[Christ]

I'm sure it is possible... a really old phrase comes to mind:



Give me a lever long enough, and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.
~Archimedes

And the same thing applies to moving freight cars by hand. Just because it could be done, doesn't make it more efficient or generally acceptable, especially when a 1000-5000 HP engine could do it for you with far less hassle and synchronicity.

Sure, I'd love to be able to tell a story to my Son that I helped pedal a train across the country... unfortunately, by the time the train got there, given the number of occupants, my Son would be aged, and I'd be dead. (Sarcasm.)

Some of that pedal power would better be used to run things such as accessories and lights, and leave the actual running of the train to the more capable battery/generator setup.