A freight train, goods train, or cargo train, is a railway train that is used to carry cargo, as opposed to passengers. Freight trains are made up of one or more which provide propulsion, along with one or more (also known as wagons) which carry freight. A wide variety of cargoes are carried on trains, but the low friction inherent to rail transport means that freight trains are especially suited to carrying Bulk cargo and heavy loads over longer distances.
History
The earliest recorded use of rail transport for freight was in
Babylon, circa 2200 B.C.E. This use took the form of wagons pulled on
by horses or even humans.
Locomotives
Freight trains are almost universally powered by locomotives. Historically, steam locomotives were predominant, but beginning in the 1920s diesel and electric locomotives displaced steam due to their greater reliability, cleaner emissions, and lower costs.
Freight cars
Freight trains carry cargo in
Goods wagon, also known as
, which are unpowered and designed to carry various types of goods.
Different types of freight cars may be used by a train, such as:
As of April 2020, there were 1.6 million rail cars in North America.[ ]
Operations
Freight trains often operate between classification yards, which are hubs where incoming freight trains are received, and then broken up, with the cars then being assembled into new trains for other destinations. In contrast to this type of operation, which is known as wagonload (or carload) freight, there are also
, which exclusively carry one type of cargo. They normally operate directly between origin and destination points, such as a coal mine and a power plant, without any changes to the makeup of the freight cars in between.
This allows cargo to reach its destination faster, and increases utilization of freight cars, lowering operating costs.
Unlike passenger trains, freight trains often do not follow fixed schedules, but are run as needed.
See also
-
Intermodal freight transport where containerized cargo is changed between freight train, to truck, or ship
Bibliography
