1.
Swiss locomotive and railcar classification
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It started out as a uniform system for the classification and naming of all rolling stock, powered and unpowered, but had been replaced and amended by the UIC classification of goods wagons. The Swiss classification system was created by the Swiss federal railways department, in 1902, when the Swiss Federal Railways was founded as a government railway, that new railway also became bound by the system. The Swiss system is less precise than those other systems in the way it deals with axles, because it refers only to numbers, rather than to arrangements, of powered axles. The Swiss system is more a method of classifying locomotive. The classifications for which the Swiss system provides have always been adapted to new requirements. The last modification to the system occurred in 1968, with the publication of the Directory of the Rolling Stock of the Swiss Private Railways by the Swiss Federal Agency for Transport. For carriages and wagons, the system was progressively replaced from 1968 by the UIC international wagon classification system. However, all of Switzerlands powered rolling stock initially retained its Swiss type classification or class designation, the standard gauge private railways of Switzerland soon followed the example of the Swiss Federal Railways, and agreement was reached as to the allocation of number ranges. The narrow gauge railways have largely retained the old system for locomotives, railcars and passenger carriages, here is a description of the classification system as it operated up to 1989, and as it still operates in respect of narrow gauge private railway motive power. There is no provision for combining the codes A, B, C, D, E, G, R and T, the combination of H and G is possible. HG would therefore be a narrow gauge locomotive, with a mix of adhesion, since 1966, in respect of railcars and tractors, he or hm has meant pure rack rail drive, and eh or mh has meant a mix of adhesion and rack rail drive. Steam powered tank locomotives were given an E, and the maximum speed of the locomotive was designated with a lower case letter. Thus, an Ea 3/6 was a locomotive with vmax >80 kilometres per hour. With steam locomotives, separate driving mechanisms were displayed, so, for example, a Mallet locomotive was named G 2x2/2 or G 2/3+2/2, and not G 4/4 or G 4/5. Up until 1920, standard gauge locomotives were given the letter F. The class later designated as Be 5/7 was therefore originally named Fb 5/7, the designation R was originally intended for locomotives with an axle load of under 16 tonnes. These lightweight locomotives exert less stress on the rails when they negotiate curves, with the introduction of the Re 4/4II, the axle load limit was dropped following extensive testing. Several locomotives were given approval for higher cornering speeds, to which their type designation had not yet been adapted
2.
New Zealand Railways Department
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The Department was created in 1880 and was corporatised on 1 April 1982 into the New Zealand Railways Corporation. The role of operating the network was subsequently separated from that of the networks construction. From 1895 to 1993 there was a responsible Minister, the Minister of Railways and he was often also the Minister of Public Works. Originally, New Zealands railways were constructed by provincial governments and private firms, the largest provincial operation was the Canterbury Provincial Railways, which opened the first public railway at Ferrymead on 1 December 1863. Following the abolition of the provinces in 1877, the Public Works Department took over the provincial railways. The Railways Department was formed in 1880 during the premiership of Sir John Hall and that year, the private Port Chalmers Railway Company Limited was acquired by the department and new workshops at Addington opened. Ironically, the first few years of NZR were marked by the Long Depression, as a result, the central government passed legislation to allow for the construction of more private railways. A Royal Commission, ordered by Hall, had removed plans for a line on the west coast of the North Island from Foxton to Wellington. The Act had the effect of authorising the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company to build the Wellington-Manawatu Line, the most important construction project for NZR at this time was the central section of the North Island Main Trunk. Starting from Te Awamutu on 15 April 1885, the section - including the famous Raurimu Spiral - was not completed for another 23 years, the economy gradually improved and in 1895 the Liberal Government of Premier Richard Seddon appointed Alfred Cadman as the first Minister of Railways. The Minister appointed a General Manager for the railways, keeping the operation under tight political control, apart from four periods of government-appointed commissions, this system remained in place until the department was corporatised in 1982. In 1895, patronage had reached 3. 9M passengers per annum and 2. 048M tonnes, NZR produced its first New Zealand-built steam locomotive, W class, in 1889. Along with opening new lines, NZR began acquiring a number of the railways which had built railway lines around the country. In 1886 the Waimea Plains Railway Company acquired, at the same time, a protracted legal battle with New Zealand Midland Railway Company began, and was only resolved in 1898. The partially completed Midland line was not handed over to NZR until 1900, by that time,3,200 km of railway lines were open for traffic. The acquisition in 1908 of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, a new locomotive class, the X class, was introduced in 1909 for traffic on the line. The X class was the most powerful locomotive at the time, gold rushes led to the construction of the Thames Branch, opening in 1898. In 1906 the Dunedin Railway Station was completed, architect George Troup, a. L. Beattie became Chief Mechanical Officer in April 1900
3.
