How much coal does a steam train use per mile?

How much coal does a steam train use per mile?

Range and capacity For the A1 class an average of 40-45 gallons (113-137 litres) per mile is to be expected.

How many tons can a steam train pull?

Trains would consist of an average of 60 cars and hence, have a carrying capacity of 4,440 tons. A modern railcar has a gross capacity of 286,000 lbs or 125.5 tons moving in trains consisting of 100 cars or more, yielding a total carrying capacity of 12,500 tons, an increase of over 181% in carrying capacity.

How much coal does a train need?

Nowadays, 120-car trains are normal with each car carrying roughly 120 tons. Thus the capacity of a modern unit coal train is around 15,000 tons per train.

How fast can a steam train go?

Today’s bullet trains can top 300 mph. When Englishman Richard Trevithick launched the first practical steam locomotive in 1804, it averaged less than 10 mph. Today, several high-speed rail lines are regularly travelling 30 times as fast.

How much horsepower does a steam locomotive have?

Converting locomotives’ tractive effort figures into horsepower isn’t particularly straightforward, but this 899,000-pound behemoth could produce at least 5,700 horsepower at 40 miles per hour according to Railroad Artifact Preservation Society, a figure accurate for a 1930-spec version of this locomotive operated by …

Why are coal trains uncovered?

Coal cars are typically uncovered; each car loses between 500 pounds and one ton of coal dust en route. Coal dust is a proven nuisance for rail lines; fugitive dusts degrades the ballast of the rail lines, and can be a cause of derailments.

How often do locomotives refuel?

We use our switch engines virtually all day, every day. I think that they refuel them about every 3 days, sometimes sooner. They hold about 4000 gallons each. Generally they burn about 80-140 gallons of fuel per hour if they are running all the time.

How many tons of coal does a steam train carry?

“Between 9 and 13 tons of coal”. In the case of the UK steam railways, I knew an old LNER* driver/fireman who was always interesting to talk to about the North Eastern railway, running up and down the East Coast Main Line.

How many miles between coal stops on the railroad?

Another combined Coal and Water stop was made a the 75 mile mark and two or three water towers between coal stops. I’ve read that some railroads had a division point every 100 miles, and travelling to the next division point was considered a days work for the train crew.

Why can’t steam locomotives be used for traction?

The steam comes from the locomotive, so it’s not available for traction. Although taking water usually takes a few minutes (or can be done on the move with water troughs), coaling takes longer and so ideally the locomotive will carry enough coal to complete its turn.

How many shovelfuls of coal does it take to run a mile?

They typically used about 60 lbs. of coal per mile when running at top speed. Since they ran at about 60 mph, that means about 15 lbs. of coal every 15 seconds. That is about 4 shovel-fuls per mile. Not bad.