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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, there are approximately 1,051,767.605 kilometres (653,538.091 mi) of railway track in use worldwide. (World Bank (via Archive.org)) |
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The City of New Orleans is an Amtrak passenger train which operates on an overnight schedule between Chicago and New Orleans. The train is a successor to the Illinois Central Railroad's Panama Limited. The train operates along a route that has been served in one form or another for over a century. The Panama Limited originally ran from 1911 to 1971, though the IC ran Chicago-New Orleans trains as early as the 1900s. Additional corridor service is provided between Chicago and Carbondale, Illinois–the northern leg of the route–by the Illini and Saluki. The original City of New Orleans began in 1947 as part of the Illinois Central Railroad, and was the longest daylight run in the United States. The daylight train under that name ran through 1971, when it was moved to an overnight schedule as the Panama Limited. The present name was brought back in 1981, still on an overnight schedule. During fiscal year 2018, the train carried 237,781 passengers, a decrease of 6.9% from FY2017. In FY2016, the train had a total revenue of $18,706,915, a 3.7% decrease from FY2015. The train is the subject of the bittersweet 1971 song "City of New Orleans", written by Steve Goodman.
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A speeder with passengers stops on a high railway bridge between two cliff faces at an unidentified location in Peru in 1916.
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Did you know...
- ...that the Clover Hill Railroad Company's 1841 charter by the Virginia General Assembly did not allow the company to charge more than 2 cents per bushel of coal shipped over the railroad?
- ...that the 1979 closure of the Fremantle Railway became a key campaign issue in the 1982 Western Australia state government election?
- ...that in 1916, Interstate Commerce Commission Commissioner Judson C. Clements proposed that no worker be allowed to quit a railway company or urge others to do the same until the Commission had the opportunity to investigate the matter in a fair and equitable manner?
- ...that before his 1906 appointment to the Interstate Commerce Commission, Edgar E. Clark had worked as a brakeman and conductor, and served as Grand Senior Conductor of the Order of Railway Conductors?
Selected anniversaries
- July 14
- 1831 – The John Bull, the oldest surviving operable steam locomotive, departs Liverpool aboard the steamship Allegheny bound for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1887 – The second Tay Rail Bridge across the Firth of Tay in Scotland opens.
- 1986 – Raymond Loewy, industrial designer who worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad designing the shape of equipment such as the GG1 (pictured), dies (b. 1893).
- 1987 – Grand Trunk Western 4-6-2 "Pacific" No. 5629 is cut up for scrap by court order as a result of Richard "Dick" Jensen refusing to follow Metra's order of removing the locomotive from the Blue Island, Illinois freight yard.
- 2004 – Canadian National Railway completes its purchase of BC Rail.
Trains News
- 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)
- March 29, 2020 – The Wuhan Metro and other railway services in Wuhan partially restart after a 65 day shutdown to combat the effects of Covid-19. Six of the nine lines on the Wuhan Metro restarted operation on March 29, while the other 3 lines restarted in April. (CGTN.com, Reuters, China.org.cn)
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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
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See also Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/Todo and Wikipedia:Pages needing attention/Railroads
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