Ligne de Cerdagne

The Ligne de Cerdagne, usually referred to as the Train Jaune (English: Yellow Train, Catalan: Tren Groc), is a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) gauge railway that runs from Villefranche-de-Conflent to Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg in the French Pyrenees. Construction started in 1903 and the section to Mont-Louis was completed in 1910, followed by an extension to Latour-de-Carol in 1927.

It is 63 kilometres (39 mi) long and climbs to 1,593 metres (5,226 ft) at Bolquère-Eyne, the highest railway station in France. The line serves 22 stations, fourteen of which are "request stops" (ie, the train only stops when specifically requested by passengers). There are 19 tunnels and two bridges, one of which is, unusual for a railway bridge, a suspension bridge. The line is single-track with passing loops at, for example, Mont-Louis and Fontpédrouse-Saint-Thomas-les-Bains.

The trains are powered by electricity at 850 volts DC, supplied by third rail. The power is supplied by hydro-electric generators on the River Têt. The maximum speed of the train is 55 km/h (34 mph). Two types of train are used; ones using modern, entirely closed two-car multiple units and others using old style trailer carriages and powered carriages - most are enclosed but when the weather allows, open carriages are also used. The open carriages allow dramatic views as the train traverses the twisting route and are popular with tourists. Line maintenance vehicles are stored at Villefranche-de-Conflent.

Thomas

Thomas may refer to:

People

Manufacturing companies

Places

Religion

Television

Fictional characters

Cars (film)

Cars is a 2006 American computer-animated comedy-adventure sports film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed and co-written by John Lasseter, it is Pixar's final independently-produced motion picture before its purchase by Disney. Set in a world populated entirely by anthropomorphic cars and other vehicles, it features the voices of Owen Wilson, Paul Newman (in his final non-documentary feature), Larry the Cable Guy, Bonnie Hunt, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin, Michael Wallis, George Carlin, Paul Dooley, Jenifer Lewis, Guido Quaroni, Michael Keaton, Katherine Helmond, and John Ratzenberger. Real life race car drivers Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Mario Andretti and Michael Schumacher, and car enthusiast Jay Leno (as "Jay Limo") voice themselves. It is also the second Pixar film—after A Bug's Life—to have an entirely non-human cast. The film was accompanied by the short One Man Band for its theatrical and home media releases.

Cars premiered on May 26, 2006 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina and was theatrically released on June 9, 2006, to positive reviews. It was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Animated Feature, and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film. The film was released on DVD on November 7, 2006 and to Blu-ray Disc in late 2007. Related merchandise, including scale models of several of the cars, broke records for retail sales of merchandise based on a Disney·Pixar film, bringing an estimated $10 billion in 5 years since the film's release. The film was dedicated to Joe Ranft, who was killed in a car accident during the film's production.

Thomas & Friends

Thomas & Friends (titled Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends prior to 2003) is a British children's television series. It had its first broadcast on the ITV network in Great Britain in 1984 and first aired in the United States on PBS KIDS in 2004. It is based on The Railway Series of books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry. These books deal with the adventures of a group of anthropomorphised locomotives and road vehicles who live on the fictional Island of Sodor. The books were based on stories Wilbert told to entertain his son, Christopher, during his recovery from measles. Many of the stories from the first four series are based on events from Awdry's personal experience.

History

Precursors

Lightning McQueen

Lightning McQueen, typically referred to by his surname McQueen, is an anthropomorphic racecar in the animated Pixar film Cars (2006), its sequel Cars 2 (2011), and TV shorts known as Cars Toons. He is based on Toyota NASCAR vehicles, but with design influences from the Mazda Miata and Dodge Viper. Late in the original film, he is painted much like the Chevrolet Corvette C1.

Characterization

During the initial research for the film, John Lasseter met with General Motors designers to discuss the new Corvette design but subsequent changes to the storyline left both Lightning McQueen and rival Chick Hicks as generic.

In order to create a cocky but likable character for McQueen, Pixar looked at sports figures like boxer Muhammad Ali, basketball player Charles Barkley, and football quarterback Joe Namath, as well as popular musician Kid Rock.

The end result is a character which, despite the usually-meticulous approach to "truth to material" in which each car's animation is mechanically consistent with its respective model's capabilities, can occasionally bend the rules to move more like an athlete than a motorcar.