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Berlin S-Bahn

The Berlin S-Bahn is a rapid transit railway system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It has been in operation under this name since December 1930, having been previously called the special tariff area Berliner Stadt-, Ring- und Vorortbahnen ('Berlin city, orbital, and suburban railways'). It complements the Berlin U-Bahn and is the link to many outer-Berlin areas, such as Berlin Brandenburg Airport. As such, the Berlin S-Bahn blends elements of a commuter rail service and a rapid transit system.

In its first decades of operation, the trains were steam-drawn; even after the electrification of large parts of the network, some lines remained under steam. Today, the term S-Bahn is used in Berlin only for those lines and trains with third-rail electrical power transmission and the special Berlin S-Bahn loading gauge. The third unique technical feature of the Berlin S-Bahn, the automated mechanical train control (works very similar to the train stop at New York City Subway), is being phased out and replaced by a communications-based train control system specific to the Berlin S-Bahn.

In other parts of Germany and other German-speaking countries, other trains are designated S-Bahn without those Berlin-specific features. The Hamburg S-Bahn is the only other system using third-rail electrification.

Today, the Berlin S-Bahn is no longer defined as this special tariff area of the national railway company, but is instead just one specific means of transportation, defined by its special technical characteristics, in an area-wide tariff administered by a public transport authority. The Berlin S-Bahn is now an integral part of the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg, the regional tariff zone for all kinds of public transit in and around Berlin and the federal state (Bundesland) of Brandenburg.

Introduction
The brand name S-Bahn chosen in 1930 mirrored U-Bahn, which had become the official brand name for the Berlin city-owned rapid transit lines begun under the name of Berliner Hoch- und Untergrundbahnen ('Berlin elevated and underground lines'), where the word of mouth had abbreviated Untergrundbahn to U-Bahn, in parallel to U-Boot formed from Unterseeboot ('undersea boat' – submarine). Ironically, S-Bahn's S is not easy to name, it may stand for Schnell-Bahn ('rapid rail') or Stadt-Bahn ('urban rail'; not to be confused with Berlin Stadtbahn, a railway line through Berlin on which some Berlin S-Bahn lines run, or Stadtbahn, the German term for light rail).

Services on the Berlin S-Bahn have been provided by the Prussian or German national railway company of the respective time, which means the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft after the First World War, the state-owned East German Deutsche Reichsbahn (in both East and West Berlin) until 1993 (except West Berlin from 1984 to 1994, the BVG period) and Deutsche Bahn after its incorporation in 1994.

The Berlin S-Bahn consists today of 16 lines serving 166 stations, and runs over a total route length of 332 km. The S-Bahn carried 478.1 million passengers in 2018. It is integrated with the mostly underground U-Bahn to form the backbone of Berlin's rapid transport system. Unlike the U-Bahn, the S-Bahn crosses Berlin city limits into the surrounding state of Brandenburg, e.g. to Potsdam.

Although the S- and U-Bahn are part of a unified fare system, they have different operators. The S-Bahn is operated by S-Bahn Berlin GmbH, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, whereas the U-Bahn is run by Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), the main public transit company for the city of Berlin.

Network
The S-Bahn routes all feed into one of three core lines: a central, elevated east–west line (the Stadtbahn), a central, mostly underground north–south line (the Nord–Süd Tunnel), and a circular line (the Ringbahn). Outside the Ringbahn, suburban routes radiate in all directions.

Lines S1, S2, S25, and S26 are north–south lines that use the north–south tunnel as their midsection. They were equally distributed into Oranienburg, Bernau, and Hennigsdorf in the north, and Teltow Stadt, Lichtenrade, and Wannsee.

Lines S3, S5, S7, S9, and S75 are east–west lines using the Stadtbahn cross-city railway. The western termini are located at Potsdam and Spandau, although the S5 only runs as far as Westkreuz and the S75 to Warschauer Straße. The eastern termini are Erkner, Strausberg Nord, Ahrensfelde, and Wartenberg. The S9 uses a connector curve (Südkurve) at Ostkreuz to switch from the Stadtbahn to the south-eastern leg of the Ringbahn. Another curve, the Nordkurve to the north-eastern Ringbahn, was originally served by the S86 line, but it was demolished in preparation of the rebuilding of Ostkreuz station and was not rebuilt afterwards. Both connector curves were heavily used in the time of the Berlin Wall, as trains coming from the north-eastern routes couldn't use the West Berlin north–south route and the Southern leg of the pre- and post-Wall Ringbahn was in West Berlin.

Lines S41 and S42 continuously circle around the Ringbahn, the former clockwise, the latter anti-clockwise. Lines S45, S46, and S47 link destinations in the southeast with the southern section of the Ringbahn via the tangential link from the Görlitzer Bahn to the Ring via Köllnische Heide.

Lines S8 and S85 are north–south lines using the eastern section of the Ringbahn between Bornholmer Straße and Treptower Park via Ostkreuz, using the Görlitzer Bahn in the South.

Formerly, there existed four curves at Westkreuz and Ostkreuz allowing to go to a northern ring (Nordring) and to a southern ring (Südring) using central tracks of Stadbahn. Nordring and Südring are common terms, but never scheduled routes as separate rings. One curve of Südring at Westkreuz left over for internal use, the other one is mentioned connector at Ostkreuz.

Routes
Generally speaking, the first digit of a route number denotes the main route or a group of routes. Thus, S25 is a branch of S2, while S41, S42, S45, S46, and S47 are all Ringbahn routes that share some of the same route. So S41, S42, S45, S46, and S47 are together S4. However, the S4 does not exist as an independent entity.

Since 9 January 1984, all the West Berlin S-Bahn routes are labelled with an "S" followed by a number. This system had been in use with other West German S-Bahn systems (such as Hamburg) for years. On 2 June 1991 this was extended to the East Berlin lines as well. Internally, the Berlin S-Bahn uses Zuggruppen (literally groups of trains) which normally run every twenty minutes (S41/S42 are an exception to this as their Zuggruppen run every 10 minutes). Some lines, e.g. the S85, are made up of only one Zuggruppe, while others, like S5, are actually multiple Zuggruppen combined. Some Zuggruppen do not run the entire line and terminate at intermediate stops. Zuggruppen are called by a Funkname (radio designator), which is derived from the German spelling alphabet. Some Funknamen are not used in regular service, such as Heinrich, Baikal, Jaguar, Gustav, or Saale (being used for special soccer service trains, usually running for fans under the line S3 between Charlottenburg and Olympiastadion).

Stations in brackets are serviced at certain times only (Monday through Friday during offpeak in the case of and during peak in the case of  and ). only runs Monday through Friday.

Also, not every train reaches the nominal terminus of a line. For example, every other train on runs only to Frohnau, five stops before Oranienburg, and the last stop on  towards Erkner which is reached by every train is Friedrichshagen. Similarly, some northbound trains terminate at Gesundbrunnen, and most  trains run only to Strausberg or even Mahlsdorf, rendering Strausberg Nord the least served stop on the whole network.

Route changes in 2009
On 31 August 2009 a few semi-permanent changes to the line routes were applied. Because of renovations to Ostkreuz station, including dismantling the tracks connecting the Stadtbahn and the Ringbahn –
 * (formerly ✈ Berlin-Schönefeld ↔ Spandau) could not turn west at this station any more. The line thus followed the Ringbahn and then branches northwards past Schönhauser Allee, like and, and terminated at Pankow.
 * To compensate for the diminished throughput on the Stadtbahn, the (formerly Erkner ↔ Ostbahnhof) was extended westwards to Spandau.

Route changes in 2012
Because of the progress achieved in the Ostkreuz renovation in 2012, the –
 * was shortened to operate only between Ostkreuz and Erkner.
 * was extended to Spandau.
 * operated every 10 minutes between Westkreuz and Wartenberg.

Route changes in 2017
On 21 August 2017, with the completion of the Ostkreuz renovation, and on 10 December 2017, with the completion of the connection between the Stadtbahn and Ringbahn at Ostkreuz, the following changes were made:

 * was introduced, operating from Waidmannslust to Teltow Stadt, to replace lost S85 service on 10 December 2017.
 * was extended from Ostkreuz back to Westkreuz on 21 August 2017, and was further extended to Spandau on 10 December 2017, replacing the S5.
 * was shortened from Spandau to Westkreuz on 10 December 2017.
 * was shortened from Westkreuz back to Ostbahnhof on 5 October 2017, and was further truncated to Ostkreuz on 10 December 2017.
 * was diverted from Waidmannslust to Pankow, replacing the S9 on 10 December 2017.
 * was diverted from Pankow to Spandau on 10 December 2017 replacing the previous S5 service.

Service hours
The S-Bahn generally operates between 4am and 1am Monday to Friday, between 5am and 1am on Saturdays and between 6:30am and 1am on Sundays during normal daytime service. However, there is a comprehensive night-time service on most lines between 1am and 5am on Saturdays and 01:00 and 06:30 on Sundays, which means that most stations enjoy a continuous service between Friday morning and Sunday evening. One exception to this is the section of the between  and  which sees no service in these hours. Most other lines operate without route changes, but some are curtailed or extended during nighttime. Particularly, the, , , , , , , are unchanged, and the  and  have no nighttime service. Westbound lines, , , and northbound terminate at stations Südkreuz, Schöneweide, Lichtenberg, and Treptower Park, respectively.

From the beginnings till the end of World War II
With individual sections dating from the 1870s, the S-Bahn was formed in time as the network of suburban commuter railways running into Berlin, then interconnected by the circular railway connecting the various terminal railway stations, and in 1882 enhanced by the east–west cross-city line (called the Stadtbahn, 'city railway'). The forming of a distinct identity for this network began with the establishment of a special tariff for the area which was then called the Berliner Stadt-, Ring- und Vorortbahnen, and which differed from the normal railway tariff. While the regular railway tariff was based on multiplying the distance covered with a fixed price per kilometre, the special tariff for this Berlin tariff zone was based on a graduated tariff based on the number of stations touched during the travel.

The core of this network, that is the cross-city (Stadtbahn) east–west line and the circular Ringbahn, and several suburban branches were converted from steam operation to a third-rail electric railway in the latter half of the 1920s. The Wannsee railway, the suburban line with the highest number of passengers, was electrified in 1932–33. A number of suburban trains remained steam-hauled, even after the Second World War.

After building the east–west cross-city line connecting western suburban lines, which until then terminated at Charlottenburg station with eastern suburban lines which had terminated at Frankfurter Bahnhof (later Schlesischer Bahnhof), the logical next step was a north–south cross-city line connecting the northern suburban lines terminating at Stettiner Bahnhof with the southern suburban lines terminating at the subsidiary stations of the Berlin Potsdamer Bahnhof. The first ideas for this project emerged only 10 years after the completion of the east–west cross-city line, with several concrete proposals resulting from a 1909 competition held by the Berlin city administration. Another concrete proposal, already very close to the final realisation, was put forward in 1926 by Professor Jenicke of Breslau university.

