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The Longest Train in the World
On June 21, 2011, a record was set in Western Australia that pushed the edge of technology in rail travel. This feat became the longest train in the world, and the facts behind it are amazing.
BHP Iron Ore set the longest train record between the Yandi mine and Port Hedland in Western Australia in 2011. The train was 4.53 miles (7.29 km) long and carried 82,000 metric tons or about 181 million pounds of iron ore. This is about the same weight as 402 Statues of Liberty (the Statue of Liberty weighs approximately 450,000 pounds).
The train had 682 cars that were driven by eight General Electric diesel locomotives. The total gross weight for the entire train was 99,734 metric tons (219.8 million pounds). This also beat the record for the world’s heaviest train, which was also held by BHP.
The locomotives were spread out among the cars in three pairs, along with two single locomotives. The entire train was driven 170 miles (273.6 km) by a single driver, and the trip took ten hours and four minutes. You can see the whole train below.
The record-breaking attempt was a test of the technology behind pulling longer and heavier trains. It beat the previous record set in 1991 in South Africa when an iron ore train pulled 660 cars that equaled a length of about 4.47 miles (7.19 km).
More Long Trains
The record for the longest train in the United States was a 3.5 mile (5.6 km) train operated by Union Pacific from Dallas to Long Beach in 2010. It was a test to see if trains could be made longer through different power configurations, specifically locomotives placed throughout the line of cars. You can see it move by below.