American Locomotive Company
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The American Locomotive Company was formed in 1901 by the merger of Schenectady Locomotive Engine Manufactory of Schenectady, New York with seven smaller locomotive manufacturers. The American Locomotive Automobile Company subsidiary designed and manufactured automobiles under the Alco brand from 1905-1913, the company changed its name to Alco Products, Incorporated in 1955. In 1964 the Worthington Corporation acquired the company, the company ceased trading in 1969. Samuel R. Callaway left the presidency of the New York Central Railroad to become president of Alco, when Callaway died on June 1,1904, Albert J. Pitkin succeeded him as president of Alco. In 1904, the American Locomotive Company acquired control of the Locomotive and Machine Company of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1905, Alco purchased Rogers Locomotive Works of Paterson, New Jersey, the second largest locomotive manufacturer in the United States behind Baldwin Locomotive Works. In the post World War II period, Alco operated manufacturing plants only in Schenectady and Montreal, after the American Locomotive Company ceased locomotive manufacturing in the United States in 1969, Montreal Locomotive Works continued to manufacture locomotives based on Alco designs. Alco was the second-largest steam locomotive builder in the United States, among these were a large number of well-known locomotives. Alco built many of the biggest locomotives ever constructed, including Union Pacifics Big Boy, during World War II, Alco produced many 2-10-0 Decapods for the USSR. Many of these were undelivered at the end of the war,75214, is preserved at the Finnish Railway Museum. Though the dual-service 4-8-4 steam locomotive had shown promise,1948 was the last year that steam locomotives were manufactured in Schenectady. These were the seven A-2a class 9400-series Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad 2-8-4 Berkshires and their tenders had to be subcontracted to Lima Locomotive Works, as Alcos tender shop had been closed. The building was converted to diesel locomotive manufacture, to compete with locomotives manufactured by the automobile industry, joseph Burroughs Ennis was a senior vice president between 1917 and 1947 and was responsible for the design of many of the locomotives manufactured. The company diversified into the business in 1906, producing French Berliet designs under license. Production was located at Alcos Rhode Island Locomotive Works in Providence, two years later, the Berliet license was abandoned, and the company began to produce its own designs instead. An Alco racing car won the Vanderbilt Cup in both 1909 and 1910 and competed in the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911, driven on all three occasions by Harry Grant, but, ALCOs automotive venture was unprofitable, and they abandoned automobile manufacture in 1913. The Alco automobile story is notable chiefly as a step in the career of Walter P. Chrysler. In 1911 he left Alco for Buick in Detroit, Michigan, for a list of Alco diesel locomotive models, see List of ALCO diesel locomotives. Although strongly committed to the locomotive, Alco produced the first commercially successful diesel-electric locomotive in 1924 in a consortium with General Electric
4.
Driving wheel
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On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotives pistons. On diesel and electric locomotives, the wheels may be directly driven by the traction motors. Coupling rods are not usually used, and it is common for each axle to have its own motor. Jackshaft drive and coupling rods were used in the past but their use is now confined to shunting locomotives, on an articulated locomotive or a duplex locomotive, driving wheels are grouped into sets which are linked together within the set
5.
