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Freighthopping
Freighthopping or trainhopping is the act of surreptitiously boarding and riding a freight railroad car, which is usually illegal. Origins and history In the United States, freighthopping became a common means of transportation following the American Civil War as the railroads began pushing westward, especially among migrant workers who became known as "hobos". It continued to be widely used by those unable to afford other transportation, especially during times of widespread economic dislocation such as the Great Depression. For a variety of reasons the practice is less common in the 21st century, although a community of freight-train riders still exists. The practice was heralded in popular culture of 20th century America with songs such as " King of the Road", and films like '' Emperor of the North Pole''. Typically, hoppers will go to a rail yard where the trains switch out crew. They will either know from other riders of a spot to hide and wait, or they will find one t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balvano Train Disaster
The Balvano train disaster was the deadliest railway accident in Italian history and one of the worst railway disasters ever. It occurred on the night between 2–3 March 1944 in Balvano, Basilicata. Over 500 people in a steam-hauled, coal-burning freight train (mostly stowaways) died of carbon monoxide poisoning during a protracted stall in a tunnel. Circumstances In 1943, Axis Italy was invaded by British and American armed forces, and the southern part of the peninsula (almost fully conquered by Allied forces) suffered severe wartime shortages, encouraging an extensive black market. People in large cities like Naples began bartering fresh produce for commodities brought by servicemen, and stowed away on freight trains to reach their suppliers' farms. The railway companies also suffered shortages of good-quality coal. The burning of low-grade substitutes developed a reduced power output and produced a large volume of carbon monoxide, an odorless and poisonous gas, a particu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hobo
A hobo is a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps and bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct: a hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; and a bum neither travels nor works. Etymology The origin of the term is unknown. According to etymologist Anatoly Liberman, the only certain detail about its origin is the word was first noticed in American English circa 1890. The term has also been dated to 1889 in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States, and to 1888. Liberman points out that many folk etymologies fail to answer the question: "Why did the word become widely known in California (just there) by the early Nineties (just then)?" Author Todd DePastino notes that some have said that it derives from the term "hoe-boy", coming from the hoe they are using and meaning "farmhand", or a greeting such as "Ho, boy", but that he does not find these to be convincing explanations. Bill Bryson suggests in '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the 2020 census was 403,455, making it the 48th-most populous city in the United States of America and the 9th-most populous city in California. The Bakersfield–Delano Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Kern County, had a 2020 census population of 909,235, making it the 62nd-largest metropolitan area in the United States. The more built-up portion of the metro area that includes Bakersfield and areas immediately around the city, such as East Bakersfield, Oildale, and Rosedale, has a population of 523,994. Bakersfield is a significant hub for both agriculture and energy production. Kern County is the most productive oil-producing county in California and the fourth-most productive agricultural county (by v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bored Panda
Bored Panda is a Lithuanian website that publishes articles about "lightweight and inoffensive topics". It was founded in 2009 by Tomas Banišauskas, who was then a business administration student at Vilnius University. As of November 2017, the site had 41 employees. It makes most of its revenue from the advertisements that run on the site. According to NewsWhip, Bored Panda's Facebook page received over 30 million likes, shares, comments, and reactions in October 2017, more than any other English-language news website that month. Bored Panda also reported that it was viewed by 116 million unique visitors that month. In November 2017, ''Wired'' reported that the site had flourished despite Facebook cracking down on attention-grabbing clickbait headlines, a change that had made controversial political news much more successful on the platform. Banišauskas attributes the success of his site to his belief the site publishes a small number of higher-quality articles and avoids clickbai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nouadhibou
Nouadhibou (; ar, نواذيبو, Nwādībū, Berber: Nwadibu, formerly in French: ) is the second largest city in Mauritania and serves as a major commercial centre. The city itself has about 118,000 inhabitants expanding to over 140,000 in the larger metropolitan area. It is situated on a 65-kilometre peninsula or headland called Ras Nouadhibou (Berber: ''Ighef Nwadibu''), , or , of which the western side has the Western Saharan city of La Güera. Nouadhibou is consequently located merely a couple of kilometres from the border between Mauritania and Western Sahara. Its current mayor is Elghassem Ould Bellali, who was installed on 15 October 2018. Overview The city consists of four major areas: the city centre, including the airport; Numerowatt to the north; Cansado, the main residential area, to the south; and a dormitory town for the workers of the harbour facilities which are located a few kilometers south of the city, near the tip of the Ras Nouadhibou peninsula, at Por ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zouérat
