CSX TV Commercial

Well this is a very close number as most freight trains average from 5000 tons to 12000 tons once these engines have done the work to get them to track speed, the rest is momentumn and the fact that each steel wheel is only occupying about 1.5 inches square on the ball of the rail which adds to their effiecency. After we are rolling it takes very little throttle (other than grades) to maintain proper speed. This is why it takes us so long to stop,even in emergency.

Erie Dog

 

Of course it's false. They use diesel fuel!

 

Great, informative thread.

So how many miles (nautical and statute) can a cargo ship move one ton of stuff with one gallon of fuel?

 

This engineering/statical/financial process you are talking about is called "normalizing" and is used to compare different processes by creating a common metric. Very common and very valid.

 

Well it just won't die! :lol:

 

And the best part...

It runs on only one gallon of fuel.

 

Don't you mean one cubic yard of hot air?

 

In terms of its impact on the environment, each mode of transportation needs to be evaluated for its energy and resource-consumption over the entire life-cycle of the engine. We would want to know how much energy is invested in the production of a locomotive engine and rail cars versus the energy invested in the fabrication of the number of semi-trucks required to haul an equivalent tonnage. So, it is important to factor in both how many cars (and, hence, how much tonnage) the average locomotive hauls, as well as how many trains run at the same time, in order to get a sense of how much train is required to haul the total annual ton-miles, and so add in the energy cost of fabricating that much train. Truth be told, we would also want to figure the energy investment of decomissioning or recycling all that train. But, purely for the operational period of the life-cycle, freight trains seem to be far and away the most energy-efficient (except for maybe freighter ships?).

 

Inland barge is the most energy efficient.

From Trains Magazine, July 09.

Miles per gallon carrying 1 ton of cargo.

Truck freight: 155

Freight railroad: 413

Inland towing: 576

Their source: Texas Transportation Inst. 2007

 

Presumably an average. But, there can be a huge difference between upstream and downstream. I have watched upstream tows going past Memphis upstream running flat out and barely moving, and the downstream ones using only enough power to maintain control.

Know about the Natchez Trace? It owes its existence to that issue. Flatboats propelled by human power and current would float downstream form Nashville or thereabouts on the Cumberland, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers to Natchez, which the ocean going ships of that time could reach. The flatboat men would then walk back to Nashville along the trail that became known as the Natchez trace.

 

Cool. I love little historic tidbits.

 

And barge traffic is limited seasonally, as well. It wouldn't be very efficient to try to push a barge to St. Paul in January, and navigation on the Missouri, at least, is often maintained in low-flow periods only at the expense of upper-river interests.

 

Years ago I saw a map showing traffic volumes on the various US inland waterways. Thought I might come up with it on-line. No joy. What I did find was this piece of government financed propoganda that includes a map of where the designated US inland waterways are located.

LINK

 

What they really mean, in my opinion, is their fuel economy ( efficiency) versus what they carry...in other words, their diesel engines burn X number of gallons over a certain distance, and the weighted load they carry that distance, when divided by the number of gallons gives them so much weight moved per gallon. Their statement on the tv really means that their trains are more efficient than trucks or cars for carrying a certain weighted load....