TYPES OF WAGONS (CARRIAGE HELPER OF RAILWAYS)

As the goods transportation through trains become one of the important source of revenue in INDIAN RAILWAYS. Also they have high load carrying capacity than any other means of transport. We also see that lots of projects and developments were under progress to improve the conditions of freight transportation. So, here we discuss about various types of carrier wagons in Indian Railways which carries the loads and transport them from one place to another in brief.

Till 1990’s Indian Railways has FOUR WHELLER GOODS WAGONS and these have been replaced by 8 WHEELER TWO BOGIE TYPE WAGONS. Subsequently, there has also been the transitions form VACUUM BRAKING SYSTEM  to AIR BRAKING SYSTEM.

Just like each of our locomotive has a unique name which is represented by the capital letters implying their type (WAG, WAP WDP WDG), in the same way each of the goods wagons or rolling stock are again represented by capital letters showing their type and classification. These include:

B which stand for ‘BOGIE’ (pair of wheel bogie) or ‘BROAD GAUGE’.

O for ‘OPEN’.

F for ‘FLAT OPEN’.

C for ‘COVERED’.

T for ‘TANKERS’.

The sub classifications include:

X for ‘HIGH SIDED WAGONS’.

A & N for ‘AIR BRAKES’.

M for ‘SPECAIL MILITARY CONSIGNMENT’.

Having learned the meaning of the letters, there are basically five types of rolling stocks which can include various sub-classifications:

(a)OPEN WAGON

These types of wagons have their top side being open. These types of wagons include:

1.BOX (bogie open high sided) are used for the common purposes.

2.BOXN (bogie open high sided air brakes)  for transportation of coal etc.

3.BOXN-HA (bogie open high sided air brakes with higher axle load fit for 100 km/hr) for transportation of ore, steel etc.

4.BOXN-CR (bogie open high sided air brakes with corrosion resistant 3CR12 stainless steel) for transportation of goods to be saved from rust as powder.

5.BOST (bogie open for finished steel products and high capacity) used for transportation of heavy steel made goods.

6.BOB (bogie open hopper for metal ballasting) having an open in bottom face which can be open and material will directly discharged by downward movement.

BOB WAGON

BOXN-HA WAGON

BOXN-CR WAGON

(b) COVERED WAGON

These wagons are generally covered from all sides to prevent the goods from outside atmospheric damage which include the wagons as:

1.BCX (bogie covered water tight doors) for transportation of goods which should be prevented from outside air, moisture conditions. They are commonly used in transportation of cements.

2.BCN (bogie covered air brakes) for transportation of heavy goods in which immediate stopping is required.

3.BCNA (bogie covered air brakes with higher axle loads) for transportation of food grains, perishable items etc.

4.BCNHL (bogie covered air brakes with high capacity load) for transportation of heavy goods include various military items, heavy machines and artillery etc.

5.BCCNR (bogie covered air brake single deck automobile carriers) for transportation of automobiles having the single deck inside its compartment.

BCNHL WAGON

BCNA WAGON

BCCNR WAGON

(c)TANKERS

These were the steel made, cylindrical form tankers used for the transportation of liquid and gaseous products. These needs to be proper seal tight and their walls should be very thick. These include:

1.BTPN (bogie tank wagon petrol, naphtha) used for the transportation of petrol, diesel, naphtha etc.  This category includes the TK (tank kerosene) for transportation of kerosene and TG (tank gas) for transportation of various gases.

2.BVVN (bogie tank milk) are stainless steel insulated tankers used for transportation of chilled milk (at 4 degress) and drinking waters.

3.BTFLN (bogie tanker frameless for vegetable oils) used for transportation of edible oil.

4.BTPGLN (bogie tanker for liquified petroleum gas) used for transportation of CNG and LPG gas. 

BTPN WAGON

BVVN WAGON

(d) FLAT BED OPEN WAGONS

These were the wagons having only the flat surface with various hooks for tight packing of goods. They are used at many purposes in rail roads which include the wagons are:

1.BFR (bogie flat for rails) used for the common purpose loads.

2.BRH (bogie flat plus high capacity) used for the transportation of heavy weight goods which requires high axle loads.

3.BFK (bogie flat for containers) are used only for the container transportation.

4.BFKH (bogie flat with wells) are used for discharging by opening of wells.

5.BOM (bogie open military) used for transportation of the military goods.

BFR WAGON

BFK WAGON

BRH WAGON

(e)COVERED SPECAIL CARRIERS

These are the specially designed carriers used for the special purpose works only which include the wagons like:

1.BCACBN (bogie carriage for double decked car)used for transportation of cars having double racks.

BCACBN WAGON

Most of the special purpose carriage are made up of 

aluminium steel. Later, 2010 onwards Aluminium Wagons were also been serviced for goods to enhance the carrying capacity. These are given name as BOBNAL and BOBRAL.