"harry" wrote in message
...
On Dec 26, 9:34 pm, "Rod Speed" wrote:
"Tim Streater" wrote in message

...

In article ,
Tim Lamb wrote:

American freight trains puzzle me as they appear to travel very
slowly.

In a lot of instances, the track is in a really ****ty state.
Derailments
are frequent.
Also when the train is a mile or more long, with a couple of engines at
each end, possibly a couple in the middle (not sure about that), you
need
to take it carefully.

The longest and heaviest freight trains in the entire world,
the Pilbara iron ore trains, don’t travel very slowly, so that
can't be the reason.

Depends on how well maintained the track is.

What I said in different words.