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35-571: Bo-Bo is the UIC indication of a wheel arrangement for railway vehicles with four axles in two individual bogies , all driven by their own traction motors . It is a common wheel arrangement for modern electric and diesel-electric locomotives , as well as power cars in electric multiple units . Most early electric locomotives shared commonalities with the steam engines of their time. These features included side rods and frame mounted driving axles with leading and trailing axles. The long rigid wheelbase and

70-470: A multiple-unit form, with one driver controlling all engines. However, it has previously been the practice for a railcar to tow a carriage or second, unpowered railcar. It is possible for several railcars to run together, each with its own driver (as practised on the former County Donegal Railway ). The reason for this was to keep costs down, since small railcars were not always fitted with multiple-unit control. There are also articulated railcars , in which

105-669: A B-B because the AAR system does not take traction motors into consideration, only powered axles. An AAR-like notation is used in France too, making it hard to tell the B-B and Bo-Bo engines apart, both of which are common there. Railcars and multiple units use similar two-axle powered bogies and many of them use similar hydraulic or mechanical transmissions, rather than traction motors. However railcars are also lightweight and do not require all axles to be powered in order to gain adequate adhesion. They thus use

140-523: A body by American Car and Foundry , a Jacobs-Schupert boiler and a Ganz power truck in 1911. Numbered M-104, the experiment was a failure, and was not repeated. In 1904 the Automotor Journal reported that one railway after another had been realising that motor coaches could be used to handle light traffic on their less important lines. The North-Eastern railways had been experimenting “for some time” in this direction, and Wolseley provided them with

175-407: A dual-mode bus that can run on streets with rubber tires and on tracks with retractable train wheels. The term rail bus is also used at times to refer to a road bus that replaces or supplements rail services on low-patronage railway lines or a bus that terminates at a railway station (also called a train bus). This process is sometimes called bustitution . A UK company currently promoting

210-705: A fixed base, instead of running on bogies. Railbuses have been commonly used in such countries as the Czech Republic , France , Germany , Italy , Sweden , and the United Kingdom . A type of railbus known as a Pacer based on the Leyland National bus was still widely used in the United Kingdom until withdrawal in 2021. New Zealand railcars that more closely resembled railbuses were the Leyland diesel railcars and

245-423: A flat-four engine capable of up to 100 bhp (75 kW) for this purpose. The engine drove a main dynamo to power two electric drive motors, and a smaller dynamo to charge accumulators to power the interior lighting and allow electric starting of the engine. The controls for the dynamo allowed the coach to be driven from either end. For further details see 1903 Petrol Electric Autocar . Another early railcar in

280-800: A single unit. Passengers may walk between the married pair units without having to open or pass through doors. Unit capacities range from 70 to over 300 seated passengers. The equipment is highly customisable with a wide variety of engine, transmission, coupler systems, and car lengths. Contrary to other parts of the world, in the United States these vehicles generally do not comply with Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) regulations and, therefore, can only operate on dedicated rights-of-way with complete separation from other railroad activities. This restriction makes it virtually impossible to operate them on existing rail corridors with conventional passenger rail service. Nevertheless, such vehicles may soon operate in

315-547: A train are, in technical rail usage, more usually called " rail motor coaches " or "motor cars" (not to be confused with the motor cars, otherwise known as automobiles, that operate on roads). The term is sometimes also used as an alternative name for the small types of multiple unit which consist of more than one coach. That is the general usage nowadays in Ireland when referring to any diesel multiple unit (DMU), or in some cases electric multiple unit (EMU). In North America

350-508: A wheel arrangement of 1A-A1 or A1-1A rather than B-B. A common arrangement is for each power car to have two independent engines and transmissions, each driving a single axle of each bogie. The difference between 1A-A1 and A1-1A is that 1A-A1 has the powered axles closest to the middle of the car, whilst A1-1A has the powered axles closest to the ends. The 2'Bo' (AAR:2-B) arrangement has been used similarly, but rarely, for lightweight railcars that only needed two powered axles. Only one example

385-415: Is recorded, the diesel-electric four-car Rebel railcars of 1935. Three powercars were built, with a 600 bhp engine and two traction motors on a single bogie. Half of the powercar was used as a baggage car, supported by a conventional coaching stock unpowered bogie. UIC classification of locomotive axle arrangements The UIC classification of locomotive axle arrangements , sometimes known as

