How much does a Canadian weigh?

[bellinghman]

Well, if it's the train, it appears to be

19 cars, at 50 tonnes per car (I assume the 'customary' weight.)
2 engines, at 118 tonnes per engine (EMD F40PH)

Total 1186 tonnes

OK, that's one heavy train.

Comments

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

Yes - trains are extremely crash resistant, which is one of the many nice features. Short of an ICE train managing to hit a bridge support head on as happened a few years back in Germany, they're so safe that they and ships are about the only transport that don't worry about seat belts.

(Which leads to another nice thing - being able to get up and walk about.)

The 250 pax may well be wrong - I'm definitely guessing there. However, having walked a fair way down that train, I can affirm that the passenger density is extraordinarily low. This isn't so much a train for getting people from one place to another, it's a mobile hotel, a cruise ship on rails. A Japanese Hikari Shinkansen would be running 1000 pax in a shorter consist.

The Rocky Mountaineer that aardvark179 transferred to stops at night, thereby saving all the cabin weight and bulk, and the requirement for evening meals too. I'd expect that to be at least twice as efficient.

[damerell.livejournal.com]

We might not be comparing like with like here, indeed; an aircraft comprised entirely of luxury accomodation would be significantly less efficient. But I think I'm going to keep plugging away for an answer that actually makes sense.

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

Oh, too right. In plane terms, this is somewhere in the private jet area of silliness.

It's a lovely train, and the experience of travelling on it is really rather special, but I was rather gobsmacked to realise how much fuel it apparently drinks. I'm certainly not holding it up as typical of trains, because it is not. It's like driving a stretch Hummer when everyone around you is in a Smart Car.