Diesel MPG

[BaltACD]

One carrier that I am aware of, for locomotive management purposes, rates  the GE AC's for 1100 miles for a full 5000 gallon tank in unit train service.  Other, less stressed, services have longer mileage intervals.

[Railway Man]

As others said above, everything depends on the route, speed, and weight of train!  But I think what you're looking for is averages.

Here's an example that may help.  A particular coal train I have worked with runs 1,670 miles round-trip between the mine and the power plant.  The route is mountainous throughout, with numerous long ascending grades.  The train is 135-cars long with gross weight of  18,500 tons (including locomotives).  Each locomotive carries 5,000 gallons of fuel.  In that round trip, the train will refill twice, each time each locomotive taking on about 4,000 gallons.  So:

Total fuel consumed round trip = 20,000 gallons

Total mileage 1,670

Miles per gallon per locomotive = 0.41. 

But again, this is only a specific case.  Other cases are much much different. 

Another way of obtaining an average is to use the US Energy Information Administration's averages for the U.S. as a whole.  EIA found that in 2006, the BTUs per ton/mile average for freight transportation modes were:

1.  337 - Rail
2.  514 - Water
3. 2,801 - Truck
4. 21.976 - Air

So in rough equivalent numbers, if the average 80,000 lb. semi-trailer combination is getting 8 mpg to move 26 tons of freight, the average train is getting 66 mpg to move 26 tons of freight.

RWM

 

[timz]

In Idle, a large diesel locomotive burns maybe 5? gallons per hour. At full power it burns something over 200 gallons per hour. So you need to make some guesses about how much time it's spending idling and how much at full power, and how fast it's covering the miles.

[mudchicken]

Tonnage? grade & curvature? MU'd/DPU'd with? Engineer qualification?, wind? axle count? 

I think you get the point....

[ns3010]

How far does the average diesel locomotive go between refuels, and how many MPG does it get? Are they all in the same range, or does it vary?

For example, say that a train with a 3000 gal. fuel tank travels 100 miles each day, every day. On day 1, it starts its work with a full tank. How many days later would it need a refuel?

Thanks in advance.