Rimutaka Incline
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The incline formation is now part of the Rimutaka Rail Trail. The construction of a railway from Wellington to Masterton was authorised in the Railways Act passed on 13 September 1871, julius Vogel, Colonial Treasurer, travelled to England to raise finance for a major public works programme for railway construction. Vogel returned via the United States, where he studied rail systems, after the act of parliament was passed, a survey party set out to make preliminary investigations of possible routes for a railway over the Rimutaka Range. These were complete by December 1870, the party having investigated four routes, a commonality between all the proposals was the section from Upper Hutt to Kaitoki. Between Kaitoke and the Wairarapa, the four proposals were the Tauwharenikau Route, Mr Sinclair’s Route, a coastal route and this survey was forwarded to the Minister for Public Works. In mid-1873 the route to Featherston was chosen after a survey for the route from Upper Hutt to Summit. For the line between Summit and the Wairarapa, several proposals were considered, the first, with gradients up to 1 in 30, was dismissed. It was found that to keep the gradient to no steeper than 1 in 40 and this would have required special rolling stock and heavy earthworks and was thus abandoned. Another proposal was known as the Birch Spur Incline, the Public Works Department engineers investigating this proposal were unable to locate a suitable incline, so this proposal was also abandoned. The last line was an incline with gradients averaging 1 in 15 to be worked by locomotives of an unusual nature. This line was the most favourable from a point of view. The final decision was made by the head of the Public Works Department and he determined that an incline worked by the Fell system would be suitable, and cited the Mont Cenis Pass Railway Railway as an example. Though special locomotives would be required, factors in its favour were that ordinary rolling stock could be used and it was to be the third and last Fell system employing the centre rail for both tractive power and braking, and the longest surviving. Though it was considered to be a measure, it outlasted the second such system in Brazil by 72 years. Construction of the Rimutaka Incline was included in two contracts that were let for the building of the original Wairarapa Line and these contracts were known as the Summit contract and the Incline contract. This contract included the excavation of Summit station yard and related drainage, Summit tunnel and it was the shortest contract of those let for the line, it was finished by the original contractor, and it had the least number of alterations. Work was to start on 12 July 1874 and to be completed by 22 July 1876, Summit yard was a large cut into the hillside,120 feet wide and 500 yards long initially. Excavations removed material to a depth of 15–20 feet, with this fill being dumped on the side of the yard to form level ground
6.
3 ft 6 in gauge railways
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Railways with a track gauge of 3 ft 6 in/1,067 mm were first constructed as horse-drawn wagonways. From the mid-nineteenth century, the 3 ft 6 in gauge became widespread in the British Empire, there are approximately 112,000 kilometres of 1,067 mm gauge track in the world. 1795 One of the first railways to use 3 ft 6 in gauge was the Little Eaton Gangway in England, other 3 ft 6 in gauge wagonways in England and Wales were also built in the early nineteenth century. 1862 In 1862 the Norwegian engineer Carl Abraham Pihl constructed the first 3 ft 6 in gauge railway in Norway,1865 In 1865 the Queensland Railways were constructed. Its 3 ft 6 in gauge was promoted by the Irish engineer Abraham Fitzgibbon,1868 In 1868 Charles Fox asks civil engineer Edmund Wragge to survey a 3 ft 6 in railway in Costa Rica. 1871 In 1871 the Canadian Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway,1872 In January 1872 Robert Fairlie advocated the use of 3 ft 6 in gauge in his book Railways Or No Railways, Narrow Gauge, Economy with Efficiency v. Broad Gauge, Costliness with Extravagance. 1872 also saw the opening of the first 3 ft 6 in gauge railway in Japan,1873 On 1 January 1873, the first 3 ft 6 in gauge railway was opened in New Zealand, constructed by the British firm John Brogden and Sons. Earlier built 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in and broad gauge railways were converted to the narrower gauge. Also in 1873 the Cape Colony adopted the 3 ft 6 in gauge, after conducting several studies in southern Europe, the Molteno Government selected the gauge as being the most economically suited for traversing steep mountain ranges. Beginning in 1873, under supervision of Railway engineer of the Colony William Brounger, the Cape Government Railways rapidly expanded and the gauge became the standard for southern Africa. 1876 Natal also converted its short 10 kilometres long Durban network from 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in broad gauge prior to commencing with construction of a network across the colony in 1876. Other new railways in Southern Africa, notably Mozambique, Bechuanaland, after 1876 In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century numerous 3 ft 6 in gauge tram systems were built in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In Sweden, the gauge was nicknamed Blekinge gauge, as most of the railways in the province of Blekinge had this gauge. An alternate name for this gauge, Cape gauge, is named after the Cape Colony in what is now South Africa, the term Cape Gauge is used in other languages, such as the Dutch kaapspoor, German Kapspur, Norwegian kappspor and French voie cape. After metrication in the 1960s, the gauge was referred to in official South African Railways publications as 1065 mm instead of 1067 mm, the gauge is sometimes referred to as CAP gauge, after C. A. The gauge name Colonial Gauge was used in New Zealand, in Australia the imperial term 3 foot 6 inch is used. In some Australian publications the term medium gauge is also used, in Japan 1,067 mm gauge is referred to as kyōki, which directly translates as narrow gauge. It is defined in metric units, Cape Government Railways Heritage railway List of track gauges Norwegian gauge controversy South African Trains – A Pictorial Encyclopaedia Why Did Japan Choose the 36 Narrow Gauge
7.
