103-598: The Cascade Tunnel refers to two railroad tunnels , its original tunnel and its replacement, in the northwest United States , east of the Seattle metropolitan area in the Cascade Range of Washington , at Stevens Pass . It is approximately 65 miles (105 km) east of Everett , with both portals adjacent to U.S. Route 2 . Both single-track tunnels were constructed by the Great Northern Railway . The first
206-408: A crank on a driving axle. Steam locomotives have been phased out in most parts of the world for economical and safety reasons, although many are preserved in working order by heritage railways . Electric locomotives draw power from a stationary source via an overhead wire or third rail . Some also or instead use a battery . In locomotives that are powered by high-voltage alternating current ,
309-586: A dining car . Some lines also provide over-night services with sleeping cars . Some long-haul trains have been given a specific name . Regional trains are medium distance trains that connect cities with outlying, surrounding areas, or provide a regional service, making more stops and having lower speeds. Commuter trains serve suburbs of urban areas, providing a daily commuting service. Airport rail links provide quick access from city centres to airports . High-speed rail are special inter-city trains that operate at much higher speeds than conventional railways,
412-710: A fourth rail system in 1890 on the City and South London Railway , now part of the London Underground Northern line . This was the first major railway to use electric traction . The world's first deep-level electric railway, it runs from the City of London , under the River Thames , to Stockwell in south London. The first practical AC electric locomotive was designed by Charles Brown , then working for Oerlikon , Zürich. In 1891, Brown had demonstrated long-distance power transmission, using three-phase AC , between
515-527: A funicular railway at the Hohensalzburg Fortress in Austria. The line originally used wooden rails and a hemp haulage rope and was operated by human or animal power, through a treadwheel . The line is still operational, although in updated form and is possibly the oldest operational railway. Wagonways (or tramways ) using wooden rails, hauled by horses, started appearing in the 1550s to facilitate
618-488: A hydro-electric plant at Lauffen am Neckar and Frankfurt am Main West, a distance of 280 km (170 mi). Using experience he had gained while working for Jean Heilmann on steam–electric locomotive designs, Brown observed that three-phase motors had a higher power-to-weight ratio than DC motors and, because of the absence of a commutator , were simpler to manufacture and maintain. However, they were much larger than
721-509: A public library service operated by the King County Rural Library District in 1944, its library opening the following year in the city hall . It moved to a new building in 1993, which was expanded in 2006. Skykomish's population peaked at around 8,000 in the 1920s and shrank to under 300 by 1990 due to the loss of businesses and jobs. Legal but ill-advised waste disposal practices, common during that era, resulted in
824-431: A steam engine that provides adhesion. Coal , petroleum , or wood is burned in a firebox , boiling water in the boiler to create pressurized steam. The steam travels through the smokebox before leaving via the chimney or smoke stack. In the process, it powers a piston that transmits power directly through a connecting rod (US: main rod) and a crankpin (US: wristpin) on the driving wheel (US main driver) or to
927-469: A transformer in the locomotive converts the high-voltage low-current power to low-voltage high current used in the traction motors that power the wheels. Modern locomotives may use three-phase AC induction motors or direct current motors. Under certain conditions, electric locomotives are the most powerful traction. They are also the cheapest to run and provide less noise and no local air pollution. However, they require high capital investments both for
1030-399: A constant speed of 15.7 mph (25.3 km/h), but when larger trains required four locomotives the motors were concatenated (cascade control), so that the speed was halved to 7.8 mph (12.6 km/h) to avoid overloading the power supply. The consulting engineer, Cary T. Hutchinson, published a detailed description of the system in 1909. The tunnel was still plagued by snow slides in
1133-544: A diesel locomotive from the company in 1909. The world's first diesel-powered locomotive was operated in the summer of 1912 on the Winterthur–Romanshorn railway in Switzerland, but was not a commercial success. The locomotive weight was 95 tonnes and the power was 883 kW with a maximum speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). Small numbers of prototype diesel locomotives were produced in a number of countries through
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#17328447238021236-468: A double track plateway, erroneously sometimes cited as world's first public railway, in south London. William Jessop had earlier used a form of all-iron edge rail and flanged wheels successfully for an extension to the Charnwood Forest Canal at Nanpantan , Loughborough, Leicestershire in 1789. In 1790, Jessop and his partner Outram began to manufacture edge rails. Jessop became a partner in
1339-488: A guide for the surveying team on the Great Northern Railway, settled a flat spot in 1892, which got the name "Maloney's Siding". The following year the railroad was completed, and when a post office was established, the place became known as Skykomish. The townsite was platted in 1889 and was officially incorporated as the town of Skykomish on June 5, 1909. Maloney opened Maloney's General Store in 1893. A hotel,
