What is the heaviest train ever built?

The world's longest and heaviest train operated on June 21, 2001, between Newman and Port Headland in Western Australia. The train operated 170 miles (274 km) with 682 loaded iron ore cars. The train weighed 99,734 tons and measured 4.57 miles (7.35 km) in length.



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The Big Boy has the longest engine body of any reciprocating steam locomotive, longer than two 40-foot buses. They were also the heaviest reciprocating steam locomotives ever built; the combined weight of the 772,250 lb (350,290 kg) engine and 436,500 lb (198,000 kg) tender outweighed a Boeing 747.

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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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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.

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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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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.

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On 3 July 1938, Mallard broke the world speed record for steam locomotives at 126 mph (203 km/h), which still stands today. Leading dia.

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One of the most beautiful steam locomotives ever built, the S1 was designed by Raymond Loewe. Poor balancing caused wheel-spin and only one was ever built, for the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1939.

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Weighing in at 1.1 million pounds and measuring nearly half a football field in length, the “Big Boy” locomotives were designed to haul heavy freight for the Union Pacific railroad over the mountainous regions of Utah and Wyoming.

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The Union Pacific Centennial is the largest and most powerful diesel locomotive ever built.

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Fastest Train in the World – 357.2 MPH The current world speed record for a commercial train on steel wheels is held by the French TGV at 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph), achieved on 3 April 2007 on the new LGV Est. The trainset, the track and the cantenary were modified to test new designs.

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Each one cost approximately $265,000 to build, or about $4.4 million in today's money. In the railroad world, the Big Boys were known as 4-8-8-4 articulated type locomotives.

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Of the eighteen built, three survive and are on display in Minnesota: No. 225 at Proctor, No. 227 at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth and No. 229 at Two Harbors.

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Jim Wrinn was quoted in USA Today as estimating the cost to restore the 4014 at roughly $4 million. If I remember correctly, Stephen Lee was the engineer on the 844 trip.

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If the diesel engine referenced is the modern diesel electric locomotive that has been accompanying 4014 in its travels, my understanding is that Union Pacific utilizes it to assist with overall fuel efficiency and to provide regenerative braking. This helps with operating costs and provides a better level of safety.

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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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One of the primary reasons railroads use distributed power is to increase the pulling power of the trains as the length and weight also increases. By placing additional locomotives in the middle or at the end, the overall pulling power of the multiple locomotives increases, moving the train efficiently and effectively.

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