How much weight can a train pull?

What gives the power of a locomotive to move so much weight? A modern railcar has a gross capacity of 286,000 lbs or 125.5 tons moving in trains consisting of 100 cars or more, yielding a total carrying capacity of 12,500 tons, an increase of over 181% in carrying capacity. It depends on the locomotive.



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A modern railcar has a gross capacity of 286,000 lbs or 125.5 tons moving in trains consisting of 100 cars or more, yielding a total carrying capacity of 12,500 tons, an increase of over 181% in carrying capacity. It depends on the locomotive.

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The locomotive connects the bogies well above the center line of the loco wheel. When the loco pulls the frictional force (rolling) times the bogies total weight makes the rear wheels of loco to exert more vertical force (due to moment arm) and this adds up to the loco dead weight.

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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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To help the wheels stay on the track their shape is usually slightly conical. This means that the inside of the wheel has a larger circumference than the outside of the wheel. (They also have a flange, or raised edge, on the inner side to prevent the train from falling off the tracks.)

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A locomotive can generate more than 60,000 lb-ft of torque. But in order for it to use this torque effectively, the eight wheels on the locomotive have to be able to apply it to the track without slipping. The locomotive uses a neat trick to increase the traction.

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The Big Boys were built for power. They did the work of three smaller engines, pulling 120-car, 3800 ton freight trains at forty miles per hour in the mountains of Utah and Wyoming. With power, though, comes weight - larger cylinders, pistons, drive rods, boiler and firebox.

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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.

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Anyway, the reason for using two locomotives is pretty simple. Twice the number of locomotives means twice the power. This extra power boost is used for especially heavy loads or for trains going up steep grades.

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While the average car engine has about 200 horsepower, locomotive engines typically range from 2,000 to 4,500 horsepower.

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