UNION PACIFIC MONSTER TEST TRAIN 1102010

Union Pacific 3 mile long Test train

[@kellySonobud]

I worked on the railroad for 29 years as a conductor. My longest train was 180 cars, 9000 feet. This is incredible!!

[@epistte]

+kelly Sonobud How would you feel if you had to walk this monster train because you blew a brake house or busted a knuckle 10 cars from the end, in the winter?

[@douglaspaul4728]

@@epistte He didn't respond back, so I guess he was lying.

[@douglaspaul4728]

@@Amtrakfan90278 I know, I was just bored :/

[@douglaspaul4728]

@@Amtrakfan90278 Yes it was! :D

[@applejack2911]

Incredible until it goes in emergency and you have to walk it during a thunderstorm at 2 in the morning! Been there done that!! Or worse yet get a knuckle with one of those know it all Engineers

[@sontungle2641]

Run from 8 to 10 January 2010, consisting of 296 container cars and hauled by nine diesel-electric locomotive spread through the train with a total length of 18,000 feet (3.4 mi; 5.5 km), from a terminal in Texas to Los Angeles. Around 618 double-stacked containers were carried at speeds up to 70 mph/112 km/h. 14,059 t.

[@gizmothewytchdoktor1049]

this is damned impressive that so much mass can be moved with so little effort.like container ships....these are truly marvels of logistics and engineering.

[@timowgan7777]

I agree. If you work on 600 containers on that train. The latest Maersk container ship can carry 12000 containers or 20 times this trains containers. And reportedly bigger ships are on the way (up to 18000 containers) Amazing

[@sontungle2641]

@@timowgan7777 That's about 618 containers man. They literally take 618 semi-trailers off the road :))).

[@sagakanon1741]

No matter what they say ,is a cool catch, thanks for share !!!

[@dastagiranwar147]

295 rail cars, 9 engines and 18,000 feet long (that is, almost 3.5 miles long). WOW!

[@rwhitenight]

I believe this train originated out of Dallas Intermodal Terminal (Wilmer TX)

[@johnburns8994]

Absolutely Incredible.......stack trains rule...thanks for posting

[@davestrains6816]

Wow, incredible video. Thanks for sharing. Dave

[@mmbmbmbmb]

Watching this was incredible! Beautiful scenery as well ~ thank you!

[@caad3333]

294 intermodal cars....wow! JJ

[@j.m.youngquist419]

This is what they refer to as precision railroading

[@aprc1977a]

Wow what an unbelievable sight, imoveable industrial might. and the whole train made up of intermodal containers. Man all them neat straight lines and edges, parallel tracks and evenly spaced wagons has my OCD in a right twist lol.

[@MrPaulkBoot]

Remarkable - nothing like this in the UK. Reminded me of similar trains that I saw in Nevada, October 2009. Thanks for uploading.

[@StarTard8]

me: "Crap...I'm TEN F$&*^@% minutes late for an important meeting!" *comes to a RR crossing, this train comes* me: "...damn..."

[@user-gc1el8qq4g]

A man waiting on the next railroad X-ing is luckless for sure :)

[@rwhitenight]

That is fricking amazing. Great video. I overslept and missed it in Arlington, Texas :-(.

[@ahmadbinfadzil8258]

Many years comment.

[@mav3r1ck69]

Fascinating, agree with the earlier comments about getting stuck at the crossing waiting for this beast to pass....good chance to catch a nap..lol. That would be an awesome sight to see in person though. Thanks for the upload

[@shivasorion2014]

500 !...excellent vid...thank you.

[@trainfreak7745]

We got one of these up here in Michigan about 2008 when the economy was suffering and we were getting 1 train on a good day CN sent a massive 2 mile long train that inches forward and blocked off 6 crossings for 4 hours then right behind it they had another 45 car train that blocked even more, needless to say they were fined pretty hefty and haven't done it since they split Waterford, Township in half and almost got a cop killed when he called for help and everybody was on the opposite side

[@nitrofumes2012]

The UP has been running 15,000 ft trains through Kearney lately. I caught one on the rail cam there last week.

[@Boss302fan]

Close enough. The technology is always changing, but the communication is wireless. No cables. Just attended a seminar on the new GE units. Amazing machines and DPU is an evolving process. They've come a long way since the GP20's and Alco C430 units I learned to run on.