Many sections of the S-Bahn were closed during the war, both through enemy action and flooding of the Nord–Süd-Bahn tunnel on 2 May 1945 during the final Battle of Berlin. The exact number of casualties is not known, but up to 200 people are presumed to have perished, since the tunnel was used as a public shelter and also served to house military wounded in trains on underground sidings. Service through the tunnel commenced again in 1947.

Before the construction of Berlin Wall
After hostilities ceased in 1945, Berlin was given special status as a "Four-Sector City", surrounded by the Soviet Occupation Zone, which later became the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The Allies had decided that S-Bahn service in the western sectors of Berlin should continue to be provided by the Reichsbahn (DR), which was by now the provider of railway services in East Germany. (Rail services in West Germany proper were provided by the new Deutsche Bundesbahn.)

Before the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the Berlin S-Bahn had grown to about 335 km. On the 13 August 1961, it was the biggest turning point in the operation and network for the S-Bahn.

As relations between East and West began to sour with the coming of the Cold War, it had become the victim of the hostilities. Although services continued operating through all occupation sectors, checkpoints were constructed on the borders with East Berlin and on-board "customs checks" were carried out on trains. From 1958 onward, some S-Bahn trains ran non-stop through the western sectors from stations in East Berlin to stations on outlying sections in East Germany so as to avoid the need for such controls. East German government employees were then forbidden to use the S-Bahn since it travelled through West Berlin.

After the construction of Berlin Wall
The S-Bahn has also been operated in two separate subnets of the Deutsche Reichsbahn. In East Berlin, the S-Bahn retained a transport share of approximately 35 percent, the mode of transport with the highest passenger share. In the 1970s and 1980s the route network continued to grow. In particular, the new housing estates were connected to the grid in the northeast of the city (Marzahn and Hohenschönhausen).

The construction of the Berlin Wall led to West Berlin calling for the unions and politicians to boycott the S-Bahn. Subsequently, passenger numbers fell.

However, the Berlin S-Bahn strike brought the S-Bahn to the attention of the public, and aroused the desire for West Berlin to manage its section of the S-Bahn itself. In 1983 negotiations of representatives of the Senate, the SNB and the Deutsche Reichsbahn took place. In December 1983, these were concluded with Allied consent to the agreement between the Deutsche Reichsbahn and the Berlin Senate for the transfer of operating rights of the S-Bahn in the area of West Berlin. The BVG received the oldest carriages from the DR; but the BVG was eager to quickly get to modern standards for a subway. Therefore, soon new S-Bahn trains were purchased on their behalf, which are still in use on the Berlin S-Bahn network as the 480 series.

Even before the Wall fell, there were efforts to substantial re-commissioning of the S-Bahn network in West Berlin.

Reunification

After the Berlin Wall came down in November 1989, the first broken links were re-established, with Friedrichstraße on 1 July 1990, as the first. The BVG and DR jointly marketed the services soon after the reunification. Administratively, the divided S-Bahn networks remained separate in this time of momentous changes, encompassing German reunification and reunification of Berlin into a single city, although the dividing line was no longer the former Berlin Wall. DR and BVG (of the whole of reunified Berlin from 1 January 1992, after absorbing BVB of East Berlin) operated individual lines end to end, both into the other party's territories. For example, S2 was all BVG even after it was extended northward and southward into Brandenburg/former East German territory. The main east–west route (Stadtbahn) was a joint operation. Individual trains were operated by either BVG or DR end-to-end on the same tracks. This arrangement ended on 1 January 1994, with the creation of Deutsche Bahn due to the merger between DR and the former West Germany's Deutsche Bundesbahn. All S-Bahn operations in Berlin were transferred to the newly formed S-Bahn Berlin GmbH as a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, and the BVG withdrew from running S-Bahn services.

Technically, a number of projects followed in the steps of re-establishing broken links in order to restore the former S-Bahn network to its 1961 status after 1990, especially the Ringbahn. In December 1997 the connection between Neukölln and Treptower Park via Sonnenallee was reopened, enabling S4 trains to run 75% of the whole ring between Schönhauser Allee and Jungfernheide. On 16 June 2002, the section Gesundbrunnen – Westhafen also reopened, re-establishing the Ringbahn operations.

Tendering programme for the Berlin S-Bahn
MTR Corporation, National Express Group, Berlin S-Bahn GmbH and RATP Development had tendered for their procurement process, and were soon followed by train manufacturer Stadler Rail for their operations from 2018 to 2033. The specific contracts are:

Ringbahn – Stadtbahn – Nord–Süd Bahn –
 * S41 Südkreuz – Südkreuz (clockwise Ring)
 * S42 Südkreuz – Südkreuz (anticlockwise Ring)
 * S46 Westend – Königs Wusterhausen
 * S47 Spindlersfeld – Hermannstraße – (Südkreuz)
 * S8 Birkenwerder – (Grünau) – Zeuthen
 * S3 Erkner – Spandau
 * S5 Westkreuz – Strausberg-Nord
 * S7 Ahrensfelde – (Wannsee) – Potsdam HBF
 * S75 Wartenberg – Warschauer Straße
 * S9 Flughafen BER Airport – Spandau
 * S1 Wannsee – Oranienburg
 * S2 Blankenfelde – Bernau
 * S25 Teltow Stadt – Hennigsdorf
 * S26 Teltow Stadt – Waidmannslust
 * S45 Flughafen BER Airport – Südkreuz
 * S85 Grünau – Pankow

Depots
There were several depots for Berlin S-Bahn. They are Schöneweide (opened in December 1927), Friedrichsfelde (opened on 1 March 1903), Grünau (opened on 1 April 1910), Wannsee (opened on 15 May 1933), Erkner (opened in 1928) and Oranienburg (opened in 1925).

At Grünau, construction began in 1916 and was completed in 1928. They serviced the following routes:

 * Grünau – Südring – Stadtbahn – Lichtenberg
 * Grünau – Stadtbahn – Spandau West
 * Grünau – Nordring – Gartenfeld (nur HVZ)

The connection to Spandau West became in the following years the traditional train course, which was maintained after 1945 until the building of the wall. In the 1980s, this depot made 51 daily trains for the connections using Class 485 trains.
 * Zeuthen – Ostring – Bernau
 * Königs Wusterhausen – Stadtbahn – Friedrichstraße – Stadtbahn – Erkner – Stadtbahn – Friedrichstraße
 * Flughafen Berlin-Schönefeld – Stadtbahn – Friedrichstraße
 * Spindlersfeld – Ostring – Blankenburg

Closed depots include:
 * Stettiner Bahnhof
 * Papestraße
 * Westend
 * Bernau
 * Hundekehle
 * Velten
 * Yorckstraße

Current

 * BVG Class 480 (since 1986, in use on line S3)
 * DB Class 481/482 (since 1996, in use on lines S1, S2, S25, S26, S3, S41, S42, S45, S5, S7, S75, S85 and S9)
 * Class 483/484 (since 2021, in use on line S41, S42, S46, S47 and S8)

Former

 * DRG Class ET 125 (from 1935 until 2003)
 * DRG Class ET 165 (from 1928 until 1997)
 * DRG Class ET 166 (from 1936 until 2000)
 * DRG Class ET 167 (from 1938 until 2003)
 * DRG Class ET 168 (from 1926 until about 1962, some units converted to train type EIII for the Berlin U-Bahn)
 * DRG Class ET 169 (from 1925 until 1962)
 * DR Class ET 170 (from 1959 until 1970)
 * DR Class 485/885 (from 1987 until 2023)

Special Trains
This vehicle, DB Class 488.0 (Panorama train) is a unique piece. The train consists of two railcars and a sidecar in between. It was created by conversion from old cars of the ET / EB 167, the later series 477/877. While the car body is largely a new build, many technical components of end-of-life vehicles were taken over in 1997–99. This train is not used in normal regular service. The S-Bahn offered city tours with it until 2009, and it could be rented privately. The train is equipped with a modern multimedia system so that the announcements via headphones can be followed in multiple languages. As with this car the windows extend into the roof for a better field of vision, it is called a panorama train (previously known as a panoramic suburban train).

Otherwise museum and tradition trains were primarily used – Class 165. The Viertel train Class ET/EB 167s were being built in 1938 and was converted in 1991.

Ostkreuz

In 1988, Deutsche Reichsbahn presented plans for the transformation of Ostkreuz station. The long postponed renovation of the station began in 2007.

With nine lines (four on the Stadtbahn and five on the Ringbahn), Ostkreuz is one of the busiest stations on the network.

With the progress of construction work on 31 August 2009, the southern connection and platform A were decommissioned. This route had to be realigned as a result. The construction plans envisaged that the connection would be restored by 2014. After its completion, traffic will again be able to be run from the southern Ringbahn onto the Stadtbahn.

In October 2009, the new Regionalbahn station on the Ringbahn was sufficiently complete for S-Bahn trains on the Ringbahn to use it temporarily. Demolition of the Ringbahn platform could then start and the new platform, including a concourse, could be built. This was put into operation on 16 April 2012, after a 16-day track closure.

In December 2018 all the S-Bahn tracks at Ostkreuz finished construction and were opened for regular passenger use.

Berlin–Görlitz railway (Baumschulenweg–Grünauer Kreuz)

Rehabilitation work at Grünauer Kreuz on the Berlin–Görlitz railway began on 12 July 2006. In 2010 and 2011, rebuilt stations were put into operation in several stages at Baumschulenweg and Adlershof and the bridges over the Britz Canal and the Teltow Canal were replaced. During the reconstruction, the platform at Adlershof was relocated directly above Rudower Chaussee (street).

Other major construction projects are planned along the route:
 * Rebuilding of Schöneweide station, including the construction of a new road underpass
 * Replacement of bridges over Sterndamm (street)
 * Construction of additional electronic interlocking equipment along the route
 * Conversion of Wildau station
 * Renewal of the mainline tracks and the re-establishment of the overhead contact line system

Berlin-Schönefeld Airport-Berlin Brandenburg Airport extension
In preparation for the opening of Berlin-Brandenburg Airport in Schönefeld in the south of Berlin, S-Bahn lines S45 and S9 were set to be extended from the then terminus at Berlin-Schoenefeld Airport in a long curve to the new terminal. Directly below the terminal, Berlin Brandenburg, a station has been built with six platform tracks. Four through platform tracks are provided for long-distance services. Two tracks are operated by S-Bahn services on the approach from the west. In early July 2008, the first 185-metre-long section of the station was completed so that the terminal could be built. On 24 July 2009, the airport company transferred the completed shell of the airport railway station and the first part of the tunnel to DB. The new line includes the stations of Waßmannsdorf and Berlin Brandenburg Airport and has a length of approximately 7.8 kilometres. The construction cost was specified as €636 million. This amount also included the cost of construction of long-distance tracks.

