How fast do freight trains go?

Question

How fast do freight trains go?

Answer 1

The two sudivisions I ran regularly on Union Pacific were the Falls City Sub, which had a top speed of 50 mph.  The other was the Trenton Sub which had a top speed of 60 mph over most of it.  50 mph was quite easy to do except when clibing Shannon Hill out of Atchison, KS on the Falls City Sub.  60 mph was trickier on the Trenton Sub.  The track followed the hogbacks thus causing slak action.  This made it a challenge to keep a constant speed.  When going south out of Des Moines, the favorite trick at Short Line Yard was to give us the biggest train they could with the least amount of power they could find.  Two WC SD45s can't maintain a steady 60 when the yardmaster decides its time to clean house.  Between Polo, MO and the drawbrige over the Missouri River was double track where main 1 owned by the UP was 60 mph and main two owned (at the time I worked there) by the IMRL was 40 mph.

Answer 2

40-70 mph depending on track condition, type of freight, and geographical challenges.

Most regular freight goes 40-60 mph depending on the track and the railroad's preferences for fuel savings.

Intermodal trains, such as trailers-on-flatcar, double-stack containers or RoadRailers, will go 60-70 mph.  Some even go as fast as 79/80 mph, but that costs a lot of fuel and is the upper limit of speed for regular freight car wheelsets.

Much slower in mountainous areas due to steep grades and curves.  (the main issue is controlling the speed of the train going downhill so it doesn't "run away".)

Cities and towns are irrelevant, they just highball through at the speed they please.  People waiting at highway crossings prefer "faster".

Answer 3

50 to 55mph for all train .. 50 for a loaded coal train

65mph to UPS and the juice train ..

im a csx conductor

Answer 4

Depend on the class of track.

Class 1 -10 mph

Class 2 - 25 mph

Class 3 - 40 mph

Class 4 -60 mph

Class 5 - 80 mph

If carrying hazards material, then they are restricted.

Note- freight train do not travel at a steady paste of 20 mph do to harmonic rock. It could cause them to derail.

Answer 5

It depends if they are carrying a flux capacitor.

Answer 6

As always, there are variables at play.  These variables play a part in determining what a freight train's maximum "authorized" speed may be.  These include "tons per operative brake," which is simply the avarage weight of each car in the train, arrived at by dividing the total trailing tonnage by the number of cars.

Another variable is "tons per axel of dynamic brake," arrived at by dividing the total trailing tonnage by the number of axels of dynamic brake being used.

Another consideration is the grade of the territory the train is operating on.  The heavier the grade, the higher the TPOB and TPAD, the slower the speed the train is allowed to operate.

Signal spacing and roadbed condition further limits a train's maximum speed.

But, in determining a freight train's "top" speed, the only limitation is the gear ratio on the locomotives themselves.  Most freight locomotives have a ratio of 62:15.  This means the "pinion gear" on the electric traction motors will turn 62 times to the wheel's 15 times, with the "ring" gear.  This will allow a maximum speed of 72 MPH.  Passenger locomotives are geared higher, permitting them to run at higher speeds.

The primary reason for the limitations in top speed for freight locomotives is, the windings of the wire on the locomotive's traction motor armatures wants to expand due to centrifugal forces, wanting to move outward.  This can cause a wire to break and come into contact with the magnets around the armature, or expand the whole of the windings with the same result.  This activates a protective device called the "ground relay."  It will automatically interrupt the electricity flowing to all the traction motors, including those involved, usually with a large bang.  Most locomotives are equipped with traction motor cut-out switches to isolate the malfunctioning traction motors, while the others can continue to operate. But, there are other reasons unrelated to speed that will cause the ground relay protection to activiate.

So, as another precaution, locomotives are equipped with an "overspeed" device.  This operates automatically to return all "prime movers" (the diesel motors) of locomotives in the consist to "idle," interrupt electrical supply to the traction motors, and make a full service application of the air brakes, stopping the train.  They are usually set for 72 MPH.

This is all a long way of saying max speed for freight trains is 72 MPH.

Answer 7

Depends on a lot of variables.  On flat ground, in a rural area, with good, straight track, they do ~70mph.