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Railroad car

January 14, 2023

A railroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English),[a] railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a vehicle used for the carrying of cargo or passengers on a rail transport system (a railroad/railway). Such cars, when coupled together and hauled by one or more locomotives, form a train. Alternatively, some passenger cars are self-propelled in which case they may be either single railcars or make up multiple units.

A passenger car from Taiwan Railway
A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926

The term "car" is commonly used by itself in American English when a rail context is implicit. Indian English sometimes uses "bogie" in the same manner,[1] though the term has other meanings in other variants of English. In American English, "railcar" is a generic term for a railway vehicle; in other countries "railcar" refers specifically to a self-propelled, powered, railway vehicle.

Although some cars exist for the railroad's own use – for track maintenance purposes, for example – most carry a revenue-earning load of passengers or freight, and may be classified accordingly as passenger cars or coaches on the one hand or freight cars (or wagons) on the other.

Passenger cars

Main article: Passenger car (rail)

Passenger cars, or coaches, vary in their internal fittings:

In standard-gauge cars, seating is usually configured into ranges from three to five seats across the width of the car, with an aisle in between (resulting in arrangements of 2+1, 2+2 or 3+2 seats) or at the side. Tables may be provided between seats facing one another. Alternatively, seats facing in the same direction may have access to a fold-down ledge on the back of the seat in front.

  • If the aisle is located between seats, seat rows may face the same direction, or be grouped, with twin rows facing each other.
  • In some vehicles intended for commuter services, seats are positioned with their backs to the side walls, either on one side or more commonly on both, facing each other across the aisle. This gives a wide accessway and allows room for standing passengers at peak times, as well as improving loading and unloading speeds.
  • If the aisle is at the side, the car is usually divided into small compartments. These usually contain six seats, although sometimes in second class they contain eight, and sometimes in first class they contain four.

Passenger cars can take the electricity supply for heating and lighting equipment from either of two main sources: directly from a head end power generator on the locomotive via bus cables, or by an axle-powered generator which continuously charges batteries whenever the train is in motion.

Modern cars usually have either air-conditioning or windows that can be opened (sometimes, for safety, not so far that one can hang out), or sometimes both. Various types of onboard train toilet facilities may also be provided.

Other types of passenger car exist, especially for long journeys, such as the dining car, parlor car, disco car, and in rare cases theater and movie theater car. In some cases another type of car is temporarily converted to one of these for an event.

Observation cars were built for the rear of many famous trains to allow the passengers to view the scenery. These proved popular, leading to the development of dome cars multiple units of which could be placed mid-train, and featured a glass-enclosed upper level extending above the normal roof to provide passengers with a better view.

Sleeping cars outfitted with (generally) small bedrooms allow passengers to sleep through their night-time trips, while couchette cars provide more basic sleeping accommodation. Long-distance trains often require baggage cars for the passengers' luggage. In European practice it used to be common for day coaches to be formed of compartments seating 6 or 8 passengers, with access from a side corridor. In the UK, Corridor coaches fell into disfavor in the 1960s and 1970s partially because open coaches are considered more secure by women traveling alone.[citation needed]

Another distinction is between single- and double deck train cars. An example of a double decker is the Amtrak superliner.

A "trainset" (or "set") is a semi-permanently arranged formation of cars, rather than one created "ad hoc" out of whatever cars are available. These are only broken up and reshuffled 'on shed' (in the maintenance depot). Trains are then built of one or more of these 'sets' coupled together as needed for the capacity of that train.

Often, but not always, passenger cars in a train are linked together with enclosed, flexible gangway connections through which passengers and crewmen can walk. Some designs incorporate semi-permanent connections between cars and may have a full-width connection, effectively making them one long, articulated 'car'. In North America, passenger cars also employ tightlock couplings to keep a train together in the event of a derailment or other accident.