1442-437: A large turning radius in its design. While high-speed rail is most often designed for passenger travel, some high-speed systems also offer freight service. Since 1980, rail transport has changed dramatically, but a number of heritage railways continue to operate as part of living history to preserve and maintain old railway lines for services of tourist trains. A train is a connected series of rail vehicles that move along
1545-488: A larger locomotive named Galvani , exhibited at the Royal Scottish Society of Arts Exhibition in 1841. The seven-ton vehicle had two direct-drive reluctance motors , with fixed electromagnets acting on iron bars attached to a wooden cylinder on each axle, and simple commutators . It hauled a load of six tons at four miles per hour (6 kilometers per hour) for a distance of one and a half miles (2.4 kilometres). It
1648-423: A locomotive. This involves one or more powered vehicles being located at the front of the train, providing sufficient tractive force to haul the weight of the full train. This arrangement remains dominant for freight trains and is often used for passenger trains. A push–pull train has the end passenger car equipped with a driver's cab so that the engine driver can remotely control the locomotive. This allows one of
1751-477: A number of trains per hour (tph). Passenger trains can usually be into two types of operation, intercity railway and intracity transit. Whereas intercity railway involve higher speeds, longer routes, and lower frequency (usually scheduled), intracity transit involves lower speeds, shorter routes, and higher frequency (especially during peak hours). Intercity trains are long-haul trains that operate with few stops between cities. Trains typically have amenities such as
1854-650: A piece of circular rail track in Bloomsbury , London, the Catch Me Who Can , but never got beyond the experimental stage with railway locomotives, not least because his engines were too heavy for the cast-iron plateway track then in use. The first commercially successful steam locomotive was Matthew Murray 's rack locomotive Salamanca built for the Middleton Railway in Leeds in 1812. This twin-cylinder locomotive
1957-460: A pivotal role in the development and widespread adoption of the steam locomotive. His designs considerably improved on the work of the earlier pioneers. He built the locomotive Blücher , also a successful flanged -wheel adhesion locomotive. In 1825 he built the locomotive Locomotion for the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the northeast of England, which became the first public steam railway in
2060-439: A revival in recent decades due to road congestion and rising fuel prices, as well as governments investing in rail as a means of reducing CO 2 emissions . Smooth, durable road surfaces have been made for wheeled vehicles since prehistoric times. In some cases, they were narrow and in pairs to support only the wheels. That is, they were wagonways or tracks. Some had grooves or flanges or other mechanical means to keep
2163-507: A section of the roof caved in and created a debris dam inside the tunnel, making it impassable to pedestrians due to standing water and ceiling debris. A warning was issued to stay clear of the western side of the old tunnel for a distance of 0.5 mi (0.80 km) for the indeterminate future. The new Cascade Tunnel was opened on January 12, 1929. The new line had 72.9 route mi (117.3 km) or 93.2 route miles (150.0 km) electrified, between Skykomish and Wenatchee . The ruling grade
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#17328447238022266-724: A single lever to control both engine and generator in a coordinated fashion, and was the prototype for all diesel–electric locomotive control systems. In 1914, world's first functional diesel–electric railcars were produced for the Königlich-Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen ( Royal Saxon State Railways ) by Waggonfabrik Rastatt with electric equipment from Brown, Boveri & Cie and diesel engines from Swiss Sulzer AG . They were classified as DET 1 and DET 2 ( de.wiki ). The first regular used diesel–electric locomotives were switcher (shunter) locomotives . General Electric produced several small switching locomotives in
2369-407: A standard. Following SNCF's successful trials, 50 Hz, now also called industrial frequency was adopted as standard for main-lines across the world. Earliest recorded examples of an internal combustion engine for railway use included a prototype designed by William Dent Priestman . Sir William Thomson examined it in 1888 and described it as a "Priestman oil engine mounted upon a truck which
2472-620: A terminus about one-half mile (800 m) away. A funicular railway was also made at Broseley in Shropshire some time before 1604. This carried coal for James Clifford from his mines down to the River Severn to be loaded onto barges and carried to riverside towns. The Wollaton Wagonway , completed in 1604 by Huntingdon Beaumont , has sometimes erroneously been cited as the earliest British railway. It ran from Strelley to Wollaton near Nottingham . The Middleton Railway in Leeds , which
2575-408: A wheel. This was a large stationary engine , powering cotton mills and a variety of machinery; the state of boiler technology necessitated the use of low-pressure steam acting upon a vacuum in the cylinder, which required a separate condenser and an air pump . Nevertheless, as the construction of boilers improved, Watt investigated the use of high-pressure steam acting directly upon a piston, raising
