Quebec train set too few brakes, engineer “under police control”

[happyslug]

35. Varies, but most seem to be 60-63 feet long, thus about 2 football fields short of a mile

http://www.sterlingrail.com/classifieds/Listings.php?type=Tank%20Car&fsw=FS

The only 47 foot one mention was only for 14,000 Gallon and then for Beer Only. The rest were 60-63 feet long and for 30,000 to 33,000 gallons, Total weight: 196,000 lbs (or 98 tons).

60x75= 4500 feet 63x75=4575 feet long Total Weight 98x75=7350 TONS.

Please remember this does NOT include the weight or length of the engine:

The railroad involves had several different engines:

The EMD-GP7 is 56 feet long, others in use by this railroad can be as long as 70 feet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_GP7

Here is for the GE Dash 8-39B, replaced by the Dash 9 series in the early 1990s, the difference is in the electronic controls:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GE_Dash_8-39B weight is 170 tons. It produces 4000 horsepower (3000 Newtons).

The general rule is .8 horsepower per ton to be hauled. More on steeper grades (and remember when it comes to "Steep grades" on railroads we are talking 2-3%, i.e. 2 feet rise over 100 feet of track. This goes back to Watt's invention of his steam engine. He wanted a measurement that people could understood so he used the power of a horse to move one ton of cargo (Railroads being steel wheels on steel rail and thus have a much lower rolling Resistance then other wheels get away with .8 horsepower on flat ground).

At present the highest grade for a Class 1 railroad is 3.1%. I live in the mountains of Pennsylvania and Norfolk and Southern always double the number of locomotives between Altoona and Johnstown so the train can make the grade.

Thus 75 Cars at 98 tons equals 7350 tons, plus two engine you came to a total weight of 7690 tons. The Dash 8 locomotives produces 4000 horsepower. Thus you need at least two locomotives on this train ON FLAT GROUND. Four if going up grades.

Two locomotives are 140 feet to the length, thus the train would be 4650 feet, if it has four locomotives that would make the train 4790 feet long. 5280 feet is the number of feet in a mile so we are taking anywhere from 490 feet to 630 feet short of the mile. Roughly two football field short of a mile (or the train itself was over 16 football fields long).

More on train hauling (this report does NOT contain the above .8 horsepower to Ton rule, but it is interesting on its own):
http://uotechnology.edu.iq/dep-building/LECTURE/highway&bridge%20engineering/third_class/Railway%20Engineering/Railway%20Engineering.pdf