truckman060473
Member
Assuming we are running a train on the best track (RA10), what is the heaviest wagon that is permitted? I'm talking 4 axled or bogie wagons here.
Examples of route availability capabilities are:
RA 3 = up to 16.5 tonnes per axle
RA 5 = up to 19.0 tonnes per axle
RA 8 = up to 22.8 tonnes per axle
RA 10 = up to 25.4 tonnes per axle (the current maximum for freight on the network)
In the UK, the maximum axle load is 25.4 tonnes.
See the following page from Network Rail for a little more information:
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/10551.aspx
If you want sheer weight, look for nuclear flask wagons - some of which have four 2-axle bogies. I remember in the days of the boat trains bringing foreign wagons over, there used to be at least one DB registered wagon with two 8-axle bogies. I never looked but all would be well over 100Te.
In the private industrial systems, I've seen the torpedo wagons from the steel furnaces carrying molten slag to a tip. They are real monsters and dwarf the locos (Di8) which were built to European loading gauge. Just look on the internet for photos of the locos working at the Corus (now Tata) plant on Teesside
They are hulking great brutes indeed:If you want sheer weight, look for nuclear flask wagons - some of which have four 2-axle bogies. I remember in the days of the boat trains bringing foreign wagons over, there used to be at least one DB registered wagon with two 8-axle bogies. I never looked but all would be well over 100Te.
In the private industrial systems, I've seen the torpedo wagons from the steel furnaces carrying molten slag to a tip. They are real monsters and dwarf the locos (Di8) which were built to European loading gauge. Just look on the internet for photos of the locos working at the Corus (now Tata) plant on Teesside