Portal:Trains/Did you know/October 2018

October 2018

158767 passes through Pilning railway station on its way to Cardiff Central in 2009

• ...that "ghost trains" have been required to operate by an Act of Parliament passed in 1844?

The tracks and station building at Pahiatua in 2009

• ...that although it is now only used for freight services, Pahiatua railway station on the Wairarapa Line in New Zealand’s North Island is the only operational station between Masterton and Woodville?

The preserved station building at Padstow in 2004

• ...that outward-bound fish freight in the early 20th century at Padstow railway station in England often reached 1,000 wagonloads during a Spring season?

A Pacific National freight train at Branxton, NSW, in 2016

• ...that a condition of Pacific National's 2004 purchase of Freight Australia was to provide a 'starter pack' of locomotives, wagons, train paths, and freight terminals for a third party operator on the route across the Nullarbor Plain?

The multiple wires of an overhead line system in Japan, showing the carrier wire below and the catenary wire above it

• ...that the term "catenary" to describe overhead lines in railway electrification systems is derived from the wire that approximates the natural path of a wire strung between two points forming a catenary curve?

Outer Harbor station in 2005

• ...that many boat trains to Outer Harbor railway station in the Adelaide suburb of North Haven were shunted onto the wharf lines to enable passengers to transfer directly to and from the ships?

Memorial monument of the Otłoczyn railway accident

• ...that although no evidence was found to substantiate it, some believed that the 1980 Otłoczyn railway accident in Poland was caused by an unknown person who terrorized crew of the freight train in the crash?

An Osaka Loop Line train at Tennōji Station in January 2006

• ...that on average on the Osaka Loop Line in Japan, two trains leave Tennōji Station and Ōsaka Station every seven minutes, in opposite directions?

The station for the automated people movers at Orlando International Airport Intermodal Terminal in November 2017

• ...that construction of the Orlando International Airport Intermodal Terminal facility mostly reuses plans from the proposed Florida High Speed Rail system that was effectively cancelled when Florida governor Rick Scott announced he would reject federal funding?

A Blue Line train at Orient Heights station in 2013

• ...that due to the proximity of Orient Heights Yard, MBTA Blue Line employees report to work at Orient Heights station?

An OSShD approved coach operating on Syrian railways in 2007

• ...that the Organization for Cooperation of Railways (abbreviated as OSShD, based on the Russian translation) developed a common specification for variable-gauge wheelsets, designed for use on the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) and 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) gauge tracks of its member states?

An Øresundståg train at Helsingør station in June 2013

• ...that five trains per hour on the Øresundståg in the transnational Øresund Region of Denmark and Sweden has proven insufficient for passenger capacity?

The Oregon Rail Heritage Center in 2016

• ...that the new enginehouse at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center was sited next to Union Pacific Railroad's north–south main line to allow excursion trains featuring Southern Pacific 4449 and Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700 to continue?

The logo of Operation Pheonix

• ...that a 1949 review of Victorian Railways predicted a "final breakdown of rail transport" in ten years if nothing was done, leading to the creation of Operation Phoenix to rehabilitate the Australian railway system?

An OnTrack train at Armory Square station in 1995

• ...that during much of OnTrack's operation, Syracuse, New York, was the smallest city in the United States to have regional train service?

A London Underground train at Ongar station in 1980

• ...that until 1994, Ongar railway station was the easternmost point of the Central line and the eastern buffers remain the point from which all distances on the London Underground are measured?

A platform dispatcher assisting one-man operation on the Berlin S-Bahn in 2008

• ...that in some cases, one-man operation can be seen as an intermediate step towards automatic train operation?

A Manchester Metrolink tram between Newhey and Shaw in 2013

• ...that a portion of Manchester Metrolink's Oldham and Rochdale Line can be traced to a branch line constructed by the Manchester and Leeds Railway in 1842?