Long-haul leviathan heads west

Its enough to get a trainspotter all hot and bothered, let alone some commodities expert calculating just how much Pindan earth and iron-bearing ore has been moved from the heart of the Pilbara, 275km west to the Indian Ocean coast. This was the world’s longest train, hauling the biggest load ever, a full 100,000 tonnes of train and rock, covering more than 7km. If that is not exciting enough, train number 3143 travelled at 55 km/hour and was powered by several 6000 horsepower locomotives. For the team at BHP it was positive proof that its new Locotrol system worked effectively.