Portal:Trains/Selected picture/2008 archive
This is an archive of images that have appeared in the Selected picture section of Portal:Trains in 2008. For past archives, see the complete archive page.
- Week 1
- January 1–5
A passenger train with a class 206 locomotive passing the small town of Haag, Lower Austria, circa 1900.
Recently selected: ATSF 3759 with Christmas lights - Steam powered freight in Japan - "Fast Express" US postage stamp
- Week 2
- January 6–12
The painting Vor der Vollendung (Before the Completion) by German artist Paul Meyerheim, circa 1876. The painting shows the final touches being applied to a steam locomotive under construction as the shop foreman goes over some details with the workers while work on other equipment goes on around it.
Recently selected: Austrian passenger train - ATSF 3759 with Christmas lights - Steam powered freight in Japan
- Week 3
- January 13–19
An preserved interurban car of the Philadelphia and Western Railroad, Pennsylvania, USA. One of its lines is now SEPTA's Norristown High Speed Line (Route 100); the other has been abandoned. Part of the abandoned line within Radnor Township is now the P&W Trail, a multi-use path.
Recently selected: Vor der Vollendung - Austrian passenger train - ATSF 3759 with Christmas lights
- Week 4
- January 20–26
A train of the Berninabahn passes "Madonna di Tirano" pilgrimage church in Tirano, Italy.
The Berninabahn is one of several lines of the RhB, the largest network of all the private railways in Switzerland. This line runs from Tirano to St. Moritz over the Bernina Pass and traverses the steepest grades of the network at 7%.
Recently selected: Philadelphia and Western interurban - Vor der Vollendung - Austrian passenger train
- Week 5
- January 27 – February 2
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Preserved steam locomotives at Didcot Railway Centre, Oxfordshire, Great Britain. This photograph was taken in October 2001 during one of the Centre's Photographers' Night events.
Recently selected: Berninabahn - Philadelphia and Western interurban - Vor der Vollendung
- Week 6
- February 3–9
The concourse of the original Pennsylvania Station, New York City, in 1962. The station was built in 1910 by Pennsylvania Railroad and the above-ground building was demolished in 1964, replaced by Madison Square Gardens. The tracks and platforms remain and are still in use as the current Penn Station under the arena.
Recently selected: Didcot Railway Centre at night - Berninabahn - Philadelphia and Western interurban
- Week 7
- February 10–16
Replacing the tire on a steam locomotive driving wheel.
The work is being done here in March 1943 at the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway locomotive shops in Shopton, near Fort Madison, Iowa. The tire is heated by means of a gas flame until it can be slipped over the wheel. Contraction on cooling will hold it firmly in place.
Recently selected: Penn Station concourse - Didcot Railway Centre at night - Berninabahn
- Week 8
- February 17–23
The aftermath of a boiler explosion c. 1850.
Locomotive boilers are of a construction with a very small, historically hand-fed furnace (more modern locomotives used mechanical stokers), a boiler barrel containing boiling water under pressure, and tubes containing superheated gases from the fire (a fire tube boiler). Improved design and maintenance markedly reduced the number of boiler explosions by the end of the 19th century.
Recently selected: Retiring a locomotive driver - Penn Station concourse - Didcot Railway Centre at night
- Week 9
- February 24 – March 1
Two JNR Class DD51 diesel locomotives lead a freight train in 2004.
The DD51 is a class of Japanese B-2-B wheel arrangement diesel-hydraulic locomotives. 642 locomotives were built between 1962 and 1977 by Kawasaki, Hitachi, and Mitsubishi.
Recently selected: Boiler explosion - Retiring a locomotive driver - Penn Station concourse
- Week 10
- March 2–8
Steam locomotives in the roundhouse at Chicago and North Western Railway's yard in Chicago, Illinois.
