train length

[Anonymous]

Anybody out there count train lengths? See any long trains? What are the biggest trains seen around these days, and where? I saw 129 multi levels, 93 feet times 129 + 2 units tops 12000 feet! I have seen 188 shorter cars, both on CN. I have heard of 200+ cars in Buffalo NY. How heavy do trains get?

[Modelcar]

Many years ago while sitting in a restaurant in Kingman, Az. I witnessed a train coming past east bound on then the main of the Sante Fe...being moved by 9 engines on the head end and perhaps 2/3rds. back 3 more were cut in. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I can't tell you how many cars were involved but it sure must have been dragging tonnage with that kind of power.

QM

[Anonymous]

When I was a kid growing up in Battle Creek Mich. in the 1970's, I used to hang around Nichols tower
and enjoy railfanning. Back then, there were 3 different yards on the old M.C. mainline in town. Several times a day, there would be transfer jobs from one yard to another. Due to the various track arrangements in these yards, all eastbound moves were made "caboose-first". At the tower one day, there was an eastbound movement coming through the interlocking. It had to be at least 100 cars. Very slowly this little transfer caboose clunked across the diamonds, "peanut-whistle" saluting us in the tower. About a half hour later, the end of this parade came within sight. A little SW-1, only 600 H.P. was shoving this massive transfer with all it's might. Upon passing the tower, it was apparent that all was not well with the little switcher. Smoke was drifting from around the hood doors, and the smell of frying electricals was in the air. I don't know how, but that little old beat-up SW-1 made it all the way to Hinmann yard. I'll never forget that. Such were the early days of Conrail.
Todd C.

[Anonymous]

Hi, I am a private engineer, I unload grain trains in Mountain Home Idaho, for Simplot, the biggest train we have gotten in was 102 cars, gross tons was 14,586 tons plus three sd90ac and they are 206 tons each.
Our track will hold 120 cars.

[Modelcar]

Many years ago I remember reading about an eastern railroad...not sure which one now, maybe Norfolk & Western did an experiment with a "long" train...5 miles was the figure and I believe it was with steam engines.

QM

[Anonymous]

What you saw was A loaded grain train. They weigh an average of 15,000 tons and more. They run between Galveston, Tx. and somewhere in the north west. They usually run 3 on the front, 3 in the middle, and 3 on the rear. They run 1-2 times weekly during season.

[Modelcar]

Another heavy gross load of train and iron ore was featured in TRAINS mag. some years ago and I believe it was being moved by one steam engine and the figure was something like 18,000 tons. The article went on to talk about how the Engineer started that amount of weight and of course it had to be over mostly flat road bed and commented how the engine had moved x amount of weight over so many miles in certain amount of time.

QM

[Anonymous]

I'm A conductor on the BNSF out of Los Angeles. Our average intermodal train is 3,000 to 6,000 feet and weigh between 4,000 to 7,000 tons. The longest I have ever run was 8,600 feet. I have been on some coal trains out in Gallup N.M that weighed 15,00tons with 100 cars. On BNSF on the Cajon sub any trains over 6,000 tons need helpers or distributed power.

[colsul]

Up here in the North West of Australia, Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP) ran a fairly big train. On the 21st of June 2001 they ran an iron ore train 7.35 kilometres (4.59 miles) long and weighing 99,732 tonnes over 275 kilometres (171.8 miles)of track to Port Hedland for unloading. The reason for such a big sucker was to test the new GE AC 6000 engines they had bought and a new Locotrol system. There were 8 loco's (all AC 6000's) and 682 iron ore cars in the consist. It took ten hours four minutes to complete the journey, although it would have taken nearly half that if a coupler hadn't broken going up the Chichester Ranges (four hours Forty mins to repair). To get over the ranges from a standing start, they needed two bank (helper) loco's to assist from the rear. Here is the web site, at the bottom, with the details on the trip. When you get to this page on the right hand side it says "The longest train in the world" and down the bottom it says "brochure" click on "brochure" and it gives you all the info you want.
http://ironore.bhpbilliton.com/operations/rail.asp

[alangj]

In the March 2001 issue of "Trains", there's an article (pp 58-67) which mentions that the N&W used to routinely run 200-270 car-long (or about 2 miles in length) coal trains in the area around Portsmouth Ohio back in the early '60s. I do remember reading a separate article in "Trains" (or maybe "Classic Trains") about that record-length coal train that N&W tested once (and only once.) If memory serves, it was something like 400+ cars and about 4 miles long, with several diesel units (not steam.) I'll keep looking to find the article reference.

Alan
Evergreen Park, IL

[Anonymous]

Hi Colsul,

I tryed to look up that web site you posted, But I can't get through. can you please check it for me? Thankyou.

Matt...
[e-mail]

[Modelcar]

Let me update my info as I was drawing from memory when I wrote earlier above in this thread. N&W operated the longest and heaviest freight train [coal], ever between Iaeger, WV & Portsmouth, Oh in 1967. The train had 500 coal cars and six locomotives and held the record until 2001. I just read of a longer one..about 4.5 miles run in Austrailia.

QM

[Modelcar]

I neglected to say it was 4 miles long....

QM

[alangj]

That's the one (N&W coal) that I was thinking about. I know that it was written up in "Trains" within the last several years, I just haven't found the exact issue yet. Thanks for confirming my (admittedly leaky) memory.

Alan