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Railcar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. For unpowered freight cars or passenger cars, seerailroad car.
"Railcars" redirects here. For the band from San Francisco, seeRailcars (band).

TheBombardier Talentarticulated regional railcar
TheRegio-Shuttle RS1low-floor vehicle is a modern version of a single unit railcar. Several of these can run together.
TheRegioSpidermodern railcar.
A two-carNew South Wales Hunter railcarin Australia
A1,520 mm(4 ft11+27⁄32in)Russian gaugeLatvianRVR-made railbus AR2-002 inVilnius,Lithuania,based onSovietdesign
AČSD Class M 152.0inLeipzig
A tram on theBroadway BridgeinPortland

Arailcar(not to be confused with arailway car) is a self-propelledrailwayvehicle designed totransportpassengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to atrainconsisting of a singlecoach(carriage, car), with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railway companies, such as theGreat Western,termed such vehicles "railmotors"(or" rail motors ").

Self-propelled passenger vehicles also capable of hauling a train are, in technical rail usage, more usually called "rail motor coaches"or" motor cars "(not to be confused with the motor cars, otherwise known as automobiles, that operate on roads).[1]

The term is sometimes also used as an alternative name for the small types ofmultiple unitwhich consist of more than one coach. That is the general usage nowadays inIrelandwhen referring to anydiesel multiple unit(DMU), or in some caseselectric multiple unit(EMU).

In North America the term "railcar" has a much broader sense and can be used (as an abbreviated form of "railroad car" ) to refer to any item of hauled rolling-stock, whetherpassenger coachesorgoods wagons(freight cars).[2][3][4]Self-powered railcars were once common in North America; seeDoodlebug (rail car).

In its simplest form, a "railcar" may also be little more than a motorizedrailway handcarordraisine.

Uses

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Railcars are economic to run for light passenger loads because of their small size, and in many countries are often used to run passenger services on minor railway lines, such as rural railway lines where passenger traffic is sparse, and where the use of a longer train would not becost effective.A famous example of this in the United States was theGalloping Gooserailcars of theRio Grande Southern Railroad,whose introduction allowed the discontinuance of steam passenger service on the line and prolonged its life considerably.

Railcars have also been employed on premier services. InNew Zealand,although railcars were primarily used on regional services, theBlue StreakandSilver Fernrailcars were used on theNorth Island Main TrunkbetweenWellingtonandAucklandand offered a higher standard of service than previous carriage trains.

InAustralia,theSavannahlanderoperates a tourist service from the coastal town ofCairnstoForsayth,andTraveltrainoperates theGulflanderbetweenNormantonandCroydonin theGulf Countryof northernQueensland.

Propulsion systems

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Steam

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Main article:Steam railcar
LNERSentinel-Cammellsteam railcar

William Bridges Adamsbuilt steam railcars atBow, Londonin the 1840s. ManyBritishrailway companies tried steamrail motorsbut they were not very successful and were often replaced bypush-pull trains.Sentinel Waggon Workswas one British builder of steam railcars.

InBelgium,M. A. Cabany ofMechelendesigned steam railcars. His first was built in 1877 and exhibited at a Paris exhibition. This may have been theExposition Universelle (1878).The steam boiler was supplied by theBoussuWorks and there was accommodation for First, Second and Third-class passengers and their luggage. There was also a locker for dogs underneath. Fifteen were built and they worked mainly in theHainautandAntwerpdistricts.

The Austro-HungarianGanz Worksbuilt steam trams prior to the First World War. TheSanta FeRailway built a steam poweredrail carusing a body byAmerican Car and Foundry,a Jacobs-Schupert boiler and a Ganz power truck in 1911. Numbered M-104, the experiment was a failure, and was not repeated.[5]

Petrol

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In 1904 the Automotor Journal reported that one railway after another had been realising that motor coaches could be used to handle light traffic on their less important lines.[6]The North-Eastern railways had been experimenting “for some time” in this direction, andWolseleyprovided them with a flat-four engine capable of up to 100 bhp (75 kW) for this purpose. The engine drove a main dynamo to power two electric drive motors, and a smaller dynamo to charge accumulators to power the interior lighting and allow electric starting of the engine. The controls for the dynamo allowed the coach to be driven from either end. For further details see1903 Petrol Electric Autocar.

