Freight cars Developments in freight car construction have closely paralleled the development of the locomotive.

Юлия в категроии Английский язык, вопрос открыт 14.04.2018 в 07:34

Here, too, improved engineering and operating methods have been applied year by year to the freight car, its parts, and its adaptability to the needs of traffic. The early freight car was a little larger than a box on wheels. It carried from one to three tons of freight, and its wheels were similar to the stagecoach of its day, with wooden spokes and tires of iron. All modern rail equipment, freight and passenger, is fitted with air brakes of the latest type, automatic coupling devices, steel wheels and tires, and is of steel or steel underframe construction. Freight cars range from the flat car up to the highly specialized refrigerator car, with an average capacity close to 50 tons per car, and with a capacity of 70 to 100 tons or more in the case of larger coal and ore cars. Railway managers naturally prefer to use larger cars since freight can be hauled more cheaply in them. These cars are owned by the railways, except for those cars which belong to industrial companies or to subsidiaries of the railways.