User:Djm-leighpark/Heaviest trains

The heaviest trains in the world are freight trains hauling bulk commodities such as coal and iron ore.

The weight of trains generally does not include the weight of the operating locomotives; this is not considered dead weight, so is not included. If for example a train had two locomotives operating and was simply hauling a third off line, this third locomotive would be included in the payload weight.

Gauge
If the track and its alignment are strong, gauge is not so important. Among railways with over 20,000 t gross train weight, the Sishen–Saldanha railway line uses, while the others use.

Most Pilbara region railways operate on pre-stressed 68 kg/m rail, meaning that each metre of track weighs 68 kg or each yard of track weighs 137 pounds. This gives the track the strength to carry such heavy loads.

Axle load
The highest permitted weight per axle is: Compare: The track bed and the strength of the rails themselves limit the axle load.
 * 2008 – Fortescue – 42 t
 * 1830 – Stephenson's Rocket 2.2 t

Line load
Line load is the weight per metre or foot of train length. The strength of bridges is what mainly limits this. Examples:
 * 12 t/m (Iron Ore Line, Sweden)

Curves
Curves must not be too sharp; wagons may be pulled off the track and derailed, especially with general freight trains where light and heavy wagons are intermixed, less so if all cars in a train are loaded and unloaded at the same place and equally much. The meaning of "too sharp" depends as much on experience as on a specific formula.

Couplers
The couplers must be strong enough in heavy trains. Janney couplers are used for the heaviest trains. The SA3 couplers handle trains of 6,000 –, as Russian trains limited by loop lengths, etc.; maximum load of SA3 couplers have not been tested. The standard buffers and chain couplers used in Europe can only handle 3,000 – train weight, but trials are made to push this limit to 5400 t.

Australia

 * Fortescue – 40,000 t gross train weight, 2,700 m long
 * Glencore 9,000 t (load) 1,500 m long.
 * Aurizon: bulk iron ore train to Esperance, 11,000 t (load); 14,500 t (gross)  32,320 t (gross weight excluding diesel locomotives) 40 t axleload)
 * SCT Logistics; freighter from Parkes to Perth, June 2008, 6,000 t and 1,800 m with diesel locomotives / (crossing loops are 1,800 m)
 * BHP: June 2001 trial with 682 ore cars and eight distributed GE AC6000CW locomotives with a total weight of 99,734 t.
 * BHP 39,680 t
 * One Rail Australia bulk iron ore train to Whyalla - 82 wagons and 1,752 m long, 12,254 t
 * Arrium - 13,000 t (4 locos, 160 wagons) - heaviest on national network.

Brazil

 * Carajás railroad,, Iron Ore typically 330-car trains, each 3 km long.

Canada

 * Bulk trains are limited to 3000 m length with up to 20,700 t
 * Iron ore trains on Quebec North Shore & Labrador Railway 33,000 ST

China

 * Daqin: coal trains – 20,000 t, 3200 m, 210 wagons

France

 * SNCF: 947 m long freight train with 67 wagons – 5410 t. Train was composed of two coupled ordinary freight trains using standard buffers and chain couplers. Therefore, the locomotive of the second train became a mid-train helper, but was still manually operated. The first train consisted of two locomotives BB 27000 with 44 flat cars loaded with steel plates; the second train consisted of one BB 27000 with 23 coal hoppers. The train ran in the night from 28 to 29 October from Somain to Woippy and reached a maximum speed of 100 kph. More tests on the same route are planned for spring 2016. The regular service will start in December 2017, with remote controlled mid-train helpers.

Germany / Netherlands

 * Rotterdam-Dillingen iron ore trains - 6,000 t

Guinea

 * Proposed – Kalia iron ore – 20,000 t – – iron ore

Iran
The heaviest trains length is 750m and weighing 4,000 tons.

And a recorded 12,000 tons train in 1993 with 100 six axle iron ore cars pulled by 6 GT26CW locomotives in three positions, Front, middle and at the end connected by locotrol.

Kenya

 * Existing – 800 t –
 * Proposed – 4000 t –
 * Improvement due to heavier 60 kg/m rail, gentler curves and gradients.

Mauritania

 * Mauritania Railway - 20,000 t – iron ore

Russia / Finland

 * The longest and heaviest freight train ran as a test train on February 20, 1986, from Ekibastuz to the Urals was carried out with a coal train. The composition consisted of 439 wagons and several diesel locomotives distributed along the train. The mass was 43,400 t and the total length of 6.5 km.
 * Chita - Zabaykalsk (break of gauge at Chinese border) up from 4,000 to 6,300 t. Russia uses special SA3 couplers allowing higher weight than in most of Europe.
 * In 2014 Russian Railways presented a new locomotive called 4ES5K adopted for 7,100 t trains to be put into operation in 2015.
 * The heaviest trains in Finland weigh approximately 5,400 t and carry iron ore pellets (taconite) from the mines and processing plant in Kostomuksha, Russia. They go from Kostomuksha to Oulu, Finland, as 60-car unit trains measuring approximately 880 m in length. In Finland these trains are hauled by two Sr2 class electric locomotives at while in Russia trains are hauled by double-section 2TE116 class diesel engines. Due to the restrictions caused by passing loop lengths between Oulu and the port of Kokkola the trains are shortened to 30-40 cars in Oulu and are usually operated with Sr1 class electric locomotives for the rest of the way. The trains use exclusively Russian rolling stock and are equipped with SA3 couplers.

Saudi Arabia

 * Freight trains on the new North-South will carry 15,000 t and be 100 wagons long. Later estimates are for 15,000 t and 155 wagons.

Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone had a narrow gauge railway with 5 t axleloads. Train loads were necessarily very limited, which increased costs counter-productively, as large numbers of small trains were needed to haul tonnages that heavier railways could haul with fewer trains. For example, in 1956 fourteen modern 4-8-2+2-8-4 Garratts were purchased from Beyer, Peacock & Company. These locos increased the maximum load over 1:50 grades from 200 tons (203 tonnes) to 270 tons (274 tonnes).

South Africa

 * Sishen–Saldanha railway line: 41,400 t. (Gross weight) 3875 m long, 9 locomotives in 4 sets remote distributed power management (342 cars with 100 t ore each) Uses 50 kV AC.
 * Manganese: 16,640 t

Sweden / Norway
The axle load on Malmbanan is 30 Tonnes and trials are underway to increase the axle load to 32,5 Tonnes. Axle load is called STAX in Sweden so the railroad is planned to go from STAX 30 to STAX 32.5.
 * On the Iron Ore Line which goes between Luleå, Sweden and Narvik, Norway, iron ore trains are hauled by 360 t IORE locomotives. These 8660 t trains (incl locomotive) are the heaviest in Europe. Special SA3 couplers, and 15 kV $16 2/3$ Hz electrification are used. The iron trains go either Kiruna-Narvik or Gällivare-Luleå. Other very heavy trains go in flat areas but these trains go through a mountain range in Arctic climate, although the uphill grades are at most 10 ‰ (1 %) in the direction with loaded trains. Other heavy trains in Sweden are no more than 3500 t limited by buffers and chain couplers.

Switzerland

 * 3250 t – electric hauled

United States

 * Many main routes in the western US allow cars with gross weights up to 315,000 lb (157.5 ST).
 * A Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range ore train pulled by a single 2-8-8-4 "Yellowstone" steam locomotive which totaled over 19,000 ST
 * A BNSF train from Ogden, Utah, to Roseville, California, was 14,000 ST

World Record
The world heaviest train record is registered as follows:

Australia, BHP: 2001, trial with 682 ore cars and eight distributed GE AC6000CW locomotives with a total weight of 99,734 t (98,159 tons)

South Africa, Sishen Saldanha: 1989, 660 fully laden ore trucks, nine electric locomotives, seven Diesel engines and three other cars with a total weight of 70,543 tons made the journey, taking 12 minutes to pass by the watching engineers.