A roundhouse is a building used by railroads for servicing locomotives. Roundhouses are large, circular or semicircular structures that were traditionally located surrounding or adjacent to turntables. The defining feature of the traditional roundhouse was the turntable, which facilitates access when the building is used for repair facilities or for storage of steam locomotives.
Recently selected: JNR class DD51 - Boiler explosion - Retiring a locomotive driver
- Week 11
- March 9–15
A Ce 2/2 class tram of the Rolle - Gimel line in Switzerland in the winter of 1901/1902. The line was in service from 1898 to 1938.
Recently selected: CNW roundhouse - JNR class DD51 - Boiler explosion
- Week 12
- March 16–22
The supports for the Lucthspoor under construction in 1873.
The Luchtspoor was a 2.2-kilometre (1.4 mi) long railway viaduct through the center of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Construction was completed on 1877-04-28, with the viaduct forming part of the connection to Amsterdam.
Recently selected: Rolle-Gimel tram - CNW roundhouse - JNR class DD51
- Week 13
- March 23–29
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LRC locomotive with Nightstar coaches on initial test runs, in Ottawa, 2000. This was one of the last runs of the LRC locomotives.
Recently selected: Luchtspoor construction - Rolle-Gimel tram - CNW roundhouse
- Week 14
- March 30 – April 5
Defunct train station at Chiusaforte, formerly part of the Pontebbana railway line, in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy.
Recently selected: LRC-powered Nightstar - Luchtspoor construction - Rolle-Gimel tram
- Week 15
- April 6–12
A train of the Rigi-Bahnen in Switzerland.
Mount Rigi, situated between two of the arms of Lake Lucerne is the home of two standard gauge rack railways, the Vitznau-Rigi Bahn (VRB) and the Arth-Rigi Bahn (ARB). These two railways, along with the Luftseilbahn Weggis-Rigi Kaltbad (LWRK) cable car, form the Rigi Railways (Rigi-Bahnen).
Recently selected: Defunct Pontebbana station - LRC-powered Nightstar - Luchtspoor construction
- Week 16
- April 13–19
Track workers install rail on a line in Tacuarembó, Uruguay. The small cranes help the workers make small adjustments in the rail's position for the track's gauge.
Recently selected: Rigi-bahn - Defunct Pontebbana station - LRC-powered Nightstar
- Week 17
- April 20–26
A portion of a train dispatcher's desk in Bologna, Italy. The graphs show train movements between stations (vertical position) over time (horizontal position).
Recently selected: Installing rail in Uruguay - Rigi-bahn - Defunct Pontebbana station
- Week 18
- April 27 – May 3
A rare gathering of three ex-LNER A4 locomotives at Grosmont, North Yorkshire Moors Railway, during the LNER Gala on April 4, 2008. Reminiscent of the 'Top Shed' scene of the 1950s, 60009 Union of South Africa, 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley, and 60019 Bittern line up alonsgide each other at 7:30am, as they are prepared for service.
Recently selected: Dispatcher's desk - Installing rail in Uruguay - Rigi-bahn
- Week 19
- May 4–10
A set of Chicago and North Western Railway steam locomotives being fueled at the railway's main yard in Chicago, Illinois, in December 1942.
Recently selected: LNER A4 lineup - Dispatcher's desk - Installing rail in Uruguay
- Week 20
- May 11–17
The viaduct at Vecchio, 140 metres (459 ft) long and 94 m (308 ft 5 in) high, designed by Gustave Eiffel, is one of 51 bridges and viaducts on the Chemins de fer de Corse on the island of Corsica.
Recently selected: Fueling steam locomotives in Chicago - LNER A4 lineup - Dispatcher's desk
- Week 21
- May 18–24
An EN57 class EMU in operation on Szybka Kolej Miejska in Poland in 2007.
Recently selected: Vecchio Viaduct - Fueling steam locomotives in Chicago - LNER A4 lineup
- Week 22
- May 25–31
Two standard gauge freight wagons on roll-blocks spotted at an industrial siding in Switzerland. Using the roll-blocks, the freight cars can be moved to the industry directly, eliminating the need for transloading between standard and narrow gauge wagons, and therefore reducing shipping costs.
