From the Texomarailfans group at Yahoo, this shocker. Wonder if anybody here got pics of this train on the Transcon mainline.... BNSF Runs 10,000-foot Stack Train BNSF ran what is believed to be the U.S. rail industry's first 10,000-foot intermodal train from Los Angeles to Logistics Park in Chicago earlier this week, reports Trains.com. The 10,009-foot (including power) international intermodal stack train departed Los Angeles on May 13 and arrived at the Chicago intermodal terminal May 15. The train ran on BNSF's Transcon, on which BNSF has been steadily increasing the amount of double track in recent years. Because almost the entire 2,200-mile route has now been double tracked, siding length was not an issue. The train used distributed power: four locomotives in the front and two in the back. BNSF is studying the use of longer trains to maximize the amount of containers that it can carry while minimizing the number of trains it takes to move the containers, which increases efficiency and takes advantage of the aggressive program of double tracking BNSF has been conducting on the Los Angeles to Chicago route for several years
BNSF needs to check into Jet Packs for the conductors. :teeth: The good thing about stack trains is that there is a lot less slack and there are fewer couplers because of all the articulated well cars.
nah, theres engines at the back. the coupler break that would suck is at car...ooohhh, say 5000feet!!
How about the poor folks you aren't interested in trains that had to wait for that snake to cross the tracks? :::: when is this thing going to end?! ::::::
Who cares about the "train haters". hehe I think BNSF should install bike racks on their locomotives. Or maybe a porch mount ATV that can be lowered. Or, hire marathon runners for the conductor job. "Gee, I wonder why BNSF has a 10K fun run in conjunction with their job fair?"
My dad told me of a simular train the UP ran across the Overland Route a few months ago. Now all engineers are being DPU trained. This may be the stack trains of the future! I will ask my dad if he remembers some of the details of the train he saw up in Wyoming.
Yikes, the train forces must be a killer! We'll see how well this works in the long-term, but that huge train would alleviate crew usage in intermodal service...
NS has been running monster intermodals for years with train 22A. This train is regularly 8000+ feet, and on good days will exceed 9500+, if not more. It's basically two trains combined into one and run from Norfolk, VA to Danville, KY. From there the 235 segment runs to Detriot and the 22A segment runs to Lousiville.
If they Don't like waiting, then they need to contact their local governing agents to put a bond issue on the ballot to add a little more tax to their bill so that they save a little time by building over/underpasses!!!
I know from firsthand knowledge that BNSF's freights tend to move on that Transcon at a good clip- I wonder what the speed limit was with this Super Stacker (geez, sounds like a breakfast item at Denny's)
We had a "form C" track bulletin about this train, it authorized the train to do 70 MPH, an exception to the 8,500 ft system rule.
Union Pacific ran a test intermodal train each way between LA and Chicago- 2.5 miles long, 12000 tons, with two sets of mid train DPU's if I remember correctly. So it's not a BNSF only deal.
Oh no and I was enjoying the idea that my BNSF company was first with something. Then along comes the reality Maybe next time they will put a steam engine on the front and be the first to use a bigboy on a stacktrain. Well I can dream can't I?:shade: (every one LOL now)
Well. it's not a Big Boy, but BNSF did use #3751 on a stack train: http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=185431 These South African electrics carry motorcycles: http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=175693
There pretty good about blocking our setouts near the front of our trains in the NW, but occasionaly you will get something screwy like that, or the dreaded B/O 100 cars back. Kevin
I watched a BNSF UFIX coal train set out a bad order gon that was probably 115 cars back in Rosenberg. Fortunately some guys showed up in a BNSF truck to uncouple and reconnect so the conductor did not have to walk back.
Triplex, I assume running a motorcycle along the ballast to locate a problem would be a bone-crusher. mg:
That's a 13,000' I'd be skeptical they managed that. What tracks did they run it on? You would think something like that would be widely known yet this 10,000 train is thought to be the longest.
