Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Train facts


A  westbound freight train approaches University near Trent in Spokane Valley on Friday. 
 (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
The Spokesman-Review

A typical locomotive weighs approximately 400,000 pounds or 200 tons. Add 100 railcars, and the train can weigh 6,000 tons.

The weight ratio of automobile to train is proportional to a soda can and an automobile.

A 100-car freight train traveling 55 mph needs more than a mile to stop – approximately 18 football fields.

Source: Union Pacific