2678-465: Is capital-intensive and less flexible than road transport, it can carry heavy loads of passengers and cargo with greater energy efficiency and safety. Precursors of railways driven by human or animal power have existed since antiquity, but modern rail transport began with the invention of the steam locomotive in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the 19th century. The first passenger railway,
2781-410: Is a single, self-powered car, and may be electrically propelled or powered by a diesel engine . Multiple units have a driver's cab at each end of the unit, and were developed following the ability to build electric motors and other engines small enough to fit under the coach. There are only a few freight multiple units, most of which are high-speed post trains. Steam locomotives are locomotives with
2884-490: Is a straight-line tunnel running between Berne and Scenic Hot Springs. It is currently part of the BNSF Scenic Subdivision between Seattle and Wenatchee , and Amtrak 's Empire Builder runs through it. Because of safety and ventilation issues, this tunnel is a limiting factor on how many trains the railroad can operate over this route from Seattle to Spokane. The current limit is 28 trains per day. Speed through
2987-399: Is dominant. Electro-diesel locomotives are built to run as diesel–electric on unelectrified sections and as electric locomotives on electrified sections. Alternative methods of motive power include magnetic levitation , horse-drawn, cable , gravity, pneumatics and gas turbine . A passenger train stops at stations where passengers may embark and disembark. The oversight of the train is
3090-593: Is nearly four miles (6.5 km) east of the original and is at 2,881 feet (878 m) above sea level , 1,180 feet (360 m) below the pass. The tunnel connects Berne in Chelan County on its east with Scenic Hot Springs in King County on its west and is the longest railroad tunnel in the United States. Construction began on the first tunnel on August 20, 1897, and was completed on December 20, 1900. The tunnel
3193-477: Is one of the two primary means of land transport , next to road transport . It is used for about 8% of passenger and freight transport globally, thanks to its energy efficiency and potentially high speed . Rolling stock on rails generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, allowing rail cars to be coupled into longer trains . Power is usually provided by diesel or electrical locomotives . While railway transport
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3296-401: Is used to ensure that the air inside remains breathable and reduce problems with excess fumes . As a train enters the west portal of the tunnel, a red-and-white-checkered door closes on the east portal and high-power fans blow in cool air through a second portal to help the diesel engines. As long as the train is within the tunnel, the fans work with reduced power to avoid pressure problems. When
3399-550: Is worked on a temporary line of rails to show the adaptation of a petroleum engine for locomotive purposes." In 1894, a 20 hp (15 kW) two axle machine built by Priestman Brothers was used on the Hull Docks . In 1906, Rudolf Diesel , Adolf Klose and the steam and diesel engine manufacturer Gebrüder Sulzer founded Diesel-Sulzer-Klose GmbH to manufacture diesel-powered locomotives. Sulzer had been manufacturing diesel engines since 1898. The Prussian State Railways ordered
3502-527: The 2020 census , there were 161 people, 49 households in the town. As of the 2010 census , there were 198 people, 95 households, and 45 families living in the town. The population density was 638.7 inhabitants per square mile (246.6/km ). There were 168 housing units at an average density of 541.9 per square mile (209.2/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 95.5% White , 1.0% African American , 1.5% Native American , 1.5% Asian , and 0.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.5% of
3605-666: The Cascadian , the Western Star and the Empire Builder . It was also once the western terminus for electric operations (1928–56) on the Cascade Tunnel route all the way to Wenatchee . Here, steam or diesel locomotives were changed or coupled to electric locomotives. The Great Northern Depot, the former Skykomish station , was moved to a new city park in 2012 and today serves as a visitors center and history museum. The town gained
3708-602: The Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest , 49 miles east of Everett, Washington, on the South Fork of the Skykomish River , Skykomish was founded as a railroad town. Today, it is mainly a stopping point for recreational access to the surrounding mountains, including skiing at nearby Stevens Pass . Being located in the far northeastern corner of King County, mountains deny Skykomish any road access to
3811-527: The Stockton and Darlington Railway , opened in 1825. The quick spread of railways throughout Europe and North America, following the 1830 opening of the first intercity connection in England, was a key component of the Industrial Revolution . The adoption of rail transport lowered shipping costs compared to water transport, leading to "national markets" in which prices varied less from city to city. In
3914-609: The United Kingdom , South Korea , Scandinavia, Belgium and the Netherlands. The construction of many of these lines has resulted in the dramatic decline of short-haul flights and automotive traffic between connected cities, such as the London–Paris–Brussels corridor, Madrid–Barcelona, Milan–Rome–Naples, as well as many other major lines. High-speed trains normally operate on standard gauge tracks of continuously welded rail on grade-separated right-of-way that incorporates