Recently selected: SKM EN57 class EMU - Vecchio Viaduct - Fueling steam locomotives in Chicago
- Week 23
- June 1–7
A train conductor on the platform at Misawa Station, Japan in 2005. Misawa Station opened (under the name Komaki Station) in 1894. The station took its present name in 1961; it became part of the JR system when the Japanese National Railways (JNR) was privatized in 1987.
Recently selected: Transporter truck usage - SKM EN57 class EMU - Vecchio Viaduct
- Week 24
- June 8–14
A long-exposure photograph of Amtrak's Southwest Chief leaving Hutchinson, Kansas. The Southwest Chief is the indirect successor to the Santa Fe Railroad's Super Chief, running from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California.
Recently selected: Conducor at Misawa Station - Transporter truck usage - SKM EN57 class EMU
- Week 25
- June 15–21
Eurostar trains in the renovated St Pancras Station, London, England, in January 2008. On September 4, 2007, the first test train ran from Paris Gare du Nord to St Pancras. St Pancras station was officially re-opened as St Pancras International, and the High Speed 1 launched, on Tuesday November 6, 2007.
Recently selected: Southwest Chief time exposure - Conducor at Misawa Station - Transporter truck usage
- Week 26
- June 22–28
While trains were used to transport U.S. soldiers and their equipment during the Korean War, trains in North Korea were targets of attack by U.S. and other U.N. forces. Here, U.S. forces target rail cars south of Wonsan, North Korea, an east coast port city.
Recently selected: Eurostars in St Pancras - Southwest Chief time exposure - Conducor at Misawa Station
- Week 27
- June 29 – July 5
On 14 June 2008, a special steam-hauled service was run to mark the opening of the railway from Melbourne to Albury, NSW, Australia, exactly 125 years earlier, and the imminent closure of the original broad gauge track for conversion to standard gauge. The Albury line features approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) of parallel broad gauge and standard gauge tracks, the longest example of parallel tracks of different gauges in the world.
Recently selected: Korean trains under attack - Eurostars in St Pancras - Southwest Chief time exposure
- Week 28
- July 6–12
Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad (DM&E) locomotives 4004 City of Dodge Center and 4000 City of St. Lawrence, both EMD GP40s, rest between jobs at Davis Junction, Illinois, in May 2008. In September 2007 it was announced that Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) would acquire the DM&E upon approval by the Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the US Department of Transportation. CP completed the financial transactions on October 4, 2007, placing the DM&E in a voting trust; operations remain independent until the STB issues its approval of the purchase.
Recently selected: Australian steam special - Korean trains under attack - Eurostars in St Pancras
- Week 29
- July 13–19
Glenfinnan Viaduct, is a railway viaduct on the West Highland Line in Glenfinnan, Scotland, built between 1897 and 1901. It has been used as a location in several films and television series, including Charlotte Gray, Monarch of the Glen, and most famously the Harry Potter series of films.
Recently selected: DM&E locomotives - Australian steam special - Korean trains under attack
- Week 30
- July 20–26
Bingham Canyon Mine, southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, in November 1942. Several bridges were needed to get the mine's electric railway line to connect from the center of the open-pit mine to the surface. A train in the background of this image is hauling waste material out of the mine.
Recently selected: Glenfinnan Viaduct - DM&E locomotives - Australian steam special
- Week 31
- July 27 – August 2
Commuters in an open train door at Churchgate Station, a terminus of Western Railway line of Mumbai Suburban Railway in India. The sign next to the train door states that the coach seen here is a ladies-only car at certain times of the day; Mumbai Suburban Railway carries 6.94 million passengers per day.
