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80-678: The railway consists of a loop of 1.5 miles (2.4 km). Trains run in a clockwise direction, with a complete round trip taking approximately 20 minutes. There are two major bridges on the line, the Rhine River Trestle and the Loch Ness Trestle. The trains are inspected, serviced, and fueled at the Caribou Train Station in New France, which also contains two storage tracks to hold trains not currently in use. Caribou Station also has

160-409: A coach and a baggage car , but the combination of coach and post office car was also common. Combines were used most frequently on branch lines and short line railroads where there wasn't necessarily enough traffic to economically justify single-purpose cars. As lightweight cars began to appear on railroads, passenger cars more frequently combined features of two or more car types on one car, and

240-450: A passenger carriage , passenger coach ( British English and International Union of Railways ), or passenger bogie ( Indian English ) is a railroad car that is designed to carry passengers , usually giving them space to sit on train seats . The term passenger car can also be associated with a sleeping car , a baggage car , a dining car , railway post office and prisoner transport cars. The first passenger cars were built in

320-582: A belt of pennies around the equator; and the amount of material moved would be enough to build a wall 1 foot (305 mm) high by one foot wide, more than three times around the equator. The line had been planned to open at the same time as the Grand Junction Railway which entered Birmingham from the north. However great difficulty in constructing the Kilsby Tunnel in Northamptonshire delayed

400-434: A car through a door at the end of the car which led to a narrow platform. Steps on either side of the platform were used for getting on or off the train, and one might hop from one car platform to another. Later cars had enclosed platforms called vestibules which together with gangway connections allowed passengers not only to enter and exit the train protected from the elements, but also to move more easily between cars with

480-498: A choice is given between first- and second-class carriages , with a premium being paid for the former. In some countries, such as the UK, coaching stock that is designed, converted or adapted to not carry passengers, is referred to as "NPCS" (non-passenger coaching stock); similarly, in the US, some maintenance (engineering) stock can be known as "MOW" (maintenance of way). Up until about the end of

560-486: A company was formed with the objective of building a railway between London and Birmingham, and in 1826, the engineer John Rennie surveyed a route through Oxford and Banbury , a route later taken by the Great Western Railway . In 1829 a rival company was formed by Francis Giles who proposed building a line through Watford Gap and Coventry . Neither company obtained backing for its scheme, and in late 1830

640-523: A fast turnaround when changing directions in commuter service. London and Birmingham Railway The London and Birmingham Railway ( L&BR ) was a railway company in the United Kingdom , in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR). The 112-mile (180 km) railway line which the company opened in 1838, between London and Birmingham ,

720-506: A fixed sum at a speed not to exceed 22 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles per hour (36.2 km/h). Bury provided specifications and drawings for a passenger and a goods engine, and by mid-1841 the L&;BR was equipped with sixty 2-2-0 passenger engines and thirty 0-4-0 goods engines. They all had inside cylinders and dome-topped fireboxes, and were mounted on inside bar-frames; they were manufactured by seven different firms, including Bury's own. Working

800-417: A food and drink counter. Lounge cars are an important part of the appeal of passenger trains when compared to aircraft, buses and cars; there is more space to move around, socialize, eat and drink, and a good view. The observation car almost always operated as the last car in a passenger train, in US practice. Its interior could include features of a coach, lounge, diner, or sleeper. The main spotting feature

880-628: A home in North America on some short and medium distance routes such as Eugene, Oregon , to Vancouver, British Columbia . Another type of tilting train that is seeing widespread use across Europe is the Pendolino . These trains, built by Fiat Ferroviaria (now owned by Alstom ), are in regular service in Italy , Portugal , Slovenia , Finland , Czech Republic and the United Kingdom . Using tilting trains, railroads are able to run passenger trains over

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960-518: A more direct line from London to Liverpool and Manchester by avoiding the original route through Birmingham. The Rugby and Stamford Railway , a further branch into the Eastern Counties was approved in 1846. In July 1846 the L&BR merged with the Grand Junction Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway to form the London and North Western Railway , which in turn was later absorbed into

1040-492: A portion of the interior partitioned off for a galley , which is off-limits to passengers. A narrow hallway is left between the galley and one side wall of the car for passengers to use. The remainder of the interior is laid out with tables and chairs to look like a long, narrow restaurant dining room. There are special personnel to perform waitstaff and kitchen duties. Lounge cars carry a bar and public seating. They usually have benches, armchairs or large swivelling chairs along

