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4 days ago · Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation Inc. Closed for the Winter. We will reopen Sunday, March 24th, for the Findlay Spring Model Train Show. Findlay Spring Model Train Show. March 24, 2024. LEARN MORE. NWORRP 2024 SEASON PASSES. ARE NOW AVAILABLE! LEARN MORE.
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railroad, mode of land transportation in which flange-wheeled vehicles move over two parallel steel rails, or tracks, either by self-propulsion or by the propulsion of a locomotive.
After the first crude beginnings, railroad-car design took divergent courses in North America and Europe, because of differing economic conditions and technological developments. Early cars on both continents were largely of two-axle design, but passenger-car builders soon began constructing cars with three and then four axles, the latter arranged ...
Throughout the world the great majority of freight cars for all rail gauges are built with four axles, divided between two trucks. Because of the layout constraints of some freight terminals, several European railroads still purchase a proportion of two-axle vehicles, but these have a much longer wheelbase and hence a considerably larger load capacity than similar cars in the past. Some bulk mineral cars in Germany and the United States have been built with two three-axle trucks, and Russia and various other former Soviet states still have a number of freight cars carried on four two-axle trucks; these are the world’s largest. Concern to maximize payload capacity in relation to tare vehicle weight has led to U.S. and European adoption of articulation for cars in certain uses, notably intermodal transport. In this system a car comprises several frames or bodies (usually not more than five), which, where they adjoin, are permanently coupled and mounted on a single truck.
One type of vehicle that is virtually extinct is the caboose, or brake-van. With modern air-braking systems, the security of a very long train can be assured by fixing to its end car’s brake pipe a telemetry device that continually monitors pressure and automatically transmits its findings to the locomotive cab.
Before World War II, freight cars consisted almost entirely of four basic types: the semiwalled open car, the fully covered boxcar, the flatcar, and the tank car. Since then, railroads and car builders have developed a wide range of car types designed specifically for the ideal handling and competitive transport of individual goods or commodities. At the same time, the payload weight of bulk commodities that can be conveyed in a single car without undue track wear has been significantly increased by advances in truck design and, in North America, by growing use of aluminum instead of steel for bodywork, to reduce the car’s own tare weight. In Europe and North America, where highway competition demands faster rail movement of time-sensitive freight, cars for such traffic as perishable goods, high-value merchandise, and containers are designed to run at 120 km (75 miles) per hour. The French and German railways both operate some selected merchandise and intermodal trains at up to 160 km (100 miles) per hour to achieve overnight delivery between centres up to about 1,000 km (600 miles) apart. In the United States, container trains traveling at 120 km/hr where route characteristics allow are scheduled to cover about 3,500 km (2,200 miles) in 52 hours.
In Europe and North America open cars for bulk mineral transport are generally designed for rapid discharge, either by being bodily rotated or through power-operated doors in the floor or lower sides of their hopper bodies. Modern North American four-axle coal cars typically have 100–110 tons’ payload capacity. In Europe, where tighter clearances necessitate smaller body dimensions and track is not designed for axle loadings as high as those accepted in North America, the payload capacity of similar four-axle cars is between 60 and 65 tons. High-sided open cars also are built with fully retractable sliding roofs, either metal or canvas, to facilitate overhead loading and discharge of cargoes needing protection in transit. In a variant of this concept for the transport of steel coil in particular, the sidewalls and roof are in two or more separate, integral, and overlapping assemblies; these can be slid over or under each other for loading or discharge of one section of the vehicle without exposing the remainder of the load.
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NORTHWEST OHIO RAILROAD PRESERVATION, INC, Findlay, Ohio. 16,029 likes · 12 talking about this · 7,024 were here. NWORRP is unique among area railroad...
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Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation a must-stop for train lovers of all ages. NWORRP is located on a large campus with items that are sure to entertain all. NWORRP is open with quarter-scale train rides weekends May – September, 1 – 4 p.m., as well as during their many special events. In addition to train rides, NWORRP also has a gift shop ...
Home Technology Cars & Other Vehicles. Railroad history. Source in inland water transport. The earliest railroads reinforced transportation patterns that had developed centuries before. During the Middle Ages most heavy or bulky items were carried by water wherever possible.
DictionaryRail·road/ˈrālˌrōd/noun
- 1. a track or set of tracks made of steel rails along which passenger and freight trains run. "his uncle works on the railroad"
- 2. a system of tracks with the trains, organization, and personnel required for its working: "the Union Pacific Railroad"
verb
- 1. press (someone) into doing something by rushing or coercing them: "she hesitated, unwilling to be railroaded into a decision"
Learn about the history, types, and features of railroad, a mode of land transportation that uses steel rails or tracks to move flange-wheeled vehicles. Find out how railroads have influenced economic and social development in different countries and regions. Explore the examples of famous railroads such as the Orient Express and the Trans-Siberian Railroad.
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