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

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

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.