4017-573: The contamination of its soil , its groundwater , and the Skykomish River by oil and heavy metals . The video class of the local school chose to document the oil under the town, winning the 2002 President’s Environmental Youth Award. BNSF (then BN) and the Washington State Department of Ecology began remediation discussions in the mid-1980s, and in 2006, agreed to a plan whereby the railroad would pay up to $ 50 million to clean up
4120-414: The overhead lines and the supporting infrastructure, as well as the generating station that is needed to produce electricity. Accordingly, electric traction is used on urban systems, lines with high traffic and for high-speed rail. Diesel locomotives use a diesel engine as the prime mover . The energy transmission may be either diesel–electric , diesel-mechanical or diesel–hydraulic but diesel–electric
4223-458: The puddling process in 1784. In 1783 Cort also patented the rolling process , which was 15 times faster at consolidating and shaping iron than hammering. These processes greatly lowered the cost of producing iron and rails. The next important development in iron production was hot blast developed by James Beaumont Neilson (patented 1828), which considerably reduced the amount of coke (fuel) or charcoal needed to produce pig iron. Wrought iron
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4326-418: The rotary phase converter , enabling electric locomotives to use three-phase motors whilst supplied via a single overhead wire, carrying the simple industrial frequency (50 Hz) single phase AC of the high-voltage national networks. An important contribution to the wider adoption of AC traction came from SNCF of France after World War II. The company conducted trials at AC 50 Hz, and established it as
4429-422: The ruling gradient of 2.2%. Because of the steepness of the line, the locomotives had to pull hard to make the grade and thus burn more coal, which would lead to immense smoke in the bore. The tunnel was electrified , with the project completed on July 10, 1909, eliminating the problem. The unusual system used was three-phase AC , 6.6 kilovolts at 25 Hz, from a 5 MW (6,700 hp) hydroelectric plant on
4532-532: The 1880s, railway electrification began with tramways and rapid transit systems. Starting in the 1940s, steam locomotives were replaced by diesel locomotives . The first high-speed railway system was introduced in Japan in 1964, and high-speed rail lines now connect many cities in Europe , East Asia , and the eastern United States . Following some decline due to competition from cars and airplanes, rail transport has had
4635-510: The 1930s (the famous " 44-tonner " switcher was introduced in 1940) Westinghouse Electric and Baldwin collaborated to build switching locomotives starting in 1929. In 1929, the Canadian National Railways became the first North American railway to use diesels in mainline service with two units, 9000 and 9001, from Westinghouse. Although steam and diesel services reaching speeds up to 200 km/h (120 mph) were started before
4738-500: The 1960s in Europe, they were not very successful. The first electrified high-speed rail Tōkaidō Shinkansen was introduced in 1964 between Tokyo and Osaka in Japan. Since then high-speed rail transport, functioning at speeds up to and above 300 km/h (190 mph), has been built in Japan, Spain, France , Germany, Italy, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan (Republic of China),
4841-460: The 40 km Burgdorf–Thun line , Switzerland. Italian railways were the first in the world to introduce electric traction for the entire length of a main line rather than a short section. The 106 km Valtellina line was opened on 4 September 1902, designed by Kandó and a team from the Ganz works. The electrical system was three-phase at 3 kV 15 Hz. In 1918, Kandó invented and developed
4944-522: The Butterley Company in 1790. The first public edgeway (thus also first public railway) built was Lake Lock Rail Road in 1796. Although the primary purpose of the line was to carry coal, it also carried passengers. These two systems of constructing iron railways, the "L" plate-rail and the smooth edge-rail, continued to exist side by side until well into the early 19th century. The flanged wheel and edge-rail eventually proved its superiority and became
5047-511: The DC motors of the time and could not be mounted in underfloor bogies : they could only be carried within locomotive bodies. In 1894, Hungarian engineer Kálmán Kandó developed a new type 3-phase asynchronous electric drive motors and generators for electric locomotives. Kandó's early 1894 designs were first applied in a short three-phase AC tramway in Évian-les-Bains (France), which was constructed between 1896 and 1898. In 1896, Oerlikon installed
5150-584: The Skykomish Basketball team won the 1954 State B championship beating the highly favored 3A Bainbridge. In 1954, Skykomish had a total of 51 students, Bainbridge had an enrollment of 266. Skykomish is located at 47°42′36″N 121°21′21″W / 47.71000°N 121.35583°W / 47.71000; -121.35583 (47.710048, -121.355695). It has no direct road connection to the rest of King County , with access on U.S. Route 2 through Snohomish County . The relative isolation of Skykomish from
5253-562: The Skykomish Hotel, soon followed. In 1902 this hotel burned to the ground and was replaced by Schneider's Hotel. In 1904, a fire burned down every commercial building except the store. Maloney's General Store was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 29, 1997. In 2000, the entire commercial district, with the historic Skykomish Hotel (erected to replace the burned-down Schneider's Hotel in 1904) as its cornerstone,
