There is potentially no form of transport that revolutionized the world more than trains did. With the dawn of the industrial revolution, trains made it possible for the first time in history to move around without relying on our own feet or the feet of our domesticated animals. Prior to the railroad, the fastest way to get across the country was to ride a horse. There was nothing faster than that. And the problem with horses was that you couldn’t put a lot of stuff on them. Good luck establishing todays trade routes with nothing but the backs of horses and camels. The railroad really made it possible to transport things across entire continents. All you had to do was buy a ticket, sit back, and after a few days you would have gone from New York to Los Angeles. After a while, however, cars began to replace trains. And then came air travel. Furthermore, in the United States those car companies almost singlehandedly destroyed rail and tram travel in order to further car sales. In spite of all this, trains are making a comeback, especially with the advent of levitating trains and bullet trains. These are 25 awesome trivia about trains!
Featured Image: wikipedia
25
The West Highland Line Train is the real Hogwarts Express Train that was used in the movies. It runs every day.
Source: earthporm.com, Image: wikipedia24
The fight scene in Skyfall was filmed on an actual train in motion. Also, Daniel Craig didn't use a stunt double
Source: fxguide.com, Image: imdb23
A derailer is a device that deliberately derails trains when they enter unauthorized areas
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia22
Slime molds have replicated major railroad systems nearly perfectly when placed on maps with food sources located at important hubs and cities
Source: nytimes, Image: wikipedia21
Apparently, the molds would take the most economical path from one point to the next, much like human engineers would when they are planning the railroads. Scientists were so impressed that they even proposed using one type of mold (Physarum polycephalum) to construct new rail systems.
Source: scientificamerican.com, Image: wikipedia20
During the Battle of Stalingrad a railway station changed hands 14 times in one day.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia19
A train station in Sweden uses the body heat of waiting passengers to heat a building across the street.
Source: bbc, Image: wikipedia18
In 1963, four students from Princeton stopped a car on the tracks of the train leading to the school. They got out with fake guns, boarded the train, picked 4 girls as dates, and rode away on horses.
Source: wikipedia, Image: pixabay17
In 1907, Jesus Garcia, a Mexican brakeman drove a train that had caught fire away from Nacozari, Mexico because it was filled with dynamite. The train exploded and killed him but he saved the town and is considered a hero to this day.
Source: wikipedia, Image: pixabay16
In 1993 Keron Thomas commandeered a subway train in New York for 3 hours before getting caught. He was 16 years old.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia15
After the government-provided service stopped running or became unreliable, people in some parts of Cambodia began creating makeshift trains out of bamboo (called norries).
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia14
There is an abandoned subway station under the City Hall in New York that you can see as you pass by on the 6 train.
Source: weburbanist.com, Image: wikipedia13
Japanese trains are known for their sharp time schedule. If a train is even 5 minutes late the passengers get an apology and a certificate that they can show at work to prove they were delayed because otherwise nobody would believe them.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia12
On the rare occasion that Japanese trains are 1 hour late or more, it can even make the news (the average delay of a train in Japan in 2012 was .6 minutes).
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia11
The Japanese engineer who designed the kamikaze planes of WWII felt so guilty for his invention that after the war he decided to only use his skills for peace. He devoted his time to developing the now famous bullet train.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia10
After WWI, France took the railway cars where Germany signed the official surrender document and put them in a museum. When Germany overran France in WWII, Hitler ordered the railroad cars to be but back in the exact same spot where they used to be in order to humiliate the French.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia9
When trains were first introduced in the United States many people believed that women's bodies couldn't handle the speed and that their uteruses would fly out.
Source: wsj, Image: wikipedia8
Ore trains that travel along the coast of Sweden generate up to 5 time the electricity that they consume. This electricity is then used to power coastal towns and villages
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia7
In 1886, several people were killed when a Texas train company performed a publicity stunt that involved crashing two trains into one another head on.
Source: historynet.com, Image: wikipedia6
In the UK there are "ghost trains" that run at bizarre times on obscure routes for the sole purpose of keeping a line open.
Source: independent.co.uk, Image: wikipedia5
In 1896, cadets at Auburn University greased the rail tracks at their station. The train carrying the opposing team couldn't stop and slid halfway to the next town.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia4
Trains horns actually blow out chords. In the US, passenger trains tend to make a more pleasant major 6th chords while freight trains are know to employ dissonant diminished 7th chords.
Source: dieselairhorns.com, Image: wikipedia3
If you commit suicide by jumping in front of a train in Japan, the train company can sue your family for cleanup fees and bad publicity.
Source: ito.com, Image: pixabay2
The longest possible uninterrupted train journey, including transfers, is from Porto, Portugal to Saigon, Vietnam. It is 17 000 km (10 566 mi).
Source: basementgeographer.com, Image: wikipedia1
In Moscow, stray dogs are known to commute from the suburbs to the center of the city via the metro in order to forage for food. At night they catch the trains back out of the city.
Source: abcnews.go.com, Image: wikipediaLists Going Viral Right Now
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