...that at 8,371 metres (27,464 ft) in length, the Tauern Rail Tunnel in Austria is the longest tunnel in the Tauern Railway Line, and that the highest point of the tunnel, at 1,226 metres (4,022 ft) above sea level, is also the highest point in all of the railway line?

...that the first prototype of a T1 type tram, the very first tramcar based on the American Presidents' Conference Committee concept produced by Czechoslovakian company ČKD Tatra, has been preserved in Střešovice depot in Prague, which has been converted to a tramway museum?
...that Tatanagar Railway Station, the main railway station serving the city of Jamshedpur in the Indian state of Jharkhand, is the second busiest station of the South Eastern Railway after Howrah station?

...that the 70-000 series multiple unit trains of Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit were originally built in 1996 as 4-car sets for use on the Rinkai Line only, but in 2004 the fleet was reformed entirely as 10-car trains?

...that Tara Street railway station in Dublin, serving mostly Dublin Area Rapid Transit trains as well as commuter trains to the western suburbs, is the 3^rd busiest railway station in Ireland?

...that since Tampere railway station in Tampere, Finland, is situated in a central location of the city, the station and its railway yard have served as divisors of the city's districts almost in the same way as Tammerkoski such that Tamperean places are often located by saying which side of the station they are on?

...that the TMK 101, a 2-axle tram which was used in Zagreb, Croatia, from 1951 until December 2008, was the first modern type of trams produced in Croatia with automatic door openers, driver's and conductor's seats, electrical brakes, mechanical brakes, air-operated brakes and a protective shield in front of the tram?

...that Japan National Railway's Class C62 4-6-4 steam locomotive number C62 17 broke the speed record for a narrow-gauge steam locomotive on 15 December 1954 when it reached 129 kilometres per hour (80 mph) on the Tōkaidō Main Line?

...that the T-68 model trams used only on the Manchester Metrolink system in Greater Manchester, England, have unusually high floors, designed to be accessed from standard UK railway platforms for compatibility with converted railway stations on the network?

...that when the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) was in the process of dieselisation in the late 1960s and into the 1970s, TCDD signed a licensing agreement with Matériel de Traction Electrique of France to build the new DE24000 class locomotives domestically by TÜLOMSAŞ?

...that the Muni Metro's T Third Street line in San Francisco, California, which opened in 2007, is the first new light rail line in San Francisco in more than half a century, and the first fully accessible line in the system?

...that the San'yō Main Line, in western Japan connecting Kobe Station and Moji Station, and the newer Sanyō Shinkansen take their name from the ancient highway Sanyōdō?

Birmingham airport people mover

...that Birmingham, England's AirRail Link, a fully automated cable-hauled people mover system linking Birmingham International Airport with Birmingham International railway station and the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), is built on top of the concrete guideway of the former maglev system that previously operated the route?

...that the Spanish solution for crowd control at busy stations is a method of using two platforms, on both sides of the track, by one train to speed up embarkation and disembarkation where passengers exit the train on one side, and board from the other?
...that the Guangzhou Metro, mainland China's fourth metro and opened only in 1997, delivered 675 million rides in 2009, with route length expected to grow from the current 150 kilometres (93 mi) to 600 kilometres (370 mi) by 2020?

...that EU Directive 91/440, a directive for railways in the European Union to allow open access operations by companies other than those that own the rail infrastructure, was intended to foster competition but has encouraged larger operators to grow through acquisitions and may lead to a potential duopoly between SNCF and Deutsche Bahn (DB) in western Europe?
...that the V250 high-speed trains, which will see shuttle service in the Netherlands and Belgium between Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Breda, Antwerp and Brussels, have distinctive styling by the Pininfarina design studio which has sometimes been compared to a platypus?

...that the Voiture État à 2 étages of the Chemins de fer de l'État in France boasted a revolutionary design in the mid-1930s with a driving cab at one end, permitting the train driver to remotely drive a steam locomotive pushing the cars from behind?

...that of the 1,646 SD70M diesel-electric locomotives produced by EMD, all but 194 were purchased by the Union Pacific Railroad?