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#17328447238025356-667: The Wenatchee River just west of Leavenworth. The tunnel section only was electrified; 4.0 route miles (6.4 km) or 6.0 track miles (9.7 km) and 1.7 percent grade through the tunnel chamber. The motive power for the section consisted of four GN boxcab locomotives supplied by the American Locomotive Company ; they used electrical equipment from General Electric and were of 1,500 horsepower (1,100 kW) and weighed 115 short tons (104 t) each. Initially three locomotives were coupled together and hauled trains at
5459-400: The age of 18 living with them. 48.1% were married couples living together, 2.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.2% were non-families. 34.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.66. 18.2% of the town's population was under
5562-439: The age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 34.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.7% 65 or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.5 males. The median income for a household in the town was $ 45,357, and the median income for a family was $ 48,500. Males had a median income of $ 42,500 versus $ 25,938 for females. The per capita income for
5665-405: The air through the seven miles (11 km) of tunnel within 20 minutes. Present-day train crews carry portable respirators for use in the event of a fan failure or a train stalling inside the tunnel. In addition, there are emergency/safety stations spaced 1,500–2,500 feet (460–760 m) apart, depending on the location within the tunnel, that provide additional air tanks and equipment to be used in
5768-427: The area over a three-year period (completed in 2009). This effort involved massive excavations —essentially removing the contaminated soil and replacing it with clean soil—and the rebuilding of a levee . (The eventual total cost of the cleanup exceeded $ 100 million.) Twenty two of Skykomish's buildings — both homes and business — were temporarily moved during the cleanup process. After the contaminated soil under them
5871-423: The area. On March 1, 1910, an avalanche at Wellington (renamed Tye after the disaster) near the west portal of the original 2.6 miles (4.2 km) Cascade Tunnel, killed 96-101 people, the deadliest avalanche disaster in U.S. history. This disaster prompted the construction of the current tunnel. The old tunnel was abandoned in 1929, after the new longer and lower tunnel was opened. During the winter of 2007–2008,
5974-430: The duty of a guard/train manager/conductor . Passenger trains are part of public transport and often make up the stem of the service, with buses feeding to stations. Passenger trains provide long-distance intercity travel, daily commuter trips, or local urban transit services, operating with a diversity of vehicles, operating speeds, right-of-way requirements, and service frequency. Service frequencies are often expressed as
6077-402: The end of the 19th century, because they were cleaner compared to steam-driven trams which caused smoke in city streets. In 1784 James Watt , a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, patented a design for a steam locomotive . Watt had improved the steam engine of Thomas Newcomen , hitherto used to pump water out of mines, and developed a reciprocating engine in 1769 capable of powering
6180-467: The end of the 19th century, improving the quality of steel and further reducing costs. Thus steel completely replaced the use of iron in rails, becoming standard for all railways. The first passenger horsecar or tram , Swansea and Mumbles Railway , was opened between Swansea and Mumbles in Wales in 1807. Horses remained the preferable mode for tram transport even after the arrival of steam engines until
6283-515: The engine by one power stroke. The transmission system employed a large flywheel to even out the action of the piston rod. On 21 February 1804, the world's first steam-powered railway journey took place when Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales . Trevithick later demonstrated a locomotive operating upon
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#17328447238026386-470: The era of great expansion of railways that began in the late 1860s. Steel rails lasted several times longer than iron. Steel rails made heavier locomotives possible, allowing for longer trains and improving the productivity of railroads. The Bessemer process introduced nitrogen into the steel, which caused the steel to become brittle with age. The open hearth furnace began to replace the Bessemer process near
6489-471: The event of a ventilation/other failure. The tunnel door is protected by an absolute signal near the east portal; on the west side, another signal with dual-flashing lunar aspects indicates to eastbound trains that the tunnel fans are operating. Rail Transport Rail transport (also known as train transport ) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks , which usually consist of two parallel steel rails . Rail transport
6592-515: The first commercial example of the system on the Lugano Tramway . Each 30-tonne locomotive had two 110 kW (150 hp) motors run by three-phase 750 V 40 Hz fed from double overhead lines. Three-phase motors run at a constant speed and provide regenerative braking , and are well suited to steeply graded routes, and the first main-line three-phase locomotives were supplied by Brown (by then in partnership with Walter Boveri ) in 1899 on
6695-409: The highest possible radius. All these features are dramatically different from freight operations, thus justifying exclusive high-speed rail lines if it is economically feasible. Skykomish, Washington Skykomish is a town in King County , Washington , United States. The population was 161 as of the 2020 census , down from an estimated peak of "several thousand" in the 1920s. Located in
