U.S. average: 6500 feet and climbing. 18,061 feet--but there's no legal limit on freight train length in the U.S.
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It would depend upon the length of each train car, of which modern train cars vary in length from 35 feet long to 90 feet long so if we take an average length of 60 feet per car the average length of a 100 car train would be approximately 6,140 feet long with two modern 70 foot long locomotives.
A train of 150 cars—the FRA's unofficial definition of a long train—carrying iron ore would run about 3,500 feet long, but an intermodal train of the same number of cars might measure 33,000 feet, according to John Gray, the AAR's senior vice president of policy and economics.
The average freight train is about 1 to 1? miles in length (90 to 120 rail cars). When it's moving at 55 miles an hour, it can take a mile or more to stop after the locomotive engineer fully applies the emergency brake.
This is probably the closest to the actual dimensions since most cars have 2 levels, plus the Sub-Train and the wheel mechanisms underneath them. However, the scale used during the set is downscaled. According to Wilford, the train is 10 miles long (Three thousand souls stufffed into a ten miles steel tube).
The Angels Flight , a Los Angeles landmark near Bunker Hill, is the shortest railway in the world—and it costs just 50 cents per ride. The world's shortest railway opened in 1901 and again in 2010. It travels a mere 298 feet—about two blocks.
On average, most trains travel at speeds between 50 to 100 miles per hour (80 to 160 kilometers per hour) depending on the type of train and the infrastructure of the railway. However, high-speed trains can reach speeds of 150 to 200 miles per hour (240 to 320 kilometers per hour) or even faster in some cases.
Fact #4: Trains Can Stop, But Not QuicklyThat's the length of 18 football fields. So if you think a train can see you and stop in time, think again. Trains cannot stop quickly enough to avoid a collision, which is why vehicles should never drive around lowered gates or try to “beat” a train.
Modern trains can travel seamlessly from conventional track to high-speed track. They simply travel slower while on conventional track. Passenger service on the conventional freight lines that criss-cross the United States today is limited to 90 mph at best.
Modern locomotives use electric traction instead of gears as electric traction is much more flexible than gears. Diesel fuels generators from the combustion engine and transform the energy using an alternator, which runs the traction motors.