North British Locomotive Company
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Its main factories were located at the neighbouring Atlas and Hyde Park Works in central Springburn, as well as the Queens Park Works in Polmadie. The two other Railway works in Springburn were St. Rollox railway works, owned by the Caledonian Railway and Cowlairs railway works, latterly both works were operated by British Rail Engineering Limited after rail nationalisation in 1948. In 1918 NBL produced the first prototype of the Anglo-American Mark VIII battlefield tank for the Allied armies, NBL built steam locomotives for countries all over the world. This included North America, South America, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, Asia, the New South Wales Government Railways purchased numerous North British locomotives, as did the Victorian Railways as late as 1951. The Western Australian Government Railways also purchased many North British Locomotives, between 1903 and 1959 NB supplied many locomotives of various classes to Egyptian State Railways. They included 40 of the 545 class 2-6-0 in 1928, between 1921 and 1925, NBL supplied New Zealand Government Railways with 85 NZR AB class locomotives. The whole fleet of AB class engines numbered 143, as built, in 1935 NB supplied six Palestine Railways P class 4-6-0 locomotives to haul main line trains between Haifa and the Suez Canal. In 1939 NB supplied 40 4-8-2 locomotives to the New Zealand Railways Department, in 1951 NB supplied another 16 JA class, though these did not have the American-style streamlining of the J class. Together with the NB predecessor firms, North British supplied about a quarter of the locomotives used by the NZR. In 1949 South African Railways bought more than 100 2-8-4 locomotives from NBL, additionally South Africa also purchased some of its Class 25, 4-8-4 engines from the company between 1953–55. These successful engines with various in-service modifications survived until the end of steam in South Africa in 1992, NB also introduced the Modified Fairlie locomotive in 1924. In total South Africa purchased over 2,000 locomotives from the North British Locomotive Company. As of January 2010, Umgeni Steam Railway operates SAR Class 3BR engine 1486 and she hauls vintage sightseeing trains some coaches of which date back to 1908. In 1953, RENFE in Spain acquired 25 2-8-2 locomotives from the North British Locomotive Company, one example, 141F2111 is preserved in working order. After 1923, customers included the Great Western Railway, London, Midland and Scottish Railway, London and North Eastern Railway, Northern Counties Committee, Southern Railway, War Department. In 1922 the New Zealand Railways Department ordered a batch of its very successful AB class Pacifics from NBL, to be built, the trio 22878,22879 and 22880 were built amidst this batch. 22878 and 22879 were loaded aboard SS Wiltshire and she sailed for Auckland, New Zealand, remnants of both locomotives, and the Wiltshire can be seen on the sea floor. 22880 was dispatched on a subsequent sailing and was put into service in New Zealand as AB class number 745 and this locomotive was in service for more than 30 years but then hit a washout near Hawera
8.
