Encyclopedia
In
rail transport, a
train consists of rail vehicles that move along guides to transport freight or passengers from one place to another. The guideway usually consists of conventional
rail tracks, but might also be
monorail or
maglev. Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate
locomotive, or from individual motors in self-propelled
multiple units. Most trains are powered by
diesel engines or by
electricity supplied by
trackside systems. Historically the
steam engine was the dominant form of locomotive power through the mid-20th century, but other sources of power are possible.
In American
railway terminology, and increasingly within the railway industry in the United Kingdom, a
consist is used to describe the group of rail vehicles which make up a train.
In the United Kingdom Section 83 of the 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; or
b) a locomotive not coupled to any other rolling stock.
Types of trains
There are various types of trains designed for particular purposes.
A train can consist of a combination of a
locomotive and attached
railroad cars, or a self-propelled
multiple unit . Trains can also be hauled by horses, pulled by a cable, or run downhill by gravity.
Special kinds of trains running on corresponding special 'railways' are
atmospheric railways,
monorails,
high-speed railways, Dinky Trains,
maglev,
rubber-tired underground,
funicular and
cog railways.
A passenger train may consist of one or several locomotives, and one or more coaches. Alternatively, a train may consist entirely of passenger carrying coaches, some or all of which are powered as a "
multiple unit". In many parts of the world, particularly
Japan and
Europe,
high-speed rail is utilized extensively for passenger travel.
Freight trains comprise wagons or trucks rather than carriages, though some parcel and mail trains are outwardly more like passenger trains.
In the
United Kingdom, a train hauled by two locomotives is said to be "double-headed", and in
Canada and the
United States it is quite common for a long freight train to be headed by three, four, or even five locomotives. A train with a locomotive attached at each end is described as 'top and tailed', this practice typically being used when there are no reversing facilities available. Where the second locomotive is attached temporarily to assist a train up steep banks it is referred to as 'banking'.
Trains can also be mixed, hauling both passengers and freight, see e.g. Transportation in Mauritania. Such mixed trains became rare in many countries, but were commonplace on the first 19th-century railroads.
Special trains are also used for
Track Maintenance; in some places, this is called
maintenance of way.
A single uncoupled rail vehicle is not technically a train, but is usually referred to as such for signaling reasons.
Motive power
The first trains were rope-hauled, gravity powered or pulled by horses, but from the early
19th century almost all were powered by
steam locomotives. From the 1920s onwards they began to be replaced by less labor intensive and cleaner
diesel locomotives and
electric locomotives, while at about the same time self-propelled
multiple unit vehicles of either power system became much more common in passenger service. Most countries had replaced steam locomotives for day-to-day use by the 1970s. A few countries, most notably the
People's Republic of China where
coal is in cheap and plentiful supply, still use steam locomotives, but this is being gradually phased out. Historic steam trains still run in many other countries, for the leisure and enthusiast market.
Electric traction offers a lower cost per mile of train operation but at a very high initial cost, which can only be justified on high traffic lines. Since the cost per mile of construction is much higher, electric traction is less favored on long-distance lines. Electric trains receive their current via
overhead lines or through a
third rail electric system.
Passenger trains
Passenger trains have
Passenger cars.
Passenger trains travel between
stations; the distance between stations may vary from under 1 km to much more. Long-distance trains, sometimes crossing several countries, may have a
dining car or restaurant car; they may also have
sleeping cars, but not in the case of high-speed rail; these arrive at their destination before the night falls and are in competition with
airliners in speed. Very long distance trains such as those on the
Trans-Siberian railway are usually not high-speed.
Very fast trains sometimes
tilt, like the
Pendolino or
Talgo. Tilting is a system where the passenger cars automatically lean into
curves, reducing the
centrifugal forces acting on passengers and permitting higher speeds on curves in the
track with greater passenger comfort.
For trains connecting cities, we can distinguish inter-city trains, which do not halt at small stations, and trains that serve all stations, usually known as local trains or "stoppers" .
For shorter distances many cities have networks of
commuter trains, serving the city and its suburbs. Some carriages may be laid out to have more standing room than seats, or to facilitate the carrying of
prams,
cycles or
wheelchairs. Some countries have some
double-decked passenger trains for use in conurbations. Double deck high speed and sleeper trains are becoming more common in Europe.
Passenger trains usually have
emergency brake handles that the public can operate. Abuse is punished by a heavy fine.
Large cities often have a metro system, also called underground, subway or tube. The trains are electrically powered, usually by
third rail, and their railroads are separate from other traffic, without
level crossings. Usually they run in tunnels in the city center and sometimes on elevated structures in the outer parts of the city. They can accelerate and decelerate faster than heavier, long-distance trains.
A light one- or two-car rail vehicle running through the streets is by convention not considered a train but rather a
tram, trolley, light-rail vehicle or streetcar, but the distinction is not always strict. In some countries such as the United Kingdom the distinction between a tramway and a
railway is precise and defined in law.
The term
light rail is sometimes used for a modern tram, but it may also mean an intermediate form between a tram and a train, similar to metro except that it may have level crossings. These are often protected with crossing gates. They may also be called a
trolley.