Many multiple unit trains consist of cars which are semi-permanently coupled into sets: these sets may be joined together to form larger trains, but generally passengers can only move around between cars within a set. This "closed" arrangement keeps parties of travellers and their luggage together, and hence allows the separate sets to be easily split to go separate ways. Some multiple-unit trainsets are designed so that corridor connections can be easily opened between coupled sets; this generally requires driving cabs either set to the side or (as in the Dutch Koploper or the Japanese 285 series) above the passenger compartment. These cabs or driving trailers are also useful for quickly reversing the train.

Passenger car gallery

Freight cars

Main article: Goods wagon

Freight cars (US/Canada), goods wagons (UIC), or trucks (UK) exist in a wide variety of types, adapted to carry a host of goods. Originally there were very few types of cars; the flat car or wagon, and the boxcar (US/Canada), covered wagon (UIC) or van (UK), were among the first.

Types of freight cars

Freight cars or goods wagons are generally categorized as follows:

Common Freight Car Underframe Components (North America)

Freight cars, as share in the above section, vary in appearance by the intended end use. The underframe components or running gear is similar between all car types to boost reliability and lower the railcar cost. The major parts groups follow and are regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration (US) and Transport Canada (Canada).

Freight car gallery

Aluminium cars

The first two main-line all aluminum passenger cars were exhibited at the 1933-35 Chicago World's Fair by Pullman Company.[5] Aluminum freight cars have a higher net-to-tare ratio of 4.9 than traditional steel based wagons, which have 3.65.[6]

Non-revenue cars

 
Typical American extended vision caboose

Military cars

Military armoured trains use several types of specialized cars:

Mobile missile systems

Main article: Railcar-launched ICBM
 
Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union fielded a number of trains that served as mobile missile silos. These trains carried the missile and everything necessary to launch, and were kept moving around the railway network to make them difficult to find and destroy in a first-strike attack. A similar rail-borne system was proposed in the United States of America for the LGM-30 Minuteman in the 1960s, and the Peacekeeper Rail Garrison in the 1980s, but neither were deployed.[9]

Radar bomb scoring

The Strategic Air Command's 1st Combat Evaluation RBS "Express" deployed from Barksdale Air Force Base with radar bomb scoring units mounted on military railroad cars with supporting equipment, to score simulated thermonuclear bombing of cities in the continental United States.[10]

See also

Notes

Footnotes

  1. ^ In the US, a "railroad car" is often referred to more simply as a "rail car" or "railcar", but this should not be confused with the self-propelled railcar.

Citations

  1. ^ . www.oxfordadvancedlearnersdictionary.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  2. ^ Usatch, Brad (November 23, 2016). "Railroading sees a bit of rebirth". The Chronicle. Barton, Vermont. pp. 1A. from the original on December 2, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  3. ^ Prestflo
  4. ^ prestwin wagon
  5. ^ John H. White Jr. (1985). The American Railroad Passenger Car. JHU Press. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-8018-2743-3. from the original on 2018-05-05.
  6. ^ Hargrove, M. (30 November 1989). "ECONOMICS OF HEAVY AXLE LOADS". from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2018 – via trid.trb.org.
  7. ^ "General Code of Operating Rules: Section 5.12: Protection of Occupied Outfit Cars". from the original on 2002-12-28. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  8. ^ "Index of /dodx". www.csxfan.railfan.net. from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  9. ^ Gen. Thomas S. Power, USAF (September 1960). "Strategic Air Command" (PDF). Air Force Magazine. from the original on 2012-03-31. Retrieved 30 Aug 2010. A special SAC task force was established at Hill AFB, Utah, to conduct a series of deployments with a Minuteman Mobility Test Train. The first deployment ended June 27 after seven days of random travel over existing civilian rail facilities in the Ogden area. The test series will continue through the fall of 1960 with other rail movements in the Far West and Midwest....
  10. ^ "In regards to the SAC radar bomb scoring squadron mounted on railroad cars" (PDF). Mobile Military Radar web site. 22 Feb 2007. pp. 12K. (PDF) from the original on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 30 Aug 2010. The trains were 21 cars long, 17 support and 4 radar cars. The radar cars were basically flat cars with the radar vans and equipment mounted on them. The other 17 consisted of a generator car, two box cars (one for radar equipment maintenance, and one for support maintenance). A dining car, two day-room cars, supply cars, admin car, and 4 Pullman sleepers.... The Commander had the very last room on the tail of the train.... The trains would go to some area in the U.S. which was selected for that period by a regular contracted locomotive which then just parked us there and left, usually pulled onto a siding.

