RR TRIVIA QUIZ FOR NOVEMBER 13, 2005 -- ANSWERED

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

According to a recent article in THE NEW YORKER magazine, how much would an empty unit coal train a mile-and-a-half long with 133 aluminum coal gondolas and five locomotives weigh?

  1. not more than 3,000 tons*

  2. not more than 4,000 tons*

  3. not more than 5,000 tons

  4. not more than 6,000 tons.

al smalling

*ANSWER: Hoo, boy! Let me quote from the relevant article, “Coal Train-I” by John McPhee (NEW YORKER, October 3, 2005, page 72):

"The [empty unit coal] train was seven thousand, four hundred and eighty-five feet long . . . and was actually running shorter than most coal trains. There were a hundred and thirty-three aluminum gondolas (hoppers), and five diesel-electric locomotives–three in the rear, two of them deadhead. . . .

“We got up to forty miles an hour ascending the grade. The train could go that fast because it was so light. It was empty. The five locomotives and the mile-and-a-half length notwithstanding, the entire rig weighed less than three thousand tons [my emphasis].”

You can see my problem: John McPhee is a Pulitzer prize-winning author of nonfiction similar to the above, and THE NEW YORKER magazine has a reputation for scrupulous fact-checking. On the other hand, ericsp made his case for a 4,000-ton train by using actual railroad specs. (On the third hand, did some of you pick option 2. just because the second answer is so often the right answer on multiple-choice tests?)

I don’t have the right to declare a “winner” because we have a classic combat between authority and experience, but I am inclined to go with the answer (not more than 4,000 tons) that ericsp and so many others gave on this and the TRAINS magazine site. It is entirely possible that McPhee’s statistic came from a seat-of-the-pants estimate the train’s crew gave him. And as far as I know, he has not written at length about railroading before (although I have

2

WOW good question, I dont’ know. I guess 3

3

3

4

After some quick calculation my guess would be 2.

5

I’ll go with 3. 5 locomotives are pretty heavy.
Enjoy
Paul

6

  1. A standard 6 axle road engine weighs about 200-210 tons. So figure 1000+ tones for the engines.

  2. Standars ‘steel’ coal hoppers weigh about 30 tons each - not sure about aluminum car bodies, but I suspect they are at least 25 tons each - 133*25=3325 tons.

We are talking about over 4000 tons for that empty coal train…

Jim

7

There’s enough evidence to count jrbernier correct. He and ericsp on the TRAINS site used similar logic and evidence to craft a “real world” response.

However, if you checked the October 3, 2005 NEW YORKER, the author, John McPhee, says, “The five locomotives and the mile-and-a-half length notwithstanding, the entire [empty] rig weighed less than three thousand tons.”

Even if wrong, people who researched THE NEW YORKER have to be counted correct, along with anyone else who might have guessed no. 1.

So, whether you chose #1 or #2, you are correct! But there seems to be a consensus that the train would weigh at least 4,000 tons.

8

I did some research on the ‘net’ this afternoon, the rapid unload aluminum cars weight 50,100 lbs ‘empty’ - so 25 tons per car is correct. And the locomotive are over 200 tons each - not sure where New Yorker got their info…maybe they were just counting the empty cars and not the engines. Still, we are talking about 3,300 tons of train…

Jim

9

Interesting that McPhee’s article said that “the entire rig weighed less than three thousand tons (THE NEW YORKER, 10/4/05, p.72),” which seems to be clearly wrong vis-a-vis the coal plus locomotives, but it would actually work out without the diesels. Nonetheless, to me “the whole rig” means the [empty] cars AND the loco’s.