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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 Caltrain Modernization Program (CalMod) is a $1.9 billion project that will add a positive train control (PTC) system and electrify the main line of the U.S. commuter railroad Caltrain, which serves cities in the San Francisco Peninsula and Silicon Valley, as well as transition from its current diesel-electric locomotive powered trains to electric multiple units (EMU). According to Caltrain, electrification of the tracks will allow it to improve service times via faster acceleration and shorter headways, reduce air pollution and noise, and facilitate a future railway tunnel (the Downtown Rail Extension) into downtown San Francisco's Transbay Transit Center (as diesel trains cannot serve underground stations). Proposals for electrifying the line began as early as 1992, when the California Department of Transportation conducted an early feasibility study. When completed, CalMod will electrify 51 miles (82 km) of tracks between 4th and King station and Tamien Station and install a PTC management system along the tracks. PTC is designed to fulfill federal safety mandates for passenger rail and is part of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) waiver to use EMUs on tracks shared with freight traffic. Funding for the project comes from various federal, state, and local sources, including from the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Caltrain plans to complete the project by 2021, after which it plans to use double-decker EMU Stadler Rail trainsets on the electrified route. Some of the diesel locomotives will be retained for service south of Tamien.

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Selected image of the week

Several tracks extend the length of The Railway Pier in Sandridge, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, where many types of freight were transloaded between ships and trains circa 1878.

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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

May 27

1794 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American financier who created the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad from the merger of several smaller railroads in New York, is born (d. 1877).
1836 – Jay Gould (pictured), American financier who, with Jim Fisk, took control of the Erie Railroad, is born (d. 1892).
1876 – William Stanier, Chief mechanical engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1932–1944, is born (d. 1965).
1971 – Dahlerau train disaster: A special train full of schoolchildren collides with a freight train in Dahlerau, West Germany, on the line between Wuppertal and Radevormwald due to a misunderstanding of signals. 46 die and 25 are injured, making this the worst rail accident in West Germany during Deutsche Bundesbahn times.

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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 1US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 2Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 3A number of maintenance vehicles at work on Metro-North Railroad (from Train)
Image 4A narrow gauge battery-electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 5A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 6Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 7The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Image 8A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 9A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)
Image 10A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 11The "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 12Union Pacific 18, a gas turbine-electric locomotive preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum (from Locomotive)
Image 13Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 14Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 15Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons (from Train)
Image 16A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 17A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 18Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 19Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 20Second-class compartment of a China Railways CRH1A-A train (from Train)
Image 21The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 22A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
Image 23A passenger car of the China Railway, 2011 (from Railroad car)
Image 24Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 25This 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 26Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)
Image 27A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 28A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 29Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 30A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 31Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Image 32Pacific National diesel locomotives in Australia showing three body types, cab unit (front), hood unit (middle) and box cab (rear) (from Locomotive)
Image 33Variety of rolling stock in rail yard (from Rolling stock)
Image 34An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
Image 35The 1902 Maudslay Petrol Locomotive (from Locomotive)
Image 36A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 37Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 38A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)
Image 39Škoda Artic light rail train near the cathedral in Tampere, Finland (from Train)
Image 40The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 41British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 42A London Underground battery-electric locomotive at West Ham station used for hauling engineers' trains (from Locomotive)
Image 43Trains 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 44Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both pantograph and contact shoes (from Locomotive)
Image 45China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 46The New Orleans Streetcar System is one of the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 47A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
Image 48A German DB Class V 200 diesel-hydraulic locomotive at Technikmuseum, Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 49This 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 50World's first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel-electric locomotive) for long distances SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 51Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 52Bombardier ALP-45DP at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 53Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 54A 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 55The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service. (from Train)
Image 56An early Diesel-mechanical locomotive at the North Alabama Railroad Museum (from Locomotive)