1120-531: A side corridor to connect individual compartments along the body of the train, each with two rows of seats facing each other. In both arrangements carry-on baggage is stowed on a shelf above the passenger seating area. The opening into the cars is usually located at both ends of the carriage, often into a small hallway – which in railway parlance is termed a vestibule . Earlier designs of UK coaching stock had additional door or doors along their length, some supporting compartmentalised carriages. The compartment coach

1200-719: A single manufacturer and usually of a uniform design (although the dining car on the German ICE 1 has a dome). In the 1960s and 1970s countries around the world started to develop trains capable of traveling in the 150–200 mph range, to rival air travel. One of the first was France 's TGV which entered service in 1981. By 2000, Western Europe's major cities ( London , Paris , Brussels , Amsterdam , Geneva , Berlin , Rome , etc.) were connected by high-speed rail service. Often tilting and high-speed cars are left in "trainsets" throughout their service. For example, articulated cars cannot be uncoupled without special equipment because

1280-493: A water supply that the engine crews use to top off the locomotive's tenders every two laps of operation. The railway operates three locomotives, each with their own train consisting of Narragansett-style excursion cars with a livery matching the locomotive. The railway opened in 1975, the same year as the park. It initially operated with two stations at Heatherdowns and New France. The line initially operated with two locomotives, Balmoral Castle and Der Hochbeinige . In 1987,

1360-521: A way that they either roll or fold out of the way or convert into seats for daytime use. Compartments vary in size; some are large enough for only a bed, while others resemble efficiency apartments including bathrooms. In China, sleeping cars still serve as major travel classes in long-range rail transport. The classes of sleeping cars include hard sleeper (YW) with six bunks per compartment, soft sleeper (RW) typically with four bunks, deluxe soft sleeper (GRW) typically with two bunks. A similar car which

1440-443: Is a car that was normally placed between the train's motive power and the remainder of the passenger train. The car's interior is normally wide open and is used to carry passengers' checked baggage . Baggage cars were also sometimes commissioned by freight companies to haul less-than-carload (LCL) shipments along passenger routes ( Railway Express Agency was one such freight company). Some baggage cars included restroom facilities for

1520-483: Is similar to a corridor coach but without the corridor. Each compartment is totally separated from the other compartments, with no movement between them. Entry and exit from each compartment is only possible when stopped at a station. "Composite" coaches are also known. These are mixed-class cars featuring both open seating and compartments. One such coach is the Composite Corridor , introduced for British Rail in

1600-506: Is that the passengers were expected to stand for their entire trip. The first passenger cars in the United States resembled stagecoaches . They were short, often less than 10 ft (3.05 m) long and had two axles . A British company developed the first design for sleeping carriages , called "bed-carriages", which were built in 1838 for the London and Birmingham Railway and the Grand Junction Railway . When made up for sleeping,

1680-497: Is typically [2+2], while the hard seat in China has [3+2] arrangements. The seating arrangements and density, as well as the absence or presence of other facilities depends on the intended use – from mass transit systems to long distance luxury trains. Some cars have reclining seats to allow for easier sleeping by passengers not traveling in a sleeping car. In another variant, "closed" coaches, "corridor" coaches or "compartment" cars have

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1760-664: Is used. It contains several cell compartments with minimal interior and commodities, and a separate guard compartment. Usually the windows are of nontransparent opaque glass to prevent prisoners from seeing outside and determine where they are, and windows usually also have bars to prevent escapes. Unlike other passenger cars, prisoner cars do not have doors at the ends of the wagon. Like baggage cars, railway post office (RPO; US term) cars or travelling post offices (TPOs; British term) were not accessible to paying passengers. These cars' interiors were designed with sorting facilities that were often seen and used in conventional post offices around

1840-458: The Amtrak Express brand, eventually introducing rolling stock like material handling cars, Roadrailers . Amtrak mostly exited the express business in 2003, now only using extra space in baggage cars on trains. In some countries, such as Russia, convicts are transported from court to prison or from one prison to another by railway. In such transportation a specific type of coach, prisoner car,

