Wagonvignette|Wagon couvert européen (type Gbs) Un wagon (, ou en Belgique ) est un véhicule destiné au transport par chemin de fer des animaux ou des marchandises et incapable de se mouvoir par lui-même. vignette|Wagon-trémie couvert à deux essieux européen type Tdgs-v de la DB. Dans le jargon ferroviaire, on distingue habituellement deux grands types de véhicules remorqués. On parle de wagons pour les marchandises ou les animaux et de voitures pour les passagers, même si au on parlait de wagons voyageurs et la Compagnie internationale des wagons-lits utilisait les noms de wagon-lits ou de wagon-restaurant.
AustauschbauartThe so-called Austauschbauart wagons were German railway vehicles produced from the late 1920s onwards which had common components built to agreed standards. The German term Austauschbau ('interchangeable component manufacture') is a manufacturing concept. The idea was initially used in the field of mechanical engineering, but is now the basis for industrial mass production techniques. The basis of Austauschbau manufacture is that: Any quantity of part 'A' produced at different times and in different places, must match any quantity of a similarly produced part 'B' without further finishing being required.
KriegsbauartKriegsbauart (German, 'wartime class') refers to railway goods wagon classes that were developed during the Second World War for the Deutsche Reichsbahn. The start of the war was an arbitrary dividing line for the classification of goods wagons, and did not represent any technological change. In the period shortly before the war, goods wagons were already being designed from a military perspective. This was particularly true for the stake wagons of 1938, which are occasionally referred to as a 'pre-war class' (Vorkriegsbauart) of wagons.
Wagon-tombereauvignette|Un wagon-tombereau ancien. thumb|upright=1.5|Un wagon-tombereau standard UIC. Un wagon-tombereau est un wagon ferroviaire destiné au transport de marchandises en vrac. Ce nom de tombereau lui vient de la caisse qu'il porte. Les wagons-tombereaux appartiennent au type E de la classification UIC. Historiquement, les wagons-tombereaux font partie du parc initial de beaucoup de compagnies. De même que les wagons couverts, leur usage est en baisse constante du fait de la diminution des marchandises en vrac.
Goods wagons of welded constructionGoods wagons of welded construction (Güterwagen der geschweißter Bauart) were developed and built by the Deutsche Reichsbahn in Germany from 1933 to about 1945. With the introduction of welding technology in 1933 almost all wagon components were joined by welding and no longer by rivetting. This enabled goods wagons to be designed, for example, for higher speeds or for higher payloads through the use of different types of steel and other engineering changes, but their further development was so heavily influenced by the exigencies of the Second World War that, as early as 1939, the Deutsche Reichsbahn had to temper the design of goods wagons to the new economic circumstances.
VerbandsbauartThe German term Verbandsbauart describes both a type of goods wagon as well as a type of tram. In order to standardise the goods wagons classes of the various German state railways (Länderbahnen), the German State Railway Wagon Association (Deutscher Staatsbahnwagenverband or DWV) issued regulations. The so-called Verbandsbauart (association) or DWV wagons, named after this association, were built from 1910 until the emergence of the Austauschbauart (interchangeable) wagons in 1927.
Railroad carA railroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a vehicle used for the carrying of cargo or passengers on a rail transport network (a railroad/railway). Such cars, when coupled together and hauled by one or more locomotives, form a train. Alternatively, some passenger cars are self-propelled in which case they may be either single railcars or make up multiple units.
Gabarit ferroviaireLe gabarit ferroviaire désigne le contour transversal d'un véhicule ferroviaire. Ce contour, qui fait l'objet d'une normalisation précise, doit s'inscrire dans le gabarit des obstacles, qui est le contour qui doit être maintenu libre dans les installations ferroviaires. Le chemin de fer étant un mode guidé, les véhicules ne peuvent pas dévier de leur voie pour éviter tout obstacle imprévu, d'où l'importance de la notion de gabarit. L'harmonisation des gabarits est nécessaire pour permettre l'interopérabilité des réseaux ferroviaires.
Rail transportRail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prepared flat surface, rail vehicles (rolling stock) are directionally guided by the tracks on which they run. Tracks usually consist of steel rails.Rolling stock in a rail transport system generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, so passenger and freight cars (carriages and wagons) can be coupled into longer trains.
