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Great South Pacific Express
The Great South Pacific Express was a luxury Australian train service, run in by Queensland Rail and Belmond (formerly Orient-Express Hotels Ltd), the operator of the Venice-Simplon Orient Express. History In December 1996, Queensland Rail announced it would enter a joint venture with Orient-Express Hotels Ltd to operate a luxury tourist train between Kuranda (near Cairns) and Sydney. It commenced operating in April 1999. The train accommodated 100 passengers in up to 21 carriages, at a cost of $3,500 to $5,500 depending on type of accommodation. The train also made occasional excursions to Canberra, the Blue Mountains and the Hunter Region. The service ceased in June 2003, having run up losses of around $12 million over four years. After the demise of the service, the carriages were sold to Orient-Express Hotels for an undisclosed price in 2005, for use on their trains overseas. 20 of the carriages remained in storage at the North Ipswich Railway Workshops, with Queenslan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and related infrastructure. QR was also responsible for all Queensland freight services, and from 2002 operated interstate services under the Australian Railroad Group, Interail and QR National brands. These were all spun out into a separate entity in July 2010, and later privatised as Aurizon. History Beginnings Queensland Railways was the first operator in the world to adopt narrow gauge (in this case ) for a main line, and this remains the systemwide gauge within Queensland today. The colony of Queensland separated from New South Wales in 1859, and the new government was keen to facilitate development and immigration. Improved transport to the fertile Darling Downs region situated west of Toowoomba was seen as a priority. As adequate river ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belmond (company)
Belmond Ltd. (formerly Orient-Express Hotels Ltd) is a hospitality and leisure company that operates luxury hotels, train services and river cruises worldwide. In 2015, the company had 35 deluxe hotels, 7 tourist trains, 3 river cruises and restaurants in 22 countries. History The company was founded in 1976 by the American entrepreneur James Sherwood with the acquisition of the Hotel Cipriani in Venice from the Guinness family for £900,000. James Sherwood then bought a number of historic rail cars similar to (but likely separate from) those used on the original Orient Express train, which he restored and used to offer rides from Paris and London to his hotel in Venice to wealthy clients,thus the former name of the company. Much of the history of the company is documented in James Sherwood's memoir '' Orient Express: A Personal Journey''. On 10 March 2014, Orient-Express Hotels Ltd was renamed Belmond, and on 1 July 2014, Belmond's holding company was also renamed Belmond Lt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Power Car
In rail transport, the expression power car may refer to either of two distinct types of rail vehicle: *a vehicle that propels, and commonly also controls, a passenger train, multiple unit or tram, often as the lead vehicle; *a vehicle equipped with machinery for supplying heat or electrical power to other parts of a train. The first of these types of vehicle is closely related to the locomotive. What differentiates the locomotive and the first type of power car is their construction or use. A locomotive can be physically separated from its train and does nothing but provide propulsion and control (and heat or electricity for passenger trains). On the other hand, a power car of the first type is frequently an integral part of its train, and if the train uses distributed traction, some of the car's interior space may be used for carrying passengers or cargo. Examples United States Nearly all high speed trains use power cars, frequently at both ends. An example of these are the A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bar Car
A bar car is a train car that has as its primary purpose the provision and consumption of alcoholic and other beverages. In the United States Bar cars were common during the heyday of U.S. rail travel prior to World War II. However, since May 2014 there are no bar cars left (not including Amtrak's full-service dining cars, lounges and café cars). Former services Metro-North Railroad has replaced the 1970s-era cars now used by commuters from Manhattan to Connecticut, with the new M-8 cars rolled out between 2010 and 2015. The M-8 was designed by Cesar Vergara, a train designer from Ridgefield, Connecticut, who also provided a design for a modern bar car. The last bar cars were retired in May 2014. Formerly, a bar car service (officially, "refreshment car") ran on 3 of Chicago's Metra lines: the Milwaukee District/North Line, the Milwaukee District/West Line, and the Rock Island District line. The last service was on August 29, 2008, when the last contracts expired. 10 Come ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dining Car
A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that do not duplicate the full-service restaurant experience, such as buffet cars, cars in which one purchases food from a walk-up counter to be consumed either within the car or elsewhere in the train. Grill cars, in which customers sit on stools at a counter and purchase and consume food cooked on a grill behind the counter are generally considered to be an "intermediate" type of dining car. History United States Before dining cars in passenger trains were common in the United States, a rail passenger's option for meal service in transit was to patronize one of the roadhouses often located near the railroad's "water stops". Fare typically consisted of rancid meat, cold beans, and old coffee. Such poor conditions discouraged many from makin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sleeping Car
