American freight trains are like nothing else on earth, along with their mournful but very loud sirens or 'whistles' as they are picturesquely called.
Usually I am irritated when a train briefly holds me up at a level crossing. In the US once I remember standing with my mouth open in awe as the immense thing passed like a great monster, click-click, click-click, for what seemed ten minutes or more. Respect!
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I thought anything above a certain length had to have another loco pushing from the rear to prevent the couplings being over strained?
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>> I thought anything above a certain length had to have another loco pushing from the
>> rear to prevent the couplings being over strained?
Its more about the total amount of horsepower (and grip - getting it onto the rails) to get the stuff moving, (gently to prevent coupling knuckle breakage) mostly the yanks like to multi head the power units. (for multiple unit control from one cab) You don't even need a lot of power units to stop better, the train brake (almost always air these days) has much better stopping power than the engine brake, so thats why you intersperse locos in very long trains, not for power but for air - as the air in the brakes runs out!
You can see why Yanks like to jump x-ings, I have seen one film of over 400 flatcars taking 10 minutes to pass. Biggest haul in the uk was a class 59 with over 50 stone wagons - total load over 2000 tons.
Longest I have filmed was the same class 59 but with 42 wagons. Here is one of interest filmed recently, a load of Fords, a rare sight as most are carried in covered wagons,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfxRhDtNCVs
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 5 Apr 14 at 20:09
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edit - missed out a 1 - 12,000 tons.
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I remember waiting for those things to pass through the level crossing at Dagenham Dock. Always caught a long one when I was in a hurry, and invariably just as it cleared a passenger train would amble away from the adjacent station.
Last edited by: Robin O'Reliant on Sat 5 Apr 14 at 20:58
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I got sent to this one and walked amongst the wreckage...the bent coach had to be seen to be believed. The roof collapsed as well (internally).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0nb1g3xXP4
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Funnily enough I filmed the Diesel loco involved in that crash on Thursday.
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Hell................Superb videos Zero. HS10 still??
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>> Hell................Superb videos Zero. HS10 still??
No the HS10 is now relegated to stills, got a JVC GZ-EX515 HD video camera.
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Oh! I thought 'Smoother'.
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Watch the bloke at 0255 minutes in
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zrPNTDAtMQ
Not you is it Zero?
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He is infamous, and he was before I started doing train filming.
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After my recent trip I got used to seeing these humungous long trains on the CPR then down thru Montana & Idaho on US railways. Double decked containers and oil wagons that went on and on and on. Very slowly. Two or three power units at the front, one in the middle, and another at the end.
On the road in Nevada I saw lots of big rigs towing two trailers. V impressive but banned in CA.
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When you are driving across the deserts, prairies or flat lands you can see the train coming for miles, and you race to the x-ing before you get trapped by the "ding ding ding ding ding ding"
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Pah ! Girly trains. This one is 4.5 miles long with 682 wagons carrying 82000 tons of ore !
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LsuNWjRaAo
You'd have problems getting that into the lie by loop at Goostrey station !
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As my namesake would say "I don't belieeeeeeeve it!"
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>>
>> Pah ! Girly trains. This one is 4.5 miles long with 682 wagons carrying 82000
>> tons of ore !
>>
>> www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LsuNWjRaAo
>>
>> You'd have problems getting that into the lie by loop at Goostrey station !
so did they - it was a test and publicity stunt that failed.
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One for Zero - Armel Coussine
