car shipping

A railroad car (or, more briefly, car, not to be confused with railcar), also known as an item of rolling stock, is a vehicle on a railroad (or railway) that is not a locomotive — one that provides another purpose than purely haulage, although some types of car are powered. Cars can be coupled together into a train, either hauled by one or more locomotives or self-propelled.

Most cars carry a "revenue" load, although "non-revenue" cars exist for the railroad's own use, such as for maintenance-of-way purposes. Such uses can generally be divided into the carriage of passengers and of freight.

"Revenue" cars are basically of two types: passenger cars, or coaches, and freight cars or wagons.

Passenger cars

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

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