1920-561: The Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway at Hampton-in-Arden between Coventry and Birmingham. In 1845, the Northampton and Peterborough Railway , a 47-mile (76 km) branch from the main line, was opened from Blisworth . Also in 1845 branch lines, from Bletchley to Bedford and from Leighton to Dunstable , were leased; they opened in 1846 and 1848. The ' London and Birmingham Railway Act 1845 ( 8 & 9 Vict. c. clvi) authorised

2000-633: The LNWR in 1846. The Warwick and Leamington Union Railway , a branch of almost nine miles (14 km) between Coventry and Leamington, was purchased by the L&BR in 1843 and opened in 1844. From 1840, when the Midland Counties Railway made a junction to its line at Rugby, the L&BR also provided through connections from London to the East Midlands and the North East. It also made connections to

2080-751: The London Midland and Scottish Railway , before finally passing into the hands of the nationalised British Railways in 1948 to become part of the West Coast Main Line as it is known today. The major change to the line during this period was electrification, which was carried out during the mid-1960s as part of BR's Modernisation Plan. Neither of the L&BR's original termini, both designed by Philip Hardwick , has survived in its original form. Curzon Street station in Birmingham closed to passenger traffic in 1854 (the original entrance building remains) when it

2160-586: The River Bulbourne instead of the River Gade , skirting around the edge of Hemel Hempstead to protect Sir Astley Cooper's interests; for this reason, Hemel Hempstead railway station is located one mile (1.6 km) outside the town centre, at Boxmoor . Peter Lecount, an assistant engineer of the London and Birmingham railway, produced a number of – possibly hyperbolic – comparisons in an effort to demonstrate that

2240-529: The trucks . The coach is the most basic type of passenger car, also sometimes referred to as "chair cars". Two main variants exist. In one variant, an " open coach " has a central aisle; the car's interior is often filled with row upon row of seats as in a passenger airliner . Other arrangements of the "open" type are also found, including seats around tables, seats facing the aisle (often found on mass transit trains since they increase standing room for rush hour), and variations of all three. Seating arrangement

2320-496: The " horse cars " that were used to transport racehorses. Express cars carry high-value freight in passenger consists . These cars often resembled baggage cars, although in some cases specially-equipped boxcars or refrigerator cars were used. In the United States, the majority of these cars were operated by Railway Express Agency (REA) from 1918 to 1975. Following REA's bankruptcy, Amtrak took over express type shipments under

2400-435: The 1930s, these had an open-air platform at the rear, the "observation platform". These evolved into the closed end car, usually with a rounded end which was still called an "observation car". The interiors of observation cars varied. Many had special chairs and tables. The end platforms of all passenger cars changed around the turn of the 20th century. Older cars had open platforms between cars. Passengers would enter and leave

2480-478: The 1940s with technology that would enable the axles to steer into a curve, allowing the train to move around the curve at a higher speed. The steering axles evolved into mechanisms that would also tilt the passenger car as it entered a curve to counter the centrifugal force experienced by the train, further increasing speeds on existing track. Today, Talgo trains are used in many places in Europe and they have also found

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2560-524: The 1950s, the passenger travel market declined in North America, though there was growth in commuter rail . Private intercity passenger service in the U.S. mostly ended with the creation of Amtrak in 1971. Amtrak took over equipment and stations from most of the railroads in the U.S. with intercity service. The higher clearances in North America enabled a major advancement in passenger car design, bi-level ( double-decker ) commuter coaches that could hold more passengers. These cars started to become common in

2640-416: The 1950s; though such coaches existed from early pre-grouping days, at the end of the 19th century. In India, normal carriages often have double height seating, with benches (berths), so that people can sit above one another (not unlike a bunk bed). In other countries, true double decker carriages are becoming more common. The seats in most coaches until the middle of the 20th century were usually bench seats;

2720-582: The 19th century, most passenger cars were constructed of wood. The first passenger trains did not travel very far, but they were able to haul many more passengers for a longer distance than wagons pulled by horses . As railways were first constructed in England , so too were the first passenger cars. One of the early coach designs was the "Stanhope". It featured a roof and small holes in the floor for drainage when it rained, and had separate compartments for different classes of travel. The only problem with this design