Recently selected: Bingham Canyon Mine - Glenfinnan Viaduct - DM&E locomotives
- Week 32
- August 3–9
A FrontRunner train approaching the Farmington station on July 2, 2008. FrontRunner is a commuter rail line recently completed by the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) to serve the Wasatch Front area of Utah, United States.
Recently selected: Churchgate Station - Bingham Canyon Mine - Glenfinnan Viaduct
- Week 33
- August 10–16
Twenty-two Pacifics classified Hr1 Nos 1000 – 1021 and named Ukko-Pekka, after the nickname of Finnish President Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, were constructed in Finland by Tampella and Lokomo between 1937 and 1957. They were the largest passenger locomotives built or used in Finland and remained the primary locomotives used for Southern Finland on express trains until 1963, when class Hr12 diesels took over.
Recently selected: FrontRunner - Churchgate Station - Bingham Canyon Mine
- Week 34
- August 17–23
An animated image of the Government Bridge spanning the Mississippi River between Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa. The animation shows the swing span rotating to open the channels beneath it for river traffic. The current bridge was completed in 1896.
Recently selected: Ukkopekka - FrontRunner - Churchgate Station
- Week 35
- August 24–30
Preserved LMS Fowler class 3F Jinty 0-6-0T, operating on 5 July 2005, on the Spa Valley Railway in southeast England. Introduced in 1924 and retired from active service by 1967, the 3F class represents the ultimate development of the Midland Railway's six-coupled tank engines.
Recently selected: Government Bridge - Ukkopekka - FrontRunner
- Week 36
- August 31 – September 6
Three main lines crossing above one another in Richmond, Virginia. In this colorized post card image from 1919, a Chesapeake and Ohio Railway passenger train leaves Richmond for the upper James River Valley on the topmost track, while just beneath it a train of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad leaves the Main Street (Union) Station for the South, and on the ground a train of the Southern Railway arrives at Richmond from West Point on the York River.
Recently selected: LMS Fowler 3F Jinty - Government Bridge - Ukkopekka
- Week 37
- September 7–13
A cutaway view of the steam dome on a steam locomotive. Steam in the boiler collects in this dome at the top of the locomotive. Valves actuated by the engineer control the flow of steam from this dome through a large pipe, visible here, to the cylinders. Often, a smaller pipe, also seen here, leads from the steam dome to the locomotive's whistle.
Recently selected: Triple-crossing in Richmond, Virginia - LMS Fowler 3F Jinty - Government Bridge
- Week 38
- September 14–20
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A Croatian Railways (Croatian: Hrvatske željeznice, HŽ) freight train passing the Pula railway station in Croatia. The Croatian railway system consists of 2,974 kilometres (1,848 mi) of track (of which 248 km or 154 mi is double track); as of 2004, 1,228 km (763 mi) of the track is electrified.
Recently selected: Steam dome - Triple-crossing in Richmond, Virginia - LMS Fowler 3F Jinty
- Week 39
- September 21–27
92220 Evening Star, the last steam locomotive built by British Railways. Now a static exhibit at the National Railway Museum, this locomotive is unlikely to be operated again.
Recently selected: Freight train at Pula - Steam dome - Triple-crossing in Richmond, Virginia
- Week 40
- September 28 – October 4
Locomotive B 60, the first mainline diesel electric locomotive to run on Victorian Railways is passed on its delivery run to Melbourne by steam locomotive S 302, in July 1952. The B class locomotives, an Australian derivative of the American EMD F7, were an outstanding success. A little over two years after this photograph was taken the B class locomotives were running all the top express services and the S class streamliners, for over 20 years the pride of the VR fleet, had all been withdrawn and scrapped
Recently selected: BR 92220 Evening Star - Freight train at Pula - Steam dome
- Week 41
- October 5–11
An advertisement circa 1876 showing the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge touting the railway as the only route between the towns of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Suspension Bridge, New York. The train depicted is one of the Great Western Railway of Ontario, one of three railways (each with a different gauge) that used the bridge.