In 2020 the Berlin Brandenburg Airport was opened with a 9-year delay. With the opening of the airport, the S-Bahn service also began operation, which meant that the lines S45 and S9 were extended as was planned more than 10 years ago.

Planning of line S21 (Second Nord–Süd Bahn: first stage)
The second Nord–Süd Bahn will link the northern ring to the Hauptbahnhof, Potsdamer Platz station and the Wannsee Railway to the southern ring. Today's plans are almost identical to plans submitted to the 1907–1910 Greater Berlin competition by Albert Sprickerhof. Since then, there have been a number of alternatives proposals for such a route. A similar line was included in the plans for Welthauptstadt Germania ('World Capital Germania') in the 1930s.

The line will be built in sections. In 2005, the zoning approval for the northern part of the route from the Ringbahn to Hauptbahnhof was adopted. In October 2009 a loan agreement was entered into between the Senate and Deutsche Bahn for the first section. This provided for total costs of €226.5 million. On 27 November 2009, the preparatory work for this phase of construction started at the Hauptbahnhof. For the underground excavation in Invalidenstrasse, diaphragm walls were built into the ground and the trench in between was covered with a reinforced concrete lid.

This stage involves the construction of a curve to the Westhafen and an eastern connection to Wedding inside the northern Ringbahn. Structural preparation for these junctions to these lines had already been made during the construction of the North–South mainline in 2006. From there, the existing line will run in a southerly direction (in the tunnel layer) to the Berlin Hauptbahnhof east of the North–South mainline. The realization of an intermediate station under the working name of Perleberger Brücke (as a two-level station in a V-shape) is provided as an option. It was proposed to complete this 1,600-meter-long section by 2016. After construction delays caused by the inflow of groundwater, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the global supply chain crisis, the opening is planned for 2024 at the earliest.

Planning of line S21 (Second Nord–Süd Bahn: second stage)
The construction of the second section of the S21 is to begin no earlier than 2018 and is expected to be completed in 2023. The new S-Bahn line will run in a tunnel from near the Hauptbahnhof past the Reichstag to Potsdamer Platz. It will run next to the existing Nord-Süd Tunnel to Brandenburg Gate and separate from it to run to Potsdamer Platz. The first north–south S-Bahn tunnel was designed in 1939 with room for an additional two tracks at Potsdamer Platz and to its south for the new line. The cost of the S-Bahn line (phases 1 and 2) has been estimated at €317 million (2009 prices). The benefits of additional expenditure to the east of the Reichstag are still under investigation. This would increase the cost to about €330 million.

There are currently no dates set for the other phases of construction to the southern Ringbahn. It has so far only been defined in the Berlin land use plan.

Proposals for further extensions
Since reunification, there have been suggestions that lines that have not been used since 1961 or 1980 should be rebuilt and connected to the network by some new lines. Many of these plans have changed several times since then or have been abandoned.

Following a decision of the Berlin House of Representatives, the goal is essentially to restore the S-Bahn network to its extent in 1961. This was stated in an agreement between Deutsche Bahn, the Federal Ministry of Transport and the Senate on 4 November 1993. The network was to be restored by 2002. On this basis, the plans were included in the land use plan of 1995. In a study of the transport development by the then Department for Transport and Commerce in 1995, a plan was published for a network. Only the Jungfernheide–Stresow, Spandau–Staaken and Zehlendorf–Düppel sections, which had existed until 1980, were not incorporated in these plans. This political commitment is now only symbolic as some projects are now aimed at points beyond the original destinations or to miss them entirely. Budgetary difficulties, changing traffic flows and alternative development projects using Regionalbahn trains have led to the cancellation or postponement of projects that had already been developed.

Accidents
Since the foundation of the Berlin S-Bahn, a number of accidents have occurred.
 * On 15 December 1945, there was a head-on collision between a S-Bahn and a Nahgüterzug (local freight train) on the single-track Schöneweide–Spindlersfeld branch line. There were four dead and one seriously injured. The accident was caused by human error on the part of the dispatcher, who forgot the local freight train coming from Spindlersfeld and due to missing automatic block signaling and allowed a S-Bahn journey to Spindlersfeld.
 * On August 15, 1948, a train arriving from Oranienburger Straße in the north-south S-Bahn tunnel collided with a stopped train in the curve of the Spree underpass. 63 people were injured. The reason given was that the railcar personnel did not exercise the required care for "line of sight" operation, by driving at about 20 km/h in a blind curve. Both were initially dismissed without notice, but were acquitted by a court and remained on duty.
 * In the late afternoon of 18 December 1979, an S-Bahn train operating on the northern Berlin outer ring between Mühlenbeck and the Karow Cross collided with a just approaching freight train. The driver was killed in the accident, 20 passengers were injured, five of them seriously.
 * In 1987, there were several derailments of BVG S-Bahn trains in the Berlin Nord-Süd Tunnel. After a train had been derailed before and behind the platform Friedrichstraße with the first bogie, there was a major incident in March 1987, when a northbound train derailed in the narrow left turn of the Spree underpass. The BVG railcar 275 227 slid along the tunnel wall for about 50 meters, severely damaging the cable and the car itself. There was no personal injury.
 * On October 20, 1987, another train derailed with the penultimate bogie of the train in the tight right turn in front of the Berlin Brandenburger Tor station (then known as "Unter den Linden"). The last derailed car (275 319) fell out of profile and crashed into the platform, breaking a three-meter-long piece out of the edge and tearing a signal off the wall. On 2 November 1987, exactly at the same place, there was again a derailment of the last car (275 435). This also got out of profile and rammed again the platform edge. Both accidents caused considerable damage, but no personal injury. As a cause for the total of six derailments was found:
 * While the BVG began to profile its wheel profiles according to the current UIC standard, the track layouts of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) in the north-south S-Bahn tunnel did not meet the current requirements, which apparently led to compatibility problems (rail inclination DR 1:20, UIC 1:40).
 * After the transfer of the West Berlin S-Bahn to the BVG, the DR had completely removed the previously existing guard rails from the tight curves.
 * The Deutsche Reichsbahn had dismantled all curve lubrication devices on the track arches, which had greatly increased the tendency to climb the wheel arches. In connection with the other two points it had to come to the derailments. As a consequence, the DR rebuilt the lubricators and imposed a speed reduction from 50 to 40 km/h. The BVG marked all the quarter-trains that already carried the new UIC profile with a yellow line under the company number. These cars were excluded from driving through the tunnel.
 * On October 21, 2001, at Ostkreuz and on May 13, 2002, at Hackescher Markt, rear-end collisions occurred which gave rise to the introduction of speed monitoring. At Ostkreuz, two trains of the class 485 collided late on Sunday evening, when the approaching train could not be stopped in time for emergency braking. The driver claimed to have initiated the required speed reduction before the stop signal, however, no evidence could be found to confirm this claim. Instead, the court presumed the driver was inattentive shortly before the end of the shift, and ignored the previous signal. Twelve people were injured and there were 190,000 euros in property damage. Also at Hackescher Markt station, experts were unable to identify any problems with the brake system of the 481 model series involved, which could explain the excessive speed at the entrance to the occupied track of the platform. Here 13 people were injured, again mainly by broken discs. In both cases, a fine was imposed on train drivers who both no longer drive trains.
 * On August 10, 2004, a class 480 suburban railway car caught fire in the underground Anhalter station. The cause was a cabling fault in the brake resistor fan. The station suffered severe damage, had to be closed and rehabilitated for several months, but there were no casualties. The costs for the renovation were given as a total of 5.5 million euros. As a result of this accident, it was decided to outfit all underground stations with at least two exits, analogous to the Berlin subway. In practice, this concerns only the stations Oranienburger Straße and Anhalter Bahnhof, the latter received another southern exit in the direction of Tempodrom.
 * On November 20, 2006, at 10:25 am, a S-Bahn train on the S25 line in the direction of Hennigsdorf in Südkreuz station hit an occupied track and collided with a work train. The impact threw passengers through the car, injuring 33 of the approximately 100 passengers, two of them seriously injured. The work train, a track gauge, had traveled the track before and covered the rails with a film of water. As a result of this film, the following class 481 S-Bahn train slid out of the area during braking in the station area and landed on the work train. As a consequence of this accident was ordered that the vehicles of the Berlin S-Bahn enter stations more slowly. As a result of the accident, the maximum speed allowed on all 481 Series trains in February 2008 was reduced to 80 km/h. Only after the modification of the anti-slip system are higher speeds to be driven again.
 * On May 1, 2009, an S-Bahn train of the class 481 in Kaulsdorf derailed due to a broken wheel. According to S-Bahners, the scheduled main investigation of the derailed train had been postponed for two years. As a consequence, this accident led to the subsequent chaos in 2009, since the test intervals were shortened and therefore at times only 165 out of 552 required quarter trains were available. Eventually, all axes had to be replaced because they were generally considered to be inadequate.
 * On August 21, 2012, derailed when crossing a turnout in the northern exit of the station Tegel a moving towards Hennigsdorf S-Bahn line S25. In the accident five passengers were injured, the driver suffered a shock and also had to be cared for medically.

title: Berlin S-Bahn


text:
Rapho

Rapho may refer to:
 * Rapho (agency), a French photo agency
 * Rapho Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Rapho


text:
Katherine, Northern Territory

Katherine is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is situated on the Katherine River, after which it is named, 320 km southeast of Darwin. The fourth largest settlement in the Territory, it is known as the place where "The outback meets the tropics". Katherine LGA had a population of approximately 9,643 at the 2021 Australia Census.

Katherine is also the closest major town to RAAF Base Tindal, located 17 km southeast, and provides education, health, local government services and employment opportunities for the families of Defence personnel stationed there. In the, the base had a residential population of 857, with only around 20% of the workforce engaged in employment outside of defence, the majority commuting to work in Katherine. Katherine is also the central hub of the great "Savannah Way" which stretches from Cairns in north Queensland to Broome in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Beginning as an outpost established with the Australian Overland Telegraph Line on the north–south transport route between Darwin and Adelaide, Katherine has grown with the development of transport and local industries including mining – particularly gold mining; a strategic military function with RAAF Base Tindal; also as a tourism gateway to the attractions of nearby Nitmiluk National Park, particularly Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge and its many ancient rock paintings. The region floods heavily during the wet season.

History
The first inhabitants of the area were Indigenous Australians, specifically the Dagoman people. It was an important meeting place for these tribes and remains a place of convergence. Today the Walpiri people from the Victoria River District and Tanami Desert areas now have a dedicated community based at Katherine East.

Explorer John McDouall Stuart passed through the area in 1862 on his successful third journey across the continent from north to south. On 4 July 1862, Stuart crossed the Katherine River 90 km upstream from the present town, and recorded in his diary: "Came upon another large creek, having a running stream to the south of west and coming from the north of east. This I have named 'Katherine', in honour of the second daughter of pastoralist James Chambers Esq." There is some conjecture over Stuart's accuracy. Chambers's wife's name was Katherine but, according to most sources, his daughter's name was Catherine.

