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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

A plaque depicting Timothy Blackstone in the Blackstone Library, Chicago

Timothy Beach Blackstone (March 28, 1829 – May 26, 1900) served as president of the Chicago and Alton Railroad from 1864 through 1899. Blackstone was born in Branford, Connecticut, the sixth child, and fourth son, of James Blackstone and Sarah Beach. Health issues caused Blackstone to drop out of school in 1847, and he began working for Roswell B. Mason, surveying the New York and New Haven Railroad. He only worked on the NY&NH for a year before becoming an assistant engineer on the Stockbridge and Pittsfield Railroad. Again, he only remained with the firm a short time before leaving for the Vermont Valley Railroad. In 1851, Roswell invited Blackstone to supervise construction of the Illinois Central Railroad between Bloomington and Dixon, Illinois. Blackstone accepted the job and moved to La Salle, Illinois. Blackstone was elected mayor of LaSalle in 1854 and served a single term, his only foray into elected office. After leaving office, he returned to working on railroads, first as chief engineer of the Joliet and Chicago Railroad, which would eventually become the Chicago and Alton Railroad. Blackstone became president of the Joliet and Chicago Railroad in 1861, and he kept the line solvent while other divisions were filing for bankruptcy. When the system was reorganized, he was named president of the board of directors for the company. Although Blackstone served with the Alton Railroad for more than a quarter century, he refused a salary. When the Board of Directors voted to pay him $10,000 per year, he turned it down. He was the benefactor of the James Blackstone Library in Branford, Connecticut, and a nearly identical library was donated to the Chicago Public Library by Timothy Blackstone's widow in 1902. Chicago's Blackstone Library is the first dedicated branch of the Chicago Public Library system, and later his mansion became the site of the Blackstone Hotel and the Blackstone Theatre.

Recently selected: Weyauwega derailment - SR West Country Class - ALCO DL-109

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Selected image of the week

Freight train crossing the Gudbrandsdalslågen near Sjoa

An intermodal freight train hauled by a CargoNet class 185 "TRAXX" crosses the Gudbrandsdalslågen between Kvam and Sjoa, Norway, in October 2020.

Recently selected: K28 Pyongyang-Beijing passenger train - passenger train in Niger - Bernina Railway

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Did you know...

The former Recess Hotel Platform on the Galway to Clifden railway in 1906

...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

July 14

A preserved GG1 at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, WI

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.

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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 1A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 2Second-class compartment of a China Railways CRH1A-A train (from Train)
Image 3Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 4Trains 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 5A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 6Škoda Artic light rail train near the cathedral in Tampere, Finland (from Train)
Image 7Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 8Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 9Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 10A number of maintenance vehicles at work on Metro-North Railroad (from Train)
Image 11Union Pacific 18, a gas turbine-electric locomotive preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum (from Locomotive)
Image 12A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)
Image 13A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
Image 14A London Underground battery-electric locomotive at West Ham station used for hauling engineers' trains (from Locomotive)
Image 15Bombardier ALP-45DP at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 16Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 17A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 18British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 19World's first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel-electric locomotive) for long distances SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 20An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
Image 21A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
Image 22The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service. (from Train)
Image 23The 1902 Maudslay Petrol Locomotive (from Locomotive)
Image 24This 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 25Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (from Railroad car)
Image 26Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)
Image 27Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Image 28Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 29Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 30The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Image 31A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 32A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 33A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 34The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 35An early Diesel-mechanical locomotive at the North Alabama Railroad Museum (from Locomotive)
Image 36US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 37The "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 38Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 39A narrow gauge battery-electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 40Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both pantograph and contact shoes (from Locomotive)
Image 41The New Orleans Streetcar System is one of the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 42Pacific National diesel locomotives in Australia showing three body types, cab unit (front), hood unit (middle) and box cab (rear) (from Locomotive)
Image 43A 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 44Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 45A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 46A German DB Class V 200 diesel-hydraulic locomotive at Technikmuseum, Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 47A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)
Image 48A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 49A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 50This 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 51Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 52China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 53Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 54The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 55Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons (from Train)
Image 56Variety of rolling stock in rail yard (from Rolling stock)