Folks in Cape Town, South Africa, make a big claim. They say they’ve sent the longest freight train ever on a test run.

Freight trains carry many types of goods people need—food, clothes, and even cars. This freight train measures 4.7 miles long. (The average freight train measures between a half mile and 1.5 miles long.) It has 696 freight wagons. 

A train that long needs a lot of power to move. That’s why you’ll find electric and diesel train engines peppered among the hundreds of freight wagons. (Some trains have only one engine pulling them. Heavier trains may have multiple.)

On October 18, the train finished its 534-mile journey. It went from Saldanha Bay on South Africa’s west coast to an iron ore mine deep inland. For this expedition, the freight wagons were empty. The trip took two days. 

Why such a long train on such a long trip? Russell Baatjies is an executive at Transnet, the government-owned train company running the train. He calls it a learning exercise. He hopes South Africa will get better at carrying goods over long distances. 

So does the South African train really win the longest train record? That’s yet to be confirmed. Transnet officials claim it snatches the record from the last holder—a 4.5-mile-long train in Western Australia. That tracks. South Africa and Australia are known for operating some of the longest trains in the world. 

 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. — Psalm 121:8