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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 7 Subway Extension — Hudson Yards Rezoning and Development Program is the plan to extend the IRT Flushing Line of the New York City Subway, which carries the 7 local and <7> express services, westward from its current terminus at Times Square, and adding a new station at 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue. A second station at 10th Avenue – 41st Street was dropped from the plans in October 2007, but could be restored if funding can be found. The extension's opening has been shortly delayed to June 2014, while the rest of the 34th Street station will be opened at the end of 2015. The extension is a key part of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project, and is expected to bring business and entertainment into the area; the project is intended to aid redevelopment of the west side of Midtown Manhattan around the West Side Yard of the Long Island Rail Road. It was originally proposed as part of the failed attempt to build the West Side Stadium for the New York Jets and the city's bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Although the stadium plan was rejected by city and state planning agencies, the 7 subway extension plan received approval to move ahead, as New York political leaders wanted to see the warehouse district west of Eighth Avenue and north of 34th Street redeveloped, and a subway service would be an essential part of that effort. The extension would also serve the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, renovated in 2006. The New York State Society of Professional Engineers awarded the first construction phase, "Running Tunnels and Underground Structures," its 2013 Construction Project of the Year. According to the society, the project team won the award "for outstanding professional engineering efforts in developing creative solutions and innovative technologies in construction of an infrastructure project. The No. 7 project used the first double-shielded tunnel boring machines (TBMs) to tunnel under New York City while placing precast concrete segments to form the tunnels’ walls. For the first time in the world, a ground freezing method was used to harden soil to act as rock to allow TBMs to maintain proper course while boring and placing the tunnel liners."

Recently selected: Åndalsnes Station - Westminster tube station - SmarTrip

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Selected image of the week

The view from aboard the Reunification Express as it travels through Vietnam's North–South Railway connecting Hanoi to Saigon in 2005.

Recently selected: EWS coal train - Signals at Fastiv I station - TCDD E8000 class

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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

April 26

1900 Hull-Ottawa fire

1869 – The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad opens its first segment of track (6 miles / 10 km long) between Topeka and Pauline, Kansas.
1875 – Prince Edward Island Railway operates its first regularly scheduled train between Charlottetown and Georgetown.
1900 – A defective chimney on a house in Hull starts the Great Hull-Ottawa fire (pictured); among the items destroyed are nearly 200 freight cars and the Canadian Pacific Railway station and freight house. The resulting shortage of lumber for reconstruction forces Canada Atlantic Railway to temporarily halt production on new railroad cars at the company shops in Ottawa.
2003 – DLW completes construction of the first WDP-4 locomotive to be built entirely within India.

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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 1British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 2An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
Image 3A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)
Image 4A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
Image 5A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)
Image 6A 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 7Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Image 8A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 9Second-class compartment of a China Railways CRH1A-A train (from Train)
Image 10Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 11A London Underground battery–electric locomotive used for hauling engineers' trains, at West Ham station (from Locomotive)
Image 12The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service (from Train)
Image 13A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 14Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 15Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 16This 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 17Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 18The "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 19The ESS 200 electric locomotive was introduced in 1925 in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. (from Locomotive)
Image 20RegioCitadis light rail train in Zoetermeer (the Netherlands). (from Train)
Image 21Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 22A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 23Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (from Railroad car)
Image 24Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 25A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 26Bombardier ALP-45DP, at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 27Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 28Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)
Image 29A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 30The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Image 31Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both a pantograph and contact shoes. (from Locomotive)
Image 32A number of maintenance vehicles at work on Metro-North Railroad (from Train)
Image 33A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 34US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 35A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 36A narrow-gauge battery–electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 37The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 38A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
Image 39Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons. (from Train)
Image 40Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 41The first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel–electric) for long distances, the SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 42The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 43A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 44Trains 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 45This 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 46Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 47Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 48Schedule of train departure times in Indonesia stations (from Train)
Image 49China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 50Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 51The New Orleans Streetcar System is the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 52A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)