Katherine Telegraph Station was established on 22 August 1872 and the completion of the Overland Telegraph Line later in 1872, and the town began with a small permanent population on the west side of the Katherine River. Katherine benefited from the proximity to nearby gold fields including Pine Creek 90 kilometres to the north.

Gold was discovered 50 kilometres to the north in 1889 at Mount Todd.

The North Australia Railway was extended to Katherine with construction beginning in 1923 of the Katherine railway bridge. During construction of the railway, the town's centre was relocated to the eastern side of the river. The bridge was completed in 1926 and the first train crossed on 21 January 1926. On 15 July 1926, the town's present site was gazetted. The original post office and the Overland Telegraph station were set just above Knott's Crossing and next to the Sportsman's Arms Hotel that had quarters for the station master at the Overland Telegraph station and a single room police station.

During World War II, the Australian Army set up two hospitals around Katherine, the 101st Australian General Hospital and 121st Australian General Hospital. The army also set up a Katherine Area Headquarters. On 22 March 1942, Katherine sustained its only air raid during World War II. One man was killed when a Japanese aircraft bombed the town.

Mining production has declined since the closure of the mine at Mount Todd (50 kilometres to the north) in 2000.

Construction began on a new rail line in July 2001. On 13 September 2003, the line was finished with a continuous track from Adelaide, South Australia, to Darwin. The Ghan passenger train service commenced on 4 February 2004, running several times a week and stopping on both the northbound and southbound journeys.

The river flooded the town in 1931, 1940, 1957, 1998 and 2006. The 1998 floods were the worst on record. The river reached a height of 20.4 metres.

The April 2006 floods placed parts of the town under water (including about 50 houses), caused millions of dollars of damage, and resulted in the declaration of a state of emergency on 7 April. However, there were no reports of the flooding causing structural damage. Town residents were given warning that the river might flood on 5 April, and the town centre was underwater before noon the next day. The floodwaters reached a peak of nearly 19 metres at the Katherine River bridge. Dozens of homes were inundated with up to 2 m of water, with many residents having time to escape with little more than the clothes they were wearing. Over the weekend of 8–9 April, more than 1,100 people went to the evacuation centres in the town. The state of emergency was lifted on 9 April.

In recent decades, Katherine has developed as a regional centre supporting the cattle, horticulture, agriculture and tourism industries. Located at the junction of major tourism drives, Central Arnhem Road, the Savannah Way and the Explorers Way, Katherine is an important visitor gateway for the Northern Territory.

On Australia Day in 1998 a major flood devastated the town, and the area was declared a national disaster. The flood resulted from the 300–400 mm of rainwater brought by Cyclone Les that caused the already full Katherine River to peak at 20.4 metres. The floodwaters inundated the town and much of the surrounding region, requiring the evacuation of many residents. The flood covered an area of 1000 square kilometres, affected 1100 homes and cut off many roads in and out of Katherine. Three people drowned.

Population
According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 6,303 people in Katherine.
 * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 25.4% of the population.
 * 66.2% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were Philippines 2.9%, New Zealand 1.8% and England 1.7%.
 * 64.3% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Kriol at 3.5%.
 * The most common response for religion was No Religion at 31.1%.

Katherine's population swells immensely during the Dry Season. Each year hundreds of older people (termed "Grey nomads") from the colder parts of Australia pack caravans and head north to Katherine and other locations throughout the Northern Territory.

Topography
Katherine is located 320 km south of Darwin, and is situated on the banks of the Katherine River, which is part of the Daly River system. The upper reaches rise into the Arnhem Land escarpment and Kakadu, to the northeast. The Victoria River (The Northern Territory's largest river system) is situated 189 km south-west of Katherine along the Victoria Highway. Katherine is at the crossroads of the Outback due to its location between the Darwin region, Kakadu National Park, the Barkley Region, the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

The topography of the region is predominantly dry tropical savanna woodlands and consists of plains, hills, rock outcrops. To the east lies Koombolgie sandstone escarpments and spectacular gorges through Nitmiluk National Park. The township itself is set among relatively flat plains along the Katherine River within the Tindall / Oolloo Aquifers, dotted with rugged Karst limestone formations, caves and jagged outcrops. Numerous mesas (flat-topped hills or "Jump-ups") emerge south-west of Katherine on surrounding cattle stations.

Katherine is within an ecoregion classified as the Kimberley tropical savanna which covers a large portion of Australia's north-west through WA and the NT.

Climate
Katherine experiences a dry tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw) with distinct wet and dry seasons. Daily high temperatures in the wet season typically range from 30 to 37 °C, reaching over 40 °C from late September to late November. Very high humidity accompanies high temperatures during the build-up period to the wet season, when the region receives spectacular electrical storms. The wet season monsoon period is a dramatic time of year, from large thunderstorms and heavy downpours to the transitions of lush greenery appearing from the parched deciduous landscapes of the dry season. Katherine experiences around 50 thunderstorm days per year, most of which occur from November to April.

In the dry, the nights can get quite cool, regularly dropping to 7 °C around June and July. Humidity levels are much lower from June to August and hence this has become the most popular time for visitors who wish to explore the region. Most parks and roads are accessible during the dry season, whereas the wet season often causes accessibility restrictions.

Low elevation relative to surrounding areas, as well as the town's situation on the banks of a river, means that the area is prone to flooding. A flood on Australia Day in 1998 was particularly destructive. Ex-Tropical Cyclone Les produced between 300 and 400 mm of rainfall during a 48-hour period, causing the Katherine River to rise to 21.3 metres and claim the lives of three people.

Districts
The central business district of Katherine is set 350 metres from the banks of the Katherine River. The township services the regional centres of Pine Creek, Mataranka, Borooloola, Daly River and Timber Creek.

The RAAF Tindal Base is located 17 km from Katherine and plays a significant role in the local economy. Tindal Airbase officially opened on 1 October 1988.

The Katherine Town Council (municipality) Zone extends from Flora River Junction in the West to Maranboy in the East and from the Fergusson River in the North to the Sturt Plateau in the South. Other shire zones in the Katherine Region are the Victoria Daly and the Roper Gulf shires.

Traditional lands of the area include the Wardaman, Jawoyn and Dagoman aboriginal land trusts. The township itself is a convergence zone of these traditional lands.

Wardaman country occupies areas to the west of Katherine, from Manbulloo (around Limestone Creek) to eastern parts of the Victoria River District.

Jawoyn country occupies areas to the east of Katherine from Lansdowne to the southern edge of Kakadu National Park, including Nitmiluk National Park, Barunga, Beswick and south-western Arnhem Land.

Dagoman country occupies areas to the south of Katherine, from Leach Lagoon, the Upper King River, the Dry River and across to the Warlock Ponds near Mataranka.

Built environment
Springvale Homestead, built in 1879, is the oldest original homestead in the Northern Territory. The homestead was originally managed by Alfred Giles, an ex-Overland Telegraph linesman. The Old Katherine Railway Station is another historic attraction that served Vestey's Meatworks during their operation in Darwin and was a major hub of transport during World War II.

Another historic site is the O’Keeffe Residence. Originally built as a recreation hut in 1943 for army officers during World War II, the structure serves as a good example of local construction practice, using local materials like Cypress pine and corrugated iron.

The Gallon Licence Store is another historical gem of the Old Katherine Settlement, built by Bernard Murphy in 1891. Located near Knotts Crossing, it is surrounded by large Boab Trees and Bauhinia near the banks of the Katherine River. The Gallon Licence Store was also featured in the crocodile horror film Rogue.

Since the establishment of Nitmiluk National Park, Katherine has developed into a tourism destination. Katherine Gorge in Nitmiluk National Park attracts large numbers of visitors each year (232,000 in 2004–05).

Parks and gardens
Katherine town and surrounds provide plenty of park and garden areas. Dakota Park, Giles Park, Styles Park Jurassic Cycad Gardens, Jukes Park and O’Shea Park are in the town. Tourist attractions include Nitmiluk National Park and Cutta Cutta Caves Nature Park, Kintore Caves Nature Park with its populations of endangered cycads, Low Level Nature Park, Springvale Homestead and Katherine Hot Springs. Other significant parks of the region include Elsey National Park, Gregory National Park and Giwining/Flora River Nature Park.

Along Riverbank Drive on the Katherine River, Katherine Hot Springs provides swimming, shaded picnic tables and barbecue facilities set amongst tall paperpark trees and ghost gums, with an abundant array of birds and wildlife. A paved pathway loops around and along the Katherine River and mountain bike trails weave on and off a paved pathway down to the river. A popup cafe and bike hire are situated at the Hot Springs Carpark in the dry season (May to October).

Fishing for barramundi, tarpon (ox-eye herring) and sooty grunter, locally known as "Black Bream", are also popular along the Katherine River. The river hosts a diverse variety of fish species. The low level nature reserve and hot springs and Nitmiluk National Park are regularly checked for crocodiles and are regarded reasonably safe for swimming during the dry season months.

Popular fishing spots:

Donkey Camp, the Old King River Crossing, Knott's Crossing and Edith River are good fishing spots. The Flora River 90 minutes southwest of town also offers excellent barramundi fishing either by casting from the bank or by small boat. The Flora is inhabited by saltwater crocodiles year-round and swimming is not permitted.

Both freshwater crocodiles (Crocodylus johnstoni) and saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) inhabit river systems in the Katherine Region.

Government
The seat of local government for the Town of Katherine is located in Katherine. The council consists of five aldermen, a mayor, and a deputy mayor. The town's current mayor is Elisabeth Clark.

At Territory level, the electoral division of Katherine covers the town and its suburbs and elects one member to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly. Jo Hersey won the election in 2020 for the CLP, ousting Labor party member Sandra Nelson. Many Northern Territory Government departments have offices in Katherine with most of these housed in the Government Centre building in First Street, which allows the community to access services such as motor vehicle registration and public health clinics, family and community services and public housing. There is also a courthouse located next door which regularly hears matters before the Northern Territory Magistrates Court within the chambers.

In the Australian House of Representatives, Katherine is part of the Division of Lingiari, which includes all of the Territory outside the Darwin/Palmerston area. Lingiari is currently held by Marion Scrymgour. The Australian Senate has two senators from the Northern Territory – Jacinta Price representing the Country Liberal Party and Malarndirri McCarthy from the Australian Labor Party. Katherine has been a solid base for the centre-right Country Liberal Party.

Federal Government services including Centrelink are also accessible through offices in Katherine.

Economy
The pastoral industry, mining, defence (RAAF Base Tindal) and tourism contribute to the economy of Katherine. In 2003–04, the estimated total value of agriculture production from the Katherine Region was $75M: $52M from cattle, $16.5M from fruit and vegetables and $7M from hay and other field crops. Production from mining in the region was estimated at $201M in 2003–04, or 13% of NT mining and energy production. Major commodities included lead, zinc, barites, limestone and gravel.

