I’ve been wondering about this question for a long time. Every single car in a train has its own brakes, so the train should stop in the same distance that it takes one car to stop. Why is this not the case? Or does each car take a mile to stop on its own?
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A car use rubber tyres on an asphalt surface. Something which have a lot of friction. This is a good thing when accelerating, stopping or cornering but is generally a bad thing for cruising at the same speed. Trains use steel tyres on steel track. This have very little friction allowing them to only use a fraction of the fuel of a car to move the same cargo over long distances. However it is very bad when accelerating or stopping. If you apply the brakes too hard the wheels just starts slipping. It does not matter if the train is a mile long or just a locomotive or empty car.
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