Tom took a trip 1020 miles. he traveled by train at 55 miles an hour and the same number of hours by plane at 285 mph. how many hours did the trip take

55t+285t=1020  combine like terms on left side

340t=1020  divide both sides by 340

t=3 hours

However that t is for the amount of time spent on the train and the same amount of time spend on the plane.  So the total time for the trip is 2 times t, which is:

6 hours.