In support of the pastoral and agriculture industries, the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries maintains the Katherine Research Station, employing up to 40 staff in laboratories, greenhouses, coolrooms and animal-handling facilities, with open lands for cropping and grazing activities. The facility comprises 1260 ha of land on a site located off the Stuart Highway 4 km east of Katherine. The research conducted at the station assists local farmers to align land-management to climate and environment, and to address pests and diseases.

Mangoes, including the Kensington Pride, are a major primary industry in the territory. In summer, the Katherine region is one of Australia's major mango-producing areas. The Northern Territory in general produces early-season (September–November) mangoes, avoiding the potentially damaging wet season.

Cotton is an emerging industry in and around Katherine. Trials of modern, generically-modified cotton such as Bollgard3 have been undertaken at the Katherine Research Station. By 2019-20, 800 hectares of cotton was sown in the Territory across six properties in the Katherine and Top End regions, many of which are managed by operators from the Murray Darling regions of New South Wales. While 80% of crops were rain-fed, there are still environmental concerns over industry water usage, with projections that even small-scale irrigation for cotton could still amount to water usage equivalent to almost 70% of current allocations. A $70 million cotton gin was established by WANT north of Katherine in December 2023.

The town's principal retail facility, the Katherine Shopping Centre of 7200 m2 is owned by Vicinity Centres and includes a Woolworths supermarket, a K Hub store (replaced Target Country in early 2021) and speciality stores.

Rail
Katherine was originally connected to Darwin via the North Australia Railway, a narrow gauge railway which reached the town in 1926. The line fell into disuse and was closed in May 1976, after damage caused by Cyclone Tracy led to the cessation of the shipment of iron ore from the Frances Creek mine. In 2003, the line was replaced by the standard gauge line from Alice Springs to Darwin.

The Ghan, run by Journey Beyond, operates on the standard gauge line between Adelaide and Darwin. It runs once a week in each direction, with some exceptions.

A new Katherine Logistics and Agribusiness Hub is being planned. The proposed new passenger terminal and associated access road, carpark and rail platform will be constructed on a new rail line loop.

Air
Katherine Airport, situated within RAAF Base Tindal, is approximately 15 km south of the town centre. Airnorth flies to Katherine three times a week from Darwin and Alice Springs. Charter flights can also be arranged. The current airport shares facilities with RAAF Base Tindal, replacing the original Katherine Airfield which operated from 1930 to 1978, which was notable as the base from which Dr Clyde Fenton established the Northern Territory Aerial Medical Service.

The airport and town received an extended description in the book "Beyond the Blue Horizon" by Alexander Frater, written in the 1980s and describing a journey by local air services from London to Brisbane, retracing the route of the pioneer airline operations of the 1930s.

Road
Katherine is at the crossroads of the Savannah Way that runs east–west from Cairns to Broome and the Explorer's Way that runs north–south from Darwin to Adelaide through Alice Springs. Savannah Way runs along the Victoria Highway at Katherine and Explorers Way runs along Stuart Highway. The town is a three-hour drive from Darwin.

Education
As a major regional centre, the town provides primary, secondary and tertiary education options, as well as facilitating students with special needs and disabilities.

There are four public primary schools located in the town catering to students in from transition to year 7: Katherine South Public School, Clyde Fenton School, Macfarlane Primary School and Casuarina Street School. Each of these schools also has a pre-school attached. Kintore Street Special school caters for children with additional needs from 3.6 to 18 years.

Katherine High School is the only public secondary and middle years school (years 7 – 12) in the town and supports academic, sporting, and scientific learning opportunities for its students. The school has a well resourced library has a wide range of written and electronic media. Katherine High also boasts a large, airconditioned gymnasium allowing year round sporting activities and indoor activities. According to the Department of Education, Employment and Training, there are currently 586 students enrolled at the school. The current principal is Anne White. Due to the vast area and sparse population serviced by the Katherine Region, many students have to travel significant distances from their home to attend school. Callistemon House located nearby, while independent of Katherine High School provides accommodation for up to 40 high school students from remote areas so they may attend classes regularly at the school.

Saint Joseph's Catholic College provides an alternative to the public schools in Katherine, catering for students from pre-school to year 12. The school began offering year 11 studies in 2013 and year 12 studies in 2014. As of 2012, there were 330 students enrolled at the college.

Charles Darwin University maintains a campus in Katherine which is split between two locations. The Rural College is located on the Stuart Highway 16 km north of Katherine on the Stuart Highway and provides residential accommodation for students studying vocational courses or undertaking apprenticeships and traineeships in agriculture and rural production. The town offices are located within the CBD and offer vocational courses in other disciplines including studies of business, computing, childcare and community services.

Kintore Street School provides specialised education for students with special needs from across the Katherine region.

Katherine School of the Air was established in 1966 to provide distance education to students in remote locations and isolated communities. The school originally conducted classes via HF radio broadcasts, however with the advent of technologies such as satellite communications and the internet this system is no longer used. The school caters for approximately 250 students up to year 9 over an area of 800,000 km2. The school also promotes itself as a tourist attraction, boasting the "World's Largest Classroom".

Health
Katherine District Hospital is located in the town and provides emergency medical and surgical facilities as well as maternity, radiography and renal dialysis units and specialist services. GP appointments are available at Gorge Health. The Wurli-Wurlinjang Health Service offers culturally sensitive treatment for Indigenous patients.

Library
Also in town, on the first floor of the Randazzo Centre, on Katherine Terrace is the Katherine Public Library. The library is a free community service which offers memberships to all residents of the Katherine region and temporary memberships are available for visitors to the region. In addition to their borrowable collection of books, multimedia, audiobooks and e-resources the library is also home to the Northern Territory Collection; a special, not-for-loan collection that collects material relating specifically about or written by authors from the Northern Territory and the Katherine Region more specifically.

Leisure and entertainment
Leisure and entertainment activities in Katherine are often nature-based. Katherine Hot Springs, Mataranka Hot Springs, canoeing in Nitmiluk Gorge on the Katherine River, hunting, bushwalking, caving, camping and fishing on the Victoria, Daly, Roper or Katherine Rivers are all popular leisure activities. Although attempts are made to safely relocate saltwater crocodiles from areas of the river popular to tourists, these crocodiles do inhabit most of these river systems.

Within the town itself is a three-screen cinema complex which opened in 1998. There are two clubs in the town: The Katherine Club (Returned and Services League of Australia sub-branch), located in the Central Business District and Katherine Country Club in Katherine South. There are several restaurants and hotels (or resorts) that do offer lunch or dinner options.

Sport
The Katherine Sports Ground Complex, run by Katherine Town Council, is the main sporting facility and houses the Katherine Aquatic Centre including an olympic swimming pool, tennis club, four ovals (one with a pitch used for cricket and Australian rules football),a BMX track, a basketball court and rugby league and soccer fields. The complex also hosts equestrian sports and the Katherine and District Show Society. The town is also home to a nine-hole golf course, a fully equipped baseball diamond and a softball field.

Australian rules football is popular in the region with several local clubs, Katherine, Katherine South, Eastside, and Tindal football clubs competing in the Big Rivers Australian Football League (formerly the Katherine District Football League).

Further sporting amenities are provided at the Katherine Showgrounds: a rodeo arena, a polocrosse playing field, and an oval with grandstand facilities, often used for football matches> The Jim Jackson Racecourse is the home of the Katherine Turf Club and the annual Katherine Cup race meeting, which draws competitors and punters from across the Northern Territory.

The local rugby league competition is the Katherine Rugby League, and sanctions both Junior and Senior Rugby League matches. The season usually kicks off around March/April and runs through to Late August. A large facility owned by the YMCA, the Henry Scott Recreation Centre, is located at the Katherine Sports Ground Complex and contains a roller skating rink and gymnasium. It hosts regular recreational activities aimed at youth in the town such as dance classes. The venue also offers after school childcare and creche facilities. In addition, the YMCA hosts other activities such as Aqua Aerobics classes at the Katherine Aquatic Centre located adjacent to the Recreation Centre.

Mimi Aboriginal Art and Craft
Mimi Aboriginal Art and Craft, located at 6 Pearce Street, is a 100% Aboriginal-owned community nonprofit art centre, established in 1978. Over fifty per cent of revenue from sales is paid to the artists, with the rest contributing to the running of the art centre. Artists represented there include Bill Yidumduma Harney.

The centre underwent an extensive renovation in 2021/2022, reopening in May 2022. Facilities, including professional gallery spaces and artists' studios, were improved, and more outdoor spaces added to enhance the visitor experience. Troppo Architects designed the refurbishments, in consultation with the Mimi Ngarrdalingi Aboriginal Corporation Board members, staff and member artists.

Music
The Katherine Country Music Muster Association was formed after the Katherine 1998 floods to raise money for the Katherine Historical Society Inc. Over the years, the Muster has hosted emerging local and national country music artists, such as Kasey Chambers. Unique Indigenous music and dances are also important to the region.

In popular culture
The Katherine Region was popularised by the novel We of the Never Never (1908) by Jeannie Gunn, the wife of a pioneering pastoralist in the late 1800s. A film version of the book was released in 1982. The feature film Jedda (1955) was partially filmed at Katherine Gorge; however, the last roll of negatives was destroyed in a plane crash on its way for developing in England and the scenes were re-shot at Kanangra Falls in the Blue Mountains. The Australian horror film Rogue, released in 2007, was partly filmed in Katherine Gorge. Katherine is also briefly mentioned in the 1986 film "Crocodile" Dundee. Katherine features heavily in Generation, a novel by Andrew MacAllan (a pseudonym of James Leasor).

Notable people
Notable people from or who have lived in Katherine include:

 * Jed Anderson, professional Australian rules footballer (born and raised in Katherine from 1994)
 * Keidean Coleman, professional Australian rules footballer (born and raised in Katherine from 2000)
 * Mick Dodson, Indigenous Australian advocate and Australian of the Year (born in Katherine 1950)
 * Cadel Evans, former professional racing cyclist and mountainbiker who won the Tour de France in 2011 (born in Katherine 1977)
 * Clyde Fenton, the first Flying Doctor with the moniker "Speed Gordon of the Territory Skies" (lived and operated in Katherine between 1934 and 1942)
 * Alicia Janz, Australian rules footballer and netballer (born in Katherine in 1990)
 * Leisel Jones, Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer (born in Katherine 1985)
 * Luke Kelly, professional rugby league footballer (born in Katherine 1989)
 * Bruce Litchfield, architect who designed and built early Katherine buildings
 * Andrew McLeod, professional Australian rules footballer (grew up in Katherine in the 1980s)
 * Malarndirri McCarthy, Indigenous Australian politician (born in Katherine 1970)
 * Sam McMahon, an Australian politician for the Country Liberal Party and a Senator for the Northern Territory in the Parliament of Australia in 2019
 * James McManus, professional rugby league footballer (grew up in Katherine in the 1990s)
 * Brad Ottens, professional Australian rules footballer (grew up on a local cattle station)
 * D'Arcy Short, professional cricketer (born in Katherine 1990)
 * Mathew Sinclair, New Zealand Cricketer (born in Katherine 1975)
 * C. W. Stoneking, Australian blues musician (born in Katherine 1974)
 * Stephanie Talbot, Australian basketball player (born in Katherine 1994)
 * Jim Zimin, pioneering farmer and inventor (lived in Katherine 1930–1934, 1936–1974)

title: Katherine, Northern Territory


text:
Yermak (1898 icebreaker)

Yermak (Ермак) was a Russian and later Soviet icebreaker. It was the first polar icebreaker in the world, having a strengthened hull shaped to ride over and crush pack ice.

