MASSIVE TRANSPORT!
On this day in 2004, the Queen Mary 2 became the Largest passenger liner on the waves. To
find out what beat it and to compare other transport giants, see our list of
Heaviest freight train
The heaviest ever train weighed 99,732.1 tonnes (220 million lb) and was 7.353 km (4.568 miles) long. Assembled by
BHP Iron Ore (Australia), the train travelled 275 km (171 miles) from the company's Newman and Yandi mines to Port
Hedland, Western Australia, on 21 June 2001.
Largest propeller on an aircraft
The largest aeroplane propeller ever to fly was the 6.9 m (22 ft 6 in) diameter Garuda propeller, fitted to the
Linke-Hofmann R II which flew in 1919 and was built in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland). It was driven by four
195 kW (260-hp) Mercedes engines and turned at only 545 rpm.
Heaviest motorcycle
The heaviest motorcycle is the Harzer Bike Schmeide, built by Tilo Niebel of Zilly, Germany, which weighed 4.749
tonnes (10,470 lb) on 23 November 2007.
Longest bicycle
The longest true bicycle, that is one with only two wheels and no stabilizers, was 28.1 m (92 ft 2 in) long and was
built by members of Gezelschap Leeghwater, the mechanical engineering students' association at Delft University of
Technology. The bicycle was ridden for a distance in excess of 100 m (328 ft) at Delft, The Netherlands on 11
December 2002.
Longest car
A 30.5 m (100 ft) long 26-wheeled limo was designed by Jay Ohrberg of Burbank, California, USA. It has many features, including a swimming pool with diving board and a king-sized water bed. It is designed to drive as a rigid vehicle or it can be changed to bend in the middle. Its purpose was for use in films and displays.
Largest passenger liner (cruise ship)
The largest passenger liner (cruise ship) is Royal Caribbean International's Freedom of the Seas, which made its maiden voyage from Southampton, UK to New York, USA on 3 May 2006. At over three times the size of
Titanic (46,000 Gross Tonnage), the 154,407 Gross Tonnage ship is 63.7 m (209 ft) high, has a length of
339 m (1,112 ft) (or 16 m / 54 ft longer than the Eiffel tower), a beam (width) of 56 m (183.7 ft) and space for
4,375 passengers and 1,365 crew. All 1,817 cabins have internet access and a plasma-screen TV, and there is even the first ever onboard surf-park, and the tallest onboard climbing wall at 63.3 m (208 ft) above sea level! The liner
was ordered in September 2003 and built at Aker Finnyards drydock in Turku, Finland to an approximate cost of $947
million (£518 million); it will be based in Miami, Florida, USA, for cruises around the Caribbean.
08 January 2008