Trains With Names Trivia Quiz

Answer: Blue Train

With beginnings in a 1923 service from Johannesburg to Cape Town to connect with ships to the UK, the Blue Train is one of the world's most luxurious train services. You can expect a butler-serviced, sound-proofed, air-conditioned, fully-carpeted compartment with en-suite (typically including a full-sized bath) and gold-tinted windows, amongst other things.

The 1,600 km journey takes 27 hours with a stop en-route for an excursion. The name for the train comes from the blue-painted carriages introduced into service in 1937.

Answer: Glacier Express

Introduced in 1930, the 291 km journey typically takes seven and a half hours, which gives an average speed under 40 km/h. It has been advertised as the slowest "express" service in the world and takes in 91 tunnels and 291 bridges, climbing to an altitude of 2,033 metres at the Oberalp Pass. The narrow gauge train use a rack and pinion system for much of the journey, where the gradients are steeper.

The service takes its name from the Rhône Glacier, which it passed at one time. The glacier connection was lost with the opening of the Furka Base Tunnel in 1982, however it meant that the service could run all year around instead of being closed over the winter due to snow.

Answer: Bullet Train

The English name is the literal translation of the Japanese nickname for the project during the 1930s. 'Superexpress' is the term typically used in English announcements and signs at railway stations.

The service was introduced from 1964 with a new network of railway lines being required. Speeds of up to 320 km/h (200 mph/h) are achieved with the service typically preferred over air travel for journeys up to three hours in length.

There have been no fatalities due to derailments or collisions in the first 50 years of operation during which some 10 billion passengers were carried. This is despite earthquakes being a regular feature of the country. The trains use an instrument to detect earthquakes and can bring trains to a stop very quickly. But watch out for those doors! They have been responsible for a number of injuries and at least one death.

Answer: Mallard

The record run, with a speed of just over 200 km/h (125 mph), took place in 1938. The engine remained in service until 1963 and, after reconditioning during the late 1980s, mostly sits in the National Railway Museum in York. The engine is London and North Eastern Railway Class A4 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive, built in 1938.

The photo shows a mallard drake.

Answer: 20th Century Limited

The service was introduced in 1902 as a competitor to the Pennsylvania Railroad and latterly was doing the journey of just under 1,000 miles in 16 hours. Passengers, embarking the train at Chicago and New York, walked along a specially-designed crimson carpet. The service was aimed at the premium end of the market.

The train featured prominently in the 1959 film "North By Northwest", although this is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer rather than 20th Century Fox film.

Answer: India

India has the fourth-largest rail network, moving over seven billion passengers in 2011. Trains were used in India from 1853. The Fairy Queen was built in Britain in 1855, used to haul troops during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and withdrawn from service in 1909. After time as a museum piece, it was restored and put back to work in 1998 hauling luxury tourist trains.

The photo shows a peacock. The peafowl is the national bird of India.

Answer: It mostly passes through tunnels

The photo is taken in Kleine Scheidegg, the base station for the railway. It shows the overhead lines supplying the train with electricity and part of the rack system next to the train. Funicular railways use cables to pull carriages up a steep slope, typically counter-balanced by a descending carriage.

Construction on the nine-kilometre long railway started in 1896 and took 16 years to complete. Eighty percent of the journey is spent in tunnels passing through the Eiger and Mönch mountains before the top station at the Jungfraujoch is reached. Snowblowers are used to keep the track open in winter, allowing skiers to make use of the snow.

The tunnel passes close to the north face of the Eiger in places and there are windows overlooking the face from where excavated rock was ejected. The film "The Eiger Sanction" (1975), starring and directed by Clint Eastwood, made use of one of these windows. The windows now provide occasional access on to the north face for mountain rescue parties.

Answer: Australia

Running between Adelaide and Darwin, the railway tracks were built from 1878, reaching as far as Alice Springs by 1929. Until then, the final section to Alice Springs had to be completed by camel. The Alice Springs to Darwin section was not opened until 2004.

The Ghan Express started in 1929 and was notoriously unreliable with regular washouts due to flooding. The train used to carry spare sleepers and railway tools so that the passengers and crew could carry out repairs as required. The route was dictated by the need for access to water for the steam engines. With the advent of diesel locomotives, a drier route could be taken and a new section of track was laid 160 km to the west to avoid the worst of the flooding.

The name 'Ghan Express' is tied to the camels and their drivers who worked in the outback from the 1860s. Originally called the Afghan Express, the train's name was shortened to the Ghan Express.

Answer: Kenya

More formally known as the Uganda Railway, it was built in what was to become Kenya at the end of the 19th century to give the British control of the region. Some 32,000 workers were brought in from India to construct the railway and just under 2,500 died in the process.

The Lunatic Express nickname came from a book "The Lunatic Express: An Entertainment in Imperialism" by Charles Miller, published in 1971, which tells the tale of its construction and various related incidents. The Kedong Massacre, for example, saw 500 workers killed by Maasai tribesmen.

Perhaps better known is the Tsavo Incident which saw 28 workers (or as many as 135, by some accounts) dragged off at night by a couple of man-eating lions. The workers were building a bridge over the Tsavo River at the time. After 25 years as rugs, the lions can now be found stuffed at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. A fictionalised account of the hunt, the 1996 film "The Ghost and the Darkness", stars Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer.

Answer: Istanbul

The Orient Express service was established in 1883 and over the years has changed its route and carriages a number of times. It became synonymous with luxurious service. The train stopped calling at Istanbul in 1977 and the Orient Express ceased appearing on railway timetables in 2007. A privately-run train service has kept the name alive. Airlines and express train services such as France's TGV no doubt contributed to the demise.

The photo shows the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.