2800-518: The Company are restricted, by their Act of Parliament, from running locomotive engines nearer London than Camden Town." The railway opened from Euston on 20 July 1837; the stationary engines and rope haulage did not commence until 27 September, and handled all trains from 14 October 1837. Until then, and whenever the rope system was stopped for repairs, locomotives hauled the trains up the incline. From November 1843 some expresses were worked without recourse to

2880-589: The L&BR to lease the West London Railway , and this took effect from 1846 (jointly with the GWR ). The West London Railway has opened in 1844 between Willesden Junction and the canal basin at Kensington. The L&BR purchased the Trent Valley Railway in 1846 on behalf of the LNWR ; this fifty-mile (80 km) line connected Rugby on the L&BR with Stafford on the Grand Junction Railway thus creating

2960-456: The London and Birmingham Railway was "the greatest public work ever executed either in ancient or modern times". In particular, he suggested that the effort to build the Great Pyramid of Giza amounted to the lifting of 15,733,000,000 cu ft (445,500,000 m ) of stone by 1 foot (0.305 m). The railway, excluding a long string of tasks (drainage, ballasting, and so on) involved

3040-721: The US and Canada resembled a roofed porch area. Larger windows were installed at the observation end on these cars as well. At this end of the car, there was almost always a lounge where passengers could enjoy the view as they watched the track rapidly recede into the distance. Often called "sleepers" or "Pullman cars" (after the main American operator), these cars provide sleeping arrangements for passengers travelling at night. Early models were divided into sections, where coach seating converted at night into semi-private berths. More modern interiors are normally partitioned into separate bedroom compartments for passengers. The beds are designed in such

3120-585: The United States in the 1960s, and were adopted by Amtrak for the Superliner design as well as by many other railroads and manufacturers. By 2000, double-deckers rivaled single level cars in use around the world. While intercity passenger rail travel declined in America, ridership continued to increase in other parts of the world. With the increase came an increased use of newer technology on existing and new equipment. The Spanish company Talgo began experimenting in

3200-575: The United States, the so-called "chair car" with individual seating became commonplace on long-distance routes. With the 1930s came the widespread use of stainless steel for car bodies. The typical passenger car was now much lighter than its carbon-steel cousins of old, though still much heavier than nineteenth-century wooden cars. The new "lightweight" and streamlined cars carried passengers in speed and comfort to an extent that had not been experienced to date. Aluminum and Cor-Ten steel were also used in lightweight car construction, but stainless steel

3280-419: The backs of these seats could be adjusted, often with one hand, to face in either direction so the car would not have to be turned for a return trip. The conductor would simply walk down the aisle in the car, reversing the seat backs to prepare for the return trip. This arrangement is still used in some modern trains. A dining car (or diner) is used to serve meals to the passengers. Its interior may be split with

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3360-454: The classic heavyweight combine fell out of use. A control car (also known as a Driving Trailer in Europe and the UK) is a passenger car which lets the train be run in reverse with the locomotive at the back. It is common on commuter trains in the US, Canada and Europe. This can be important for serving small towns without extensive switching facilities, end train stations, dead-end lines, and having

3440-577: The early 1800s with the advent of the first railroads, and were small and little more than converted freight cars. Early passenger cars were constructed from wood; in the 1900s construction shifted to steel and later aluminum for improved strength. Passenger cars have increased greatly in size from their earliest versions, with modern bi-level passenger cars capable of carrying over 100 passengers. Amenities for passengers have also improved over time, with developments such as lighting, heating, and air conditioning added for improved passenger comfort. In some systems

3520-437: The ends of the car. Early American sleeping cars were not compartmented, but by the end of the 19th century they were. The compartments in the later sleepers were accessed from a side hall running the length of the cars, similar to the design of European cars well into the 20th century. Many American passenger trains, particularly the long distance ones, included a car at the end of the train called an observation car. Until about

3600-399: The foot of the bed was extended into a boot section at the end of the carriage. The cars were still too short to allow more than two or three beds to be positioned end to end. Britain's Royal Mail commissioned and built the first travelling post office cars in the late 1840s as well. These cars resembled coaches in their short wheelbase and exterior design, but were equipped with nets on

3680-470: The individual cars share trucks. This gives modern trains a smooth, coherent appearance because all the cars and often the engines share a similar design and paint scheme. Traditionally the passenger car can be split into a number of distinct types. The most basic division is between cars which do carry passengers and "head end" equipment. The latter are run as part of passenger trains, but do not themselves carry passengers. Traditionally they were put between

