It is generally agreed that the largest steam locomotives are the 4-8-8-4 'Big Boys', built by the American Locomotive Company in 1941-44. They are 39.852 m (130.74 ft) long and weigh 508.02 tonnes (1.12 million lb) with tenders.
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Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for Union Pacific Railroad, the first of which was delivered in 1941. Of the eight remaining Big Boys in existence, No.4014 is the only one operating today. The Big Boys were about 133 feet long and weigh 1.2 million pounds.
The Australian BHP Iron Ore is the longest train ever recorded in history at approximately 4.6 miles (7.353 km). In the Pilbara region of Western Australia, BHP owns and runs the Mount Newman railway.
As far as I'm aware, there's no legal limit. Passenger trains do not normally exceed 12 cars (around 900 feet, dependent on rolling stock type), but many are much shorter than this.
The Centennials were the largest diesel-electric locomotives ever built. Actually comprising two engines on one frame, they delivered 6,600 horsepower.
The heaviest train ever hauled by a single engine is believed to be one of 15,545 tonnes (34,270,820 lb.) made up of 250 freight cars stretching 2.5 km. (1.6 miles) by the Matt H. Shay (No.
The SD45s were good, but not enough for the railroad. Union Pacific reached out to EMD for more power, and the result was the behemoth EMD DDA40X. Often cited as both the largest and most powerful diesel-electric locomotive ever built, the 98-foot, 5-inch, 475,830-pound machine is staggering.
The longest in use on the national rail network, the new 775m-long trains are 250m longer than a typical freight train and carry between 12 and 14 additional containers on each service, generating significant cost and environmental benefits for customers transporting goods to and from the ports.
Wyoming. The Big Boy locomotives weighed more than one million pounds and were 132 feet, 9 inches long. Stood on its end, one would be the equivalent of a 13-story building. Each one cost approximately $265,000 to build, or about $4.4 million in today's money.