[@cajunrescuemedic]

thanks for posting this, very cool

[@bearbon2]

This is reeeeealy going to be popular at grade crossings!

[@butti9249]

Thank you !

[@PNWRailfan]

Man, if this train hit a car...

[@xylenol15]

Hey, this is the same one singwith filmed! Happy to see it again! =)

[@arqueslocomotivas]

Grande montagem, as 2 primeiras locomotivas, 7667 e 7680, também são as últimas, que mágica...

[@WideWorldofTrains]

Great video, I have a couple 200 car trains going 65-75 MPH w only 2 engines

[@yts9pv4k3]

No, i think you are wrong: I saw 6 engines: 2 in front, 2 somewhere in the middle, and 2 at the end.

[@WideWorldofTrains]

Loek van de Venne Im talking about some of my train vids

[@helmitpeak]

Loek van de Venne There were 9 engines total, 3 in front, two in middle, two more near end and two at the end.

[@kantsetzu]

There are 9 locomotives. 3 forward, 2 in the first half, then 2 more and at finish there's also 2. Unbelievable! Very good😊

[@sandrarubalcaba8083]

It 9 engine

[@rhicks1]

Good video thanks for sharing.

[@SuzanneGillespie]

Imagine sitting in traffic while waiting for this one to clear a road crossing, lol!

[@albatrouseciv8147]

Did anyone else count the cars, then rewind it to watch it again just to enjoy it

[@cascadianpuget]

This one train would need the same size crew as one a third its length. I'm sure crew-reduction is the goal.

[@BNforever2009]

Damn! Thats everything off the container ship! Its like seeing a 175 car container train on a HO scale model railroad layout!

[@applejack2911]

Ex UP, CP Engineer,..most UP trains were "monster" trains leaving San antonio,..most were crazy underpowered,..some were a nightmare to run, especially when it was raining. In Vegas wasn't so bad , they powered up all the trains,..couldn't screw around with Cima hill.

[@frerrick47]

Absolutely. The wagons are fitted with electronic braking to ensure the brake pipe pressure remains constant, and there is an Electronic Train Pipe unit at the rear of the train that reports constantly to the on-board computer on the loco what the state of the brake pipe pressure is. Therefore there is no need for locos scattered throughout the train. Bank engines are used to push the train out of Cloud Break to Summit (the top of ranges) only; and from Firetail to Avon on the Solomon railway only, again to get the train over the hills. The bankers are there to provide tractive effort The place where the bankers detach (without the train stopping) is around 45 to 50 kms from the mine on each line. Currently there are 13 of the 240 car trains running between Port Hedland and the three mines on the FMG railway every day. Each train carries an all up load of around 38000 tonnes so there is around 400000 tonnes of ore delivered to the port every day. Not bad is it. I just wish I had some video of one of these trains to show the interested folks out there.

[@NeoDerGrose]

Electronic controlled breaking does not have anything to do with refilling the breaksystem. Whenever you break the system looses air and needs to be refilled. If the system runs out of air you've got a big problem, couse you can't break anymore. Electro pneumatic breaking is used to shorten the reactiontime of the breaks. Otherwise it would take to long for the last waggons to recognize when they should break and they would push the ones in front of them.

[@e4437]

This train is massive. They're running doubles in and out of Chicago daily

[@videoformer]

We don't have so long trains in Germany. Great!

[@Boss302fan]

No. You do not have trains this long in Germany. But you do have much faster, shorter trains. Just a different way to railroad.

[@WoelkerVideo]

Great video!!!

[@irelandbloke]

Super video

[@hiroyouwee]

magnifique video ert train super long it's a great and very big train i love it

[@1940limited]

I firmly believe in railroads and wish they were a bigger part of our society and culture as they were in the 30s, 40s and 50s. I never mind watching a train go through a grade crossing. I enjoy it. It's amazing how much freight is still out on the rails despite the tepid economy. It was said a Big Boy could pull a 5 mile long freight train on level ground. I doubt one was ever put together that long. I imagine it would break couplers.

[@shnimmuc]

g bridgman It would break couplers. The railroads, despite the economy are doing record breaking business.

[@1940limited]

That's good news. Glad to hear it. Thanks.

