A freight train, also called a goods train or cargo train, is a railway train that is used to carry cargo, as opposed to passengers. Freight trains are made up of one or more locomotives which provide propulsion, along with one or more railroad cars (also known as wagons) which carry freight. A wide variety of cargos are carried on trains, but the low friction inherent to rail transport means that freight trains are especially suited to carrying bulk and heavy loads over longer distances.
The earliest recorded use of rail transport for freight was in Babylon, circa 2,200 B.C.E. This took the form of wagons pulled on wagonways by horses or even humans.[1]
LocomotivesEdit
Freight trains are almost universally powered by locomotives. Historically, steam locomotives were predominant, but beginning in the 1920s diesel and electric locomotives displaced steam due to their higher reliability, cleaner emissions, and lower costs.[2]
Freight carsEdit
A unit train with cargo from a quarry in the United KingdomA tank car in Germany, used to carry liquids and gases
Freight trains carry cargo in freight cars, also known as goods wagons, which are unpowered and designed to carry various types of goods.[3]
OperationsEdit
A BNSF Railway classification yard in Minnesota, USA
Freight trains often operate between classification yards, which are hubs where incoming freight trains are received, and then broken up, with the cars then being assembled into new trains for other destinations. In contrast to this type of operation, which is known as wagonload (or carload) freight, there are also unit trains, which exclusively carry one type of cargo. They normally operate directly between origin and destination points, such as a coal mine and a power plant, without any changes to the makeup of the freight cars in between.[4] This allows cargo to reach its destination faster, and increases utilization of freight cars, lowering operating costs.[4]
Unlike passenger trains, freight trains often do not follow fixed schedules, but are run as needed.[5] When sharing tracks with passenger trains, freight trains are scheduled to use lines during specific times to minimize their impact on passenger train operations, especially during the morning and evening rush hours.[5]
^Nilsson, Jeff (May 11, 2013). "Why You Don't See Steam Locomotives Anymore". The Saturday Evening Post. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
^Ricks, Emily (October 29, 2020). "Daily Infographic: Types of freight train cars". FreightWaves. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
^ abJohnson, Art (March 13, 1983). "Unit train rolling fast in grain trade". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
^ ab"Freight demystified: five things you didn't know". Network Rail. December 19, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
BibliographyEdit
Herring, Peter (2000). Ultimate Train. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN0-7894-4610-3. OCLC 42810706. OL 8155464M.
October 18, 2023
freight, train, broader, coverage, this, topic, rail, freight, transport, confused, with, road, train, other, uses, disambiguation, freight, train, also, called, goods, train, cargo, train, railway, train, that, used, carry, cargo, opposed, passengers, made, m. For broader coverage of this topic see Rail freight transport Not to be confused with Road train For other uses see Freight train disambiguation A freight train also called a goods train or cargo train is a railway train that is used to carry cargo as opposed to passengers Freight trains are made up of one or more locomotives which provide propulsion along with one or more railroad cars also known as wagons which carry freight A wide variety of cargos are carried on trains but the low friction inherent to rail transport means that freight trains are especially suited to carrying bulk and heavy loads over longer distances A Canadian National Railway freight train with three locomotives in the Canadian Rockies Contents 1 History 2 Locomotives 3 Freight cars 4 Operations 5 See also 6 References 7 BibliographyHistory Edit nbsp The first train on the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825 including six cars of coalThe earliest recorded use of rail transport for freight was in Babylon circa 2 200 B C E This took the form of wagons pulled on wagonways by horses or even humans 1 Locomotives EditFreight trains are almost universally powered by locomotives Historically steam locomotives were predominant but beginning in the 1920s diesel and electric locomotives displaced steam due to their higher reliability cleaner emissions and lower costs 2 Freight cars Edit nbsp A unit train with cargo from a quarry in the United Kingdom nbsp A tank car in Germany used to carry liquids and gasesFreight trains carry cargo in freight cars also known as goods wagons which are unpowered and designed to carry various types of goods 3 Operations Edit nbsp A BNSF Railway classification yard in Minnesota USAFreight trains often operate between classification yards which are hubs where incoming freight trains are received and then broken up with the cars then being assembled into new trains for other destinations In contrast to this type of operation which is known as wagonload or carload freight there are also unit trains which exclusively carry one type of cargo They normally operate directly between origin and destination points such as a coal mine and a power plant without any changes to the makeup of the freight cars in between 4 This allows cargo to reach its destination faster and increases utilization of freight cars lowering operating costs 4 Unlike passenger trains freight trains often do not follow fixed schedules but are run as needed 5 When sharing tracks with passenger trains freight trains are scheduled to use lines during specific times to minimize their impact on passenger train operations especially during the morning and evening rush hours 5 See also EditIntermodal freight transport where containerized cargo is changed between freight train to truck or shipReferences Edit Herring 2000 p 8 Nilsson Jeff May 11 2013 Why You Don t See Steam Locomotives Anymore The Saturday Evening Post Retrieved November 10 2022 Ricks Emily October 29 2020 Daily Infographic Types of freight train cars FreightWaves Retrieved November 10 2022 a b Johnson Art March 13 1983 Unit train rolling fast in grain trade The Spokesman Review Retrieved November 10 2022 a b Freight demystified five things you didn t know Network Rail December 19 2019 Retrieved November 10 2022 Bibliography EditHerring Peter 2000 Ultimate Train Dorling Kindersley ISBN 0 7894 4610 3 OCLC 42810706 OL 8155464M Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Freight train amp oldid 1166186409, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
