What is with coal trains?

Question

What is with coal trains?

Answer 1

More then likely it has to do with the density of the air during the warmer daylight hours then at night. Also, there is less ambient noises at night, thus increasing the apparent loudness of the locomotives.

Answer 2

MOVE

Answer 3

at night the driver wants to go home to bed, so he give it as much power as the little loco can handle. In the day time he does'nt care less, coz he's in no rush.

Answer 4

if a coal train is full of coal (obviously) it take a heck of a lot of power to move it! in the UK the majority of our coal freight is moved by companies using class 66 locomotives which are a canadian or american design from a company called emd (electromotive design) if the train is at a signal on an uphill gradient pulling, for example 10,000 tonnes of coal, the force required is massive. and there is far less noise in the middle of the night. The air is also thinner during the night.

Answer 5

Uh, posters, he didn't say anything about speed. He said full throttle. A locomotive could be at full throttle and be travelling at less than 1 m.p.h. The likelihood is that either the loads are moving at that time of day and the empties at other times of day or the ambient or surrounding noise blocking the train's noise like the other poster said. It also could be the engineman's skill. Some engineers like to notch 'er back and ride 'er out while another will use only as much power as necessary to move the train (which might be the difference in noise level). There are so many variables it is difficult to say for sure.

Answer 6

It is usually generally quiter at night so the train seems to be louder...as for the going faster at night...nope...trains have q-tron event recorders that record that and speeding in a train is big trouble...can get you fired!!!

Answer 7

It's very unlikely that they would be traveling faster than the posted speed limit along the section of line where you live because all locomotives carry a black-box device that constantly records the train's speed limit.

Answer 8

It might be that you live too close to the tracks and you

should think about moving somewhere else.

Answer 9

out where I live, I hear trains at 4 am riding to Boston. They need to get an early start and be on schedule

Answer 10

Could be the air density and sound travel the other poster mentioned...



But have you bothered to take into account if they are empty or loaded?



And the direction they are going? Up grade, down grade?