More than 2 months ago, on 3 February, the town of East Palestine Ohio experienced a serious train derailment. Fifty cars derailed in this town, some of which contained the carcinogen vinyl chloride. A large area around the derailment was evacuated, and the toxic chemicals were burned off by railroad safety crews. Throughout the ordeal, …
Continue reading “Aftermath of Ohio Chemical Spill Continues: 7 CDC Workers Fall Ill”
Construction on the Panama Canal began in 1881 as a project directed by France, and was completed in 1914 by the US. This 51-mile (82 km) waterway has served as a major facilitator of trans-oceanic trade since its existence. But before there was the Panama Canal, there was the Panama Canal Railway, a form of …
Continue reading “A Brief History of the Panama Canal Railway”
On 3 February 2023, fifty cars of a train derailed in East Palestine, an Ohio town near the border of Pennsylvania. The train cars contained, among other things, vinyl chloride, a substance that raises the risk of developing several types of cancers. The derailment caused an enormous fire that required the evacuation of a three-square …
It seems logical that with the advent of the railways that steam-powered locomotives were the shoe-in mechanism for hauling freight around on the iron rails. This seemingly sound conclusion, however, was not always so certain. In fact, a historic contest was held before the opening of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway (the first steam-powered railway …
Continue reading “The Rainhill Trials & the Beginning of the Steam Age”
The Great Western Railway is an iconic British transportation line that has been running trains since 1838. Its original locomotives were painted a striking shade of green, and soon garnered routes serving southwest and west England, as well as Wales. Over the course of its history, the GWR has switched back and forth from government …
Continue reading “Green Steps on the Great Western Railway & Chicago-Seattle Amtrak Line”
There are many more famous names in the realm of railway history than Magnus Volk, but this inventor and engineer still racked up a few notable accomplishments during his lifetime. This blog will take a look at a few of them. In 1851 in the city of Brighton, Magnus Volk was born to a German …
Continue reading “Magnus Volk & a Few of His Accomplishments”
German railway company Alstorm has officially tested their battery-powered train this month after the first prototype began to be developed five years ago. The company is partnered with the Technical University of Berlin in this endeavour, and the team also seeks to understand the economic viability of using battery-operated trains on major lines. Alstorm reports …
Continue reading “Solar and Battery and Hydrogen-Powered Trains, Oh My!”
Railway gauges, or the distance between the inside surfaces of the heads of the two rails, have not always been standard throughout history. The current standard gauge of 4 feet 8.5 inches first came from George Stephenson’s (often called the Father of Railways) 4 feet 8 inches that he used for the Stockton & Darlington …
Continue reading “Thursday Trains Summer Series: The Amazing Southern Gauge Change Affair”
In many countries, the idea of entrusting children with the operation of such a complex thing as a railway would seem insane. In certain nations, however, allowing children to participate and even run a rail line is seen as a way to build important skills and camaraderie among the young citizens of the region. The …
Continue reading “Thursday Trains Summer Series: These Children’s Trains are Not Toys”
This blog brings in etymology, one of my strong interests. As it turns out, the phrase “put up for adoption” has a history linked with trains, and thus was a suitable topic for this series. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, several charitable institutions in the US had a new idea to alleviate the …
Continue reading “Thursday Trains Summer Series: Orphan Trains + Watered Stock”
Green Humanist 