History
Yermak was built for the Imperial Russian Navy under the supervision of vice-admiral S. O. Makarov by the members of his commission, which included D. I. Mendeleev, engineers N. I. Yankovsky and R. I. Runeberg, admiral F. F. Wrangel, among others. It was built in Newcastle upon Tyne at its Low Walker yard and launched in 1898. She was named after the famous Russian explorer of Siberia, Don Cossack ataman Yermak Timofeyevich.

She was commissioned on 17 October 1898. She arrived in Kronstadt on 4 March 1899 after breaking through ice and a formal reception was held to mark her arrival. Later in 1899 she reached 81°21'N north of Spitsbergen. She had been constructed to break through heavy ice (up to 2 m in thickness).

Yermak had been used in the winter of 1899–1900 to set up the first radio communication link in Russia between Kotka and Gogland (Suursaar) island (distance 47 km). In 1900 she came to the aid of the cruiser Gromoboi which had grounded in the Baltic.

Between 1899 and 1911 Yermak sailed in heavy ice conditions for more than 1000 days.

During World War I she assisted the Baltic Fleet during the Ice Cruise when the fleet was evacuated from Helsinki to Kronstadt in February 1918.

During World War II the Yermak was mobilised again and took part in the evacuation of Hanko naval base. She was armed with two 102 mm, two 76 mm, four 45 mm and four machine guns.

Yermak served with different branches of the Russian and Soviet Navy and Merchant Marine up until 1964, becoming one of the longest-serving icebreakers in the world. An island in the Nordenskiöld Archipelago was named after her.

A monument to the icebreaker Yermak was unveiled in Murmansk In November 1965 – this included mosaic panels and the original anchor on the pedestal.

Another icebreaker with the name Yermak was built for the Soviet Union at the Wärtsilä Helsinki shipyard, Finland in 1974. Russia employs an icebreaker named Yermak in the Baltic Sea as late as 2010.

title: Yermak (1898 icebreaker)


text:
Rapid River Township

Rapid River Township is the name of two townships in the United States:
 * Rapid River Township, Michigan
 * Rapid River Township, Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota

 * See also:
 * Rapid River (disambiguation)

title: Rapid River Township


text:
List of air forces

This alphabetically arranged list of air forces identifies the current and historical names and roundels for the military aviation arms of countries fielding an air component, whether an independent air forces, a naval aviation, or army aviation units. At the end is a separate list of no longer existent nations that once operated air forces. Country names in italics indicate that they are not generally recognized internationally as independent states but which nonetheless managed to field an active air service. For information on the size of military forces, see list of countries by size of armed forces.

A

 * rowspan="11"| 🇦🇫 Afghanistan

 * rowspan="3"| 🇦🇱 Albania

 * rowspan="4"| 🇩🇿 Algeria

 * rowspan="3"| 🇦🇴 Angola

 * rowspan="1"| 🇦🇬 Antigua and Barbuda

 * rowspan="7"| 🇦🇷 Argentina

 * rowspan="1"| 🇦🇲 Armenia

 * rowspan="11"| 🇦🇺 Australia

 * rowspan="3"| 🇦🇹 Austria

 * rowspan="1"| 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan

 * }

B

 * 🇧🇸 Bahamas

 * rowspan="4"| 🇧🇭 Bahrain

 * rowspan="5"| 🇧🇩 Bangladesh

 * rowspan="1"| 🇧🇧 Barbados

 * rowspan="2"| 🇧🇾 Belarus

 * rowspan="8"| 🇧🇪 Belgium

 * 🇧🇿 Belize

 * rowspan="3"| 🇧🇯 Benin

 * 🇧🇹 Bhutan

 * rowspan="4"| 🇧🇴 Bolivia

 * rowspan="5"| 🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina

 * 🇧🇼 Botswana

 * rowspan="5"| 🇧🇷 Brazil

 * rowspan="3"| Brunei

 * rowspan="11"| 🇧🇬 Bulgaria

 * rowspan="2"| 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso

 * 🇧🇮 Burundi

 * }

C

 * rowspan="8"| 🇰🇭 Cambodia

 * rowspan="1"| 🇨🇲 Cameroon

 * rowspan="14"| 🇨🇦 Canada

 * rowspan="1"| 🇨🇻 Cape Verde

 * rowspan="3"| 🇨🇫 Central African Republic

 * rowspan="1"| 🇹🇩 Chad

 * rowspan="4"| 🇨🇱 Chile

 * rowspan="6"| People's Republic of China

 * rowspan="14"| Republic of China

 * rowspan="4"| 🇨🇴 Colombia

 * 🇰🇲 Comoros

 * rowspan="3"| 🇨🇩 Congo

 * rowspan="2"| Democratic Republic of the Congo

 * rowspan="3"| 🇨🇷 Costa Rica

 * 🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

 * rowspan="3"| 🇭🇷 Croatia

 * rowspan="5"| 🇨🇺 Cuba

 * rowspan="2"| 🇨🇾 Cyprus

 * rowspan="4"| 🇨🇿 Czech Republic

 * }

D

 * rowspan="8"| 🇩🇰 Denmark

 * 🇩🇯 Djibouti (formerly the French Territory of Afars and Issas)

 * rowspan="16"| 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic

 * }

E

 * rowspan=1 | East Timor

 * rowspan="3"| 🇪🇨 Ecuador

 * rowspan="6"| 🇪🇬 Egypt

 * rowspan="1"| 🇸🇻 El Salvador

 * 🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea

 * rowspan="1"| 🇪🇷 Eritrea

 * rowspan="4"| 🇪🇪 Estonia

 * rowspan="2"| Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)

 * rowspan="8"| 🇪🇹 Ethiopia

 * }

F

 * rowspan="1"| 🇫🇯 Fiji

 * rowspan="6"| 🇫🇮 Finland

 * rowspan="12"| 🇫🇷 France

 * }

G

 * rowspan="1"| 🇬🇦 Gabon

 * 🇬🇲 Gambia (formerly part of the Senegambia Confederation)

 * rowspan="3"| Georgia

 * rowspan="16"| 🇩🇪 Germany

 * rowspan="2"| 🇬🇭 Ghana (formerly the Gold Coast)

 * rowspan="9"|🇬🇷 Greece

 * rowspan="5"| 🇬🇹 Guatemala

 * 🇬🇳 Guinea

 * 🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau (formerly Portuguese Guinea)

 * rowspan="2"| 🇬🇾 Guyana (formerly British Guyana)

 * }

H

 * rowspan="3"| 🇭🇹 Haiti

 * rowspan="4"| 🇭🇳 Honduras

 * rowspan="11"| 🇭🇺 Hungary

 * }

I
For Ivory Coast, see Côte d'Ivoire above.

 * rowspan="2"| 🇮🇸 Iceland

 * rowspan="9"| 🇮🇳 India

 * rowspan="7"| 🇮🇩 Indonesia

 * rowspan="8"| 🇮🇷 Iran (formerly Persia)

 * rowspan="5"| 🇮🇶 Iraq

 * rowspan="3"| 🇮🇪 Ireland

 * rowspan="4"| 🇮🇱 Israel

 * rowspan="1"| Palestine

 * rowspan="20"| 🇮🇹 Italy

 * }

J

 * rowspan=1| 🇯🇲 Jamaica

 * rowspan=6| 🇯🇵 Japan

 * rowspan=2| 🇯🇴 Jordan (formerly Transjordan)

 * }

K

 * 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan

 * rowspan="3"|🇰🇪 Kenya

 * 🇰🇵 North Korea

 * rowspan="7"|🇰🇷 South Korea

 * rowspan="4"| 🇰🇼 Kuwait

 * 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan

 * }

L

 * rowspan="4"| Laos

 * rowspan="5"| 🇱🇻 Latvia

 * 🇱🇧 Lebanon

 * rowspan="3"| 🇱🇸 Lesotho (formerly Basutoland)

 * rowspan="2"| 🇱🇷 Liberia

 * rowspan="5"| 🇱🇾 Libya

 * rowspan="5"| 🇱🇹 Lithuania

 * rowspan="1"|🇱🇺 Luxembourg
 * }

M

 * rowspan="2"| North Macedonia

 * 🇲🇬 Madagascar (formerly the Malagasy Republic)

 * rowspan="3"| 🇲🇼 Malawi (formerly Nyasaland)

 * rowspan="9"| 🇲🇾 Malaysia (formerly Malaya)

 * 🇲🇻 Maldives

 * 🇲🇱 Mali

 * rowspan="2"| 🇲🇹 Malta

 * rowspan="2"| 🇲🇷 Mauritania

 * 🇲🇺 Mauritius

 * rowspan="5"| 🇲🇽 Mexico

 * 🇲🇩 Moldova

 * rowspan="2"| 🇲🇳 Mongolia

 * rowspan="2"| 🇲🇪 Montenegro

}
 * rowspan="4"| 🇲🇦 Morocco

 * rowspan="2"| 🇲🇿 Mozambique

 * rowspan="2"| 🇲🇲 Myanmar (formerly Burma)

 * }

N

 * rowspan="3"| 🇳🇦 Namibia (formerly South West Africa)

 * rowspan="1"| NATO

 * rowspan="3"| 🇳🇵 Nepal

 * rowspan="11"| 🇳🇱 Netherlands

LOAF

 * rowspan="1"| 🇳🇱 Dutch Caribbean

 * rowspan="7"| 🇳🇿 New Zealand

 * rowspan="10"| 🇳🇮 Nicaragua

 * rowspan="2"| 🇳🇪 Niger

 * rowspan="3"| 🇳🇬 Nigeria

 * rowspan="4"| 🇳🇴 Norway

 * }

O

 * rowspan="2"| 🇴🇲 Oman (formerly Muscat and Oman)

