Queensland State Coroner Michael Barnes acknowledged this fact in his findings after a fatal railway accident.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/no-charges-over-children-hit-by-train/story-e6frg6nf-1225813295962
M V Tronson, who was a locomotive driver for ten years, explains that a train runs on steel wheels, on steel rail tracks, and as strange as this might seem, the heavier the train is, the better a train runs once it has gathered it's initial speed. A heavy train does as much free wheeling as it does powering.
He has continued his interested in all things 'railway' since he entered theological college as a mature aged student in 1977, and has since written 16 books on railways, most of them train driver's anecdotes which are replete with stories of train running.
When Dave Moyle of the Stringybark Express Museum from Wahgunyah in Victoria initiated the On Track Railway e-magazine, invited Mark Tronson to become the Footplate Padre and write a monthly article, which is popular because he is conversant with the railways and how they function. These monthly articles have become a favourite of many and he receives significant correspondences.
Those who are familiar with the railways understand the reality, if not the science, that when a heavy freight train gathers speed, the physics involved in bringing that moving rolling weight to a halt requires an equal and opposite force - it is quite something.
The lighter, faster express trains such as the locomotives that hauled the Southern Aurora, The Spirit of Progress, The Brisbane Limited, The Overland, The Sunlander, The Indian-Pacific, etc of the past, took an inordinate distance to bring the train to a halt at a platform.
The train driver needed to take into account passenger comfort and safety, especially for those trains with sleeping compartments. Initially, he would make a 7lb air reduction into the braking system which steadied a fast moving train into a manageable controlled situation. As the train needed to be slowed firmly a 14lb air reduction was then applied by the driver.
All this takes time, and a 115 km/hr high speed train (70 miles an hour) travels a long way while all this is taking place. The kinetic energy involved is astonishing; and this energy needs to be counteracted by the force of the braking system.
Imagine the wear and tear on the wheel's brake shoes on suburban trains where this constant 'pulling up' happens over and over again as the many stations of the suburban network are covered, sixteen hours a day, at maximum speed and maximum braking.
Consider now, a heavy freight train hauling a top speed container express. Think about the skill of the driver, knowing exactly when to apply the minimum brake reduction of 7lb air to manage the large megalithic train; when to apply a heavier 14 lb application of the brakes; and exactly how to bring the train to rest at exactly the right place. His intimate knowledge of the rail track becomes imperative so as to maintain both tight timetables and high speed.
Anything out of the ordinary appearing on rail tracks is beyond a train driver's control. The assumption must be that the track is clear; and even if a track blockage of some description could be seen by the naked eye, to bring the train to a halt within such a distance is not physically viable.
As Footplate Padre and a former locomotive driver, M V Tronson is in a unique situation which recognises the physics and the emotional side of never knowing what might be around the corner.
He would like the general public, who are used to cars 'stopping on a sixpence', to be be more aware of the power and force of a large train, and to consider the responsibility and skill of train drivers, before they play cat and mouse with a train at level crossings.
As a preacher of Jesus' Salvation, he likens taking a risk at a level crossing to that of taking a risk and rejecting the wonderful offer Jesus' provides.