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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

Harriman Station, formerly known as Turner Station until 1910 was the first station on the Erie Railroad Main Line west of Newburgh Junction tower in Harriman, New York. Built on the side of Grove Street in Harriman, the station depot was constructed originally as Turner Station in 1838, as a three story hotel-train station combination. This station caught fire in 1873 and was replaced by a one-story wooden structure. That structure survived as long as its predecessor before it began decaying and was replaced in 1911 with a new station on land donated by the widow of Edward Henry Harriman. A new one-story structure was built on the land. The station was maintained as a one-story depot with a large monument to the side dedicated to the work of Charles Minot. Minot was a director of the Erie Railroad who, in 1851, while his train was stopped at Turner, made the first railroad call by telegraph. The station depot remained in use by the Erie until 1960, when that was folded into the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad, which itself would die in 1976, as it was absorbed into the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail). Conrail maintained passenger services until 1983, when that job was taken over by Metro-North Railroad. On April 18, 1983, the last passenger train left the Harriman station, as Conrail and Metro-North abandoned the tracks in favor of using the Graham Line (a high-speed freight line) for passenger and freight service. At that time, a new park & ride off of New York State Route 17 in Harriman opened for the newly realigned passenger service. The station depot remained on its concrete platform when the tracks were torn up on the old main line. In 1996, workers removed the plaque attached to the Minot monument, but it was soon returned. However, the plaque was stolen shortly afterward and has not been recovered. The station depot itself was left in decrepit condition, and in 2006, the village of Harriman's building inspector ordered Norfolk Southern Railroad (the successor to Conrail) to either restore the building or demolish it. Norfolk Southern followed through with a demolition permit and in May 2006, the station depot was demolished by a front loader. The station remains were taken to a dump in Hillburn, New York.

Recently selected: History of the Oslo Tramway and Metro - Charles Holden - Getå Railroad Disaster

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Two passenger trains at the Aguas Calientes station, the closest rail access to Machu Picchu, Peru, in 2007.

Recently selected: 20th Century Limited - Track near Carnoustie at sunset - Amtrak's California Zephyr

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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

September 16

1822 – Charles Crocker, a member of The Big Four group of financiers in California, is born (d. 1888).
1838 – James J. Hill (pictured), American financier who gained control of the Great Northern Railway (U.S.) and the Northern Pacific Railway, is born (d. 1916).
1851 – Henry Ivatt, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Northern Railway (Great Britain) 1896-1911, is born (d. 1923).

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