RAILROAD & STEAM TRAIN FACTS YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW

The railroad industry is ripe with interesting and obscure facts about the steam train. After all, these massive machines are arguably one of the most important inventions of the modern age. Discover some of the most impressive railroad and steam train facts to add to your train knowledge. 

General Railroad & Train Facts

Let’s start with some basic railroad and train facts before we jump into the more unique ones. 

1. There are 600+ railroads in the US that operate across approximately 140,000 miles of tracks. 

The US railway industry is massive. Between Class I, II, and III railroads, the American industry is made up of over 600 railroads — the majority of which are short lines. 

2. Trains and railroads have their own distinct language. 

If you’ve been keeping up with our blog, this train fact is no surprise. There are so many ways that trains and railroad personnel communicate with each other to ensure trains and those on or around them are safe. 

The 3 primary ways are:

• Train whistles: patterns of long and short whistles that alert railroad workers of oncoming traffic or some other code.
• Railroad signals: rail traffic signals; a complex combination of semaphores, colors, and their positions that alert the train engineer how to proceed.
• Railroad signs: signals or signs posted at railroad crossings that help trains communicate with cars and pedestrians.

3. Trains are considered the most eco-friendly way of transporting freight across land. 

Freight railroads are responsible for moving the highest volume of cargo than any other mode of transportation, yet they rank among the lowest in transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions.

The Association of American Railroads estimates that if 10% of freight delivery by truck were moved to train delivery, greenhouse gas emissions would shrink by roughly 20 million tons per year.

4. Strasburg Rail Road is the oldest operating railroad in North America. 

Since 1832, the Strasburg Rail Road has transported passengers across its rails via steam train. But it wasn’t without a struggle. Having weathered multiple wars, depressions, weather catastrophes, and a government takeover, Strasburg Rail Road was one of the smallest and poorest railroads in America by the 1950s. 

But thanks to a group of local railroad enthusiasts who banded together to invest in the railroad, Strasburg got its second chance. Together, they worked to repair the damaged train tracks to restore travel across its rails. After just 3 years, annual ridership surpassed 125,000 guests! 

You can still experience the magic of this historical railroad today. From regular coach, dining, or first-class train experiences to exciting holiday and seasonal productions, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Book tickets today!

5. The rail industry is credited with establishing the first US time zones.

Back in the 1880s when rail travel was picking up momentum, most US towns had their own way of keeping time. Typically this was based on “high-noon,” or when the sun reached the highest point in the sky.

While this system was generally favored, it led to some problems with scheduling train departures and arrival times. Since each town had a slightly different “high-noon,” times could differ from even neighboring cities and towns. 

In response, the major US railways met to create a standardized system. They split the country into 5 time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, and Intercontinental (known today as “Atlantic”). 

Railroad companies adjusted their clocks to accommodate the universal time adjustment and operated using this schedule, even though the US didn’t make it the official law of the land until close to 35 years later. 

Obscure Railroad & Train Facts

Now that we’ve covered some of the basics, let’s move on to some more surprising train facts and records.

1. When you add up all of the train tracks on Earth, you can travel to the moon and back almost twice.

There are roughly 807,800 miles of train tracks across the Earth. The moon is 238,850 miles away. If you laid all the tracks on a path to outer space, you’d be able to complete a round trip to the moon and back once, back to the moon, and about a third of the way back. 

2. The longest direct train service traverses 8 time zones. 

It would take 6 days to travel along the world’s longest rail journey. The route travels across Russia from Moscow to Vladivostok, spanning 5,753 miles.

3. The heaviest train in the world weighed in at 99,731 tons — or 220 million pounds. 

In 2001, the Guinness World Record recorded the world’s heaviest train, built by BHP Iron Ore in Australia. 

4. The fastest operational train in the world is the Shanghai Maglev.

Developed in China, this “transrapid” commercial train travels at approximately 286 miles per hour. Using principles of electromagnetic propulsion, these trains rarely touch the tracks, minimizing weather-related delays and mechanical breakdowns. 

The Shanghai Maglev train can cover 19 miles in just below 8 minutes!

5. The world’s longest train station name has 58 letters: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. 

This train station is located in Wales, UK in the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll. The funny thing about this train station fact is that there’s no historical significance of the name. It was created in the 1880s as a marketing ploy to attract tourists to the station. 

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