Further reading

External links

  • List of railroad car manufacturers by country (in French)
  • History of the Ralston Steel Car Company, Columbus, Ohio
  • Paquette Railway Solutions, dealing with rolling stock and power
  • US Air Force Guard Car G-50 Strategic Air Command guard car, rebuilt from Army 1943 troop kitchen car #8750. Photographed in Portola, California at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum.

January 14, 2023
railroad, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, november, 2021, l. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Railroad car news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message A railroad car railcar American and Canadian English a railway wagon railway carriage railway truck railwagon railcarriage or railtruck British English and UIC also called a train car train wagon train carriage or train truck is a vehicle used for the carrying of cargo or passengers on a rail transport system a railroad railway Such cars when coupled together and hauled by one or more locomotives form a train Alternatively some passenger cars are self propelled in which case they may be either single railcars or make up multiple units A passenger car from Taiwan Railway A freight car boxcar type for the South Australian Railways 1926 The term car is commonly used by itself in American English when a rail context is implicit Indian English sometimes uses bogie in the same manner 1 though the term has other meanings in other variants of English In American English railcar is a generic term for a railway vehicle in other countries railcar refers specifically to a self propelled powered railway vehicle Although some cars exist for the railroad s own use for track maintenance purposes for example most carry a revenue earning load of passengers or freight and may be classified accordingly as passenger cars or coaches on the one hand or freight cars or wagons on the other Contents 1 Passenger cars 1 1 Passenger car gallery 2 Freight cars 2 1 Types of freight cars 2 2 Common Freight Car Underframe Components North America 2 3 Freight car gallery 3 Aluminium cars 4 Non revenue cars 5 Military cars 5 1 Mobile missile systems 5 2 Radar bomb scoring 6 See also 7 Notes 7 1 Footnotes 7 2 Citations 7 3 Further reading 8 External linksPassenger cars EditMain article Passenger car rail Passenger cars or coaches vary in their internal fittings In standard gauge cars seating is usually configured into ranges from three to five seats across the width of the car with an aisle in between resulting in arrangements of 2 1 2 2 or 3 2 seats or at the side Tables may be provided between seats facing one another Alternatively seats facing in the same direction may have access to a fold down ledge on the back of the seat in front If the aisle is located between seats seat rows may face the same direction or be grouped with twin rows facing each other In some vehicles intended for commuter services seats are positioned with their backs to the side walls either on one side or more commonly on both facing each other across the aisle This gives a wide accessway and allows room for standing passengers at peak times as well as improving loading and unloading speeds If the aisle is at the side the car is usually divided into small compartments These usually contain six seats although sometimes in second class they contain eight and sometimes in first class they contain four Passenger cars can take the electricity supply for heating and lighting equipment from either of two main sources directly from a head end power generator on the locomotive via bus cables or by an axle powered generator which continuously charges batteries whenever the train is in motion Modern cars usually have either air conditioning or windows that can be opened sometimes for safety not so far that one can hang out or sometimes both Various types of onboard train toilet facilities may also be provided Other types of passenger car exist especially for long journeys such as the dining car parlor car disco car and in rare cases theater and movie theater car In some cases another type of car is temporarily converted to one of these for an event Observation cars were built for the rear of many famous trains to allow the passengers to view the scenery These proved popular leading to the development of dome cars multiple units of which could be placed mid train and featured a glass enclosed upper level extending above the normal roof to provide passengers with a better