Railroads warned about the problems long trains can cause

Federal regulators are warning railroads that the long trains they favor can cause all kinds of problems and contribute to derailments, so they want the railroads to ensure their training and operating procedures account for that. The Federal Railroad Administration stopped short of recommending in a safety advisory issued Thursday that railroads should limit the size of their trains. But they suggested a number of precautions including making sure engineers know how to handle monster trains that might stretch longer than 2 miles. Regulators also said railroads need to make sure that locomotives don't lose communication with devices at the end of a train that can help trigger the brakes in an emergency.