6798-1218: The limit being regarded at 200 to 350 kilometres per hour (120 to 220 mph). High-speed trains are used mostly for long-haul service and most systems are in Western Europe and East Asia. Magnetic levitation trains such as the Shanghai maglev train use under-riding magnets which attract themselves upward towards the underside of a guideway and this line has achieved somewhat higher peak speeds in day-to-day operation than conventional high-speed railways, although only over short distances. Due to their heightened speeds, route alignments for high-speed rail tend to have broader curves than conventional railways, but may have steeper grades that are more easily climbed by trains with large kinetic energy. High kinetic energy translates to higher horsepower-to-ton ratios (e.g. 20 horsepower per short ton or 16 kilowatts per tonne); this allows trains to accelerate and maintain higher speeds and negotiate steep grades as momentum builds up and recovered in downgrades (reducing cut and fill and tunnelling requirements). Since lateral forces act on curves, curvatures are designed with
6901-429: The locomotive-hauled train's drawbacks to be removed, since the locomotive need not be moved to the front of the train each time the train changes direction. A railroad car is a vehicle used for the haulage of either passengers or freight. A multiple unit has powered wheels throughout the whole train. These are used for rapid transit and tram systems, as well as many both short- and long-haul passenger trains. A railcar
7004-560: The main portion of the B&;O to the new line to New York through a series of tunnels around the edges of Baltimore's downtown. Electricity quickly became the power supply of choice for subways, abetted by the Sprague's invention of multiple-unit train control in 1897. By the early 1900s most street railways were electrified. The London Underground , the world's oldest underground railway, opened in 1863, and it began operating electric services using
7107-433: The mid-1920s. The Soviet Union operated three experimental units of different designs since late 1925, though only one of them (the E el-2 ) proved technically viable. A significant breakthrough occurred in 1914, when Hermann Lemp , a General Electric electrical engineer, developed and patented a reliable direct current electrical control system (subsequent improvements were also patented by Lemp). Lemp's design used
7210-412: The noise they made on the tracks. There are many references to their use in central Europe in the 16th century. Such a transport system was later used by German miners at Caldbeck , Cumbria , England, perhaps from the 1560s. A wagonway was built at Prescot , near Liverpool , sometime around 1600, possibly as early as 1594. Owned by Philip Layton, the line carried coal from a pit near Prescot Hall to
7313-438: The population. There were 95 households, of which 20.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.7% were married couples living together, 4.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 8.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 52.6% were non-families. 44.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size
7416-513: The possibility of a smaller engine that might be used to power a vehicle. Following his patent, Watt's employee William Murdoch produced a working model of a self-propelled steam carriage in that year. The first full-scale working railway steam locomotive was built in the United Kingdom in 1804 by Richard Trevithick , a British engineer born in Cornwall . This used high-pressure steam to drive
7519-516: The rest of the county and its services has led to calls for secession or joining Snohomish County. According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 0.33 square miles (0.85 km ), of which, 0.31 square miles (0.80 km ) is land and 0.02 square miles (0.05 km ) is water. Skykomish has a Cfb (bordering on Dsb , Dfb , and Csb ) climate, with warm, sunny summers and cold, snowy winters. As of
7622-574: The rest of the county. Instead, U.S. Highway 2 (known in the area as the Cascade Highway ) connects it with Snohomish County to the north and through Stevens Pass (17 miles east of town) to Chelan County . The name "Skykomish" derives from the Skykomish or Skai-whamish tribe (originally considered a subdivision of the Snoqualmies ) who inhabited the area before European settlement. John Maloney,
7725-458: The single-phase AC supply required only one instead of two overhead conductors. Hence, the Great Northern re-electrified 21 miles (34 km) of the original route at single-phase (11 kV, 25 Hz) AC, including 8 miles (13 km) that were subsequently abandoned upon completion of the new tunnel, and used steam locomotives on the short remaining stretches of the old line. On March 5, 1927,
7828-441: The standard for railways. Cast iron used in rails proved unsatisfactory because it was brittle and broke under heavy loads. The wrought iron invented by John Birkinshaw in 1820 replaced cast iron. Wrought iron, usually simply referred to as "iron", was a ductile material that could undergo considerable deformation before breaking, making it more suitable for iron rails. But iron was expensive to produce until Henry Cort patented
7931-400: The three-phase electrification was abandoned, and the new locomotives were placed in service between Skykomish and the east portal of the old tunnel; the time was reduced from 4 hours for a 2,500 short tons (2,300 t) eastbound train to 1 hour 45 minutes for a 3,500 short tons (3,200 t) train. Furthermore, for the first time regenerated power could be used by another train or fed back to
