I'm trying to find some information and I'm hoping a railroad fan would know the answer. I need to know the average weight of a double-stacked container unit freight train coming out of the Los Angeles basin.
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
AS to average, I haven't a clue, but you can get something from this: A loaded 40 foot container will weigh somewhere around 25 to 30 tons, but could weigh a little more. Much of the container traffic moves in 5-packs. That is 5 well cars permanently coupled and supported by 6 trucks. The units would be about 300 feet long each. Add a train weight (a GUESS) of about 15 tons a platform, gets between 320 and 380 tons per 5-pack Therefore, if we have 20 of these, we have a 6000 foot train of somewhere between 6,400 and 7,200 tons plus 3 diesels at about 200 tons each, which is probably neither the longest nor the shortest, we would have a 7,000 ton to 8,000 ton train. Given that many coal trains exceed 13,000 tons, not really an excessively heavy train.
George
Posted by Clements (Member # 3750) on :
Thanks so much for the information. It's just what I needed!