3760-427: The lifting of 25,000,000,000 cu ft (710,000,000 m ) of material reduced to the weight of stone used in the pyramid. The pyramid involved, he says, the effort of 300,000 men (according to Diodorus Siculus ) or 100,000 (according to Herodotus ) for twenty years. The railway involved 20,000 men for five years. In passing, he also noted that the cost of the railway in penny pieces, was enough to more than form

3840-603: The line by contract never worked in practice, because of the unforeseen ever-increasing traffic and the demand for higher speeds, so in July 1839 the contract was annulled, and thereafter Bury was engaged as manager of the Locomotive Department in the normal way, on a fixed salary with a profits bonus. By the end of the L&BR's separate existence in July 1846, the total stock was about 120 locomotives; some six-wheeled engines had been acquired, but some of these proved inferior to

3920-545: The line was rejected in 1832, due to pressure from landowners and road and canal interests. The railway route proposals through Hertfordshire were modified; a second parliamentary bill was approved in May 1833 as the London and Birmingham Railway Act 1833 ( 3 & 4 Will. 4 . c. xxxvi), and the line received royal assent . Construction began in November of that year. The line would follow

4000-399: The locomotive and the passenger-carrying cars in the consist , hence the name. Some specialized types are variants of or combine elements of the most basic types. Also, the basic design of passenger cars is evolving, with articulated units that have shared trucks, with double-decker designs, and with the "low floor" design where the loading area is very close to the ground and slung between

4080-531: The meals were prepared. The introduction of vestibuled cars , which for the first time allowed easy movement from car to car, aided the adoption of dining cars, lounge cars, and other specialized cars. In the early 1900s, safety concerns led the railroad industry to transition from wood to steel construction. Steel was heavier but this transition took place simultaneously with a transition to higher-powered locomotives. The Pennsylvania Railroad began building all-steel passenger cars in 1906 due to concerns about fire in

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4160-446: The metropolis; Second, Easy, cheap and expeditious travelling; Third; The rapid and economical interchange of the great articles of consumption and of commerce, both internal and external; and Lastly, the connexion by railways, of London with Liverpool, the rich pastures of the centre of England, and the greatest manufacturing districts; and, through the port of Liverpool, to afford a most expeditious communication with Ireland. The company

4240-425: The mid-19th century, trains grew in length and weight. Passenger cars, particularly in America, grew along with them, first getting longer with the addition of a second truck (one at each end), and wider as their suspensions improved. Cars built for European use featured side door compartments, while American car design favored what was called a train coach, a single long cabin with rows of seats, with doors located at

4320-557: The multilevel semiprivate berths of old. Now that passenger cars were lighter, they were able to carry heavier loads, but the size of the average passenger that rode in them didn't increase to match the cars' new capacities. The average passenger car could not be made any wider or longer due to side clearances along the railroad lines, but they generally could get taller because they were still lower than many freight cars and locomotives. The railroads soon began building and buying dome and bilevel cars to carry more passengers. Starting in

4400-457: The opening. The first part of the line between Euston Station and Boxmoor ( Hemel Hempstead ) opened on 20 July 1837. Services were extended to Tring on 16 October 1837. On 9 April 1838 the company opened the north end of the line, between Birmingham and Rugby, and the south end from London to a temporary station at Denbigh Hall near Bletchley with a stagecoach shuttle service linking the two parts to allow through journeys to London. The line

4480-541: The original four-wheelers. The locomotive workshops were established in 1838 at Wolverton , roughly halfway between the two termini at London and Birmingham. These workshops remained in use for locomotive repairs until 1877, but had been gradually taken over by the Carriage Dept from 1864, and remained as a manufacturing facility up until the 1980s; today just a few parts of the original Wolverton railway works are used solely for rolling stock maintenance and repair. When

4560-766: The park expanded, adding the Festa Italia area, and with it the infill Festa Station, the third (and final) station on the line. In 1997, a third locomotive was acquired from a defunct amusement park, and given an Alpine theme to match the newly-opened Alpengeist roller coaster. On August 16, 2018, the Balmoral Castle caught on fire. One employee received minor injuries. The locomotive was subsequently repaired and returned to service. All three locomotives are propane-fueled steam engines. Passenger railroad car#Narragansett-style excursion car A passenger railroad car or passenger car ( American English ), also called

