Norfolk Southern C40-9W No. 9625 leads westbound loaded rail train 917 at the NS Bristol Yard at Bristol, Va., on the NS Pulaski District on June 23, 2011.
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Jonathan McCoy
Question: How many slots of rail can a Norfolk Southern rail train hold and how many cars normally make up a rail train? — Jake Gleghorn, Suwannee, Ga.
Answer: Norfolk Southern has 16 rail trains either built new or inherited from predecessors Southern Railway and Norfolk & Western. Each carries 1,440-foot strings of rail which are anchored in the middle of the train and slide on rollers on each car as the train negotiates curves. The trains range from 24-car trains carrying 48 strings of rail to 33-car trains carrying 54 strings of rail. — Tyler Trahan, a Trains contributor
Can we assume that the reason for the higher capacity of the 33 car trains is not added length, that actually the cars are shorter, but they can hold more strings because there are 36 more axles under the train to ensure axle loadings are not exceeded?