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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 Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 until 1976. Penn Central was a combination of three railroads: the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), New York Central Railroad (NYC) and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (NH). The New York, New Haven and Hartford was merged into Penn Central in 1969. The legal entity that eventually became the Penn Central Transportation Company was the former Pennsylvania Railroad, which absorbed the New York Central as part of the original 1968 merger and at the same time began using the Penn Central name to reflect the merger with the New York Central. The company remained headquartered in Philadelphia after its merger with the New York Central. By 1970, the company had filed for what was, at that time, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. The company has since escaped bankruptcy and is now known as American Premier Underwriters and currently serves as a subsidiary of Carl Lindner’s American Financial Group.

Recently selected: Paris Métro Line 12 - Paradis Station - Palmerston North–Gisborne Line

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Selected image of the week

A tank locomotive and crew pose at the start of the rack railway leading to Beirut in 1896.

Recently selected: shunting at Liepāja Station - Arriva Trains Wales train at Newport - Kosovo Railways railcar

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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?

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Selected anniversaries

November 16

California Southern's San Bernardino station

1847 – Thomas Kirtley, locomotive superintendent of North Midland Railway 1843-1844, and London, Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1847, dies (b. 1811).
1897 – Harold W. Burtness, president of Chicago Great Western Railway 1946-1948, is born (d. 1978).
1916 – The two-story station opened by the California Southern Railroad in San Bernardino, California, (pictured) is destroyed by fire.
2004 – The northbound high speed tilt train Spirit of Townsville from Brisbane, bound for Cairns, failed to slow down for a very sharp 60 km/h (37 mph) curve at Rosedale, Queensland, Australia, derailing the train; remarkably, although seven of the train's passenger cars left the tracks, no fatalities were reported from the Rosedale train crash.

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Train News

Santa Fe No. 2926 at Albuquerque, New Mexico
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)
Big Boy No. 4012 at Steamtown National Historic Site
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)
The derailed Taroko Express trainset, as seen from outside the entrance to the tunnel
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)

The preserved C&O 1309 at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in October 2009

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)

An Avelia Liberty train on a test run in Delaware in May 2020

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)

Berryessa/North San José station on the first day of service

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)

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General images

The following are images from various train-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The "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 Rail yard)
Image 2British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 3The New Orleans Streetcar System is one of the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 4Bombardier ALP-45DP at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 5A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 6Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (from Railroad car)
Image 7This map of 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)
Image 8A narrow-gauge battery–electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 9A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 10Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 11This 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 Train)
Image 12The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service. (from Train)
Image 13Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 14Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 15Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Image 16The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Image 17Trains carrying 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)
Image 18Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 19China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 20US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 21Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 22Pacific National diesel locomotives in Australia showing three body types, cab unit (front), hood unit (middle) and box cab (rear) (from Locomotive)
Image 23Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 24A number of maintenance vehicles at work on Metro-North Railroad (from Train)
Image 25Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both pantograph and contact shoes. (from Locomotive)
Image 26Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 27A London Underground battery–electric locomotive at West Ham station used for hauling engineers' trains (from Locomotive)
Image 28An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
Image 29A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 30A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
Image 31A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 32A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)
Image 33A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 34A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 35Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 36A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 37A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 38Škoda Artic light rail train near the cathedral in Tampere, Finland (from Train)
Image 39Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)
Image 40Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 41The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 42A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 43The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 44Second-class compartment of a China Railways CRH1A-A train (from Train)
Image 45Variety of rolling stock in rail yard (from Rolling stock)
Image 46Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 47A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)
Image 48A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
Image 49World's first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel–electric locomotive) for long distances SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 50Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 51A large 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)
Image 52Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons. (from Train)