view Sleeping cars outfitted with generally small bedrooms allow passengers to sleep through their night time trips while couchette cars provide more basic sleeping accommodation Long distance trains often require baggage cars for the passengers luggage In European practice it used to be common for day coaches to be formed of compartments seating 6 or 8 passengers with access from a side corridor In the UK Corridor coaches fell into disfavor in the 1960s and 1970s partially because open coaches are considered more secure by women traveling alone citation needed Another distinction is between single and double deck train cars An example of a double decker is the Amtrak superliner A trainset or set is a semi permanently arranged formation of cars rather than one created ad hoc out of whatever cars are available These are only broken up and reshuffled on shed in the maintenance depot Trains are then built of one or more of these sets coupled together as needed for the capacity of that train Often but not always passenger cars in a train are linked together with enclosed flexible gangway connections through which passengers and crewmen can walk Some designs incorporate semi permanent connections between cars and may have a full width connection effectively making them one long articulated car In North America passenger cars also employ tightlock couplings to keep a train together in the event of a derailment or other accident Many multiple unit trains consist of cars which are semi permanently coupled into sets these sets may be joined together to form larger trains but generally passengers can only move around between cars within a set This closed arrangement keeps parties of travellers and their luggage together and hence allows the separate sets to be easily split to go separate ways Some multiple unit trainsets are designed so that corridor connections can be easily opened between coupled sets this generally requires driving cabs either set to the side or as in the Dutch Koploper or the Japanese 285 series above the passenger compartment These cabs or driving trailers are also useful for quickly reversing the train Passenger car gallery Edit Passenger car gallery A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London An interior of a S7 Stock in London British Rail Mark 3 coach an all steel car from the 1970s Inside a modern day car from Finland A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom Freight cars EditMain article Goods wagon Freight cars US Canada goods wagons UIC or trucks UK exist in a wide variety of types adapted to carry a host of goods Originally there were very few types of cars the flat car or wagon and the boxcar US Canada covered wagon UIC or van UK were among the first Types of freight cars Edit Freight cars or goods wagons are generally categorized as follows Boxcar US and Canada covered wagon UIC or van UK fully enclosed car with side or end doors Standard boxcars have about 3 5 times the capacity of a standard Semi trailer 2 Covered wagon UIC van UK or boxcar US Canada fully enclosed wagon for moisture susceptible goods Hicube boxcars high capacity high clearance boxcar Refrigerator car or reefer US Canada refrigerated boxcar for fruits and vegetables CargoBeamer Coil car specialized flat or gondola for heavy sheet metal rolls Combine car combined passenger car and boxcar in one wagon Flatcar or flat for larger bulky loads Specialized flat cars include Aircraft Parts Car with fixtures for large aircraft parts Autorack also called auto carriers multi level flat for automobiles Centerbeam cars US specialized flat for building materials Conflat UK specialized flat for containers CargoSprinter self propelled container flat Container flatcar Depressed center flatcar or Wellcar or Lowmac UK for high clearance loads e g transformers and boilers Semi trailer flatcar Rolling highway a train designed to carry trucks and or semi trailers Single container car Spine car a center sill and side sill only car with lateral arms to support intermodal containers See also Well car Double container car Well car or double stack car Cars for transporting Intermodal containers with a low deck to allow double stacking commonly used in articulated form See also Spine car Schnabel car for unusually large and heavy industrial equipment transformers boilers reactors distillation columns Gondola US car with open top enclosed sides and ends for bulk goods Covered hopper specialized hopper car with a cover for weather sensitive loads grain