4640-630: The project, including one held at the King's Arms public house in Berkhamsted . Another was held in Watford which was attended by wealthy and influential peers of the realm who had property interests on the planned route of the line: the Earl of Essex was keen to protect his Cassiobury Estate from invasion by the " iron horse ", as was the Earl of Clarendon , who owned The Grove Estate . The anatomist Sir Astley Cooper

4720-451: The railway was fully opened, it had sixteen intermediate stations between London and Birmingham. The "first-class" stations (served by all trains) were at Watford , Tring , Leighton , Wolverton , Blisworth , Weedon , Rugby and Coventry . Additionally, "second-class" intermediate stations (served by slower second-class trains only) were at Harrow , Boxmoor , Berkhamsted , Bletchley , Roade , Crick , Brandon and Hampton . Roade

4800-460: The relatively steep incline to Camden by a stationary steam engine . However, this was denied by Peter Lecount , one of the L&BR engineers, who wrote in his 'History of the Railway connecting London and Birmingham' (1839), page 48: "It is not because locomotives cannot draw a train of carriages up this incline that a fixed engine and endless rope are used, for they can and have done so, but because

4880-413: The rope, and from 15 July 1844 the rope working ceased permanently. Initially, it was decided that it would be cheaper to work the railway by a contractor, and Edward Bury was chosen and awarded the contract in May 1836. The contract stipulated that the company would provide locomotives to Bury's specification, while he would maintain them in good repair and convey each passenger and each ton of goods for

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4960-606: The same tracks at higher speeds than would otherwise be possible. Amtrak continued to push the development of U.S.-designed passenger equipment even when the market demand didn't support it, ordering a number of new passenger locomotive and car types in the 1980s and 1990s. However, by 2000 Amtrak went to European manufacturers for the Amtrak Cascades ( Talgo ) and Acela Express trains, their premier services. These trains use new designs and are made to operate as coherent "trainsets". High-speed trains are made up of cars from

5040-455: The same protection. Dining cars first appeared in the late 1870s and into the 1880s. Until this time, the common practice was to stop for meals at restaurants along the way (which led to the rise of Fred Harvey 's chain of Harvey House restaurants in America). At first, the dining car was simply a place to serve meals that were picked up en route, but they soon evolved to include galleys in which

5120-544: The sides of the car. They often have small tables for drinks, or may be large enough to play cards. Some lounge cars include small pianos and are staffed by contracted musicians to entertain the passengers. These cars are often pulled in addition to the dining car , and on very long trains in addition to one or more snack or café cars. Café cars , such as the Amtrak café cars , are simpler, lacking window-facing seats, instead, rows of tables with facing pairs of bench seats, split by

5200-426: The sides of the cars to catch mail bags while the train was in motion. American RPOs , first appearing in the 1860s, also featured equipment to catch mail bags at speed, but the American design more closely resembled a large hook that would catch the mailbag in its crook. When not in use, the hook would swivel down against the side of the car to prevent it from catching obstacles. As locomotive technology progressed in

5280-586: The train crew, so many baggage cars had doors to access them just like any other passenger car. Baggage cars could be designed to look like the rest of a passenger train's cars, or they could be repurposed box cars equipped with high-speed trucks and passenger train steam and air connections. A special type of baggage car came equipped with doors on one end to facilitate transport of large pieces of equipment and scenery for Broadway shows and other productions. These "theatrical" baggage cars were assigned theatrical names (i.e. Romeo and Juliet ), and were similar to

5360-530: The tunnels it was building to access Manhattan's Pennsylvania Station, which opened in 1910. Other railroads followed because steel cars were safer in accidents. During a transition period, some railroads put steel frames underneath wooden cars. By the 1920s, passenger cars on the larger standard gauge railroads were normally between 60 ft (18.3 m) and 70 ft (21.3 m) long. The cars of this time were still quite ornate, many of them being built by experienced coach makers and skilled carpenters. In

5440-490: The two companies decided to merge. The new company appointed Robert Stephenson chief engineer, and after preparing a detailed survey, he chose the route through Watford Gap, largely to avoid possible flooding from the River Thames at Oxford. The prospectus for the London and Birmingham Railway offered the following inducements to potential investors: First, the opening of new and distant sources of supply of provisions to