 * }

P

 * rowspan="4"| 🇵🇰 Pakistan

 * rowspan="2"| 🇵🇦 Panama

 * rowspan="2'| 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea

 * rowspan="3"| 🇵🇾 Paraguay

 * rowspan="8"| 🇵🇪 Peru

 * rowspan="11"| 🇵🇭 Philippines

 * rowspan="15"| 🇵🇱 Poland

 * rowspan="11"| 🇵🇹 Portugal

 * }

Q

 * rowspan="2"| 🇶🇦 Qatar

 * }

R

 * rowspan="17"| 🇷🇴 Romania

 * rowspan="15"| 🇷🇺 Russia

 * 🇷🇼 Rwanda (formerly Ruanda-Urundi)

 * }

S

 * rowspan="6"| 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia

 * rowspan="3"| 🇸🇳 Senegal (formerly part of the Senegambia Confederation)

 * rowspan="8"| 🇷🇸 Serbia

 * rowspan="2"| 🇸🇨 Seychelles

 * 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone

 * rowspan="4"| 🇸🇬 Singapore

 * rowspan="4"| 🇸🇰 Slovakia

 * rowspan="4"| 🇸🇮 Slovenia

 * rowspan="3"| 🇸🇴 Somalia

 * rowspan="7"| 🇿🇦 South Africa

 * 🇸🇸 South Sudan

 * rowspan="15"| 🇪🇸 Spain

 * rowspan="2"| 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon)

 * rowspan="2"| 🇸🇩 Sudan (formerly the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan)

 * rowspan="2"| 🇸🇷 Suriname (formerly Dutch Guyana)

 * rowspan="10"| 🇸🇪 Sweden

 * rowspan="3"| 🇨🇭 Switzerland

 * rowspan="5"| Syria

 * }

T

 * 🇹🇯 Tajikistan

 * rowspan="2"| 🇹🇿 Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika)

 * rowspan="9"| 🇹🇭 Thailand (formerly Siam)

 * rowspan="1"| 🇹🇴 Tonga

 * 🇹🇬 Togo

 * rowspan="3"| 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago

 * rowspan="2"| 🇹🇳 Tunisia

 * rowspan="12"| 🇹🇷 Turkey

 * rowspan="2"| 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan

 * }

U

 * rowspan="3"| 🇺🇬 Uganda

 * rowspan="8"| 🇺🇦 Ukraine

 * rowspan="7"| 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

 * rowspan="20"| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

 * rowspan="22"| 🇺🇸 United States

 * rowspan="7"| 🇺🇾 Uruguay

 * rowspan="1"|🇺🇿 Uzbekistan

 * }

V

 * rowspan="11"| 🇻🇪 Venezuela

 * rowspan="6"| Vietnam

 * }

Y

 * rowspan="4"| 🇾🇪 Yemen

 * }

Z

 * rowspan="3"| 🇿🇲 Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia)

 * rowspan="8"| 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia)

 * }

Former countries and movements

 * rowspan="1"| Abu Dhabi

 * rowspan="5"| Austria-Hungary

 *  Biafra

 * rowspan="2"| Bophuthatswana

 * rowspan="1"| Central African Empire

 * Ceylon

 * Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

 * Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China (Wang Jingwei regime)

 * Ciskei

 * Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia

 * rowspan="7"| Czechoslovakia
 * Czech and Slovak Federal Republic
 * Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
 * Third Czechoslovak Republic
 * Czechoslovak government-in-exile
 * Second Czechoslovak Republic
 * First Czechoslovak Republic

 * rowspan="1"| 🇸🇰 Slovak Republic

 * Dahomey

 * Dubai

 * Free City of Danzig

 * rowspan="2" | Free France

 * rowspan="4"| East Germany

 * Second East Turkestan Republic

 * rowspan="1"| 🇮🇪 Irish Free state

 * rowspan="1"| Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz  Kingdom of Hejaz

 * 🇮🇷 Imperial State of Iran

 * rowspan="2"| Italian Social Republic Kingdom of Italy

Khmer Republic
 * rowspan="4"| 🇰🇭 People's Republic of Kampuchea 🇰🇭 Democratic Kampuchea 🇰🇭 Kingdom of Cambodia

 * Makhnovshchina

 * 🇲🇬 Malagasy Republic

Federated Malay States / Unfederated Malay States / Malayan Union / Malaya
 * rowspan="4"| Straits Settlements /

 * rowspan="2"| Manchukuo

 * Muscat and Oman

 * rowspan="1"| 🇩🇪 Germany

 * rowspan="2"| Nazi Party

 * rowspan="2"| 🇳🇱 Dutch East Indies

North Yemen/ South Yemen
 * rowspan="4"| 🇾🇪 Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen/

 * North Vietnam

 * rowspan="2"| Ottoman Empire

 * Pathet Lao

Rhodesia and Nyasaland Rhodesia Zimbabwe Rhodesia
 * rowspan="5"| Southern Rhodesia

 * 🇸🇳🇬🇲 Senegambia Confederation

 * Republika Srpska

 * Republic of Serbian Krajina

 * rowspan="3"| 🇹🇭🇹🇭 Rattanakosin Kingdom of Siam

 * 🇿🇦 South West Africa

South Vietnam
 * rowspan="2"| State of Vietnam /

South Yemen
 * rowspan="2"| Federation of South Arabia /

 * 🇸🇿 Swaziland

🇷🇺 Russian Provisional Government 🇷🇺 Russian Republic Russian SFSR Soviet Union
 * rowspan="7"| 🇷🇺 Russian Empire

🇷🇺 South Russia (1919-1920)
 * 🇷🇺 Russian State (1918-1920)

 *  Tamil Eelam

 * Transkei

 * rowspan="3"| United Arab Republic

 * Upper Volta

 * Venda

 * 🇫🇷 Vichy France

 * rowspan="4"| West Germany

 * 🇺🇦 West Ukrainian People's Republic

 * Ukrainian People's Republic

State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs / Kingdom of Yugoslavia / Yugoslav government-in-exile / Democratic Federal Yugoslavia / SFR Yugoslavia / FR Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro
 * rowspan="9"| Kingdom of Serbia /

 * rowspan="2"| Independent State of Croatia

 * rowspan="4"| Zaire 🇨🇩🇨🇩🇨🇩Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville) Belgian Congo

 * Katanga

 * }

Other

 * rowspan="2"| Abkhazia

 * rowspan="3"| British Hong Kong

 * Republic of Artsakh

 * South Ossetia

 * Sovereign Military Order of Malta

 * Transnistria

 * Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

 * }

title: List of air forces


text:
User talk:Raul654/favpics

Hi Raul, thank you for choosing some of my images in your "favpics". I'm honoured. Have you seen the formatting I use on my image gallery?

No no, I should be thanking you for the wonderful pictures. They're amazing - keep up the good work. To answer your question - yes, I saw the layout of your image gallery. I considered using it (it looks the nicest of the ones I have seen), but it's just too much work for me ;) →Raul654 09:06, Mar 14, 2004 (UTC)

I would like to have it as an option to the new image syntax. e.g.

Mekong picture
Hi Raul, i am as well honored that you choose some of my picture's. Just a little thing the comment on the Mekong picture's say that was in China but it was in Laos, (on a 4 days boat trip there i was so bored that i had to take bunch of picture's). Chmouel 14:07, 15 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Thanks
Thanks for taking the time to post this fine gallery. Just to show you that someone else did look at it... In the captions "Ariel view of Washington DC” and “Northen side of the National World War II Memorial", the first words should be "Aerial" and "Northern", respectively. I know nitpicking isn't much but it's all I can do. :)  JamesMLane 00:04, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Loch Ness
Where exactly in the Magic Kingdom is the LEGO Loch Ness Monster?
 * I don't remember exactly where, but there's a McDonald's (with a Ronald McDonald made out of Legos) adjacent to it. →Raul654 04:24, 14 October 2005 (UTC)
 * And if memory serves, at the time I was there, they were in the process of setting up some sort of Lego-related exhibit adjacent to Nessy too. →Raul654 04:27, 14 October 2005 (UTC)

title: User talk:Raul654/favpics


text:
Rapid River

Rapid River may refer to:

Communities

 * Rapid River, Michigan, Delta County
 * Rapid River Township, Michigan, Kalkaska County
 * Rapid River Township, Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota

U.S.

 * Rapid River (Alaska-Yukon)
 * Rapid River (Maine)
 * Rapid River (Delta County, Michigan)
 * Rapid River (Kalkaska County, Michigan)
 * Rapid River (Ontonagon County, Michigan)
 * Rapid River (Little Fork River tributary), Minnesota
 * Rapid River (Rainy River tributary), Minnesota
 * Rapid River (Washington)

Canada

 * Rapid River (Alaska-Yukon)
 * Rapid River (Algoma District), Ontario
 * Rapid River (Sudbury District), Ontario
 * Rapid River (British Columbia)
 * Rapid River (Churchill River tributary), Saskatchewan
 * Rapid River (Cree River tributary), Saskatchewan
 * Rapides River, Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada.

Other

 * Namco Rapid River, arcade game

title: Rapid River


text:
Jewish Legion

The Jewish Legion was an unofficial name used to refer to five battalions of the British Army's Royal Fusiliers regiment, which consisted of Jewish volunteers recruited during World War I. In 1915, the British Army raised the Zion Mule Corps, a transportation unit of Jewish volunteers, for service in the Gallipoli campaign. Two years later in August 1917, the decision was made to raise an infantry battalion of Jewish soldiers which would be integrated into an existing British Army regiment.

Eventually, due to large recruitment numbers, including Jews from Russia and the United States, five battalions were raised and integrated into the Royal Fusiliers; collectively, they were referred to as the "Jewish Legion". The new units raised were designated as the 38th, 39th, 40th, 41st and 42nd battalions of the regiment. The Jewish Legion saw action during the Sinai and Palestine campaign, where they fought at the Battle of Megiddo before being reduced to one battalion, nicknamed the "First Judaeans".

Background
In November 1914, David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi proposed to the Ottoman commander in Jerusalem that a Jewish Legion could be raised to fight with the Ottoman Army. The proposal was approved and training began but was soon cancelled by Djemal Pasha, who became known for persecuting Zionists. Ben-Gurion and Ben-Zvi were among thousands of Jews deported.

In February 1915, a small committee in Alexandria approved a plan of Zeev Jabotinsky and Joseph Trumpeldor to form a military unit from Russian Jewish émigrés from Palestine that would participate in the British effort to seize Palestine from the Ottoman Empire. The British commander General Maxwell met a delegation, led by Jabotinsky, on 15 March. The General said he was unable, under the Army Act, to enlist foreign nationals as fighting troops, but that he could form them into a volunteer transport Mule Corps. Jabotinsky rejected the idea and left for Europe to seek other support for a Jewish unit, but Trumpeldor accepted it and began recruiting volunteers from among the local Jews in Egypt and those who had been deported there by the Ottomans in the previous year. The British Army formed 650 of them into the Zion Mule Corps, of which 562 served in the Gallipoli Campaign.

