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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 Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835, and ran its first trains in 1838. It was engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel who chose a broad gauge of 7 ft (2,134 mm), but from 1854 a series of amalgamations saw it also operate 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard-gauge trains; the last broad gauge services were operated in 1892. The GWR was the only company to keep its identity through the Railways Act 1921, which amalgamated it with the remaining independent railways within its territory, and it was finally wound up at the end of 1947 when it was nationalised and became the Western Region of British Railways. The GWR was called by some "God's Wonderful Railway" and by others the "Great Way Round", but it was famed as the "Holiday Line", taking many people to resorts in South West England. The company's locomotives, many of which were built in the company's workshops at Swindon, were painted a Brunswick green colour, while for most of its existence it used a two-tone "chocolate and cream" livery for its carriages. Wagons were painted red but this was later changed to mid-grey. Great Western trains included long-distance express services such as the Flying Dutchman, the Cornish Riviera Express and the Cheltenham Spa Express. It also operated many suburban and rural services, some operated by steam railmotors or autotrains. The company pioneered the use of larger, more economic goods wagons than were usual in the United Kingdom. It operated a network of road motor (bus) routes, was a part of the Railway Air Services, and owned ships, docks and hotels.

Recently selected: Sturtevant (Amtrak station) - SL79 - Wotton (Metropolitan Railway) railway station

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The tracks leading to Union Station in Washington, D.C., as seen from the station building between 1909 and 1932. Union Station opened on October 27, 1908; the first train to serve the station was a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad passenger train arriving from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During World War II, as many as 200,000 people passed through the station in a single day.

Recently selected: Vivat Viadukt celebrations - Canadian Pacific passenger train - Masarykovo nádraží station

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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 15

1899 – The New York Central railroad leases the Boston and Albany Railroad.
1919 – The "golden spike" is driven (pictured) and construction of the San Diego and Arizona Railway is completed at a cost of $18 million.
1982 – The Jōetsu Shinkansen opens for service between Tokyo and Niigata.
2001 – Two Canadian National Railway trains collide head-on in Andersonville, Michigan (northwest of Detroit).

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