How many cars can a steam train pull?

That is about the tractive effort of a typical 1890 2-8-0. I was amazed to see that a 2-8-0 could pull about 7000 tons (140 cars weighing a total of 50 tons each) on level ground, but was reduced to 32 cars on a 1% grade. This is very close to Mike's stated average of 3 lbs per ton once moving.



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A unit train is a freight train carrying the same type of commodity, from origin to destination. Depending on the railroad and location, they can be between 65 cars in length and 200 cars (or more).

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ton for ton a steam locomotive can and does pull more tons at higher speeds than a diesel locomotive can. The H.P. of a diesel is less effective at faster speeds because more electricity is needed to keep the traction motors spinning at the higher speeds.

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The record-breaking ore train from the same company, 682 cars and 7,300 m or 7.3 km long, once carried 82,000 metric tons of ore for a total weight of the train, largest in the world, of 99,734 tonnes.

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The average freight train consisting of 100 cars and weighing anywhere from 12 million to 20 million pounds takes over a mile to stop in emergency braking.

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Once again because of the various length of train cars and number of locomotives a 100 car train could be approximately as short as 3,640 feet to 9,140 feet or more in length. Are freight locomotives ever used to pull passenger cars?

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Of that, each loaded car weighs 143 tons apiece with 100 tons of coal in each car. This is exclusive of each locomotive that could weigh up to 415,000 pounds apiece. Depending upon the daily fluctuations of coal as a commodity, the value of the coal itself could reach as high of upwards of $1 to $1.6 million per train.

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A Brief History. As wireless technologies advanced in the 1960s, freight railroads began adding extra locomotives to the rear of trains to give them enough power to climb steep hills. This is how distributed power was born.

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Transit rail modes are measured in car-miles. Car-miles measure individual vehicle-miles in a train. A 10-car train traveling 1 mile would equal 1 train-mile and 10 car-miles.

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Even when switchyard locomotives are not moving trains, their diesel engines are usually kept running. This is done to charge batteries, warm engine fluids and meet other operational needs. This can amount to several thousand hours of idling per locomotive each year.

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Long trains take longer time to stop than a single car because the braking effort is not synchronized.

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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.

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It is very expensive to build the lines or rails that carry the electric current, but electric locomotives are cleaner, quieter, faster, and more reliable than steam or diesel engines.

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Normal Operating Power for the steam engines was about 1700 Hp per shaft, 3400 Hp total. Max Power output of the engines was about 2500 Hp per shaft, 5000 Hp total.

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