pellets Open wagon UIC railway wagon with an open top but enclosed sides and ends for bulk commodities and other goods that might slide off Hoppers similar to gondolas but with bottom dump doors for easy unloading of things like coal ore grain cement ballast and the like Short hoppers for carrying iron ore are called ore jennies in the US Lorry US Canada An open wagon UIC or gondola US Canada with a tipping trough often found in mines See also Tippler Mine car Mine cart e g V skip wagon Side dump cars used to transport roadbed materials such as ballast riprap and large stone and are able to unload anywhere along the track Tippler UK An open wagon with no doors or roof which are unloaded by being inverted on a Wagon Tippler UK or Rotary car dumper US Canada They are used for minerals such as coal limestone and iron ore as well as other bulk cargo See also Lorry Quarry tub a type of small railway or tramway wagon used in quarries for the transport minerals such as coal limestone and iron ore Modalohr Road Trailer Carriers Presflo 3 and Prestwin UK 4 bulk cement wagons Roll block a train designed to carry another railway train Slate wagon specialized freight cars used to transport slate Stock car ventilated box car for livestock Tank car US Canada tank wagon UIC or tanker for liquid or gas British milk tank wagon Milk car specialized tank car for milk Tank cars for bulk loading Whale Belly car high capacity tank car with a belly Transporter wagon a wagon designed to carry other railway equipment Well carCommon Freight Car Underframe Components North America Edit Freight cars as share in the above section vary in appearance by the intended end use The underframe components or running gear is similar between all car types to boost reliability and lower the railcar cost The major parts groups follow and are regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration US and Transport Canada Canada Centersill or Sidesill Trucks Wheels Brake rigging Foundation brake gear CouplersFreight car gallery Edit North American freight car gallery American style two bay hopper cars of the Reading Railroad U S type Railbox boxcar A spine car with a 20 ft tanktainer and an open top 20 ft container with canvas cover North American container train services often employ double stacked container cars as here in Rochelle Illinois John Deere Combine harvesters being transported by railway in Tyrone Pennsylvania Aluminium cars EditThe first two main line all aluminum passenger cars were exhibited at the 1933 35 Chicago World s Fair by Pullman Company 5 Aluminum freight cars have a higher net to tare ratio of 4 9 than traditional steel based wagons which have 3 65 6 Non revenue cars Edit Typical American extended vision caboose Ballast regulator Ballast tamper Barrier vehicle or match wagon with a different coupler at each end Caboose US or Brake van UIC attach to rear to watch freight trains assist in reverse moves and provide rear braking Replaced by End Of Train devices Catenary maintenance vehicle or tower car used to maintain overhead lines Clearance car special car to check for obstructions Crew car aka outfit car or a camp car bunkhouse car 7 a bunk kitchen or tool car for railroad employees Departmental vehicle Handcars early MOW car powered by passengers with a handcrank Maintenance of way MOW cars for maintaining track and equipment Office car which contains a mobile office for a train company Rail ambulance Rail car mover similar to HiRail trucks Railroad cranes Railway post office Road rail vehicle Scale test car Track geometry car Track testerMilitary cars Edit Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen Slovakia Military armoured trains use several types of specialized cars Anti air equipped with anti air guns Anti tank equipped with anti tank guns usually in a tank gun turret Artillery fielding mixture of guns and machine guns Command similar to infantry wagons but designed to be a train command center DODX is the reporting mark for the United States Department of Defense Military Traffic Management Command 8 Infantry fielding machine guns designed to carry infantry units Machine gun dedicated to machine guns Platform unarmoured with purposes ranging from transport of ammunition or vehicles through track repair or derailing protection of railroad ploughs for railroad destruction Troop sleepers Mobile missile systems Edit Main article Railcar launched ICBM Soviet RT 23 Molodets ICBM launch train in the St Petersburg museum During the Cold War the Soviet