Does it make any sense that a train locomotive gets over 400 miles per gallon and a car only gets 50 at best?

Question

I recently read a newspaper article stating that CSX has a train engine that gets 423 miles per gallon pulling one ton of freight. Why is it that cars get such poor mileage? Does anyone else suspect something here?

Answer 1

are you sure that didn't say 423 gallons per hour?

Answer 2

that is 4oo miles per ton of freight moved.  If a car . is caring a 200 pound man, and gets 30 miles per gallon. it gets about 300 miles per ton carried.

Answer 3

A locomotive pulls about 2,000 tons of freight.  It gets 400 mpg for each ton.  So (do the math) it requires 2,000 gallons of fuel to pull the TRAIN 400 miles.  That's what they're saying.  5 gallons per mile, say.

It's far, far more efficient than a truck which gets 5 mpg and hauls 40 tons, and in addition, it doesn't waste a lot of people's time.  In a train, you only have 3 people pulling 10,000 tons with several locomotives.  In trucks you have to consume somebody's life sitting in that driver's seat for only 40 tons.

As everybody else as very astutely pointed out, the train is more fuel efficient because of some of its physical characteristics.

1. Steel wheels

2. Not much wind resistance

3. It doesn't go up and down hills much at all compared to the highway.

Answer 4

Large numbers, small co-efficient of friction.

The benchmark is "Ton Miles Per Gallon."

As far as fuel consumption goes, most road engines will burn between 160 and 195 gallons of fuel, per hour, per locomotive, at full throttle (run #8), depending on the model.  But, once you have 14 or 15 thousand tons moving, it takes very little throttle to keep it moving, unless on a grade.  The real expense is in starting and accelerating the tonnage up to speed.  Once loping along in a low throttle position, your TM/PG goes waaaaaay up.

NS advertises 400+ miles for moving a ton of freight on a single gallon of fuel, but other figures show this "national" (all railroads) average lower, at about 202 miles for one ton moving one mile.  Your average highway truck is going to move one ton of freight about 59 miles on a gallon of fuel, with its dragging rubber tires on asphalt or concrete.

Then, think of a container ship.  It burns more than one gallon of fuel to move it only its own length.  But when you apply the math, you have an extremely efficient way to move much, much more tonnage, with much higher TM/PG.

Finally, look at the Space Shuttle.  Huge consumption of fuel to attain escape velocity and get into orbit, but once there, with no co-efficient of friction, TM/PG is, well, forgive me, but astronomical and nearly limitless.

Answer 5

The train does not get 423 mile per gallon. That figure is the mileage based on one ton of freight in a loaded train.

If a train carrying 1,000 tons of freight gets 0.423 miles to the gallon of fuel, it is getting the equivalent of 423 MPG per ton of freight.

They are saying that shipping by rain is more fuel efficient than shipping by truck.

Answer 6

Sort of -- it's not just miles/gallon.  Instead, it is "ton-miles/gallon," that is, how many tons of freight are moved how many miles using how many gallons.  (Tons x miles)/gallons.  

A CSX spokesman explains:

    On average, railroads can move one ton of freight 423 miles on one gallon of fuel. This is a rail industry statistic calculated by dividing the 2006 annual revenue ton miles (1.772 trillion) by the fuel consumed (4.192 billion), which equates to the industry average of one ton of freight 423 miles on one gallon of fuel. (The 2006 data was the last full year for which total industry data are available.)

    Revenue ton miles are those miles for which railroads are compensated for moving freight. (We move empty cars to reposition them, and we move company materials for which we are not compensated). The industry did not include fuel consumed by passenger trains -- just freight trains.

    What's the formula for figuring revenue ton miles?

    A revenue ton-mile is the movement of one ton of freight, for revenue, one mile. A ton of a railroad's own ballast, moved in work trains, would not be counted because the railroad is not getting any revenue for moving the ballast.

    Has an outside group (whether government or watchdog) backed this up, so that it's not just an industry calculation?

    The (Association of American Railroads) 423 miles per gallon can be verified by anyone that retrieves the data from the Annual Report R-1 that each Class I railroad files with the Surface Transportation Board. Gallons of fuel are in Schedule 750 of the R-1, and revenue ton-miles are in Schedule 755. If the gallons of fuel used for empty freight cars were known and excluded, the 423 would be even higher.

    Many railroads use gross ton-miles per gallon instead of revenue ton-miles per gallon. This is appropriate for their purpose, but the AAR's purpose is to measure efficiency in hauling freight -- so revenue ton-miles are used. GTMs per gallon will be higher because the weight of the freight car is included.

Answer 7

A train uses steel wheels on steel rails, which is low-friction.  A car uses rubber tires on asphalt, which is high-friction.

More rolling friction means more power is needed to overcome the friction to keep the vehicle's speed up, which means more fuel usage.

That's why a train is more fuel-efficient than a car.

Answer 8

try again more like galls per mile  not miles per gal

Answer 9

Robert has answered this best here so far.That ad is painting a picture using a large brush.It sounds great and it is possible but conditions have to be ideal.There are many variables that can affect that number in huge ways.As Robert stated most fuel is burnt starting and accelerating a train.How fast that is done has a big effect on fuel burn rates.So does grade and weather.You'd be amazed how much high wind will affect a train.So to state they can move a ton of freight over 400 miles on a gallon of diesel can be misleading.Across the plains states on a nice calm day...maybe.Through the mountains of New Mexico where i work...no way. Just in case your interested here is the chart they provide us for fuel burn rates.Keep in mind this is per engine not for the whole consist.So if your in run 8(full throttle) they figure  the average at 209 gallons an hour,if you have 3 engines your burning 627 gallons of fuel an hour                                                                                                    

MODEL HP N8 N7   N6 N5   N4   N3   N2   N1  

C44AC 4380 210  171  140  109  79  53  27  12  

SD9043AC   4300 202  172  139  100  77  54  28  16  

AC FLEET AVERAGE    209  171  140  108  79  53  27  13  

C44AC notch HP             4380 3572 2560 2146 1499 894  481  150  

   <<More DB>>

MODEL  HP  Fuel Idle  DB2  DB4  DB6  DB8  

C44AC 4380 3 4 6 8 13

SD9043AC 4300 3 7 7 8 9

AC FLEET AVERAGE

Answer 10

a train is running on track with the help of electricity

but a car is actually depending on just gas

Answer 11

You misinterpreted the ad.  It states that a train gets 423 miles per gallon per ton, not that if only pulling one ton, it will get 423 miles per gallon.  This is the advantage of shipping by rail, much more environmentally friendly than by truck, plus a train can haul as much as 150-200 trucks, thus taking trucks off of our highways, relieving congestion.  Although I do feel for the independent truckers out there who are going under because of high fuel prices.