The longest train in the world was built in Australia in 2001: it was long 7.4 kilometers and was designed for the transport of enormous quantities of ironfrom the country’s hinterland to the logistics hubs along the coast. The train in question named BHP Iron Ore train it was designed by the current BHP Group Limited – an Australian multinational active in sector mining – for the transport of minerals ferrous from the mines of Newman And Yandi – located in the arid outback – until Port Hedlanda crucial hub in the international iron market in Western Australia.
So let’s talk about a train goodsand not of a passenger train, with truly record numbers: 682 wagons for a total length of 7,353 kilometers (like 70 football fields lined up!) and a weight of almost 100 000 tonswhich made the train not only the longest but also the heaviest in history.
The creation of such an impressive means of transport was designed to test its response in relation to the principle of distributed power. A single locomotive at the head, in fact, would not have been able to correctly tow hundreds of wagons loaded with ore. For this reason, along the entire train at a distance of about one kilometer from each other, Seven more locomotives were distributed (diesel-electric General Electric 6,000 HP-4,500 kW), all check by a single driver in the lead and capable of solving the considerable problems of traction, coupling load and braking of the vehicle, preventing such a long convoy from “losing pieces” or becoming unstable when cornering.
The June 21, 2001 the train transported 82,000 tons of iron oretraveling for 275 kilometers with a stop of almost 5 hours due to the breaking of a faulty hook near the Chichester mountains. After the repair, two additional locomotives helped the convoy overcome the final differences in level, allowing the train to complete its journey which took a total of 10 hours.
This was thesingle race the train ever accomplished, but it gave the company all the data they needed on the effectiveness of their new control systems.