Union fielded a number of trains that served as mobile missile silos These trains carried the missile and everything necessary to launch and were kept moving around the railway network to make them difficult to find and destroy in a first strike attack A similar rail borne system was proposed in the United States of America for the LGM 30 Minuteman in the 1960s and the Peacekeeper Rail Garrison in the 1980s but neither were deployed 9 Radar bomb scoring Edit The Strategic Air Command s 1st Combat Evaluation RBS Express deployed from Barksdale Air Force Base with radar bomb scoring units mounted on military railroad cars with supporting equipment to score simulated thermonuclear bombing of cities in the continental United States 10 See also EditAir brake Great Western Railway wagons List of railway vehicles List of rolling stock manufacturers Rail car tracking device Railway brakes Rolling stock Skytop Lounge Tamping machine Tender Tram Types of goods wagon UIC classification of goods wagons Vacuum brakeNotes EditFootnotes Edit In the US a railroad car is often referred to more simply as a rail car or railcar but this should not be confused with the self propelled railcar Citations Edit Oxford Learner s Dictionaries Find definitions translations and grammar explanations at Oxford Learner s Dictionaries www oxfordadvancedlearnersdictionary com Archived from the original on 2011 08 07 Retrieved 5 May 2018 Usatch Brad November 23 2016 Railroading sees a bit of rebirth The Chronicle Barton Vermont pp 1A Archived from the original on December 2 2016 Retrieved December 1 2016 Prestflo prestwin wagon John H White Jr 1985 The American Railroad Passenger Car JHU Press p 163 ISBN 978 0 8018 2743 3 Archived from the original on 2018 05 05 Hargrove M 30 November 1989 ECONOMICS OF HEAVY AXLE LOADS Archived from the original on 2 February 2017 Retrieved 5 May 2018 via trid trb org General Code of Operating Rules Section 5 12 Protection of Occupied Outfit Cars Archived from the original on 2002 12 28 Retrieved 2008 06 19 Index of dodx www csxfan railfan net Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 5 May 2018 Gen Thomas S Power USAF September 1960 Strategic Air Command PDF Air Force Magazine Archived from the original on 2012 03 31 Retrieved 30 Aug 2010 A special SAC task force was established at Hill AFB Utah to conduct a series of deployments with a Minuteman Mobility Test Train The first deployment ended June 27 after seven days of random travel over existing civilian rail facilities in the Ogden area The test series will continue through the fall of 1960 with other rail movements in the Far West and Midwest In regards to the SAC radar bomb scoring squadron mounted on railroad cars PDF Mobile Military Radar web site 22 Feb 2007 pp 12K Archived PDF from the original on 2011 07 27 Retrieved 30 Aug 2010 The trains were 21 cars long 17 support and 4 radar cars The radar cars were basically flat cars with the radar vans and equipment mounted on them The other 17 consisted of a generator car two box cars one for radar equipment maintenance and one for support maintenance A dining car two day room cars supply cars admin car and 4 Pullman sleepers The Commander had the very last room on the tail of the train The trains would go to some area in the U S which was selected for that period by a regular contracted locomotive which then just parked us there and left usually pulled onto a siding Further reading Edit Matthias N Forney 1974 1879 The Railroad Car Builder s Dictionary Dover Publications Inc ISBN 9780486229744 White John H 1978 The American Railroad Passenger Car Baltimore MD Johns Hopkins University Press ISBN 0801819652 OCLC 2798188 White John H Jr 1993 The American Railroad Freight Car From the Wood Car Era to the Coming of Steel Baltimore Johns Hopkins University Press ISBN 0 8018 4404 5 OCLC 26130632 External links EditList of railroad car manufacturers by country in French History of the Ralston Steel Car Company Columbus Ohio Paquette Railway Solutions dealing with rolling stock and power US Air Force Guard Car G 50 Strategic Air Command guard car rebuilt from Army 1943 troop kitchen car 8750 Photographed in Portola California at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum Peacekeeper Rail Garrison Car Rail car manufacturing Guide to railroad cars Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Railroad car amp oldid 1123994052, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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