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Trains

October 14, 2017

TRAINS

   We all are riding on our individual trains right from the day we got a ticket to enter this world because the longest train in the world is the train of thoughts. At times, through tunnels of despair and at times, in high mountains of hopes, we are on board for this fantastic journey called life!

   In school days, our Geography book mentioned that the Trans-Siberian Railway is the longest railway route in the world. Some other books mention that Portugal to Vietnam, stretching across 17,000 km, is the longest train route in the world. I would infer longest route as the most boring route! I would prefer to enjoy a one hour ride on the mountainous Landwasser Viaduct route in Switzerland to a 5-day-long trans-Siberian stretch.

   Tonight, if you are to make a railway excursion in your dream, take Tren a las Nubes which zigzags through Argentinian terrain traversing 21 tunnels, 29 bridges, 13 viaducts (long bridges) and 2 spirals. Tren a las Nubes literally means Train to the Clouds.

   Superstitions always crop up with new inventions and so they did with the invention of the train. When the train ran through Africa for the first time, the aboriginals ran hither and thither taking it for a materialized stomping evil! Excusable for uncivilized tribals, in U.S. too, when trains started running, people thought that females should not board the high speeding trains, else their uteri would stick out! There is a beautiful Tunnel of Love in Klevan, Ukraine. This train tunnel is exclusively formed by green trees and it is believed that if you come here with your beloved person and make a wish, it comes true.....

   Take a look at Napier-Gisborne Railway of New Zealand. It runs right through the head runway of the Gisborne Airport!

   The Moscow street dogs jaunt between the main city and suburbs on local trains in search of food!! The Russian Government has probably given lifetime free passes to them and the Russians don't mind that.

   The record of laying down the longest railway track in a day is 10 miles, pulled off by Chinese and Irish laborers in 1869. The longest railway tunnel is 16 miles long, which goes through the Mount Hokkaido, Japan. Qinghai Railway of Tibet is the world's highest railway and Tanggula Railway station is the world's highest railway station situated at 5072 meters above sea level. Grand Central Station, USA, is the world's largest railway station comprising of 44 platforms.

   The Railway administration in Japan will issue you a 'delay certificate' if you are late for work due to a delayed train, even if it is delayed by 5 minutes. But if someone performs suicide before a speeding train, it will sue his family in the court and demand compensation.

   In Sweden, trains traveling down towards the coastal areas are capable of generating five times the electricity they consume which could be used for return trips or graciously vouchsafed to other trains going uphill. The London underground metro runs on the similar principle. The potential energy created by the high stationed platforms and low ground tracks is converted into kinetic energy which seems enough for the London metro to reach up to the next station.

   The 415 km long railway track between Ban Pong, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma, is known as the Death Railway. It was built by the Empire of Japan during WW II era. It was one of the worst inhuman and cold-blooded maneuvers in the history in which lakhs of prisoners of war were forced to build the track and thousands lost their lives due to starvation. A part of it is still open today which reminds one of those cruel and painful moments in the history.

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