[@jacquesblaque7728]

+shnimmuc Not really. With the shift away from coal, car-loadings are down on US railroads. BNSF has laid up a bunch of locomotives in Minneapolis. BNSF and UP historically haul the majority of Powder River coal, so things are down there a bit. NS and CSX have seen declines in eastern coal traffic, such that CSX has essentially shut down the old Clinchfield. Big question now is how this all will settle out. These big diesels are distributed through the train for the exact purpose of not snapping couplers. The 4400 hp AC-traction motor units can exert about 200,000 lbs pull, each, and a batch can make Big Boys look weak and low-endurance, with steamers stopping so often for water and fuel. Couplers are rated at 500,000 lbs. The math is obvious. With the coming capability of the Panama Canal to accomodate much larger ships, many container ships from the orient with cargo for the east coast may not discharge at Long Beach in the future, but take the canal to the east coast for offload. Ocean transport has an efficiency advantage over rail. We'll see.

[@1940limited]

There's a coal fired electric plant near where I live that's more than 60 years old. It's been served by Lackawanna, Erie-Lackawanna, Conrail and now NS. I'm told it's shutting down next year or may convert to fuel oil. Right now NS delivers 100 car coal trains to the station. I hate to see them lose that business and people working at the plant lose their jobs. Maybe they'll be delivering oil trains to the plant and everyone will keep their job. I hope so.

[@Blackscorpion1963]

Excellent vid! So I counted 9 engines and someone else counted 297 wagons/cars. I am only guessing the wagons/cars are full. Length or number of wagons/cars is irrelevant to me. It's about gross tonnage the locos have to pull/push and the average speed over distance traveled for stats purposes. Essentially it is all about measuring performance. Would be interesting if there were any hills along the route...It's a simple math equation, that is the point of a test train isn't it? I have never seen anything like this over here in New Zealand or anywhere else so I have found this vid fascinating. Pity any test result data couldn't be obtained.Thank you to uploader gp60m122 really cool vid!

[@ForSpicy]

I used to live near there! Wow! What a coincidence! Used to take my truck to the dunes on the other side of the bridge... Heard those trains alllllll the time... And those horns at all hours of the night! Crazy.

[@hankkellerman3011]

I have an old neighbor who worked for UP in the 50's and he said the reason they hook so many trains together is that the other engines help with the dynamic breaking and it saves fuel. They are also so they can be put it other states and unhook the last train and then they drop off the one after the lead train.

[@dutchtrainmanserie22]

Awesome video 5***** and favorite. wow 295 cars!!!!

[@oldcaferacer]

EPIC wow the railfanning would have gone nuts 9 locos and 280 odd cars tooooooooo much

[@SatchmoSings]

I've watched this video before but lost the link; thank you for bringing it all back to me; incredibly impressive. While you mentioned the length, how many freight cars is it?

[@lmogden1]

great video

[@Boss302fan]

Cool. Nice area. Be on the lookout for more and more traffic devoted to the oil industry. A little out of my territory, but I have a lot of friends in the Houston area.

[@Morfeusz120]

Amazing video! Great

[@EdwinMaxwell1947]

We still have the longest train here in Australia at 4.5 miles long ..

[@EasternKStrains]

No America has the longest at 281 cars!!!!

[@hadesdescent6664]

@@EasternKStrains 683 cars 100 000t Iron Ore Pilbara, BHP Billiton with 8 AC6000CWs!!!

[@AndyRillo]

Now that train my friends, WAS HAULING ASS! O_o

[@tjprptchable]

Thare is 298 cars and 9 locomotives wow and great video

[@user-qw5ps5ix6w]

I've never seen something like it in my life! :o

[@CHRISVK]

AMAZING thanks

[@dahappyaxe]

bugger me sideways that is longggggggggggg. Love the way my eyes make the screen go all wonky when the train(s) have passed :)

[@StarTard8]

a perfect example of the "locotrol" principle established by the 2001 Australian BHP ore train

[@bahntv]

Great Video for europeans count the containers! that,s it! innovation on track

[@gizmothewytchdoktor1049]

one helluva long train. are these still assembled and run in this manner?

[@wonka12321]

really long train. I had a feeling it was endless!

[@discgolftrainnut]

AWESOME!

