Portal:Trains/Did you know/February 2019

February 2019

A River Line train at 36th Street in 2006

• ...that as of fiscal year 2014, New Jersey Transit's diesel tram-train light rail River Line is exceeding weekday ridership estimates by almost 65%?

Rio Grande 223 during restoration work in 2010

• ...that Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad's C-16 class 2-8-0 steam locomotive number 223 was damaged in fires in 1892, 1905 and 2006?

The tracks and platforms at Rickmansworth station in 2009

• ...that Rickmansworth is one of few locations on London Underground's Metropolitan line where train drivers are based and remains a changeover point for drivers on the line?

A train at Richmond station in 2009

• ...that Great Western Railway (GWR) briefly ran a service from Paddington to Richmond via the Hammersmith & City Railway (now the Hammersmith & City line) in 1870?

An Amtrak Capitol Corridor train at Richmond station in April 2018

• ...that Richmond and Oakland Coliseum stations are the only two direct transfer points between BART and Amtrak?

A New York & Atlantic Railroad freight train passes the disused Richmond Hill station platform in July 2018

• ...that Richmond Hill and Penny Bridge stations on Long Island Rail Road's Montauk Branch had just one daily rider each at the time of their closure?

A destroyed Richmond & Petersburg Railroad locomotive in 1865

• ...that in 1864, the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad had 118 slaves and 78 paid employees to work the railroad, but after the American Civil War, the railroad only had paid employees?

A steam-powered excursion train on Ribblehead Viaduct in 2013

• ...that high maintenance cost estimates for structures including the Ribblehead Viaduct on the Settle–Carlisle line led to British Rail proposing to close the line in the 1980s?

Ribblehead station in 2007

• ...that monthly religious services were held in the waiting room at Ribblehead railway station accompanied by a harmonium installed in the 1870s concealed behind a billboard?

Interior of a first class coach belonging to the Rheingold in September 1930

• ...that the cars used on the Rheingold passenger train in the 1930s were the most technically advanced the DRG had at that time?

The preserved Reuben Wells locomotive on display in 2010

• ...that the 35-foot long (11 m) 0-10-0T steam locomotive Reuben Wells was the most powerful locomotive in the world when it was built in 1868?

A Class 373/2 train in GNER livery at Kings Cross in 2004

• ...that Regional Eurostar services were proposed to operate Eurostar trains from Paris and Brussels to locations in the United Kingdom beyond London using Class 373/2 trainsets?

A Siemens Desiro in RegioJet livery in 2010

• ...that the private passenger train operator RegioJet was created as a subsidiary of Student Agency, which was formed to deal with mediating au-pair stays for students from the Czech Republic?

A damp Sunday finds Great Western Railway's 165130 in the new platform 0 at Redhill with a stoping service to Reading in August 2018

• ...that there is a Platform 0 at Redhill railway station?

Red Line cars at the West Park station in 1968

• ...that the Cleveland, Ohio, RTA Red Line 1968 extension to West Park and its connection to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport was the first airport rail link in North America?

Reading 2124 preserved at Steamtown in 2008

• ...that the four Reading Company T-1 class 4-8-4 steam locomotives used on the Iron Horse Rambles excursion trains in the 1960s are the only four of the class that were preserved?

Both Reading stations in 1865 with the SER station on the left

• ...that part of Reading railway station's 1989-built concourse is on the site of the west end frontage of the demolished Reading Southern railway station opened by South Eastern Railway in 1855?

Postcard view of Raleigh Union Depot at an unspecified date

• ...that the name of the newly constructed Raleigh Union Station in North Carolina pays homage to the former Union Depot, which was commonly referred to as Union Station?

A three-way stub switch at Sheepscot station on the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway in 2007

• ...that unlike a typical railroad switch that uses tapered points to align routes, a stub switch uses movable rails with square-cut ends to align with the rails of one of the diverging routes?

Official seal of the Railroad Retirement Board

• ...that since United States Railroad Retirement Board serves U.S. railroad workers and their families, and administers retirement, survivor, unemployment, and sickness benefits, railroad workers do not participate in the U.S. Social Security program?

A three-car train of 2000 class railcars in suburban Adelaide, Australia in 2007

• ...that in British and Australian English, the term "railcar" is used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a driver's cab at one or both ends?