Portal:Trains
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In rail transport, a train is a vehicle or (more frequently) a string of vehicles capable of being moved along a continuous line of rails or other guideway for the purpose of conveying freight or passengers between points on a predetermined route. The train may be hauled or propelled by one or more vehicles designed exclusively for that purpose (locomotives) or may be driven by a number of motors incorporated in all or several of the vehicles (multiple units). As of 2018[update], there are approximately 1,052,000 kilometres (654,000 mi) of railway track in use worldwide. (World Bank (via Archive.org)) |
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Selected article of the week
The British Rail Class 319 is a dual-voltage electric multiple unit train capable of operating on 25 kV AC from overhead wires or 750 V DC from a third rail. They were built in two batches in 1987–88 and 1990 by BREL York for use on north-south cross-London services. The units were primarily used on the then-new Thameslink service operating from Bedford to Brighton and various other destinations south of London. The majority of the fleet remained in use on the Thameslink route after its reshaping and privatisation in 1997. Some of the fleet was also used on various other services operating out of London Victoria, including flagship expresses to Brighton. Since delivery of new rolling stock for Thameslink services commenced in 2015, a number of Class 319 units have been redeployed for use on other operators' services, including in the North West of England.
Recently selected: British Rail Class 303 - Staten Island Railway - Stadium station (Sound Transit)
Selected image of the week
Grain cars, mostly boxcars in grain service in this photo, are unloaded into the transshipment facility at Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, in 1996. Churchill is the northern terminus of the Hudson Bay Railway and it is Canada's principal seaport on the Arctic Ocean.
Recently selected: Nottingham station - track welding workers - GM class locomotives
Did you know...
- ...that the opening ceremonies of the Galway to Clifden railway were very sparsely attended because the event date was a strict church holiday and was reserved for attending church services?
- ...that following heavy damage to the Galveston Island Trolley track and cars from Hurricane Ike in 2008, substitute service with replica buses was operated until service resumed in October 2021?
- ...that although the former Santa Fe Railway's Galesburg station was demolished after regular passenger service to the station ended in 1996, the site is still used if derailments cause trains to use the Chillicothe Subdivision instead of the Mendota Subdivision?
- ...that the Fuzhou–Xiamen railway, which opened in 2010, was so heavily used that it reached capacity in 2015, spurring construction on the parallel Fuzhou–Xiamen high-speed railway for CRH passenger train services?
Selected anniversaries
- December 6
- 1885 – Robert Gerwig, German civil engineer, designer of Schwarzwald Railway and the Hell Valley Railway, dies (b. 1820).
- 1893 – The John Bull (pictured), the world's oldest surviving operable steam locomotive, leaves the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, under its own power, headed toward Washington, D.C., for its return to the Smithsonian Institution.
- 1971 – The first Auto Train operates under the control of the Auto-Train Corporation.
- 1999 – Manchester Metrolink, in Manchester, England, is extended to Broadway.
Train News
- July 24, 2021 – Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe No. 2926, a 4-8-4 steam locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1944, moves under its own power for the first time since Christmas Eve of 1953, after nearly twenty-two years of being rebuilt by volunteers. The locomotive will be put into mainline excursion service. (NMSL&RHS, Trains Magazine on Facebook)
- May 5, 2021 – Steamtown National Historic Site completes thorough cosmetic overhaul on Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy No. 4012, which is moved back on static display before National Train Day. (NEPA Scene)
- April 2, 2021 – 2021 Hualien train derailment – A Taroko Express train operated by the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) derails at the north entrance of Qingshui Tunnel in Heren Section, Xiulin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan, killing 49 people and injuring at least 200 others. North of Hualien City a construction truck had fallen down a slope onto the tracks. The eight-carriage train derailed after colliding with the truck, and then came to a rest in the tunnel, with severe damage and many casualties. (Bloomberg, CNN, CNA, New York Times, Financial Times)
- December 31, 2020 – Following a complete restoration, Chesapeake and Ohio 1309, a 2-6-6-2 Mallet locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1949, the last steam locomotive built by Baldwin for the North American market, is operated under its own power for test runs. When returned to service on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, it will be the largest steam locomotive in regular scheduled service in the United States and take 2-8-0 No. 734’s place as the largest active steam locomotive in the state of Maryland. (Trains.com Newswire)
- September 28, 2020 – Amtrak operates a test run using one of the 28 new Avelia Liberty trains manufactured by Alstom along the full length of the Northeast Corridor to Boston South Station. Previous test runs had occurred from Washington, D.C., only as far north as New Jersey and Delaware. Barring any problems, the trains are expected to enter regular service on the route in 2021. (Universal Hub)
- June 13, 2020 – The Bay Area Rapid Transit Silicon Valley BART extension opened its stations in Milpitas and North San Jose. (San Jose Spotlight, SF Gate)
General images
WikiProjects
WikiProject Trains (Shortcut: WP:TWP)
- WikiProject Stations (WP:STA)
- WikiProject Streetcars (WP:TRAM)
- WikiProject Rapid transit (WP:RTPJ) inactive
- By region:
- WikiProject Metros of the former Soviet Union (WP:SOVMETRO) inactive
- WikiProject Indian railways (WP:INRW)
- WikiProject Trains in Japan (WP:TJ)
- WikiProject New Zealand Railways (WP:NZR)
- WikiProject Pakistan Railways (WP:PKR) inactive
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Fictional rail transport topics:
Note: WikiProjects marked as inactive are retained pending future editing activity
Subcategories
Things you can do
See also Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/Todo and Wikipedia:Pages needing attention/Railroads
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