This is a shot of one of Pilbara Iron’s ore trains I got moving through the Chichester Ranges.

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2 General Motors Dash 9 locomotives coupled to 226 wagons each loaded with up to 105 tons of iron ore each forming a train 2.2km (1.4 mile)long.
When you get caught at a rail crossing by one of these you turn off the motor get out and have a smoke cos your going to be there for a while.

These aren’t the longest that have been used here the record for the heaviest train by BHP Iron Ore. One weighing 99,734 tons ran for 275km between Yandi and Port Hedland on BHP's Mount Newman line. It was formed of 682 wagons hauled by eight 6,000hp General Electric AC6000CW locomotives and controlled by a single driver. The 7.3km (4.5 mile) long train conveyed 82,000 tons of iron ore.

Cheers
Barry

Wow Barry, cool train!!  Wish I could take Eli around the world to see all the different trains.  He'd love that one!

:)

i love hearing trains click and clack. all that iron rolling down the track. i usually turn off my engine and roll down the windows when one rolls by ;)

That is an awesome picture, Barry!  [smiley=headbanger.gif]

that's a helluva train!.

Like Johnny, I love to hear them too. We don't get many rolling through town anymore but they remind me of just how scary we humans are....in this case a good scare.

Charlie

Great picture! Thank you, Barry. :)

Sanna

Always wondered what kind of brakes are used to bring a rolling 80,000 tons to a halt once they arrive.  Do they start slowing up about 30 miles from the destination?  Even hard to imagine the power to get that line of cars moving but when you get in the range of several engines, 48,000 horsepower for that hundred k tonner (my calculator won't go that high or my math skills but it seems like 200 million pounds!), that's amazing.




My grandmother used to tell me about going out to the railroad tracks to look for pieces of coal that spilled off the top of railroad cars coming into town long ago for heat.

when the mountains are close together and a train horn blows it has a different tone each time it's bounces off anouther mountain. kind of an ominous sound at 3 a.m.