Here is my proposal the Vale mining Carajas route Brazil, spanning 554 miles and unusual units and monster trains, this is railroading in the Amazon rainforest and the flat lands of Brazil operated by EFC - Estrada de Ferro Carajás, more photos can be found here.
Photograph copyright Cristiano Oliveira and reproduced courtesy of RailPictures.Net
Photograph copyright Cristiano Oliveira and reproduced courtesy of RailPictures.Net
Photograph copyright Cristiano Oliveira and reproduced courtesy of RailPictures.Net
Photograph copyright Cristiano Oliveira and reproduced courtesy of RailPictures.Net
Photograph copyright Cristiano Oliveira and reproduced courtesy of RailPictures.Net
I don’t know much about this railroad so it is a tough one to write about as there not much info on the line but Google is my new best friend at this point.
Starting at Carajas where the monster Iron ore trains are loaded, the mine is the largest in the world contains 7.2 billion tons of Iron ore as well as Gold, Manganese, copper and nickel. The mine is owned by Vale and has 18 billion tons reserve. There are 4 mines in the Carajas region which is deep in the Amazon forest. The mines have load outs with loop tracks which can accommodate 330-340 car trains which take 1 and a half hours to load through multi silos before starting the 554 mile journey to the port. A lot of the line is in the Amazon but once out of the rainforest, trains try to sprint along the plains to the port.
The port is massive it handles the world largest bulk carrier owned by Vale who have a fleet of ships.
Cape sized - 170,000 tons – too big for the Panama & Suez Canal and have to go around the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn
VLOC - 365,000 TON ships
Valemax - 400,000 Ton monster ships - these ships can be 2-3 times the size of caped size ships.
Berge bulk run ships to Brazil with a bulk fleet of 57 ships the oldest being the 1986 and the most known the Berge stall. Followed by the 1987 Berge Fjord but they have massive ships.
The trains that run on this line are passenger trains Grain & Soy trains, and the monster Iron ore trains.
The units on used are as follows:
EMD:
SD40-2’S
SD80Ace
SD70M
GE:
C36-7B
Dash 9-44CWI
C44-9WM
ES58ACI
The Iron ore train are 330 car, sometimes 340 cars long and when loaded they are 45,000 tons with a set up 2x1x1. These trains run 2 units 110 cars DPU 110 cars DPU 110 cars or 1x1x1 set up is used too.
The ES58ACI whas 5,800 horsepower but reduced to 5,300 horsepower
The SD80AC are 5,000 Horsepower.
Here is a route in northern Brazil pulling monster 45,000 ton trains with 5,300 horsepower units and loading and unloading these trains with total mileage of 554 miles through lush forest to open farmland. This offers the player the passenger train side of life or a tight deadline when the Vale Brazil has limited time to dock & load and every trainload counts.
Photograph copyright Nicolas Fagundes and reproduced courtesy of RailPictures.Net
Photograph copyright Cristiano Oliveira and reproduced courtesy of RailPictures.Net
