Train tracks?

Question

i heard a dj on the radio about staying off the tracks. he said the average train weighs 6,000 tons. stay alive. stay off the tracks.

Answer 1

I would agree with everyone else so far, thats not very heavy! On average a empty 50 foot box car weights 62,300 pounds that would be approx. 31 tons a loaded box car max limit could weight up to 154,000 pounds approx. 77 tons. A locomotive weights any where between 70 to 100 tons give or take, pending on what type of locomotive it is. So to sum things up 6,000 tons would not be a very long train. I still would want to get hit by it!

                             BA

Answer 2

Yeah, 6,000 tons is light for an "average" train.  9,000 to 10,000 tons for an average, with unit trains tipping the scale around 16,000 tons.

To put that into perspective, that is like putting 5 US Naval destroyers on roller bearings.  Now get it going 45 mph.  Now, if I put the train into emergency braking, I'm going to keep rolling for at least a mile before I come to a stop.  Even at ten mph, it would still take maybe 200' or more to stop.  What all that means is, if an engineer can see you, it is already too late to stop for you.

So yes, "stay off the tracks" is good advice.  

But that isn't always an option, such as crossing the tracks in a vehicle.  There is only one way to be assured of getting across ANY railroad tracks alive and in one piece, though it has been said time and again, one must stop, when practical (not always an option in traffic, etc.) look (and I mean really look.  a quick side to side glance can get you dead), and listen by turning off the music and rolling the window down.

Now, ask yourself this question.  If you had to bet your life, literaly, on whether or not your toaster won't give out tomorrow morning at breakfast, would you?  How about whether your car will start?  

That is what you are doing if you put all your trust in electronic/mechanical crossing protective devices, gates. lights and bells.  My advice is, don't.  As with any electro-mechanical device, it can fail.  This is why "stop, look and listen" is the only sure bet about getting across the tracks in one piece.

One other thing to be considered when at grade crossings.  If room permits, stop way back.  Anything could fall off of the train.  I had a 25 ton roll of coil steel hit the ground one time.  Rolled right out of a boxcar door.  We were pulling into a siding in the boonies at ten mph when it happened.  Six minutes earlier, I was going over grade crossings at 40 mph.  Only luck kept someone from winding up with it in their lap.

And tell someone you care about.  People who know these things usually assume everyone else does, but that is a deadly mistake.  Spread the word.  It's cheap insurance and you may actually save a life.

Answer 3

1 locomotive by itself is heavy.Weight depends on the model of the locomotive.

Answer 4

The Golden Rule of Railroading!

Skidderback- Paragraph 6 last line!!!!!!!!!

STOP! LOOK! LISTEN!

These are the three things that are going to save your life with trains.

I sit at the Santa Clara Depot on my days off photographing Union Pacifc and Cal-Train.

If I could have a nickel for every stupid person on that platform who wants to stick their head over the YELLOW SAFETY LINE when they hear a train horn, I would not have to work for the rest of my life!

Have a good look at what these locomotive engineers are saying.  They have lived it, they understand it.

I belong to a local Railroad Restoration Club called Niles Canyon Railway.

I was and still am an HO Scale Foamer.  Since I joined this club, I have learned more about the real industry, than I could have ever hoped to learn from Magazine Articles, and my own layout.

Got news, if folks things these rolling beasts can stop when at speed, boy will they be suprised.

Case and point?

Ever put a penny on the rail?

Want to look like that??

No?

Then stay clear!

As Skidderback told another person.  

"Buy a ticket and be safe."

Answer 5

That may be a little light on the scales around here (WV) but right about staying off of the tracks. If a train hits a vehicle, the vehicle will lose. Period.

Regards,

Dan

Answer 6

These guys have already covered it pretty well. But let me add the fact that when a train hits a vehicle, all that energy goes into the vehicle - not into the train. Last fall I had a light train (2,200 tons) that hit a grain semi truck leaving a grain elevator, at 40 mph. I hit the trailer and tore it away from the rest of the truck. The trailer wheels and axles flew several hundred yards out in to a field, and the trailer itself simply came all apart. The point is, I had a cup of coffee sitting in front of me in the lead engine. The coffee never spilled.

Fortunately, the truck driver was alright. No railroader wants to hurt innocent Americans.

Answer 7

6,000 tons is probably a good average for a double stack container train. Our coal trains are run all the way up to 20,000 tons.A new locomotive weighs 410,000 pounds or 205 tons. The dj gave good advice. Most people that have a close encounter with a train don't live to tell about it.Railroad tracks are no place to be goofing around on. I had 3 girls playing chicken recently standing between the rails.The third girl slipped when she went to get off the tracks.If it hadn't been for the fact that one of her friends was holding her hand and pulled her clear we would have killed her.It was so close i closed my eyes and waited for the thump.When i didn't hear it i looked back and she was laying on the ballast a foot from the side of the train. I'll bet she never tries that fool stunt again!She probably had to go home for a fresh pair of panties.

Answer 8

he's right but it's not the weight behind the locomotive that will crush you, that just makes it longer for the crew to walk back and pick up peices.

The locomotive itself weighs 200 tons, that's enough to turn you into sausage.

Answer 9

Absolutely right. Even in the UK and Europe, where trains are generally lighter than in the US, if you have an argument with one you are still definitely going to come off worse.