South African Class 3 4-8-2
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The South African Railways Class 3 4-8-2 of 1909 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Colony of Natal. In 1909, the Natal Government Railways placed the world’s first true Mountain type locomotive in service when five Class B 4-8-2 tender locomotives were commissioned, another 25 were placed in service in 1911. In 1912, when they were assimilated into the South African Railways, the Mountain wheel arrangement went on to become the most numerous steam locomotive wheel configuration in use in South Africa. With increasing coal traffic in Natal, the demand arose for more powerful locomotives, the Class B of 1909, also known as the Hendrie D, was a heavy 4-8-2 locomotive, designed by Natal Government Railways Locomotive Superintendent D. A. Hendrie. They entered service in October 1909 and were put to work to handle traffic on the upper Natal mainline. The locomotive design was based on Hendries Class B 4-8-0 in its form of 1906 as the Altered Hendrie B 4-8-2. To accomplish this, the frame was equipped with a bridle casting at the rear to accommodate the larger firebox. Five locomotives were built by the North British Locomotive Company and delivered in 1909, the first five locomotives were delivered with the first Type TJ tenders, which had a 6 long tons coal and 3,500 imperial gallons water capacity. They were put to work between Estcourt and Charlestown on the Transvaal border, where they hauled loads of 225 long tons. They proved to be successful in use, which led to an order for another 25 locomotives from NBL in 1910. These were delivered in 1911 and numbered in the range from 345 to 369 on the NGR roster. They were identical to the first batch of engines in all respects, except that they had Type TM tenders, the locomotives were equipped with Pyle National Electric headlights. They were the worlds first true Mountain type tender locomotives, having been designed, earlier Natal 4-8-2 locomotives were modified from a different original wheel arrangement. The boilers which were used on these locomotives were, at the time, like the altered NGR Class B of 1906 on which it was based, these locomotives used saturated steam and had plate frames. They used Walschaerts valve gear with flat D gunmetal type valves, since they were built without superheaters, the bore of their slide valves were 1⁄2 inch larger than those on the altered Class B of 1906 to compensate for the additional weight of the locomotive. The boiler, of which the barrel was 11⁄16 inch thick, was fitted with four Ramsbottom safety valves,3 1⁄2 inches in diameter. It was fed by two injectors, arranged on the underside of the footplate at the sides, with the valves placed on the back of the firebox. The Belpaire firebox was constructed with a rake of the throat
9.
Belpaire firebox
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The Belpaire firebox is a type of firebox used on steam locomotives. It was invented by Alfred Belpaire of Belgium in 1864, today it generally refers to the shape of the outer shell of the firebox which is approximately flat at the top and square in cross-section. The flat firebox top would make supporting it against pressure more difficult compared to a round-top, however the use of a similarly shaped square outer boiler shell allows simpler perpendicular stays to be used between the shells. The Belpaire outer firebox is, nevertheless, more complicated and expensive to manufacture than a round-top version, stays are used to support the surfaces against the high pressure between the outside wall and the interior firebox wall, and partially to conduct heat into the boiler interior. In some boiler designs, the top of the boiler is cylindrical above the firebox, matching the contour of the rest of the boiler and those features are difficult to build and weaken the boilers structure. This arrangement gives the firebox end of the boiler a squarer shape, many locomotives with a Belpaire firebox dispense with a steam dome because steam can be collected at the top corners of the firebox. As boilers were made larger, approaching the limit of the British loading gauge, in the USA, the Belpaire firebox was introduced in about 1882 or 83 by R. P. C. Sanderson, who at the time was working for the Shenandoah Valley Railway, Sanderson was an Englishman who had attained his engineering degree from Cassel in Germany in 1875. Having obtained knowledge of a form of locomotive boiler, Sanderson wrote to an old acquaintance from his college days who was working at the Henschel locomotive factory at Cassel. He sent Sanderson a tracing of Henschels latest Belpaire boiler and this was the beginning of the use of this type of locomotive boilers in the United States. The Pennsylvania Railroad used Belpaire fireboxes on nearly all of its steam locomotives
10.
