7 Things Only Drivers Who've Hauled Ore and Coal Trains Truly Understand

7 Things Only Drivers Who've Hauled Ore and Coal Trains Truly Understand I'm Walt. Twenty years running locomotives, and a good stretch of that was heavy haul — coal out of the basin country and iron ore down to the lake docks. There's a quiet nod that passes between two engineers who've both done that work, and this video is my attempt to explain it to everybody else: the weight you feel through the seat long before you see it on a gauge, the loaded descents nobody talks about at home, why the empty train heading back to the mine can be more dangerous than the loaded one, three hours at half a mile an hour under the loader, frozen ore, coal dust and grass fires, the radio link to the rear units dropping out in a canyon, and the long lonely miles that somehow still get under your skin. If you've hauled coal or ore, tell me which one hit home — or the one I missed. Welcome to the channel. #railroad #locomotive #traindriver #freighttrain #coaltrain #heavyhaul #railwaylife #engineer