Maglev trains and
monorails represent minor technologies in the train field.
The term
rapid transit is used for public transport such as commuter trains, metro and light rail. However, in New York City, lines on the
New York City Subway have been referred to as "trains".
Freight trains
Freight trains have
freight cars.
Much of the world's freight is transported by train. In the
USA the rail system is used mostly for transporting cargo .
Under the right circumstances, transporting freight by train is highly economic, and also more energy efficient than transporting freight by road. Rail freight is most economic when freight is being carried in bulk and over long distances, but is less suited to short distances and small loads. Bulk aggregate movements of a mere twenty miles can be cost effective even allowing for trans-shipment costs. These trans-shipment costs dominate in many cases and many modern practices such as
container freight are aimed at minimizing these.
The main disadvantage of rail freight is its lack of flexibility. For this reason, rail has lost much of the freight business to
road competition. Many governments are now trying to encourage more freight onto trains, because of the environmental benefits that it would bring.
There are many different types of freight trains, which are used to carry many different kinds of freight, with many different types of
wagons. One of the most common types on modern railways are container trains, where containers can be lifted on and off the train by cranes and loaded off or onto
trucks or
ships.
This type of freight train has largely superseded the traditional
boxcar type of freight train, with which the cargo has to be loaded or unloaded manually.
In some countries "
piggy-back" trains are used:
trucks can drive straight onto the train and drive off again when the end destination is reached. A system like this is used on the
Channel Tunnel between
England and
France and between France and
Italy . Piggy back trains are the fastest growing type of freight trains in the United States, where they are also known as 'trailer on
flatcar' or TOFC trains. There are also some "inter-modal" vehicles, which have two sets of wheels, for use in a train, or as the semi-trailer of a road vehicle. This is
obsolete, the current semi-trailers have road wheels only and are carried on specially adapted
trucks when moving on rails, for specific details see
Roadrailer.
There are also many other types of
wagons, such as "low loader" wagons for transporting road vehicles. There are
refrigerator cars for transporting
foods such as ice cream. There are simple types of
open-topped wagons for transporting
minerals and bulk material such as
coal, and
tankers for transporting liquids and gases. Today however most coal and aggregates are moved in
hopper wagons that can be filled and discharged rapidly, to enable efficient handling of the materials.
Freight trains are sometimes illegally boarded by passengers who do not wish, or do not have the money, to travel by ordinary means. This is referred to as "hopping" and is considered by some communities to be a viable form of transport. Most hoppers sneak into train yards and stow away in boxcars. More bold hoppers will catch a train "on the fly", that is, as it is moving, leading to occasional fatalities.
Famous train routes
Famous historical train services include the:
- Orange Blossom Special - New York, NY to Miami, FL.
- Orient Express in Europe.
- Super Chief Chicago, IL to Los Angeles, CA.
- Trans-Siberian in Russia.
- Blue Train in South Africa.
- Train-de-Luxe from Johannesburg to Victoria Falls.
- Chihuahua al Pacifico in Mexico.
- Glacier Express in Switzerland.
- Palace on Wheels in Rajasthan, India.
- Frontier Mail and Grand Trunk Express, India.
- Broadway Limited New York, NY to Chicago, IL.
- The Canadian in Canada.
- 20th Century Limited New York, NY to Chicago, IL.
- City of New Orleans Chicago, IL to New Orleans, LA.
- California Zephyr Chicago, IL to Oakland, CA.
- Indian Pacific and The Ghan in Australia .
- Puffing Billy and The Gulflander in Australia .
- Rheingold Express in The Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland, following the course of the Rhine.
- Deccan Queen Mumbai to Pune, India.
- Flying Scotsman, London to Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom.
Fictional trains
- Hogwarts Express: Harry Potter book series
- Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends is a British [i] children's television series [i] which was first br...
— TV Series originated from The Railway Series by the Rev.W.Awdry - The Polar Express — From the book of the same name, this train takes children to the North Pole.
- Silver Streak Appeared in two movies, the 1934 thriller Silver Streak and the 1976 comedy with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor.
- Taggart Comet
- The Great Train Robbery — feature film based on a true story, also title of a modern film.
- Starlight Express — Musical about an old steam engine being replaced by an electrical engine.
- Galaxy Express 999 — From the manga and anime of the same name by Leiji Matsumoto, this train travels the galaxy from planet to planet.
- Runaway Train — Film about escaped inmates on a runaway train.
- Atomic Train — TV movie A runaway train carrying an atomic bomb into a town.
- Astrotrain A Decepticon triple-changer from the Transformers More Than Meets the Eye character line.
- Supertrain — One of the biggest television disasters ever.
- The Taking of Pelham 123 — 1974 film adapted from the John Godey novel of the same name about the hijacking of a New York Subway train.
External links: .See also
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Further reading
- Jonathan Glancey - The Train
External links
- Official in the UK .
- - It's Free To Talk Trains Again!
- - directory of 10,000+ rail-related sites
- - Focus on trains of North America
- - Portuguese trains
-
- Open-source train schedule/timetable for PDA and handheld devices
- Quality collection of old train photographs
