This is an
essay on
style. It contains the advice and/or opinions of one or more
WikiProjects on how to format and present article content within their area of interest.
A topic is presumed to be notable if it has received significant coverage in
reliable sources that are
independent of the subject.
For general advice on notability of articles see
WP:N.
The primary Wikipedia notability criteria for organisations (
WP:ORG) would also need to be consulted. In particular, a company, corporation, organization, group, product, or service is notable if it has been the subject of coverage in
secondary sources. Such sources must be
reliable, and independent of the subject. The depth of coverage of the subject by the source must be considered. If the depth of coverage is not substantial, then multiple independent sources should be cited to establish notability. Trivial or incidental coverage of a subject by secondary sources is not sufficient to establish notability. Once notability is established,
primary sources may be used to add content. Ultimately, and most importantly,
all content must be attributable.
When that has been done, train specific criteria may be considered. That an article meets one or more of these criteria, or doesn't meet any of them, is not by itself proof of notability.
Train specific criteria
Railroad and rail transport operating companies
Any current or defunct railroad or operating company with an assigned
reporting mark.
Individual equipment that has been labeled as a superlative type (only, first, last, largest, longest, smallest, oldest, etc.), i.e. El Gobernador or C. P. Huntington.
Companies that have been labeled as a superlative type (first, largest, etc.).
Companies that have been depicted on postage stamps in any country.
Railroad infrastructure and buildings (Note that
discussion is ongoing for notability guidelines on railway and rapid transit/subway stations.)
Any structure labeled as historically significant by reputable and verifiable external sources, such as the
National Register of Historic Places.
Structures that have appeared on postage stamps in any country.
Any piece of equipment or equipment part where a history of the development can be described (more than just a dictionary definition).
Rail transport museums
Any museum whose collection includes culturally or historically significant rolling stock or infrastructure, such as equipment or structures listed on the
National Register of Historic Places.
Events that served as important turning points in rail transport history.
Accidents where a significant number of casualties or a significant amount of property damage occur (this is purposely not nailed down to a specific number for either criterion).
Accidents that form the basis for rail transport legislation.
Events that have been labeled as historically significant by reputable and verifiable external sources.
Historical, technical and preservation organizations
Organizations that have been recognized as superlative (i.e. first, oldest, largest, etc.) by multiple reputable external sources.
Organizations that have appeared as the primary subject of postage stamps.
When equipment or train service names are mentioned in an article text, they should be showin in italics (such as Super Chief or Stourbridge Lion)
Lead paragraph
Write a concise
lead section that summarizes the content of the entire article.
The first sentence should provide a definition of the article subject, including (where applicable) the company's
reporting marks; use the {{reporting mark}} template to present the mark in a standardized format.
If there is another common abbreviation or alternative name for the subject, state it in the lead section.
Talk page
Add {{TrainsWikiProject}} and {{Todo, trains}} to the article's talk page to indicate that the article is part of the
Trains WikiProject and to list the tasks that need to be completed. If there are many talk page templates for a specific article, consider using small=yes to reduce the display size of the template's output.
The appropriate WikiProject(s) for the geographical area(s) served by a rail line, rail company or facility, or the location of a preserved locomotive should also be added. For example, the
Branford Steam Railroad falls under both WikiProject Trains and WikiProject Connecticut.
Multiple stub templates can be used on a stub (such as using both {{diesel-loco-stub}} and {{US-rail-transport-stub}} on an article about a diesel locomotive that was only used in the US), but avoid adding more than two stub templates to any specific article.
In order to create a new stub type, identify at least around 50 articles that would fall into the proposed stub category and then make a proposal on the
WikiProject Stub sorting/Proposals page.
Use the most specific categories applicable, deferring to
Category:Rail transport only when the existing categories are not appropriate.
Do not place articles into both a category and that category's parent category, but use the more specific of the two.
There are categories for beginnings and endings based on start and end years as appropriate. For companies, add [[Category:Railway companies established in YEAR]] and [[Category:Railway companies disestablished in YEAR]]; for biographies, add [[Category:YEAR births]] and [[Category:YEAR deaths]] (if both birth and death years are known). Train service or rolling stock equipment introductions can be categorized in [[Category:YEAR introductions]]. In each of these, substitute YEAR with the appropriate year number (the complete four-digit year).
Articles about rail transport companies (railroads) style guide
Use {{Infobox rail}} to present standardized summary information about the railroad; {{Infobox SG rail}} is a special case that has the gauge parameter already filled in for
standard gauge railroads.
Standard subsections
History of the railroad and significant predecessors and/or successors (history may be broken up into further subsections as appropriate)
Territory and/or station list
Company officers (presidents and CEOs only) through history
Articles about a generic type of equipment should use the equipment type's most general name with subsections for specific subtypes (such as
Refrigerator car)
Articles about a specific model of equipment that may have been used by more than one company should be named as MANUFACTURER MODEL (such as
EMD SD40-2)
Articles about a specific class of equipment used by a specific railroad company should be named with the most common company and class names (such as
PRR K4s)
Articles about specific single pieces of equipment should be named with the most common name used to identify the equipment, using disambiguation as appropriate (such as
John Bull (locomotive)); if the equipment is known by its operating number, the number should be prefaced with the most common railroad identifier (such as
Santa Fe 3751)
Standard subsections
Design and historical development
Export Variations
Rebuilds
Preservation
Articles about named passenger train services style guide
Summary information and lead section
The first sentence of the article text should list the service name, operating railroad(s), service endpoints (i.e. Chicago to Los Angeles) and the beginning and ending service years; for example, the following would be an acceptable lead sentence:
Do not use the word "the" in the article title unless it is part of the service's official name
Standard subsections
History
Route and equipment used
Legacy
Categories
Add articles to the appropriate [[Category:Railway services introduced in YEAR]] and [[Category:Railway services discontinued in YEAR]], where YEAR is the year that the named service began or ended.
Where there is a category for the operating railroad, add the article to that category (and to the specific passenger service subcategory if it exists)
For the opening date, if there are multiple dates (such as a "grand opening" prior to the start of revenue service), use the start of revenue service for the infobox and categorization, but discuss both dates in the article text.