Recently selected: Australian diesel and steam locomotives - BR 92220 Evening Star - Freight train at Pula
- Week 42
- October 12–18
A snowplow train in operation in Hokkaidō, Japan. The train has a Russell snowplow at each end facing opposite directions and a single DE15 class locomotive between them. The snowplows are facing opposite directions so the train does not have to be turned to clear snow in either direction of travel.
Recently selected: Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge advertisement - Australian diesel and steam locomotives - BR 92220 Evening Star
- Week 43
- October 19–25
A demonstration railroad train at the Paris Exposition in 1889. Transport around the Exposition was partly provided by this 3-kilometre (1.9 mi) long 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) gauge railway by Decauville. It was claimed that the railway carried 6,342,446 visitors in just six months of operation. Some of the locomotives used on this line later saw service on the Chemins de Fer du Calvados.
Recently selected: Snowplow train in Japan - Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge advertisement - Australian diesel and steam locomotives
- Week 44
- October 26 – November 1
Two rail cars built in 1937 of the Vitznau-Rigibahn, shortly before arrival at Rigi Staffelhohe, Switzerland. In the background, the peak of Mt. Rigi is visible.
Recently selected: 1889 Paris Exposition train - Snowplow train in Japan - Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge advertisement
- Week 45
- November 2–8
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
- Week 46
- November 9–15
A Pacific National NR class locomotive hard at work shunting at the Melbourne, Australia, steel terminal in 2006. Locomotives of this class were the only locomotives ordered new by National Rail, which is the origin of the NR class name.
Recently selected: ATSF Kansas City yard - Rigi-Bahnen rail cars - 1889 Paris Exposition train
- Week 47
- November 16–22
An ICE of Deutsche Bahn and a Beneluxtrein of SNCB pass each other near Amsterdam Centraal railway station in the Netherlands in 2006. Approximately 150,000 passengers a day pass through this station.
Recently selected: Pacific National freight train - ATSF Kansas City yard - Rigi-Bahnen rail cars
- Week 48
- November 23–29
An RhB passenger train on the Albula railway, in Graubünden, Switzerland. In 2008 the Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Recently selected: ICE and BNL trains in Amsterdam - Pacific National freight train - ATSF Kansas City yard
- Week 49
- November 30 – December 6
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway conductor George E. Burton and engineer J.W. Edwards synchronize their watches in March 1943 before pulling out of Corwith Yard in Chicago for Chillicothe, Illinois.
Recently selected: Albulabahn - ICE and BNL trains in Amsterdam - Pacific National freight train
- Week 50
- December 7–13
A train of the Eritrean Railway, showing class 440 locomotive at work on the mountainous section between Arbaroba and Asmara. The railway is narrow gauge and is slowly being rebuilt after the devastation wreaked upon it by the war of independence. It is one of the few railway systems still in existence (excluding tourist railways) using equipment like the 1930s Italian-built 'Littorina' railcars behind 1930s-vintage Mallet steam locomotives.
Recently selected: Preparing for departure in Chicago - Albulabahn - ICE and BNL trains in Amsterdam
- Week 51
- December 14–20
Østbanen Lynette DMUs at Rødvig station in Denmark. Østbanen operated from 1879 until 2002.
Recently selected: Eritrean Railway - Preparing for departure in Chicago - Albulabahn
- Week 52
- December 21–27
Three diesel locomotives of Israel Railways at Ashdod. Locomotive numbers 708 and 709 (front and rear) are JT42CW models while locomotive number 115 (center) is a G12 model, all three from EMD.
Recently selected: Østbanen DMUs at Rødvig - Eritrean Railway - Preparing for departure in Chicago
- Week 53
- December 28 – January 3, 2009
A German soldier and a railwayman inspect an SNCF passenger train in 1942.
Recently selected: Israel Railways locomotives - Østbanen DMUs at Rødvig - Eritrean Railway