Western Railroad Discussion > World heaviest train and "New Yorker" articles

Oct 18 2005

You might have seen to excellent articles on railroading in, of all places, the "New Yorker" of 3 October and 10 October 2005. The author, John McPhee says in the article that the coal trains coming out of the Powder River Basin which weigh up to 22,000 tons are "the heaviest trains in the world".

My research shows that iron ore trains in Western Australia regularly run at over 40,000 tons and one train was almost 100,000 tons. Here is the reference- http://ironore.bhpbilliton.com/repository/operations/rail.asp

Are there any heavier trains than this?

Jim

Heck, saw a 26,000-ton BNSF ore train in Minnesota this year. Being from the east, where trains are heavy, but not THAT heavy, I about spit out my tea when he read that off on the radio. Having only three six-axles was even more surprising...


SH

Though I have not seen the New Yorker articles, I would bet they are good. John McPhee is one of the best writers of narative non-fiction out there these days. If you have not read his 5-volume series called "Annals of the Former World", you should. It is the best geologic history for the layman I have ever seen. He writes about things and the people that are involved with them in a way that makes you just keep turning the pages. He manages to put obtuse concepts into terms anyone can understand. He also wrote a book called Oranges on the citrus industry of Florida that is a facinating read. Another of his books, called "Irons in the Fire" is about the cattle brand inspectors in the State of Nevada, and goes into modern day cattle rustling as well as some of the real old salt ranchers that run cattle in the Federal Lands of Nevada. Read that and then drive to Ely, and you will gain a facinating perspective on that lonely country. Good stuff, all.

- Kit

"John McPhee says in the article that the coal trains coming out of the Powder River Basin which weigh up to 22,000 tons are "the heaviest trains in the world"."

So far I've found him saying "When loaded coal trains lengthen out to a mile and three quarters, they can weigh as much as twenty-three thousand tons. Nothing heavier rolls on rails."

Did he actually write what you said he did?

Let's say they are the heaviest trains on this continent.

The PRB coal trains are probably the heaviest trains other than the northwest coast of Australia, a remote, isloated railroad region with no traffic other than iron ore. You have to understand that John McPhee is a skilled writer who can take almost any subject, including railroading, and digest it down to something that the New Yorker audience will find informative and interesting. I'm willing to extend Mr McPhee the license to make a statement like the one he made about the PRB trains being the heaviest on rails. It's very very close to being true, and is certainly true for north america.

stevedavis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The PRB coal trains are probably the heaviest
> trains other than the northwest coast of
> Australia, a remote, isloated railroad region with
> no traffic other than iron ore. You have to
> understand that John McPhee is a skilled writer
> who can take almost any subject, including
> railroading, and digest it down to something that
> the New Yorker audience will find informative and
> interesting. I'm willing to extend Mr McPhee the
> license to make a statement like the one he made
> about the PRB trains being the heaviest on rails.
> It's very very close to being true, and is
> certainly true for north america.

I agree. It's hard enough for us lifelong railfans/railroaders to make an accurate statement on TO without a lot of qualifiers so as to pass scrutiny! The PRB coal trains are certainly heavier on average than Colorado and Utah coal trains on the many lineups that I've seen. Now, how heavy are those ore trains in Quebec-Labrador?

mapboy

I read the first part when it was posted here on TO a few weeks ago. It was one of the best pieces of writing focused on railroading that I've ever seen. It was both masterfully written and correct, as far as I could tell, in the details--I agree with some of you that calling them "heaviest ... on rails" is appropriate. Although it was written for the layman, this article would be a good lesson in railroad writing even for some of the veteran foamer authors.

BHP Billiton run 336 car iron ore trains daily in the northwest of Australia known as the Pilbara and there weigh in at around 40,000 tonnes

"BHP Billiton Iron Ore’s Newman railway has evolved whereby we now run the longest and the heaviest trains in the world. The trains are up to 336 cars long and powered by 6000-horsepower General Electric AC locomotives.

In June 2001, BHP Billiton Iron Ore ran the world’s longest and heaviest train. It stretched 7.4km, had 682 ore cars, eight locomotives, a gross weight of almost 100,000 tonnes and moved 82,262 tonnes of ore."

http://ironore.bhpbilliton.com/repository/operations/rail.asp

This is a great sight for Pilbara trains and locomotives :

http://www.railways.pilbara.net.au/

regards

Dave

You've been around 21yrs, so you'll see more good writing ;-)

mikey Wrote:
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> I read the first part when it was posted here on
> TO a few weeks ago. It was one of the best pieces
> of writing focused on railroading that I've ever
> seen. It was both masterfully written and
> correct, as far as I could tell, in the details--I
> agree with some of you that calling them "heaviest
> ... on rails" is appropriate. Although it was
> written for the layman, this article would be a
> good lesson in railroad writing even for some of
> the veteran foamer authors.

fjc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You've been around 21yrs, so you'll see more good
> writing ;-)

I wish... try 18.

19 Oct 2005

Dear Timz

Your quote is correct. I was paraphrasing from memory. I didn't intend to take anything away from John McPhee's excellent articles by nit-picking, but the articles got me thinking.

Best regards

Jim

I've re-crewed GRAIN or COAL trains on CSX in the east that were between 20,000 and 23,000 tons - and that was on a regular basis from the late 1990s until late in 2003. I suppose it depends on where the various RR lines go (geographically), that might determine just how much tonnage a single train can haul, all at once. (Those 20,000+ -ton CSX trains that I re-crewed [as a crew van-driver] were eastbound on the James River line in Virginia, which is mostly down-hill to Richmond.)