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420-580: Is sparse, and where the use of a longer train would not be cost effective . A famous example of this in the United States was the Galloping Goose railcars of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad , whose introduction allowed the discontinuance of steam passenger service on the line and prolonged its life considerably. Railcars have also been employed on premier services. In New Zealand , although railcars were primarily used on regional services,

455-536: Is then transmitted to the bogies by cardan shafts and a short driveshaft between axles. A common example of this is the German V200 design and its many international derivatives. The need to arrange the bogie suspension around the drive shafts led to an unusual bogie design with radius arms rather than hornblocks and so prominently visible wheels and rims. In some rare examples, such as the SNCF Class BB 71000 and

490-785: The Blue Streak and Silver Fern railcars were used on the North Island Main Trunk between Wellington and Auckland and offered a higher standard of service than previous carriage trains. In Australia , the Savannahlander operates a tourist service from the coastal town of Cairns to Forsayth , and Traveltrain operates the Gulflander between Normanton and Croydon in the Gulf Country of northern Queensland . William Bridges Adams built steam railcars at Bow, London in

525-796: The California Western Railroad . While early railcars were propelled by steam and petrol engines, modern railcars are usually propelled by a diesel engine mounted underneath the floor of the coach. Diesel railcars may have mechanical ( fluid coupling and gearbox ), hydraulic ( torque converter ) or electric ( generator and traction motors ) transmission. Electric railcars and mainline electric systems are rare, since electrification normally implies heavy usage where single cars or short trains would not be economic. Exceptions to this rule are or were found for example in Sweden or Switzerland . Some vehicles on tram and interurban systems, like

560-534: The China Railways HXD2 and the Indian WAG-12 . The B′B′ or B-B arrangement is similar, but usually applies to diesel-hydraulic locomotives rather than diesel-electrics. The axles on each bogie are coupled together mechanically, rather than being driven by individual traction motors. Diesel-hydraulics have their engine mounted on the main frame of the locomotive, together with a hydraulic transmission. Power

595-542: The ED76 and ED78 . These used flexicoil outer bogies which permitted the bogies some lateral movement, as well as swivelling. These are a pair of Bo′Bo′ locomotives semi-permanently coupled as a single unit. They are each constructed with a single cab, giving a cab at each end. This layout includes the Alstom Prima II , one of the most powerful electric locomotives in production (9 MW (12,000 hp)). Versions include

630-695: The German classification or German system , describes the wheel arrangement of locomotives , multiple units and trams . It is used in much of the world, notable exceptions being the United Kingdom and North America . The classification system is managed by the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC uses the following structure: Garratt locomotives are indicated by bracketing or placing plus signs between all individual units. The most common wheel arrangements in modern locomotives are Bo′Bo′ and Co′Co′. The following examples are based on

665-808: The Red Car of the Pacific Electric Railway , can also be seen as railcars. Experiments with battery-electric railcars were conducted from around 1890 in Belgium, France, Germany and Italy. In the US, railcars of the Edison-Beach type, with nickel-iron batteries were used from 1911. In New Zealand, a battery-electric Edison railcar operated from 1926 to 1934. In Ireland, the Drumm Battery Train used nickel-zinc batteries on four 2-car sets between 1932 and 1946 on

700-568: The Wairarapa railcars that were specially designed to operate over the Rimutaka Incline between Wellington and the Wairarapa region. In Australia , where they were often called Rail Motors, railcars were often used for passenger services on lightly-used lines. In France they are known as autorails . Once very common, their use died out as local lines were closed. However, a new model has been introduced for lesser-used lines. In Canada , after

735-487: The 1840s. Many British railway companies tried steam rail motors but they were not very successful and were often replaced by push-pull trains . Sentinel Waggon Works was one British builder of steam railcars. In Belgium , M. A. Cabany of Mechelen designed steam railcars. His first was built in 1877 and exhibited at a Paris exhibition. This may have been the Exposition Universelle (1878) . The steam boiler

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770-704: The Japanese 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) narrow-gauge Bo-Bo electric JNR Class ED61  [ ja ] were rebuilt in the late 1970s to form the Class ED62 . An additional carrying axle was added between the bogies to give a B-1-B (AAR) or Bo′1Bo′ (UIC) arrangement. The intention was to give a lighter axle loading for the Iida Line . Another rare arrangement was the Bo-2-Bo used for two 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) gauge Japanese electric classes,

805-595: The UIC classification: Railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car ) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railway companies, such as the Great Western , termed such vehicles " railmotors " (or "rail motors"). Self-propelled passenger vehicles also capable of hauling

