...that Gare de l'Estrailway station in
Paris features artwork including a statue by the sculptor
Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire representing the city of
Strasbourg on its west
façade, a statue personifying
Verdun, by Varenne at the east end of the station, an in the main-line train hall, a monumental painting by Alfred Herter illustrating the departure of soldiers for the
Western Front?
... that the
Victorian RailwaysE type carriages were based on
Canadian carriage design, but retained an
English-style compartment internal layout rather than a typical Canadian open saloon layout?
...that the
Ferrovie dello Stato (Italian State Railways) Class D443 locomotives, built in the 1960s to replace aging
steam locomotives which were used for heavy freight trains on light, non-
electrified lines, are still in service today?
...that some
Japanese railway companies as well as
Deutsche Bahn in
Germany and
RATP in
France issue delay certificates as documentary proof that a railway's scheduled
passenger train arrived at a
station later than what is stipulated in the company's scheduled timetable and that because they are issued only by the railway companies, these certificates are often accepted as valid reasons for tardiness?
...that Gare Montparnasse, a
railway station in
Paris, is famous for a derailment that occurred in 1895 when an out-of-control train overran the
buffer stop, careened across almost 30 metres (98 ft) of the station concourse, crashed through a 60-centimetre (24 in) thick wall, shot across a terrace and sailed out of the station, plummeting onto the Place de Rennes 10 metres (33 ft) below?
... that the Krauss-Helmholtz bogie on a
steam locomotive, where a
carrying axle is connected to a
coupled axle via a lever, allows radial forces during curve running to be more or less evened out on both axles, so that riding qualities similar to those of a normal
bogie are achieved and wear and tear reduced on wheel flanges and rails?
...that
Canada's Lethbridge Viaduct, a 1,624 m (5,328 ft) long, 95.7 m (314 ft) high steel
trestle bridge, replaced a wooden trestle measuring 894 m (2,933 ft) long and 20 m (66 ft) high?
... that
Poland's Luxtorpedarailcar featured a
MAN AGdiesel engine at each end of the car, and required a second
driver to control the second engine from the other cab, with the drivers communicating with each other by means of a signalling system of coloured lights and an electric bell?
...that although
India's
ChennaiMass Rapid Transit System was planned as far back as 1985, the first phase was much delayed and did not open until 1997?
...that the fishplate, a metal bar that is bolted to the ends of two rails to join them together in a
track, was patented by
William Bridges Adams in May 1842, however the patent shortly afterwards passed to
James Samuel, the engineer of the
Eastern Counties Railway, the first
British railway to use fishplates?
...that construction of the Narita Shinkansen high speed rail line in
Japan, intended to connect connect
Narita International Airport with
Tokyo Station, was hampered due to resistance from local residents protesting against the expropriation of their land and was abandoned with construction rights withdrawn after only 9 km (5.6 mi) had been built, the only
Shinkansen line to suffer such a fate?
...that because Woodhams' Scrapyard in
Barry,
Wales found it easier and quicker to scrap
freight wagons than locomotives and scrapped these first, most of the nearly 300
steam locomotivesBritish Rail sent there for scrapping in the 1960s were left untouched and were eventually purchased from the scrapyard by preservation groups, with over 100 being restored to operating condition?
...that
Japan's 400 Series Shinkansentrainsets, designed for use on 'mini Shinkansen' lines are considerably narrower than other
Shinkansen rolling stock and feature retractable steps to close the gap between a carriage door and the
platforms at Shinkansen stations?