Portal:Trains/Did you know/January 2007

...that Deutsche Bundesbahn's Class 403 electric multiple unit trains built in the 1970s were nicknamed Donald Duck due to their distinctive shape?
...that the fastest speeds achieved by the Emu Bay Railway on Tasmania are alleged to have taken place during the rescue efforts of the 1912 North Mount Lyell Disaster?

...that Leo Daft led the construction of an electric railroad in Newark, New Jersey, in 1883 as well as the Los Angeles Electric Railway, the first electric railway in Los Angeles, California, in the 1880s?

...that the right-of-way for the Innocent Railway, which is now a bicycle path, in Scotland includes what might be Britain’s first railway tunnel built around 1830?

...that the underground station at Berlin Alexanderplatz railway station in Germany is one of the largest on the Berlin U-Bahn network, with three lines calling at the station?
...that the Australian Standard Garratt design of Garratt steam locomotives was the source of locomotive crew strikes and fatal accidents that led to Royal Commissions on their use?

...that the G Brooklyn–Queens Crosstown Local service of the New York City Subway system is the only full-time non-shuttle service that does not enter Manhattan?
...that Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta station in India, sometimes written as Sri Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta, has the longest name of all railway stations on the Indian Railways system?
...that after service trials of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway's steam locomotive 6399 Fury in the early 1930s showed the technology to be uneconomical, Fury was rebuilt by William Stanier with a 2A boiler to become 6170 Royal British Legion, the first of the Rebuilt Royal Scots?
...that for a portion of the 20th century, the 2 ft (610 mm) gauge Lake Margaret Tram on Tasmania remained the only connection to the Lake Margaret locality?

...that when it was built in 1959, every mile of track on the Disneyland Monorail cost more than one million dollars?

...that München Olympiastadion railway station, a former stop on the Munich S-Bahn in Munich, Germany, was specifically built for the 1972 Summer Olympics and never saw regular trains again after the Olympic games were over?

...that unlike Taiwan's national rail system administered by the Taiwan Railway Administration, the Alishan Forest Railway is managed by the Forestry Bureau?
...that the North Mount Lyell Railway on Tasmania was originally built to service the Crotty smelters and then to carry refined ore to Pillinger in the Kelly Basin of Macquarie Harbour?

...that Bratislavskaya station on the Moscow Metro in Russia was originally built with a large square section in the middle of the station to serve as a transfer point between the Lyublinskaya Line and a proposed circle line connected to the Kakhovskaya Line?

...that Milwaukee Road's EP-2 electric locomotives were referred to as "Bi-Polars" due to the design of their traction motors?

...that the Western Australian Government Railways has gone through nine name changes from its inception in the late 19th century to the present?

...that until VIA Rail took over operations around 1979, passenger trains went further west than Pacific Central Station to the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver?

...that Pope Pius IX presided over the opening ceremonies for both the temporary terminal in Rome on February 25, 1863 and the permanent Roma Termini station on July 2, 1868?

...that the EMD AEM-7 electric locomotives are nicknamed "toasters" due to their boxy shape and "Swedish meatballs" because they were designed by the Swedish company ASEA?

...that the Kirnitzsch Valley Railway in Germany recently installed photovoltaic cells on the roofs of its rolling stock for operations within the Bad Schandau yard?

...that a recorded announcement saying "mind the gap" is played on the London Underground at stations where the platform is curved or at a different height than the rolling stock's floors?

...that 36 rail-based RT-23 Molodets, Russian ICBMs, were developed and produced by the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, but were all decommissioned by August 2005?

...that the sole example of Virginian Railway's Class XA, a 2-8-8-8-4, lasted only a few years in service before being rebuilt as two locomotives (a 2-8-8-0 and a 2-8-2)?

...that Jerusalem Malha Train Station replaced the historic Khan Station in central Jerusalem which was not restored due to the objections of area residents over train noise?

...that the original terminus of Ferrovia Circumetnea, which follows a route that almost encircles the Etna volcano on Sicily, was at the Central Railway Station of Catania, now used by Metropolitana di Catania?

...that William Huskisson, a British MP attending the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, had the misfortune of becoming the world's first railway casualty when he was accidentally killed by George Stephenson's locomotive Rocket?
...that the airbag suspension system on EMD's Aerotrain was designed to give a smooth ride but it had the opposite effect in practice?

...that private Australian passenger rail operator West Coast Railway ran the Warrnambool Railway Line from 1993 to 2004 with 1950s-vintage rolling stock, diesel-electric and steam locomotives?

...that the first station of the Buenos Aires Metro in Argentina was inaugurated on December 1, 1913, making it the oldest metro system in Latin America, the Southern Hemisphere, and the entire Spanish-speaking world?

...that George Stephenson's 1814 locomotive Blücher was the first locomotive to use flanged wheels and cylinder rods directly connected to the wheels?

...that with one exception, all of the Disneyland Railroad's locomotives are named after former presidents of the Santa Fe Railroad?

...that catch points are sometimes used to prevent runaway railroad cars from rolling onto the main line by purposely derailing the cars?

...that the French Aérotrain developed between 1965 and 1977 used hovercraft technology in an attempt to reduce friction?

...that Japan's Super White Arrow passenger train service was introduced in 1990 by JR Hokkaido due to increasing passenger migration away from rail travel in favor of the newly opened Dōō Expressway?