8034-470: The time, was Liverpool and Manchester Railway , built in 1830. Steam power continued to be the dominant power system in railways around the world for more than a century. The first known electric locomotive was built in 1837 by chemist Robert Davidson of Aberdeen in Scotland, and it was powered by galvanic cells (batteries). Thus it was also the earliest battery-electric locomotive. Davidson later built
8137-409: The town was $ 22,829. About 3.0% of families and 9.0% of the population were below the poverty line , including 8.6% of those under the age of 18 and none of those 65 or over. The town's residents mainly relied on dial-up service for internet access until the full rollout of DSL in the 2010s—far later than the rest of King County. A $ 1.3 million project to add fiber-optic service to Skykomish
8240-449: The town. The population density was 623.2 people per square mile (243.0/km ). There were 162 housing units at an average density of 471.8 per square mile (184.0/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 94.39% White , 0.47% African American , 1.40% Native American , 0.93% Asian , and 2.80% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 2.80% of the population. There were 104 households, of which 20.2% had children under
8343-536: The track. Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate locomotive or from individual motors in self-propelled multiple units. Most trains carry a revenue load, although non-revenue cars exist for the railway's own use, such as for maintenance-of-way purposes. The engine driver (engineer in North America) controls the locomotive or other power cars, although people movers and some rapid transits are under automatic control. Traditionally, trains are pulled using
8446-445: The train is 0.5 miles (1 km) to the tunnel exit, the door begins to open. Once the train has cleared the tunnel, the door closes again and the fans operate for 20 to 30 minutes with maximum power to clear the tunnel of exhaust before the next train passes through. In the opposite direction, the door opens when the train is within 0.6 miles (1 km). The fans are powered by two 800 horsepower (600 kW) electric motors, clearing
8549-466: The transport of ore tubs to and from mines and soon became popular in Europe. Such an operation was illustrated in Germany in 1556 by Georgius Agricola in his work De re metallica . This line used "Hund" carts with unflanged wheels running on wooden planks and a vertical pin on the truck fitting into the gap between the planks to keep it going the right way. The miners called the wagons Hunde ("dogs") from
8652-418: The tunnel is 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) for passenger trains, 25 miles per hour (40 km/h) for freight trains. The gradient in this tunnel is 1.565% (1:64), with the rise from west to east. The gradient is 2.2% on the west side from the town of Skykomish. Most recently, telecommunications assets and track sections inside the tunnel were improved. Because of the length of the tunnel, an unusual system
8755-626: The utility company (power from regenerative braking was previously dissipated in a water rheostat at the power station). Two years later, the new tunnel opened. It was the longest railroad tunnel in the Americas until 1989, when the Mount Macdonald Tunnel in British Columbia was completed, moving the Cascade into second place. Electrification was removed in 1956, after a ventilation system
8858-609: The wheels on track. For example, evidence indicates that a 6 to 8.5 km long Diolkos paved trackway transported boats across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece from around 600 BC. The Diolkos was in use for over 650 years, until at least the 1st century AD. Paved trackways were also later built in Roman Egypt . In 1515, Cardinal Matthäus Lang wrote a description of the Reisszug ,
8961-545: The world in 1825, although it used both horse power and steam power on different runs. In 1829, he built the locomotive Rocket , which entered in and won the Rainhill Trials . This success led to Stephenson establishing his company as the pre-eminent builder of steam locomotives for railways in Great Britain and Ireland, the United States, and much of Europe. The first public railway which used only steam locomotives, all
9064-425: Was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.87. The median age in the town was 51.3 years. 18.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 18.7% were from 25 to 44; 38.4% were from 45 to 64; and 18.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 57.1% male and 42.9% female. As of the 2000 census , there were 214 people, 104 households, and 58 families living in
9167-405: Was 2.6 miles (4.2 km) long. John Frank Stevens was the principal engineer on the interim switchback route (opened in 1893, with grades up to 4 percent) and the first Cascade Tunnel. Stevens Pass , located above the tunnels, was named after him. The tunnel had a fume problem from the coal-burning steam locomotives. It was built with a 1.7% (1:58.8) gradient eastbound, which was too close to
9270-404: Was 2.63 miles (4.23 km) in length and opened in 1900 to avoid problems caused by heavy winter snowfalls on the original line that had eight zig zags ( switchbacks ). The current tunnel is 7.8 miles (12.6 km) in length and entered service in early 1929, approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of and 500 feet (150 m) lower in elevation than the original. The present east portal