Maffei (company)
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Maffei was a manufacturer of railway locomotives based in Munich, Germany. Established in 1836, it prospered for nearly a century before going bankrupt in 1930, following another seventy years of prosperity Krauss-Maffei merged with Demag and Mannesmann in 1999, the resulting conglomerate in turn being sold to Siemens AG. Perhaps J. A. Maffeis most famous product was the S3/6 4-6-2 locomotive of 1908, in 1836, Joseph Anton, Ritter von Maffei established the J. A. Maffei locomotive works in the English Garden district of Munich. The aim was to make Bavaria competitive in the machine industry, from these small beginnings a world-renowned locomotive works eventually developed. Maffei, amongst other things, involved itself with the building of the Augsburg Munich line, Maffei, at Lake Starnberg, built their first steamer Maximilian. By 1926 they had built 44 steam ships, in 1864 they delivered their 500th locomotive. Maffei, as a Munich town councillor, was praised for the building of the Hotel Bayerischer Hof, well-known products of the locomotive works are the Bavarian S 2/6 express locomotive which held the 1907 German speed record of 154.5 km/h) and the Bavarian S 3/6. Examples of the S 3/6 are preserved in the Deutsches Museum in Munich, in 1930 the form of J. A. Maffei went into bankruptcy and in 1931 merged with the Krauss Company to form Krauss-Maffei. The Maffei mansion in Feldafing, by Lake Starnberg, today houses a museum, Krauss-Maffei developed from the 1931 union of the two Munich companies Maffei and Krauss & Co. Both had built major German locomotives, Maffei also built steam driven vehicles. The headquarters of the remain in Munich. Maffei to this day remains a major producer, having outshopped some 10000 Leopard tanks since the 1950s. Many Nato allies have used them, with the commencement of German rearmament the military product range technology was revived. In 1963 Krauss Maffei developed the Leopard, Production of the AAA armored vehicle commenced in1976, the company had produced injection moulding equipment since 1957. In 1964 the company Eckert & Ziegler GmbH was taken over, in 1986 the plastics equipment division was separated and became Krauss Maffei Plastics Engineering, and in 2000 took over the relevant trademarks. Krauss Maffei merged with Demag and Mannesmann in 1999 and in turn the new conglomerate was sold to Siemens AG, co-operation between Wegmann and Krauss Maffei was already well established. Wegmann had supplied the turrets, among other things, for many Krauss Maffei tanks, the tank family comprises not only battle tanks but also combat engineering vehicles, air defense, artillery and reconnaissance and transportation tanks
11.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
12.
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad
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The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, often shortened to Rio Grande, D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a 3 ft narrow gauge line running south from Denver and it served mainly as a transcontinental bridge line between Denver, and Salt Lake City, Utah. The Rio Grande was also a major origin of coal and mineral traffic, the Rio Grande was the epitome of mountain railroading, with a motto of Through the Rockies, not around them and later Main line through the Rockies, both referring to the Rocky Mountains. The D&RGW operated the highest mainline rail line in the United States, over the 10,240 feet Tennessee Pass in Colorado, and the routes through the Moffat Tunnel. At its height in the mid-1880s, the D&RG had the largest narrow gauge network in North America with 2,783 miles of track interconnecting the states of Colorado, New Mexico. Known for its independence, the D&RGW operated the last private intercity passenger train in the United States, the Rio Grande Zephyr, the Rio Grande operated as a separate division of the Southern Pacific, until that company was acquired by the Union Pacific Railroad. Today, most former D&RGW main lines are owned and operated by the Union Pacific while several lines are now operated as heritage railways by various companies. The Denver & Rio Grande Railway was incorporated on October 27,1870 by General William Jackson Palmer, Narrow gauge was chosen in part because construction and equipment costs would be relatively more affordable when weighed against that of the prevailing standard gauge. Eventually the route of the D&RG would be amended and added to as new opportunities, feverish, competitive construction plans provoked the 1877–1880 war over right of way with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Both rivals hired gunslingers and bought politicians while courts intervened to bring settlement to the disagreements. In March 1880, a Boston Court granted the AT&SF the rights to Raton Pass, the D&RGs possession of this route allowed quick access to the booming mining district of Leadville, Colorado. By late 1880 William Bell had begun to organize railway construction in Utah that would become the Palmer controlled Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway in mid-1881, the intention of the D&RGW was to work eastward from Provo to an eventual link with westward bound D&RG in Colorado. This physical connection was realized near Green River, Utah on March 30,1883, General Palmer would continue as president of the Utah line until retirement in 1901. The D&RG built west from Pueblo reaching Cañon City in 1874, the line through the Royal Gorge reached Salida on May 20,1880 and was pushed to Leadville later that same year. From Salida, the D&RG pushed west over the Continental Divide at the 10,845 feet Marshall Pass, from Gunnison the line entered the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River passing the famous Curecanti Needle seen in their famous Scenic Line of the World Herald. The tracks left the difficult canyon at Cimmaron and passed over Cerro Summit. The line from Pueblo to Leadville was upgraded in 1887 to three rails to accommodate narrow gauge and standard gauge operation. Narrow gauge branch lines were constructed to Crested Butte, Lake City, Ouray, the route over Tennessee Pass was known for steep grades, and it was not uncommon to see trains running with midtrain and rear-end helpers
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