Zouérat ( ar, الزويرات) is the largest town in northern Mauritania and the capital of Tiris Zemmour region, with an approximate population of 44,649 (2013). It lies at the eastern end of the Mauritania Railway to Nouadhibou. History The town developed from its importance to iron ore mining. It is surrounded by the hematite mines of Fderîck, Tazadit and Rouessa. The town houses the regional administration and military for Tiris Zemmour. Most of the town's population are employed directly and indirectly in the mining industry. A sizeable number of foreign workers from other African countries live in the town. Amenities include a medical clinic, social club, pool, school and shop. Since 2006, a shanty town has grown around the town. In response authorities have begun construction of a wall, nicknamed locally as the "''mur de la honte''" (wall of shame), to separate the two areas. Mining Mining at the mountain was first recorded from the Kediet ej Jill in the 11th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mauritania Railway
The Mauritania Railway is the national railway of Mauritania. Construction of the line began in 1960, with it opening in 1963. It consists of a single, railway line linking the iron mining centre of Zouérat with the port of Nouadhibou, via Fderik and Choum. The state agency ''Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière'' (National Mining and Industrial Company, SNIM) controls the railway line. Since the closure of the Choum Tunnel, a section of the railway cuts through the Polisario Front- controlled part of the Western Sahara (). History The line was a success and provided a major portion of Mauritania's GDP; as a result the line was nationalised in 1974. Following Mauritania's annexation of southern Western Sahara in 1976, the line came under constant attack by Polisario militia, effectively putting the line out of use and thereby crippling Mauritania's economy. This played a major role in prompting the army to overthrow Mauritanian president Moktar Ould Daddah in 1978 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FERROSUR 4400 NORTE
The Ferrocarril del Sureste , commonly known as Ferrosur, is a railway that serves the southeastern regions of Mexico. The company was formed in 1998 following the privatization of Mexico's railways. Ferrosur took over the southeast concession. This includes the line between Mexico City and Mexico's busiest Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic Ocean port at Veracruz. Grupo México has owned the company since 2005; there are long-delayed plans to merge it with Ferromex. History Ferrosur began operation on December 18, 1998. The original ownership group was the construction company Tribasa and Grupo Financiero Inbursa. Grupo Carso (like Inbursa, a Carlos Slim Helu company) bought out Tribasa in 1999. Grupo México, owner of Ferromex, acquired the railroad in November 2005 in a US$309 million stock transaction. The Mexican Federal Competition Commission (CFC) had rejected a proposed 2002 merger of Ferromex and Ferrosur amid opposition from Grupo Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lincoln County, Nebraska
Lincoln County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 34,676. Its county seat is North Platte. Despite the county's name, the state capital city of Lincoln is not in or near Lincoln County. The city of Lincoln is, instead, located in Lancaster County. Lincoln County is part of the North Platte, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area. In the Nebraska license plate system, Lincoln County is represented by the prefix 15 (it had the fifteenth-largest number of vehicles registered for a state county when the license plate system was established in 1922). Geography The terrain of Lincoln County consists of low rolling hills cut by gullies, sloping to the east-southeast. The land is generally given to agriculture, with considerable center pivot irrigation employed. The North Platte River flows eastward through the upper center of the county. Likewise, the South Platte River flows eastward through the lower center of the coun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, with which it shares a duopoly on transcontinental freight rail lines in the Western, Midwestern and Southern United States. Founded in 1862, the original Union Pacific Rail Road was part of the first transcontinental railroad project, later known as the Overland Route. Over the next century, UP absorbed the Missouri Pacific Railroad, the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company, the Western Pacific Railroad, the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. In 1996, the Union Pacific merged with Southern Pacific Transportation Company, itself a giant system that was absorbed by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TheGuardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, the paper's main news ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurotunnel Shuttle
Eurotunnel Le Shuttle (sometimes shortened to Le Shuttle or The Shuttle) is a railway shuttle service between Coquelles (near Calais) in Pas-de-Calais, France and Cheriton (near Folkestone) in Kent, United Kingdom. It conveys road vehicles (including bicycles and motorcycles) and passengers (including some animals) by rail through the Channel Tunnel. Freight vehicles are carried in separate shuttle trains hauled by the same locomotives, that also contain a passenger carriage, known as the Club Car. The service is owned and operated by Getlink, the owner of the Channel Tunnel. Operation Both terminals are provided with vehicle check-in booths and juxtaposed controls (where pre-boarding immigration and customs checks are carried out by the French Border Police, French Customs and the UK Border Force), a large convenience outlet, long loading platforms and a loop of track. On arrival at the terminal, having booked beforehand or not, vehicles can check in (in separate f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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