Another early railcar in the UK was designed byJames Sidney Drewryand made by theDrewry Car Co.in 1906. In 1908 the manufacture was contracted out to theBirmingham Small Arms Company.

By the 1930s, railcars were often adapted from truck or automobiles; examples of this include theBuick- andPierce-Arrow-basedGalloping Geeseof theRio Grande Southern Railroad,and theMack Truck-based "Super Skunk" of theCalifornia Western Railroad.

Diesel

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While early railcars were propelled bysteamandpetrolengines, modern railcars are usually propelled by adiesel enginemounted underneath the floor of the coach. Diesel railcars may have mechanical (fluid couplingandgearbox), hydraulic (torque converter) orelectric(generatorandtraction motors) transmission.

Electric

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Electric railcars and mainline electric systems are rare, since electrification normally implies heavy usage where single cars or short trains would not be economic. Exceptions to this rule are or were found for example inSwedenorSwitzerland.Some vehicles ontramandinterurbansystems, like theRed Carof thePacific Electric Railway,can also be seen as railcars.

Battery-electric

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Main article:Accumulator railcar

Experiments with battery-electric railcars were conducted from around 1890 in Belgium, France, Germany and Italy. In the US, railcars of theEdison-Beachtype, withnickel-iron batterieswere used from 1911. In New Zealand, abattery-electric Edison railcaroperated from 1926 to 1934. In Ireland, theDrumm Battery Trainusednickel-zinc batterieson four 2-car sets between 1932 and 1946 on the coastal andHarcourt Street railway lines.British Railwaysusedlead–acid batteriesin arailcar in 1958.Between 1955 and 1995DBrailways successfully operated 232DB Class ETA 150railcars utilisinglead–acid batteries.

As with any otherbattery electric vehicle,the drawback is the limited range (this can be solved usingoverhead wiresto recharge for use in places where there are not wires), weight, and/or expense of the battery.

Old-generation railcars

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New-generation DMU and EMU railcars

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See also:Diesel multiple unit,Electric multiple unit,andLight rail
Stadler GTWlight regionalelectric multiple unitrailcar inBeinwil am See
A dieselAlstomLINT of theTaunusbahninLangenhahnstation
AnEmepa Alerceon theBelgrano Norteline inBuenos Aires
TwoIE 29000 ClassSuburbanDMU'sstand atConnolly Station

A new breed of modern lightweight aerodynamically designed diesel or electric regional railcars that can operate as single vehicles or in trains (or, in “multiple units” ) are becoming very popular in Europe and Japan, replacing the first-generationrailbusesand second-generation DMU railcars, usually running on lesser-used main-line railways and in some cases in exclusive lanes in urban areas. Like many high-end DMUs, these vehicles are made of two or three connected units that are semi-permanently coupled as “married pairs or triplets” and operate as a single unit. Passengers may walk between the married pair units without having to open or pass through doors. Unit capacities range from 70 to over 300 seated passengers. The equipment is highly customisable with a wide variety of engine, transmission, coupler systems, and car lengths.

Institutional/regulatory Issues

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Contrary to other parts of the world, in the United States these vehicles generally do not comply withFederal Railroad Administration(FRA) regulations[citation needed]and, therefore, can only operate on dedicated rights-of-way with complete separation from other railroad activities. This restriction makes it virtually impossible to operate them on existing rail corridors with conventional passenger rail service. Nevertheless, such vehicles may soon operate in the United States as manufacturers such asSiemens,AlstomandADtranzaffirm they may be able to produce FRA-compliant versions of their European equipment.[citation needed]

Existing systems

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Light regional railcars are used by a number of railroads in Germany, and also in theNetherlands,Denmark,Italy,United StatesandSpain.

Manufacturers

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Models of new-generation multiple-unit and articulated railcars include:

Multiple-unit and articulated railcars

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When there are enough passengers to justify it, single-unit powered railcars can be joined in amultiple-unitform, with one driver controlling all engines. However, it has previously been the practice for a railcar to tow a carriage or second, unpowered railcar. It is possible for several railcars to run together, each with its own driver (as practised on the formerCounty Donegal Railway). The reason for this was to keep costs down, since small railcars were not always fitted with multiple-unit control.

