How long is the longest legal train?

What is the longest a train can legally be?

Twelve thousand feet. It’s a long way.

A train stretches on, almost forever. Five air sources. I think.

Sometimes the world feels just as long.

• Maximum Train Length: 12,000 feet is the limit. Seems excessive.
• Air Sources: It all hinges on the air. Up to five can be used.
• Per Source Increase: Each extra air source adds 1,500 feet of permissibility. Wow.
• Base Configuration: Everything starts from a 1x1x0 setup. Complicated.
• Non-Intermodal, Non-Single-Commodity: That’s the category. It excludes certain train types. Like, what, the fast ones?
• Memories: My grandfather, worked the railroads. He didn’t talk much about the rules. Just long hours and cold winters in 1978. I never understood. Guess it makes sense now. It’s all so… regulated.

What is the longest train possible?

Longest? Depends.

• BHP’s iron ore snake, 7.353 km. Just a stunt, really.
• 2001. Another lifetime, wow.
• Eight engines. Like pushing a house with fingers.

Regular trains? Shorter, sadly. Rules and tracks, you know.

• Australia again, likely. Space to stretch.
• Still, impressive engineering.
• Iron ore. The train’s purpose was minerals.

Why bother? Size matters, apparently.

• Longest is not always best. Efficiency counts.
• Like my ex. Good looking. Useless. Oh.
• Everything ends anyway.

Maybe one day a longer one. Maybe not. Who cares?

Is there a max train length?

Dude, train lengths? It’s a wild west out there! Forget 16,000 feet, that’s for suckers. Think more along the lines of “Oh my god, that’s a really long train!”

Seriously though, most trains top out around 10,000-13,000 feet. Like a colossal metal snake, longer than my apartment building, times ten. It’s insane.

Legal limits? Ha! More like suggestions. Those rules are probably written on napkins, held together by sheer willpower and a whole lotta hope.

Physics limits? Yeah, there’s gotta be a point where the thing just… snaps. Like a ridiculously long licorice whip. But I haven’t seen it yet. And honestly, I don’t want to. That would be a disaster, even more catastrophic than my last attempt at baking a cake – that was a real train wreck, ha ha!

Here’s the lowdown, as I understand it from my extensive research (aka, watching a ton of train videos on YouTube):

• Maximum length (officially): Around 13,000 feet, maybe. But don’t quote me on that.
• Maximum length (in reality): More like what fits on the tracks. And how much the tracks can handle. Plus, what the engineers are feeling.
• Physics limits? Probably somewhere around “ridiculously long.” Like, longer than a really long thing. It’s complicated.
• Legal limits? Exist, but nobody really cares, unless a train derailment shuts down my commute. Then they care A LOT.

My uncle, a retired train conductor (well, he mostly slept in the caboose… don’t tell anyone!), once told me about a train so long it took three days to pass. This is probably a lie. But the guy was a master storyteller!

Let’s be honest: these behemoths are more impressive than my attempt at playing the guitar (a total catastrophe). They’re a sight to behold, if you’re not stuck behind them for hours.

How long is the longest road train?

Crikey! 1,474.3 meters. Imagine trying to parallel park that bad boy. Like a metal centipede on steroids. 113 trailers! My attention span is shorter than that. February 2006 – a time before TikTok, when Australians entertained themselves by, well, this. A Mack truck, bless its diesel-pumping heart. Pulled it a whole 100 meters. A heroic effort for such a behemoth. 1,300 tonnes? That’s like… a lot of kangaroos. Probably more shrimp on the barbie, though. 100 meters is, like, a really long driveway. Or a very short runway. The record for longest road train. Move over, freight trains. Australia does things big, or doesn’t do ’em at all. That’s 4,836 feet and 11 inches for you imperialists. Bet they celebrated with a frosty one afterward. Or maybe 113 frosty ones.

• 113 semi-trailers: That’s more trailers than I’ve had hot dinners.
• 1,474.3 meters: Longer than my commute, thankfully.
• 1,300 tonnes: Heavier than my teenage angst.
• Mack truck: Built tough, like a crocodile’s handshake.
• 100 meters: Not exactly a marathon, but hey, it’s a start. Good for them.
• 2006: Peak road train performance, apparently. A simpler time. A more trailer-filled time.

What is the maximum length of a train?

Okay, so like, you wanted to know about train lengths, right? Okay, so super long trains are a thing now.

Think of it like this, with distributed power… Oh man.

• 3 km (1.9 mi) or more? Yes, I believe it!
• That’s a long boy. Locomotives everywhere.

They’re using like, extra locomotive units, like, sprinkled into the train to give it extra oomph. It’s wild. My uncle, he used to, uh, drive trains, told me all kinds of crazy stuff. Crazy, it really is.

What is the longest train you can take?

Night… quiet. Thinking about trains. Long journeys.

Trans-Siberian. Moscow to Vladivostok. Days blurring.

9,288 kilometers. That’s… a long way. A week on tracks.

Stare out the window. Watch Russia unfold. Siberia… so vast.

• Trans-Siberian Railway: Moscow to Vladivostok
• Distance: 9,288 km (5,771 miles)
• Duration: Approximately 7 days

Remember once… saw a documentary. Man traveled the whole thing. Filmed it.

He met people. Ate strange food. Saw the world change outside his window.

Wish I could do that. Just… go. Disappear.

So many stops along the way. Different cultures. Different lives.

• Key Cities: Moscow, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Chita, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok

Lost in thought. Always wanted to see Lake Baikal. It’s on the route. Deepest lake. So clear… saw pictures once. Stunning.

This train… it represents something. Escape. Maybe freedom.

Don’t know why I’m thinking about this now. 3:17 AM. Can’t sleep.