Longest trains

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Mauritania Railway iron ore train at the station in Nouadhibou. SNIM ore train Nouadhibou.jpg
Mauritania Railway iron ore train at the station in Nouadhibou.

The length of a train may be measured in number of wagons (for bulk loads such as coal and iron ore) or in metres for general freight. Train lengths and loads on electrified railways, especially lower voltage 3000 V DC and 1500 V DC, are limited by traction and power considerations. Drawgear and couplings can also be a limiting factor, along with curves, gradients and crossing loop lengths.

Contents

Very long freight trains with a total length of 3 km (1.9 mi) or more are possible with the advent of distributed power, or additional locomotive units between or behind long chains of freight cars (referred to as a "consist"). Additional locomotive units enable much longer, heavier loads without the increased risks of derailing that stem from the stress of pulling very long chains of train-cars around curves.

Bulk

A BHP Billiton Iron Ore train with 264 cars heads out of Port Hedland on the Mount Newman railway towards Newman, Western Australia, with lead units at right, and distributed power units at left. BHPB long train, Port Hedland, 2012.JPG
A BHP Billiton Iron Ore train with 264 cars heads out of Port Hedland on the Mount Newman railway towards Newman, Western Australia, with lead units at right, and distributed power units at left.

General

A BNSF train of loaded well cars (or double-stack cars) at Caliente, California, United States. Caliente California Burlington Northern Santa Fe.JPG
A BNSF train of loaded well cars (or double-stack cars) at Caliente, California, United States.
A Canadian National Railway double-stack container train. CN 2416 GE C40-8M.jpg
A Canadian National Railway double-stack container train.

Special test runs

These are one-off runs, sometimes specifically to set records.

Bulk (ore, coal etc)

General cargo

Passenger

See also

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