[@brainerdrebel]

There are also a lot of private crossings that these trains block. I had a man threaten me with a gun for blocking his driveway for about an hour. His wife had a medical problem and he was going to keep his driveway clear. We only had 120 cars and I was alone on the caboose, I cut his driveway my whole career. Every district has it intangibles, small town crossings, emergency vehicles, schools, speed limits in towns, grades and inclines. The railroads will do anything to increase their profits

[@Kai303030]

It is awesome!!! It is nearly impossibe to see freight train longer than 20 cars in my country.

[@SkateboarderRobley]

9 engines, 295 cars, and 618 contaners, holy crap!

[@brainerdrebel]

We had a motorola control car (radio car) connected to the radio unit (slave) usually 30 cars from the caboose, on Southern. Sou used radio units in mixed freight as well as coal unit trains. Whenever, Sou tried to put two trains together and eliminate the a crew, we never made it over the line without trouble. Take a little slack and you could get a knuckle anytime you wanted to.

[@BurlingtonNorthernModeler]

ha that would be funney as hell! Nice video

[@gitvin]

Hats off to the engine drivers!

[@Chuck59ish]

I counted 9 engines and 293 cars, I may have missed a couple though.

[@justghostgamingx3966]

You missed a car

[@douglaslewis8441]

@@justghostgamingx3966 295.

[@sontungle2641]

It's actually 296 cars.

[@Boss302fan]

Yes indeed. There are monster trains running in Australia. As with the deserts in the Southwest USA or the Canadian plains your trains lend themselves to excess length as they pass through fewer populated areas and fewer crossings. Tonnage wise we run heavier trains in the US in many places, but these particular intermodal trains are very long for the US and Canada. Siding capacity, community concerns and other factors keep us from the most part from duplicating your monster consists.

[@leeharold]

Just UP's standard 4400 hp General Electric AC powered road switchers in a 3-2-2-2 distributed power formation. That is to say 3 units on the point and 3 more sets of 2 distributed evenly mid-train and on the rear. The length was actually over 18000 feet and over 3.4 miles with 600 containers and 15000 tons of cargo. I hope that answers your questions.

[@theamericanrailfan1071]

Lee harold How are they "road switchers"?

[@MARIOCREX]

A M A Z I N G ! ! !

[@Boss302fan]

Not BS. All of this is well documented in the industry. The containers had to move. True. But not necessarily all in one train. I work for BNSF in Long Beach. These trains are carefully staged and a great deal of thought goes into them. So much is involved. Sidings. Meets. Sailings. Tonnage. The right kind of DPU horsepower. Decisions on how to break the trains up outside of LA. The order you bring them through the corridor. Capacity at the deramp locations. Very specific move.

[@brainerdrebel]

I had one guy drive under a tank car about three o'clock in the morning. His head lights were on one side of the tanker and his tail lights were on the other. I just knew he was dead, after hiding all his liquor bottles and waiting about three hours a wrecker pulled him out. He only had scratches on his hands and knees from the windshield, he was 6'5" if he was an inch.

[@juvmol]

thumbs up and favorite

IMPRESIONANTE CON 11 LOCOMOTORAS!

[@rihel]

Not good, sorry, it's OUTSTANDING. This is one of the best wishes for whoever railfan. Perfect train, at the right moment at the right spot. Incredible distrubute power. THANK YOU.

[@mkmcclure]

Give me and our nation long trains like this anyday. I would rather have the trucks off the highways and onto steel rails in a heartbeat. The efficiency fuel and economy of scale of a train over the fleet of trucks this would take is staggering.

[@robindearcos7710]

Awsome ;)

[@JonatanTBRochaRochaGu13]

No Brasil a Cia. Vale do Rio Doce tem regularmente trens com 06 locomotivas e 300 vagões de minério de ferro. É economicamente viável por transportar um só tipo de carga e toda para o mesmo destino, um dos portos de embarque. Neste caso do trem monstro da Union Pacific foi válido pois ao que parece foi um trem teste, mas quanto a viabilidade, praticidade, velocidade e economia, concordo em parte com o gnads1, tendo em vista estar transportando cargas diversas, estar disponibilizando 09 locomotivas para atende-lo e no caso de manobras no trecho origem x destino, o tempo perdido será grande demais. Tudo isto torna economicamente inviável a manutenção deste tipo de trem. Se a carga for ùnica e para mesmo destino aí a conversa é outra embora sejam muitas locomotivas para um só trem.