840-674: The UK was designed by James Sidney Drewry and made by the Drewry Car Co. in 1906. In 1908 the manufacture was contracted out to the Birmingham Small Arms Company . By the 1930s, railcars were often adapted from truck or automobiles; examples of this include the Buick - and Pierce-Arrow -based Galloping Geese of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad , and the Mack Truck -based "Super Skunk" of

875-590: The United States as manufacturers such as Siemens , Alstom and ADtranz affirm they may be able to produce FRA-compliant versions of their European equipment. Light regional railcars are used by a number of railroads in Germany, and also in the Netherlands , Denmark , Italy , United States and Spain . Models of new-generation multiple-unit and articulated railcars include: When there are enough passengers to justify it, single-unit powered railcars can be joined in

910-409: The advent of modern motors and electronics more power can be brought to the rail with only a few axles. Modern electric locomotives can deliver up to 6400 kW on only four axles. For very heavy loads, especially in transportation of bulk goods, a single unit with this wheel arrangement tends to have too little adhesive weight to accelerate the train sufficiently fast without wheelslip . Eighteen of

945-625: The battery. A new breed of modern lightweight aerodynamically designed diesel or electric regional railcars that can operate as single vehicles or in trains (or, in “multiple units”) are becoming very popular in Europe and Japan, replacing the first-generation railbuses and second-generation DMU railcars, usually running on lesser-used main-line railways and in some cases in exclusive lanes in urban areas. Like many high-end DMUs, these vehicles are made of two or three connected units that are semi-permanently coupled as “married pairs or triplets” and operate as

980-593: The cessation of their mainline passenger service , BC Rail started operating a pair of railbuses to some settlements not easily accessible otherwise. In Russia , the Mytishchi -based Metrowagonmash firm manufactures the RA-1 railbus, equipped with a Mercedes engine. As of summer 2006, the Gorky Railway planned to start using them on its commuter line between Nizhny Novgorod and Bor . The term railbus also refers to

1015-450: The coastal and Harcourt Street railway lines . British Railways used lead–acid batteries in a railcar in 1958 . Between 1955 and 1995 DB railways successfully operated 232 DB Class ETA 150 railcars utilising lead–acid batteries . As with any other battery electric vehicle , the drawback is the limited range (this can be solved using overhead wires to recharge for use in places where there are not wires), weight, and/or expense of

1050-411: The ends of two adjacent coupled carriages are carried on a single joint bogie (see Jacobs bogie ). A variation of the railcar is the railbus : a very lightweight type of vehicle designed for use specifically on lightly-used railway lines and, as the name suggests, sharing many aspects of their construction with those of a road bus . They usually have a bus, or modified bus, body and four wheels on

1085-421: The leading and trailing axles reduced cornering stability and increased weight. The Bo-Bo configuration allowed for higher cornering speeds due to the smaller rigid wheelbase. Furthermore, it allowed better adhesion because all the wheels were now powered. Due to the absence of frame mounted wheels no leading or trailing axles were necessary to aid cornering, reducing weight and maintenance requirements. Due to

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1120-408: The narrow-gauge ÖBB 2095  [ de ] , the bogie axles have been linked by coupling rods . Having only a single final-drive per bogie allows more room for the bogie pivots on this narrow-gauge design. With high power full-size locomotives, splitting the drive directly to two axles is preferred, as it only requires a less powerful final drive gearbox. In AAR notation a Bo-Bo is regarded as

1155-412: The railbus concept is Parry People Movers . Locomotive power is from the energy stored in a flywheel . The first production vehicles, designated as British Rail Class 139 , have a small onboard LPG motor to bring the flywheel up to speed. In practice, this could be an electric motor that need only connect to the power supply at stopping points. Alternatively, a motor at the stopping points could wind up

1190-689: The term "railcar" has a much broader sense and can be used (as an abbreviated form of "railroad car") to refer to any item of hauled rolling-stock, whether passenger coaches or goods wagons (freight cars). Self-powered railcars were once common in North America; see Doodlebug (rail car) . In its simplest form, a "railcar" may also be little more than a motorized railway handcar or draisine . Railcars are economic to run for light passenger loads because of their small size, and in many countries are often used to run passenger services on minor railway lines, such as rural railway lines where passenger traffic

1225-563: Was supplied by the Boussu Works and there was accommodation for First, Second and Third-class passengers and their luggage. There was also a locker for dogs underneath. Fifteen were built and they worked mainly in the Hainaut and Antwerp districts. The Austro-Hungarian Ganz Works built steam trams prior to the First World War. The Santa Fe Railway built a steam powered rail car using

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