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Author Topic: Jumbo freight train leaves Cardiff  (Read 6118 times)
Adelante_CCT
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« on: September 22, 2017, 19:30:35 »

Unsure where to post, so have included it under 'improved' service.

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History has been made with the first jumbo train of 34 wagons and 660 metres long departing from Associated British Ports rail terminal in Cardiff and travelling to Acton in London.

Full article here

I assume this was the service in question
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Bmblbzzz
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« Reply #1 on: September 22, 2017, 19:36:18 »

I thought I'd read somewhere or other that freight trains in the UK (United Kingdom) could be up to 750m. Perhaps that's an overall maximum limit rather than a regularly used size?
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John R
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« Reply #2 on: September 22, 2017, 20:25:30 »

I think the max for intermodals is 775m and where possible loops are being lengthened to accommodate this (or maybe a 775m loop accommodates a 750m train?).

I'm guessing heavy haul trains will generally be heavier per metre and thus shorter on average given the need to have a reasonable power to weight ratio.
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stuving
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« Reply #3 on: September 22, 2017, 20:31:33 »

I thought I'd read somewhere or other that freight trains in the UK (United Kingdom) could be up to 750m. Perhaps that's an overall maximum limit rather than a regularly used size?

An overall maximum limit? That might be very practical, but nothing like as much fun as the current arrangements. The published rules for goods train lengths (passenger trains being limited by platform lengths) basically say "ask Network Rail". There is a specific rule in the Western Route Sectional Appendix )page 59P) about engineering trains, which says in part:
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These trains are authorised to transit between their operating bases and engineering possessions in excess of the normal route length limits on Western and Wales Routes provided that a suitable train path has been identified.
The train identification used and maximum lengths (including locomotives) are as follows:
HOBC (High Output Ballast Cleaner) 6Y07 or 6Y15   127 SLUs 811 metres 887 yards 2659 feet
MOBC 6Y19              105 SLUs 670 metres 733 yards 2198 feet
TRS 6X01 or 6X04     117 SLUs 744 metres 813 yards 2439 feet

Now those trains may need to go places long goods trains don't, so the implied limit of less than 670 m may be quite local. Elsewhere, I suspect there desired length which (as John R says) the relevant routes are being adapted to provide.
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Bmblbzzz
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« Reply #4 on: September 22, 2017, 20:40:55 »

So it's probably the longest out of Cardiff rather than the longest ever. It's certainly long in any case!
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stuving
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« Reply #5 on: September 22, 2017, 20:49:09 »

In 2015, SNCF (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) were boasting they had run the "longest train in Europe" at 1500 m. It was made by coupling two trains together, and may in any case have needed locomotive effort in the middle. The second loco was driven from the first over a wireless link. The report refers to "70 wagons rather than 35 in a classic train of 750 m", implying that is some kind of common European standard of acceptable length.

There is more on the project which suggests 1000 m "double" trains might operate routinely from next year, the trials being run to see what bits of infrastructure didn't like long trains. They did not really go far; just from Sibelin (near Lyon) to Nîmes. French railways have a number of freight routes that can already take 850 m, but Germany has only a single long-train route with a limit of 835 m.
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martyjon
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« Reply #6 on: September 23, 2017, 03:19:53 »

Unless my memory is playing up, wasn't the first Jumbo Freight train to run in the UK (United Kingdom) a laden stone train from the Somerset quarries a few years ago or doesn't the reporter filing this story classify stone train traffic as freight ?
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grahame
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« Reply #7 on: September 23, 2017, 03:47:50 »

Unless my memory is playing up, wasn't the first Jumbo Freight train to run in the UK (United Kingdom) a laden stone train from the Somerset quarries a few years ago or doesn't the reporter filing this story classify stone train traffic as freight ?

According to Wikipedia

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On 26 May 1991 Kenneth J Painter (59005) (with assistance from Yeoman Endeavour) set the European haulage record, with a stone train weighing 11,982 tonnes and 5,415 feet (1,650 m) long. However the so-called 'mega train' experiment was not very successful, as a coupling in the centre of the train broke

The Wikipedia entry does include citation back to a printed source.

See also Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvTZMBR28z8

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Freightliner Class 66 no. 66526 (front) 66623 (rear) change drivers at York while working 6Y50 03:45 Northallerton to Doncaster Up Decoy engineers train on Saturday 24th July 2010. (46 wagons = 2526 feet = 770 metres = 2860 tonnes)

On this latter, you need to watch "load" v "weight" when comparing - the York train was mostly the weight of the train (I suspect) but the Cardiff report talks about the load which is in addition to the rolling stock weight. 
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TonyK
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« Reply #8 on: September 28, 2017, 19:44:50 »

In Canada, trains 4,000m long can be seen, according to the National Post. But then everything over there is bigger, heavier, hairier and more frequent than here...

I can't see we would ever get a train of a length that meant it could be in three stations at the same time.
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John R
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« Reply #9 on: September 28, 2017, 20:07:48 »

Indeed, I've seen a few trundle slowly through Winnipeg. They seem to be passing you forever.
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SandTEngineer
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« Reply #10 on: September 28, 2017, 20:18:17 »

In Canada, trains 4,000m long can be seen, according to the National Post. But then everything over there is bigger, heavier, hairier and more frequent than here...

I can't see we would ever get a train of a length that meant it could be in three stations at the same time.

...and the container trains are usually double deck as well Shocked  About 3 years ago I travelled across Canada by train (Toronto to Vancouver) and its amazing how many of those trains you pass in 4 days Smiley
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TonyK
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« Reply #11 on: September 28, 2017, 20:23:24 »

About 3 years ago I travelled across Canada by train (Toronto to Vancouver) and its amazing how many of those trains you pass in 4 days Smiley

A friend who thought he was a railway buff did the same journey many years ago. He said he sat spellbound in the observation car as city gave way to forests, rivers, and mountains, and went to bed happy. Day 2 was more of the same, and he found he drank more than on day 1. By day 3, when he woke to find the only change being the direction the rivers were flowing, he had had enough.
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TaplowGreen
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« Reply #12 on: September 29, 2017, 08:36:20 »

In Canada, trains 4,000m long can be seen, according to the National Post. But then everything over there is bigger, heavier, hairier and more frequent than here...



................does that include women?  Shocked
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TonyK
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« Reply #13 on: September 29, 2017, 19:04:09 »

In Canada, trains 4,000m long can be seen, according to the National Post. But then everything over there is bigger, heavier, hairier and more frequent than here...



................does that include women?  Shocked

I couldn't possibly comment!
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