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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
Franklin Knight Lane (July 15, 1864 – May 18, 1921) was an American Democratic politician from California who served as United States Secretary of the Interior from 1913 to 1920. He also served as a commissioner of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and was the Democratic nominee for Governor of California in 1902, losing a narrow race in what was then a heavily Republican state. Appointed a commissioner of the Interstate Commerce Commission by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905 and confirmed by the Senate the following year, Lane was reappointed in 1909 by President William Howard Taft. During his tenure on the Commission, he participated in investigations pertaining to the railroads' haulage of coal and grain in the Midwest, the rate and hauling practices of Edward H. Harriman company's lines and the practices of express companies. His fellow commissioners elected him as chairman in January 1913. The following month, Lane accepted President-elect Woodrow Wilson's nomination to become Secretary of the Interior, a position in which he served almost seven years until his resignation in early 1920.
Recently selected: Great North of Scotland Railway - Stapleton Road railway station - Holborn tube station
Selected image of the week
An SJ Rc6 class electric locomotive pulls a passenger train near Narvik, Norway, in 2009.
Recently selected: LNER D16 class - RENFE class 730 - TGM40 shunting locomotive
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
- May 8
- 1821 – William Henry Vanderbilt, son of Cornelius Vanderbilt and president of the New York Central system, is born (d. 1885).
- 1842 – A passenger train traveling between Paris and Versailles derails near Moudon and catches fire, killing 55 people.
- 1915 – Schwyzer Strassenbahnen (SStB) opens connecting Ibach, Baden-Württemberg, and Brunnen Schifflände, Switzerland.
- 1926 – A. Philip Randolph (pictured) organizes the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.
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
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classification yard in the United States (from Train)Various types of railroad cars in a
- Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from
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Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)Most derailments, such as this one in
- A freight car (
- A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from
- World's first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel-electric locomotive) for long distances
- An interior of a
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Union Pacific 18, a gas turbine-electric locomotive preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum (from Locomotive)
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Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)A
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- The 1887 Daimler draisine (from
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Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both pantograph and contact shoes (from Locomotive)
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Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)The
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British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
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Amtrak and Metra coach yard just south of Chicago Union Station. About 25 percent of all rail traffic in the United States travels through the Chicago area. (from Rail yard)A large
- Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from
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Pacific National diesel locomotives in Australia showing three body types, cab unit (front), hood unit (middle) and box cab (rear) (from Locomotive)
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Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)Yard for
- Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons (from
- A preserved armored train (from
- This cab car includes a horn (top), a bell (top right), headlights (above the door), classification lights (red lights on side), and ditch lights (white lights on side). (from
- Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from
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rail yard (from Rolling stock)Variety of rolling stock in
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- An early Diesel-mechanical locomotive at the
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Metro-North Railroad (from Train)A number of maintenance vehicles at work on
- The
- Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from
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0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service. (from Train)The Japanese
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Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
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journal bearings (from Train)US-style railroad truck (bogie) with
- A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from
- A narrow gauge train in
- The "hump" of a hump yard. Railcars travel past retarders, which control their speed, and are directed onto tracks to be assembled into new trains. The control tower operates the retarders. (from
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Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)A
- China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from
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China Railway, 2011 (from Railroad car)A passenger car of the
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hazardous materials display information identifying their cargo and hazards. This tank car carrying chlorine displays, among other markings, a U.S. DOT placard showing a UN number that identifies the hazardous substance. (from Train)Trains carrying
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New Orleans Streetcar System is one of the oldest in the world. (from Train)The
- A narrow gauge battery-electric locomotive used for mining (from
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China Railways CRH1A-A train (from Train)Second-class compartment of a
- The 1902 Maudslay Petrol Locomotive (from
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caboose (from Railroad car)Typical American extended vision
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London Underground battery-electric locomotive at West Ham station used for hauling engineers' trains (from Locomotive)A
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Cedar Hill Yard in Connecticut shows a variety of different facilities, including receiving yards, departure yards, classification yards, and a repair yard. (from Rail yard)This map of
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DB Class V 200 diesel-hydraulic locomotive at Technikmuseum, Berlin (from Locomotive)A German
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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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