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Train
Not to be confused with
Locomotive.
This article is about the rail vehicle. For the act of teaching or developing skills or knowledge, see
Training. For other uses, see
Train (disambiguation).
A
train is a form of
rail transport consisting of a series of connected
vehicles that generally run along a
railroad (or railway) track to transport passengers or cargo (also known as "freight" or "goods"). The word
train comes from the
Old French trahiner, derived from the
Latin trahere meaning 'to pull, to draw'.
[1]
ChS4T locomotive with
passenger carriages in
Voronezh Oblast, Russia
Union Pacific 844 pulling passenger cars in
Nevada, United States
Map of world railway network (
interactive map)
Motive power for a train is provided by a separate
locomotive or individual motors in a self-propelled
multiple unit. The term "engine" is often used as an alternative to locomotive. Although historically
steam propulsion dominated, the most common types of locomotive are
diesel and
electric, the latter supplied by
overhead wires or
additional rails. Trains can also be
hauled by horses, pulled by
engine or water-driven cable or wire winch, run downhill using gravity, or powered by
pneumatics,
gas turbines or
electric batteries.
The track usually consists of two running
rails with a
fixed spacing, which may be supplemented by additional rails such as electric conducting rails ("third rail") and
rack rails.
Monorails and
maglev guideways are also occasionally used.
[2]
Passenger trains include passenger-carrying vehicles and can often be very long and fast.
High-speed rail systems began expanding rapidly in the late 20th century, and this remains a major subject of further development. The term "
light rail" is sometimes used to refer to a modern
tram system, but it may also mean an intermediate form between a tram and a train, similar to a
heavy rail rapid transit system.
Freight (goods) trains use
freight cars (or wagons/trucks) to transport goods or materials (cargo). It is possible to carry passengers and freight in the same train using a
mixed consist.
Rail cars and machinery that are used for the maintenance and repair of tracks, are termed "
maintenance of way" equipment; these may be assembled into maintenance of way trains. Similarly, dedicated trains may be used to provide support services to stations along a train line, such as garbage or revenue collection.
Types
Bogies
Motive power
Passenger trains
Freight trains
See also
References
Further reading
External links
Last edited 2 months ago by
Thrakkx
Content is available under
CC BY-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted.
Types
Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by
Claude Monet, 1877,
Art Institute of Chicago
There are various types of trains that are designed for particular purposes. A train can consist of a combination of one or more
locomotives and attached
railroad cars, or a self-propelled
multiple unit, or occasionally a single or articulated powered coach called a
railcar. Special kinds of train running on corresponding purpose-built "railways" are
monorails,
high-speed railways,
maglev,
atmospheric railways,
rubber-tired underground,
funicular and
cog railways.
A passenger train consists of one or more locomotives and (usually) several coaches. Alternatively, a train may consist entirely of passenger-carrying coaches, some or all of which are powered; this is known as a "multiple unit". In many parts of the world, particularly the Far East and Europe, high-speed rail is used extensively for passenger travel. Freight trains consist of cars, wagons or trucks rather than carriages, though some parcel and mail trains (especially
Travelling Post Offices) appear outwardly to be more like passenger trains. Trains can also have
mixed consist, with both passenger accommodation and freight vehicles. These mixed trains are most likely to be used for services that run infrequently, where the provision of separate passenger and freight trains would not be cost-effective, but the disparate needs of passengers and freight means that this is avoided where possible. Special trains are also used for
track maintenance; in some places, this is called "maintenance of way".
In the United Kingdom, a train hauled using two locomotives is known as a "double-headed" train. In Canada and the United States, it is quite common for a long freight train to be headed by three or more locomotives. A train with a locomotive attached at both ends is described as "top and tailed", this practice typically being used when there are no reversing facilities available. Where a second locomotive is attached temporarily to assist a train when ascending steep banks or gradients (or to provide braking power for a descent), this is referred to as "
banking" in the UK. Many loaded trains in the US are assembled using one or more locomotives in the middle or at the rear of the train, which are then operated remotely from the lead cab. This is referred to as "DP" or "Distributed Power."
Terminology
The
railway terminology that is used to describe a train varies between countries.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the interchangeable terms
set and
unit are used to refer to a group of permanently or semi-permanently coupled vehicles, such as those of a multiple unit. While when referring to a train made up of a variety of vehicles, or of several sets/units, the term
formation is used. (Although the UK public and media often forgo
formation, for simply
train.) The word
rake is also used for a group of coaches or wagons.
Section 83(1) of the UK's
Railways Act 1993 defines "train" as follows:
a) two or more items of rolling stock coupled together, at least one of which is a locomotive; orb) a locomotive not coupled to any other rolling stock.
Other countries
The
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's 1948 operating rules define a train as: "An engine or more than one engine coupled, with or without cars, displaying markers."
[3]
In North America, Australia and other countries, the term
consist (
/ˈkɒnsɪst/ KON-sist) is used to describe the group of rail vehicles that make up a train. When specifically referring to
motive power, the term refers to the group of
locomotives powering the train, as does
lash-up. The term
trainset refers to a group of
rolling stock that is permanently or semi-permanently coupled together to form a unified set of equipment (the term is most often applied to
passenger train configurations).
Bogies