There are alsoarticulated railcars,in which the ends of two adjacent coupled carriages are carried on a single joint bogie (seeJacobs bogie).

Railbuses

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Main article:Railbus
Petrol railbus at theEastern Södermanlands Railway,ÖSlJ, a narrow-gauge museum railway depicting 1890-1910-centurySweden

A variation of the railcar is therailbus:a very lightweight type of vehicle designed for use specifically on lightly-used railway lines and, as the name suggests, sharing many aspects of their construction with those of a roadbus.They usually have a bus, or modified bus, body and four wheels on a fixed base, instead of running on bogies. Railbuses have been commonly used in such countries as theCzech Republic,France,Germany,Italy,Sweden,and theUnited Kingdom.

A type of railbus known as aPacerbased on theLeyland Nationalbus was still widely used in the United Kingdom until withdrawal in 2021. New Zealand railcars that more closely resembled railbuses were theLeyland diesel railcarsand theWairarapa railcarsthat were specially designed to operate over theRimutaka Inclinebetween Wellington and theWairaraparegion. InAustralia,where they were often called Rail Motors, railcars were often used for passenger services on lightly-used lines. In France they are known asautorails.Once very common, their use died out as local lines were closed. However, a new model has been introduced for lesser-used lines.

InCanada,after the cessation oftheir mainline passenger service,BC Railstarted operating a pair of railbuses to some settlements not easily accessible otherwise.

InRussia,theMytishchi-basedMetrowagonmashfirm manufactures the RA-1 railbus, equipped with aMercedesengine. As of summer 2006, theGorky Railwayplanned to start using them on its commuter line betweenNizhny NovgorodandBor.[7]

Road–rail vehicles

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Main article:Road–rail vehicle

The termrailbusalso refers to a dual-modebusthat can run on streets with rubber tires and on tracks withretractabletrain wheels.

The termrail busis also used at times to refer to a road bus that replaces or supplements rail services on low-patronagerailway linesor a bus that terminates at arailway station(also called a train bus). This process is sometimes calledbustitution.

Parry People Movers

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A UK company currently promoting the railbus concept isParry People Movers.Locomotive power is from the energy stored in aflywheel.The first production vehicles, designated asBritish Rail Class 139,have a small onboardLPGmotor to bring the flywheel up to speed. In practice, this could be an electric motor that need only connect to the power supply at stopping points. Alternatively, a motor at the stopping points could wind up the flywheel of each car as it stops.

Draisine

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The term "railcar" has also been used to refer to a lightweight rail inspection vehicle (ordraisine).

  • Battery electric MetroTrolley for rail use (for ultrasonic rail flaw detection)
    Battery electricMetroTrolleyfor rail use (for ultrasonic rail flaw detection)
  • In its simplest form, an American speeder - with motor unit detachable by hand
    In its simplest form, an Americanspeeder- with motor unit detachable by hand
  • With some weather protection, including mountable canvas side curtains
    With some weather protection, including mountable canvas side curtains

See also

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Categories

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General

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References

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  1. ^parrypeoplemoversArchived2009-01-06 at theWayback MachineLight Railcars and Railbuses - Retrieved on 2008-06-09
  2. ^Brinckman, Jonathan (March 6, 2009)."Railcar orders, jobs in jeopardy".The Oregonian.RetrievedMarch 11,2009.
  3. ^"Trinity Eyes Stimulus".The Journal of Commerce.RetrievedMarch 11,2009.
  4. ^"Bill address railcar storage".Billings Gazette.Archived fromthe originalon July 22, 2012.RetrievedMarch 11,2009.
  5. ^Worley, E.D. (1965).Iron Horses of the Santa Fe Trail.US: Southwest Railroad Historical Society.ASINB0007EIUWE.
  6. ^"Motor Coaches for Railways", The Automotor Journal, January 23, 1904
  7. ^"Railbus RA-1 in Nizhny Novgorod",on the site "Public Transportation in Nizhny Novgorod"(in Russian)
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The dictionary definition ofrailcarat Wiktionary

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