Portal:Trains/Did you know/August 2005

August 2005

A mail hook on an RPO

• ...that railway post office cars in North America were often equipped with a hook that could be used to snatch a sack of outgoing mail hanging on a track-side pole as the train passed it?
  

A steam locomotive driving wheel

• ...that since a conventional steam locomotive is directly driven, one of the few ways to 'gear' a locomotive for a particular performance goal is to size the driving wheels appropriately; typically larger for passenger train service than for freight service?
  

Joseph Locke

• ...that some reports suggest Joseph Locke (1805-1860), who had apprenticed with George Stephenson, was driving Stephenson's Rocket when Liverpool MP William Huskisson became the first rail fatality on September 15 1830?
  

Southen Pacific 1518, the first SD7 built, preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum

• ...that The first SD7 built by EMD, Southern Pacific Railroad number 1518, is preserved in operational condition at the Illinois Railway Museum?
  

A locomotive of the Japan Freight Railway Company

• ...that rail freight services in Japan are provided by the Japan Freight Railway Company which operates under trackage rights on Japanese National Railways?
  

A Turbo Train in 1973

A Turbo Train in 1973

• ...that the Turbo train, built by United Aircraft and operated by Canadian National Railway between Toronto and Montreal, was powered by a jet turbine?
  

Raymond Loewy with a steam locomotive showing his design

• ...that in addition to designing many locomotive styles for the Pennsylvania Railroad, including the GG1, Raymond Loewy (1893-1986) also designed refrigerators for Sears-Roebuck, Mobil Oil's Pegasus logo, the Studebaker Avanti and the interior design of Skylab?
  

The Bridge over the River Kwai

• ...that about 100,000 Asian and 16,000 Allied prisoners of war died in the construction of the Death Railway connecting Bangkok and Rangoon, a route that includes the famous bridge over Kwae Yai river?
  

A restored PCC operating in San Francisco

• ...that nearly 5,000 PCC streetcars were built for rail transit systems in the United States and CKD Vagonka built nearly 13,000 for the European market?
  

Reporting marks on two Canadian Pacific covered hoppers

• ...that every piece of rolling stock in interchange service and every container carried on railroads in North America is labeled with reporting marks that uniquely identify the equipment's owner?
  

Drumhead logo from the Santa Fe de Luxe

• ...that on the westbound run of the Santa Fe de Luxe passenger train, female passengers received a basket of California oranges while the male passengers received pigskin wallets when the train reached the summit of Cajon Pass?
  

The aftermath of the Hammond circus train wreck

The aftermath of the Hammond circus train wreck

• ...that most of the deceased from the Hammond Circus Train Wreck, many of whom could not be identified, are buried in a section of Woodlawn Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), called Showmen's Rest?
  

The EMD E2 used on the City of Los Angeles

The EMD E2 used on the City of Los Angeles

• ...that Union Pacific's competition to Santa Fe's Super Chief, the City of Los Angeles passenger train, used one of only two model EMD E2 diesel locomotives ever built?
  

Sir Nigel Gresley

Sir Nigel Gresley

• ...that Nigel Gresley (1876–1941) designed of some of the most famous steam locomotives in Britain including the LNER Class A4 4-6-2 type?
  

RER train at the Gare de l'Est in Paris

• ...that one of RER's routes, the Paris-St Germain-en-Laye line, uses the right of way of the first railway built in France?
  

Strasburg Railroad number 89, a 2-6-0

• ...that the first 2-6-0 steam locomotive in the United States with a single-axle swivelling leading truck was built in 1860 for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad?