Train Cars

Do you know your train cars? Read the descriptions below the images and see if you can name the type of train car. Put your mouse over the image to see the answer.

This is the first car behind the engine. This car holds the coal or wood used for fueling the steam engine It has sides, but no top.

This car has a bottom that can be cranked open to dump the contents. It is usually open-roofed.

This car carries lumber, machinery, steel beams, and other heavy goods. It has no top or sides.

These cars transported foods that must be kept cold. They used to have ice bins or “bunkers” at the end of the car or overhead ice tanks. Now they are kept cold mechanically. It is sometimes called a “reefer”.

These cars carry cattle and other livestock to market. Cars for smaller animals, such as sheep or hogs, have two floors, or decks. It has latticed sides to let air in for the animals.

There are many different kinds of these cars. Most of them are owned by oil, food processing, and chemical companies. They are used to carry liquids.

This car carries goods that need to be protected from the weather and locked from thieves. It has a top, sides, and doors that lock.

These are open-top cars,usually with fixed sides, fixed or drop ends, and flat bottoms. They carry steel, logs, gravel, and other heavy loads.

This car is sometimes called a sleeping car. It carried passengers and was heated from a hot air furnace under the floor. It was lighted with candles. It was carpeted, had good beds and a washroom.