Arailroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English), 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 network (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.
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, 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, or coaches, vary in their internal fittings:
In standard-gauge railway cars, seating is usually arranged in rows of three to five seats across the width of the car, with an aisle between (resulting in 2+1, 2+2, or 3+2 seat arrangements) 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 on 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 cars exist, especially for long journeys, such as the dining car, parlor car, disco car, and, in rare cases, theater and movie theater cars. 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 are outfitted with (generally) small bedrooms, allowing 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 out of favor in the 1960s and 1970s, partly because open coaches were considered more secure for women traveling alone.[citation needed]
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 from one or more of these 'sets', coupled as needed to meet the train's capacity.
Often, but not always, passenger cars in a train are linked together with enclosed, flexible gangway connections through which passengers and crew members 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 that are semi-permanently coupled into sets; these sets may be joined to form larger trains, but passengers can generally move only between cars within a set. This "closed" arrangement keeps parties of travelers and their luggage together, and hence allows the separate sets to be easily split so they can go their separate ways. Some multiple-unit trainsets are designed so that corridor connections can be easily opened between coupled sets; this generally requires driving cabs to be either set to the side or (as in the Dutch Koploper or the Japanese 285 series) mounted above the passenger compartment. These cabs or driving trailers are also useful for quickly reversing the train.
First- and second-class carriages
It has been common in some systems to differentiate between first- and second-class carriages, with a premium being paid for first-class tickets, and fines imposed for non-compliance. Facilities and appurtenances applying to first-class carriages may include
Lounge-type seats, improved upholstery, and additional hip- and leg-room
Reading lamps, double-glazing, sound treatment
Removable tables and seating are amenable to card games
Choice of smoking and non-smoking compartments
More recently, mains power outlets and Wi-fi facilities have been offered.
Freight cars (US/Canada), goods wagons (UIC), or trucks (UK) come in a wide variety of types, adapted to carry a wide range 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:
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.
Covered wagon (UIC), van (UK) or boxcar (US/Canada): fully enclosed wagon for moisture-susceptible goods.
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.
The first two main-line all aluminum passenger cars were exhibited at the 1933-35 Chicago World's Fair by Pullman Company. Aluminum freight cars have a higher net-to-tare ratio of 4.9 than traditional steel based wagons, which have 3.65.
barrier vehicle or match wagon, with a different coupler at each end
caboose (US) or brake van (UIC), attached to the rear of a freight train to watch out for hazards, assist in reversing moves, and provide rear braking; replaced by end-of-train devices
Military draisine: Armoured trains were sometimes escorted by a kind of draisine called a 'rail tank'.
Platform: unarmoured, with purposes ranging from transport of ammunition or vehicles, through track repair or derailing protection of railroad ploughs for railroad destruction
↑ 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.
↑"Fight over Cigar". The Daily News (Perth). Vol.XXX, no.11, 218. Western Australia. 29 May 1911. p.7. Retrieved 14 September 2023– via National Library of Australia.
↑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.
↑Power, Thomas S. (September 1960). "Strategic Air Command". Air & Space Forces Magazine. Vol.43, no.9. Archived from the original on 18 April 2025. Retrieved 30 August 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 website. 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.
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