5520-530: The world. The RPO is where mail was sorted while the train was en route. Because these cars carried mail, which often included valuables or quantities of cash and checks, the RPO staff (who were employed by the postal service and not the railroad) were the only train crews allowed to carry guns. The RPO cars were normally placed in a passenger train between the train's motive power and baggage cars, further inhibiting their access by passengers. A colonist car or emigrant car

5600-403: Was a special sleeping car designed to take immigrants from ocean ports to settlement areas in western North America at the cheapest possible fare. They offered simple sleeping berths and a cooking area for immigrants who were expected to bring their own food and bedding. A combine is a car that combines features of a head-end and a regular passenger car. The most common combination is that of

5680-448: Was also in attendance, intent on preventing the new railway from cutting across his Gadebridge Estate. On 22 June 1832, Lord Brownlow of Ashridge voiced his opposition in the House of Lords to "the forcing of the proposed railway through the land and property of so great a proportion of dissentient landowners." The L&BR company's first application for an act of Parliament to construct

5760-481: Was at the tail end of the car – some more modern US designs had walls of the car usually curved together to form a large U shape, and larger windows were installed all around the end of the car; earlier designs had square ends with an observation open deck (preserved stock in Southern Africa, Oceania and many countries elsewhere.) Before these cars were built with steel walls, the observation end of heavyweight cars in

5840-450: Was created with an initial capitalisation of £5,500,000. Much of the subscribed funds came from Lancashire, where great profits were being made in the cotton industries. The construction of the line was the subject of much opposition by landowners, who organised a campaign in the early 1830s to prevent the L&BR from driving a line across their estates. Turbulent public meetings were held in towns in west Hertfordshire to protest against

5920-490: Was later redesignated as first-class due to its stagecoach connections. From about 1844 platforms were opened at Camden for tickets to be collected on southbound trains. This became a public station in 1851. The first branch from the main line was the Aylesbury Railway at Aylesbury Railway Junction , seven miles (11 km) of single track, which opened in 1839 and was leased to the L&BR until purchased outright by

6000-413: Was officially fully opened on 17 September 1838, with the first passenger train from London to Birmingham arriving that day. The first London-to-Birmingham trains took 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours to complete the 112 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (181.1 km) journey. It has often been claimed that initially, owing to the lack of power available to early locomotives, trains from Euston were cable-hauled up

6080-445: Was replaced by New Street station and the original Euston station in London was demolished in 1962 to make way for the present structure which opened in 1968. On the closure of Curzon Street as a passenger station, the site became the London and North Western Railway goods depot (Birmingham) and became fully operational in 1865. The Curzon Street goods site continued railway operations as a parcel depot until 1966. The remaining parts of

6160-437: Was sectioned off into compartments, much like the coaches that were still in widespread use across Europe. Pullman's roomettes, however, were designed with a single traveller in mind. The roomette featured a large picture window, a privacy door, a single fold-away bed, a sink and a small toilet. The roomette's floor space was barely larger than the space taken up by the bed, but it allowed the traveller to ride in luxury compared to

6240-550: Was the first intercity line to be built into London. It is now the southern section of the West Coast Main Line . The line was engineered by Robert Stephenson . It started at Euston Station in London, went north-west to Rugby , where it turned west to Coventry and on to Birmingham. It terminated at Curzon Street Station , which it shared with the Grand Junction Railway (GJR), whose adjacent platforms gave an interchange with full connectivity (with through carriages) between Liverpool , Manchester and London. As early as 1823,

6320-472: Was the preferred material for car bodies. Stainless steel cars could be and often were, left unpainted except for the car's reporting marks that were required by law. By the end of the 1930s, railroads and car builders were debuting car body and interior styles that could only be dreamed of before. In 1937, the Pullman Company delivered the first cars equipped with roomettes – that is, the car's interior

6400-516: Was usually found in DMUs , EMUs , and locomotive -hauled passenger trainsets . They also generally intermediate cars within the consist and sometimes have driving control facilities . They may carry auxiliary equipment (E.g. the braking system, air conditioning, etc.) where space is limited. Although passengers generally are not allowed access to the baggage car, they were included in a great number of passenger trains as regular equipment. The baggage car

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