The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car. The first such cars saw sporadic use on American and English railways in the 1830s; they could be configured for Coach (rail), coach seating during the day. History Possibly the earliest example of a sleeping car (or ''bed carriage'', as it was then called) was on the London & Birmingham and Grand Junction Railways between London and Lancashire, England. The bed carriage was first made available to first-class passengers in 1838. In the spring of 1839, the Cumberland Valley Railroad pioneered sleeping car service in America with a car named "Chambersburg", between Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Chambersburg and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A couple of years later a second car, the "Carlisle", was introduced into service. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acacia Ridge, Queensland
Acacia Ridge is a southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Acacia Ridge had a population of 7,429 people. Geography Acacia Ridge is south of the central business district. It is within the local government area of City of Brisbane. Primarily residential, Acacia Ridge is also known for its heavy industrial area in the suburb's east, occupying much of the suburb's area east of Beaudesert Road. History The name ''Acacia Ridge'' derives from the number of Acacia species growing in the area. In October 1884, 275 allotments of "Flemington Estate" were advertised for sale by T. Howling & Co. A map advertising the sale states that the estate was close to the Coopers Plains railway station and that coaches passed the estate every day. Cooper's Plains Provisional School in 1869 opened on 1 April 1869, later becoming Cooper's Plains State School. On 10 July 1956, it was renamed Acacia Ridge State School. The school was at 1277 Beaudesert Road (). After ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bogie Exchange
Bogie exchange is a system for operating railway wagons on two or more gauges to overcome difference in the track gauge. To perform a bogie exchange, a car is converted from one gauge to another by removing the bogies or trucks (the chassis containing the wheels and axles of the car), and installing a new bogie with differently spaced wheels. It is generally limited to wagons and carriages, though the bogies on diesel locomotives can be exchanged if enough time is available. Wagons and carriages Bogie wagons can have their gauge changed by lifting them off one set of bogies and putting them back down again on another set of bogies. The pin that centres the bogies and the hoses and fittings for the brakes must be compatible. A generous supply of bogies of each gauge is needed to accommodate the ebb and flow of traffic. The bogies and wagons also need to have standardized hooks, etc., where they may be efficiently lifted. The two wheel sets on four-wheel wagons can be change ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Townsville
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. Townsville hosts a significant number of governmental, community and major business administrative offices for the northern half of the state. Part of the larger local government area of the City of Townsville, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland, adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef. The city is also a major industrial centre, home to one of the world's largest zinc refineries, a nickel refinery and many other similar activities. As of December 2020, $30M operations to expand the Port of Townsville are underway, which involve channel widening and installation of a 70-tonne Liebherr Super Post Panamax Ship-to-Shore crane, to allow much larger cargo and passenger ships to utilise the port. It is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arequipa
Arequipa (; Aymara and qu, Ariqipa) is a city and capital of province and the eponymous department of Peru. It is the seat of the Constitutional Court of Peru and often dubbed the "legal capital of Peru". It is the second most populated city in Peru, after Lima, with an urban population of 1,008,290 inhabitants according to the 2017 national census. Its metropolitan area integrates twenty-one districts, including the foundational central area, which it is the seat of the city government. The city had a nominal GDP of US$9,445 million, equivalent to US$10,277 per capita (US$18,610 per capita PPP) in 2015, making Arequipa the city with the second-highest economic activity in Peru. Arequipa is also an important industrial and commercial center of Peru,Chanfreau, p. 40 and is considered as the second industrial city of the country. Within its industrial activity the manufactured products and the textile production of wool of camelids. The town maintains close commercial links wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, it is also the largest lake in South America.Grove, M. J., P. A. Baker, S. L. Cross, C. A. Rigsby and G. O. Seltzer 2003 Application of Strontium Isotopes to Understanding the Hydrology and Paleohydrology of the Altiplano, Bolivia-Peru. ''Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology'' 194:281-297. Lake Titicaca has a surface elevation of . The "highest lake" claim is generally considered to refer to commercial craft. Numerous smaller bodies of water (that are not considered lakes) around the world are at higher elevations. For many years, the largest vessel afloat on the lake was the 2,200-ton (2,425 U.S. tons), SS ''Ollanta''. Today, the largest vessel is most likely the similarly sized train barge/float ''Manco Capac'', operated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puno
Puno (Aymara and qu, Punu) is a city in southeastern Peru, located on the shore of Lake Titicaca. It is the capital city of the Puno Region and the Puno Province with a population of approximately 140,839 (2015 estimate). The city was established in 1668 by viceroy Pedro Antonio Fernández de Castro as capital of the province of Paucarcolla with the name San Juan Bautista de Puno. The name was later changed to San Carlos de Puno, in honor of king Charles II of Spain. Puno has several churches dating back from the colonial period; they were built to service the Spanish population and evangelize the natives. Overview Puno is an important agricultural and livestock region; important livestock are llamas and alpacas, which graze on its immense plateaus and plains. Much of the city economy relies on the black market, fueled by cheap goods smuggled in from Bolivia. Puno is served by the Inca Manco Capac International Airport in nearby Juliaca. Puno is situated between the shores ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