[@JonatanTBRochaRochaGu13]

Há quem não concorde com locomotivas intercaladas na composição alegando que o sistema de freios é perfeitamente alimentado pelas locomotivas comandantes, e isto é verdade. Mas a utilização destas locomotivas intercaladas tem muito a ver com a estabilidade do trem, constância da velocidade e ajuda às comandantes no item tração. Um trem com 2,5 milhas de comprimento passa por situações diferentes no mesmo trem e mesmo hora. Parte dele pode estar subindo quando a cauda ainda desce ou está no meio de uma curva. Por isto a importância da distribuição de tração positiva.

[@JonatanTBRochaRochaGu13]

E.T. - Note-se também que este trem especifico está conduzindo carga em dobro.Ele é composto de vagões prancha especiais para containeres e está levando dois por vagão. Aqui teria que ser um trem com 592 vagões ou algo em torno de 17.800 metros de comprimento : IVIÁVEL!

[@ingenear]

Impressive indeed!

[@derrya.mcdonell4878]

Two questions: /wouldn't a train that long have to be broken up at some point in order to 'fit' into any existing sorting yard? And wouldn't the wear & tear on the rail bed require more than the normal maintenance work along that route?

[@sontungle2641]

They will break in 2 part with 148 cars each or 4 part with 74 cars.

[@debowh]

this is a favorite!

[@inside2883]

amazing. long train. 7 engines and 295 cars "정말 엄청나네요? 기관차7량에, 콘테이너가 295량, 화물전체 몇 ton 이야 ?

[@Boss302fan]

The issue with a private crossing boils down to the railroad granting a property owner the right to cross. In exchange the owner signs an agreement that usually holds the railroad harmless for accidents and blocking. You are right though, every district has its intangibles. While I guarantee you railroads won't "do anything" to increase profits...it is their job to make a profit. I threw a lit fusee at a drunk driver cursing me for blocking a crossing one night. Was I wrong? LOL

[@Boss302fan]

At times it is. These long trains are proving themselves however. I could be wrong, but for certain movements I see them continuing. The economics of crew savings and clearing the mainline of one train instead of three are proving to be worth pursuing.

[@snrubbj1]

Engines: 3,2,2,2. Freight Cars: +/- 297. Great running for west of Omaha or KC. Not that many grade crossings. Bet it gets better mileage than any eastern line can brag about. I say keep your journals greased and go for it.

[@deketelaere]

very impressing!!o+O

[@Boss302fan]

The issues you mention are one reason these trains are not moving out east where there are far more crossings. Those issues are also one reason (not the only) as why the trains are broken up before they are pulled into the populated area on the coast. As I wrote in other threads, the "optimal" length for these trains is still being evaluated by BNSF, UP and CP and the issues you mention are real ones that are part of that consideration.

[@MrGP69]

3 engines? Did you see the whole video? I counted 9 in total....3-2-2-2.

[@MrLuisitosanchez]

increible esta muy bueno que suerte.....

[@mauro90980]

muito bom, the best

[@Boss302fan]

@Deeked Are you talking about North America? Almost all of the early railroads in the US were developed by entrepreneaurs and not the government.

[@ayahlee6299]

295 wagon with double stack and 7 engine....wow its marvelous,

[@awaken77]

How does it fit to sidings?

[@mdschm]

Is this the railroad testing are in Pueblo, CO?

[@longwhip]

Conductor: Hey Dispatcher....I need a track authority all the way from Tucson to San Diego...cannot take ANY sidings what so ever....Dispatcher: WHY IS THAT!?!?!?! Conductor: Look at your outbound scan on my train length...hahahaha Dispatcher: Holy Crap...did you forget to cut some off at your last yard stop?????

[@bobhebert4309]

Cool train. Kinda wished these monster trains had cabooses on them today.

[@SteamDriver1947]

How much time would it take to put together a train of this length including loading each car, i see they are all sea containers do you know which port they came from or did they build the consist at more than one port of entry, i'm very curious about all of the logistics involved!

[@700keinozomin]

300両以上はすごいなー！！ｗ　スケールとてつもなく大きすぎるｗｗ

[@sixcues]

I thought I recognized the tracks from another video, that's heading into & through the West Colton Yard.

[@RodneyBrumbaugh]

It had numerous DPUS spread out amongst the train.