9373-507: Was a soft material that contained slag or dross . The softness and dross tended to make iron rails distort and delaminate and they lasted less than 10 years. Sometimes they lasted as little as one year under high traffic. All these developments in the production of iron eventually led to the replacement of composite wood/iron rails with superior all-iron rails. The introduction of the Bessemer process , enabling steel to be made inexpensively, led to
9476-585: Was accomplished by the distribution of weight between a number of wheels. Puffing Billy is now on display in the Science Museum in London, and is the oldest locomotive in existence. In 1814, George Stephenson , inspired by the early locomotives of Trevithick, Murray and Hedley, persuaded the manager of the Killingworth colliery where he worked to allow him to build a steam-powered machine. Stephenson played
9579-707: Was also placed on the NRHP. From the 1890s to 1974, Skykomish was a maintenance and fueling station for the Great Northern Railway , which eventually became part of the Burlington Northern Railroad , and presently the BNSF Railway . At its peak, eight passenger trains serviced Skykomish daily, and it saw stops by several named passenger trains including the Great Northern Flyer , the Oriental Limited ,
9682-509: Was built by Siemens. The tram ran on 180 volts DC, which was supplied by running rails. In 1891 the track was equipped with an overhead wire and the line was extended to Berlin-Lichterfelde West station . The Volk's Electric Railway opened in 1883 in Brighton , England. The railway is still operational, thus making it the oldest operational electric railway in the world. Also in 1883, Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram opened near Vienna in Austria. It
9785-636: Was built in 1758, later became the world's oldest operational railway (other than funiculars), albeit now in an upgraded form. In 1764, the first railway in the Americas was built in Lewiston, New York . In the late 1760s, the Coalbrookdale Company began to fix plates of cast iron to the upper surface of the wooden rails. This allowed a variation of gauge to be used. At first only balloon loops could be used for turning, but later, movable points were taken into use that allowed for switching. A system
9888-482: Was installed to eliminate diesel fumes. On April 4, 1996 an eastbound freight train broke through the doors at the east portal after they did not open properly. There were no injuries, but the broken doors slowed operations for a couple of days while replacement doors were brought up from the Seattle area. The current Cascade Tunnel is in full operation and receives regular maintenance from BNSF Railway . The new alignment
9991-535: Was introduced in which unflanged wheels ran on L-shaped metal plates, which came to be known as plateways . John Curr , a Sheffield colliery manager, invented this flanged rail in 1787, though the exact date of this is disputed. The plate rail was taken up by Benjamin Outram for wagonways serving his canals, manufacturing them at his Butterley ironworks . In 1803, William Jessop opened the Surrey Iron Railway ,
10094-479: Was light enough to not break the edge-rails track and solved the problem of adhesion by a cog-wheel using teeth cast on the side of one of the rails. Thus it was also the first rack railway . This was followed in 1813 by the locomotive Puffing Billy built by Christopher Blackett and William Hedley for the Wylam Colliery Railway, the first successful locomotive running by adhesion only. This
10197-454: Was removed, the buildings were moved back to their original locations on new foundations and utilities connections. The town was restored with modern conveniences such as sidewalks and street lights, but the historic character of Skykomish was maintained. The greatest benefit of the cleanup to every resident and business in town was the installation of the new Waste Water Treatment system connected to every building. Led by point guard John Best,
10300-453: Was still 2.2 percent, although 21 miles (34 km) of 2 percent or worse grade was eliminated. The line length was reduced by 8.7 miles (14 km), and maximum elevation was lowered by 502 feet (153 m) from 3,382 feet (1,031 m) to 2,881 feet (878 m). The new tunnel was started in December 1925, and was built in just over three years by A. Guthrie of St. Paul, Minnesota; the aim
10403-742: Was tested on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in September of the following year, but the limited power from batteries prevented its general use. It was destroyed by railway workers, who saw it as a threat to their job security. By the middle of the nineteenth century most european countries had military uses for railways. Werner von Siemens demonstrated an electric railway in 1879 in Berlin. The world's first electric tram line, Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway , opened in Lichterfelde near Berlin , Germany, in 1881. It
10506-609: Was the first tram line in the world in regular service powered from an overhead line. Five years later, in the U.S. electric trolleys were pioneered in 1888 on the Richmond Union Passenger Railway , using equipment designed by Frank J. Sprague . The first use of electrification on a main line was on a four-mile section of the Baltimore Belt Line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1895 connecting
10609-411: Was to finish by the winter of 1928–1929 so that further maintenance on deteriorating snow sheds could be avoided. Project manager and engineer Frederick Mears was assigned to make sure the project was completed. While the new tunnel was being constructed, the Great Northern received delivery of five new electric locomotives . The new locomotives had a motor-generator supplying DC traction motors, and
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