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Heaviest trains

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The Planner

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Why would the load quoted be trailing? TOPS lists give load including power, as does the load limit for the route. Have FLHH gone to to the bother of subtracting the engine weight?
Pat
We always use trailing weight when planning trains.
 
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Chris M

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Yes, trailing load, very exciting. But load per powered loco is a more interesting stat. Running 6x66's all powered can pull 25000t if you were so inclined.... hardly exciting. But 1 loco with 6000, much more so
Load per powered loco may be "more interesting" to you, but that's not the question I asked. In this context I'm interested in the total train/wagon weight.
 

ijmad

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How do you weigh a freight train anyway? Is there a rail equivalent of a weigh bridge?
 

4F89

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How do you weigh a freight train anyway? Is there a rail equivalent of a weigh bridge?
Yes. But also you add up how much the tare weight is of the vehicles and add the weight if the contents.
 

Gems

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I disagree with you all. Any train with my mother-in-law onboard will trump the lot.
 

The Planner

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We always used gross weight when running them. (No choice, them's the numbers in 'the system'.)
Pat
I've no doubt you do, but we can only plan in 200 tonne increments for running times and have no idea as to what the gross weight will be on the day.
 

herb21

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Some way to go to the world record set in Australia in 2001: over 99,700 tonnes, 682 loaded iron ore hoppers and over four and a half miles long. It needed eight General Electric AC6000 locos to shift it.

I always liked the Sishen - Saldanha train in South Africa, 41400t gross (this may have gone up recently, when they lengthen the trains slightly), 50kv AC, 375 wagons reaching 4km in length. All on 3ft6in track.

I believe it is the heaviest regular train in operation. They use 5 distributed electric loco's controled by 1 driver with an assistant, previously they used a mixed train of electric and diesel with 10 loco's but the new ones are now more powerful.
 

randyrippley

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Principle reason why locomotives were distributed in pairs throughout train and remotely controlled. Same method is used in US but I have not seen it in the UK.
I can remember a report in Modern Railways years ago that class 20s were being used like that on some coal MGR trains. Three locos, two at the head, one mid train "remotely controlled by radio" but they never explained what that really meant - especially as they would have needed slow speed control
 

Meerkat

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I can remember a report in Modern Railways years ago that class 20s were being used like that on some coal MGR trains. Three locos, two at the head, one mid train "remotely controlled by radio" but they never explained what that really meant - especially as they would have needed slow speed control

Chances of the one in the middle getting forgotten about and getting a coal shower?
 

The_Train

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Some way to go to the world record set in Australia in 2001: over 99,700 tonnes, 682 loaded iron ore hoppers and over four and a half miles long. It needed eight General Electric AC6000 locos to shift it.

Imagine having to stop to check a problem with the rear hopper. Would add some time to the journey time while walking back to it :lol:
 

Kneedown

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Heaviest I ever worked during my Toton days was the Langley tanks. Aviation fuel for Heathrow. 29 TEA's with a class 60. 3000+ tonne.
 

alangla

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Imagine having to stop to check a problem with the rear hopper. Would add some time to the journey time while walking back to it :lol:
Not sure if it’s this specific train, but I’ve seen pictures of either mountain bikes or small cc motorbikes carried on the loco of mega trains, purely to help the driver get to the rear end.
 

Far north 37

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About time we see a Class 70 pushed to its limits, I always thought these could push the boundaries a bit further than the 59 / 60.
Would like to see a 92 pushed to its max haulage capacity, they always seemed to be used on stuff which they can do easily.
Its not the uk haulage record though not sure why freightliner are claiming this 59005 worked a train that was nearly three times the weight of the one quoted in the article.
 

alangla

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About time we see a Class 70 pushed to its limits, I always thought these could push the boundaries a bit further than the 59 / 60.
Would like to see a 92 pushed to its max haulage capacity, they always seemed to be used on stuff which they can do easily.
When there was still a decent amount of coal traffic over the WCML, EWS ran some trials with a 92, dead 66 and long trains of loaded HTAs between Mossend and Arpley. Absolutely flew up Beattock and Shap apparently, but the loco was a bit cooked by the time it reached Warrington if I remember right.
 

68001

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This morning's 6Z71 redcar-scunthorpe CHP was consist of 2x66 with 42 loaded h.t.a coal hoppers
 

RLBH

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Heaviest individual wagon on NR will be the 8 axle KUA MOD flask wagons.

Heaviest in the UK will the the molten steel torpedo wagons.

Heaviest train the high output ballast cleaner followed by the Mendip stone trains.
Built for a special traffic for a limited time, but there used to be three main line torpedo wagons which weighed in at 241 tonnes each over 14 axles! They ran in service between the blast furnace at Cargo Fleet and the steelworks at Consett whilst Consett's blast furnace was being refurbished - three of them, plus three runners to distribute the load, needed a pair of Class 37s. Despite running as a Class 6 train, they got priority over express passenger trains - if the service was delayed too long, the steel would solidify, the wagons have to be written off, and the steelworks shut down.

http://southpelawjunction.co.uk/wp/?page_id=1511
https://www.derbysulzers.com/24102.html
 
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