Gallipoli Front

The need on the Gallipoli peninsula for means to carry water to the troops was considered so urgent that in mid-April, a request was forwarded to Egypt for the Zion Mule Corps to be sent immediately, regardless of its lack of equipment. Its commanding officer was Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson, DSO, an Irish Protestant, and Captain Trumpeldor was Second-in-command. The Zion Mule Corps landed at Cape Helles from 27–28 April, four weeks after being raised, having been stranded at Mudros when its ship ran aground. The corps was embarked in the same ship as the Indian 9th Mule Corps bound for Gaba Tepe and so a detour to Helles was ordered. The Zion Mule Corps was disembarked under artillery fire from the Asiatic shore, with help of volunteers from the 9th Mule Corps and began carrying supplies forward immediately.

A Distinguished Conduct Medal was awarded to Private M. Groushkowsky, who, near Krithia on 5 May, prevented his mules from stampeding under heavy bombardment and despite being wounded in both arms, delivered the ammunition. Trumpeldor was shot through the shoulder but refused to leave the battlefield. Patterson later wrote: "Many of the Zionists whom I thought somewhat lacking in courage showed themselves fearless to a degree when under heavy fire, while Captain Trumpeldor actually revelled in it, and the hotter it became the more he liked it ..."

The men returned to Alexandria on 10 January 1916. The Zion Mule Corps were disbanded on 26 May 1916. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists 13 members of the Zion Mule Corps as fatalities.

Formation
Between the dissolution of the Zion Mule Corps and the formation of the Jewish Legion, Jabotinsky and Trumpeldor and 120 Zion Mule Corps veterans served together in 16 Platoon of the 20th Battalion, London Regiment.

In August 1917, the formation of a Jewish battalion was officially announced. The unit was designated as the 38th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers and included British volunteers, as well as members of the former Zion Mule Corps and a large number of Russian Jews. In April 1918, it was joined by the 39th Battalion, raised at Fort Edward, Nova Scotia, which was made up almost entirely of Jews who were residents in the United States and Canada.

Thousands of Palestinian Jews also applied to join the Legion and in 1918, more than 1,000 were enlisted. Ninety-two Ottoman Jews who had been captured in the fighting earlier were also permitted to enlist. This group was organized as the 40th Battalion. The 41st and 42nd Battalions were depot battalions stationed in Plymouth, England. In his memoirs about the Legion Jabotinsky described the composition of the 5,000-member Legion as; "thirty-four per cent from the United States, thirty per cent from Palestine, twenty-eight per cent from England, six per cent from Canada, one per cent Ottoman war prisoners, one per cent from Argentina." The soldiers of the 38th, 39th and later the 40th Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers served in the Jordan Valley and fought the Ottomans north of Jerusalem.

Action in the Jordan Valley, 1918
In June 1918, the volunteers of the 38th Battalion began engaging the Ottomans some twenty miles north of Jerusalem. In the fighting in the Jordan Valley, more than twenty Legionnaires were killed, wounded, or captured, the rest came down with malaria, and thirty of this group later died. The 38th Battalion served in the 31st Brigade of the 10th (Irish) Division. The Legion then came under the command of Major-General Edward Chaytor, who commanded the ANZAC Mounted Division.

Besides various skirmishes, the Legion also participated in the Battle of Megiddo in mid-September 1918, widely considered to have been one of the final and decisive victories of the Ottoman front.

The Legion's mission was to cross the Jordan River. Jabotinsky led the effort. Later, he was decorated and Chaytor told the Jewish troops: "By forcing the Jordan fords, you helped in no small measure to win the great victory gained at Damascus."

In August 1919, 56 Legionnaires were court-martialled for refusing to continue guarding prisoners of war in the Egyptian desert. They received sentences of 2 to 7 years of hard labour.

Legacy
Almost all the members of the Jewish regiments were discharged immediately after the end of the First World War in November 1918. Some of them returned to their respective countries, others settled in Palestine to realize their Zionist aspirations – among them the future first Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion. In late 1919, the Jewish Legion was reduced to one battalion titled First Judaeans, and awarded a distinctive cap badge, a menorah with the Hebrew word קדימה Kadima (forward) at the base.

Former members of the Legion took part in the defence of Jewish communities during the Riots in Palestine of 1920, which resulted in Jabotinsky's arrest. Two former members of the Legion were killed with Trumpeldor at Tel Hai. One former member of the Legion was killed in Tel Aviv-Yafo during the Jaffa riots of 1921. Some members of the Jewish Legion settled in moshav Avihayil and moshav Be'er Tuvia. Another former member died in service in the Second World War.

Notable members

 * John Henry Patterson, Commander of Zion Mule Corps and 38th Battalion Royal Fusiliers
 * Eliezer Margolin, Commander of the 39th Battalion Royal Fusiliers and the First Judaeans
 * Gershon Agron, Mayor of Jerusalem
 * Nathan Ausubel, Jewish-American author
 * Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, second Israeli President
 * Yaakov Dori, Haganah leader; first Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, President of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
 * Maxwell H. Dubin, rabbi, Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Los Angeles
 * Sir Jacob Epstein, British sculptor
 * Levi Eshkol, third Prime Minister of Israel
 * Louis Fischer, Jewish-American journalist and author
 * Eliyahu Golomb, founding member of the Haganah
 * David Grün, later Ben-Gurion, first Israeli Prime Minister
 * Nachum Gutman, Israeli painter
 * Dov Hoz, Zionist activist, Haganah fighter
 * Julius Jacobs, brother-in-law of Moshe Smilansky; killed in the King David Hotel bombing, 22 July 1946
 * Bernard Joseph, later Dov Yosef, Governor of Jewish Jerusalem during the 1948 siege; longtime Labor MK
 * Berl Katznelson, Zionist philosopher and activist
 * Reuven Katzenelson, Sergeant under Joseph Trumpeldor at Battle of Gallipoli and father of Shmuel Tamir
 * Bert "Yank" Levy, Internationalist in Spain and military instructor for the British Home Guard. His work served as the basis for a popular handbook on guerrilla warfare.
 * Gideon Mer, physician, veteran of Zion Mule Corps, Jewish Legion and British Army in the Second World War. Served as a medic in the 1947–1949 Palestine war; later worked in the Israeli Ministry of Health. (Note: he is the unnamed officer in charge of an anti-malaria programme during the Second World War – mentioned in Martin Sugarman's article on the Zion Mule Corps.)
 * Nehemiah Rubitzov, father of Yitzhak Rabin
 * Israel Rosenberg, also known as 'The grandfather of the Jewish Legion'
 * James Armand de Rothschild, DCM Major, 39th Royal Fusiliers Battalion; Captain Royal Canadian Dragoons; a member of the Rothschild family
 * Redcliffe N. Salaman, medical officer, from April 1918 in Egypt and Palestine, 38th Battalion, then 39th of Royal Fusiliers
 * Edwin Herbert Samuel, 2nd Viscount Samuel; CMG son of Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel
 * Moshe Smilansky, pioneer of the First Aliyah, a Zionist leader who advocated peaceful coexistence with the Arabs in Mandatory Palestine, a farmer, and a prolific author
 * Edward Sperling, humourist and later director-general of the Ministry of Trade and Industry under the British Mandate of Palestine; killed in the 1946 King David Hotel bombing
 * Eleazar Sukenik, Israeli archaeologist; father of Yigael Yadin
 * David Tidhar, Police officer, private investigator and author

title: Jewish Legion


text:
Yam O

Yam O is a bay located on the northeast shore of Lantau Island, in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It is part of the Ma Wan constituency of the Tsuen Wan District Council.

Yam O was the only natural lumber preservation zone in Hong Kong. Even today, travellers passing through Yam O can see natural lumber on stilts in the bay.

Today, Yam O is known for its interchange for the Disneyland Resort line via the nearby Sunny Bay MTR station, built on reclaimed land near Yam O.

History
Plans were made in the PADS (Port and Airport Development Strategy) of 1989 to reclaim the bay for ancillary port facilities. The bay was eventually reclaimed in the 2000s under the Northeast Lantau Development Strategy to accommodate a tourism gateway to Hong Kong Disneyland; this included Sunny Bay station.

Sunny Bay
Sunny Bay is a recent incarnation by the Hong Kong Government, which emerged after the plans to build Hong Kong Disneyland Resort on nearby Penny's Bay. This was done so because Yam (陰) in Cantonese literally means dark (the same word as the Mandarin yin, well known to most English speakers from the expression yin-yang); while Yan (欣) means happy - a significantly more favorable name to Disney. But according to Shuowen Jiezi, Yam (陰) originally is a geographical syntax which means "North of a hill or south of a body of water", so the change of the name is seen a violation of local culture and opposed by Hong Kong citizens and some Chinese language professionals.

Sunny Bay station is today also a transport interchange for Discovery Bay residents, being served by bus route DB03R.

title: Yam O


text:
Talk:Lithuanian language

Translation from English to Lithuanian
''Hi i need to know how to spell/write "From Heaven" (as in I'm from heaven) from english to lithuanian. If you could please e-mail me back on kellyjuch@hotmail.com that would be great. Thank you for your time. --Kelly.''

Copied from Reference_desk - please reply there if you would like to assist this person. ¦ Reisio 22:51, 2005 August 23 (UTC)

Mistakes
Hi,

There are few mistakes in original article. An example with car is comming should be written "Automobilis atvažiuoja" and "Atvažiuoja automobilis" because "ateina" is used for 'comming by foot' and "atvažiuoja" is used for 'arriving by motor/wheeled wehicle'.

j (jp@seminte.lt)

areas where Lithuanian was dominant language (XVI map in the article)
1) That doesn't go along with the 1528 army census where the vast majority of soldiers from Grodno, Lida, Molodechno, even from Vilkamir, have slavic names-lastnames. 2) Why do you call language spoken by balts in XVI century a lithuanian languageg, when foreigners usualy referred to state language of GDL as lithuanian language? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.64.70.193 (talk) 22:57, 18 January 2024 (UTC)

Zigzags of lithuanian linguistics
"By studying place names of Lithuanian origin, linguist Jan Safarewicz concluded that the eastern boundaries of Lithuanian used to be in the shape of zigzags through Grodno, Shchuchyn, Lida, Valozhyn, Svir, and Braslaw." All these names are of genuine Slavic origin, no Lithuanian. And "Safarewicz's eastern boundaries were moved even further to the south and east by other scholars" ;-) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.233.220.41 (talk) 07:13, 4 February 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Lithuanian language


text:
Rapidan

Rapidan may refer to:

Minnesota

 * Rapidan Township, Blue Earth County, Minnesota
 * Rapidan, Minnesota
 * Rapidan Dam, a concrete gravity dam on the Blue Earth River

Virginia

 * Rapidan, Virginia
 * Rapidan Camp, President Hoover's retreat
 * Rapidan River
 * Rapidan Wildlife Management Area

Other uses

 * USS Rapidan (1919–1946), a Patoka-class replenishment oiler

title: Rapidan