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A railway coach — also known, especially in the UK, as a railway carriage — is a passenger car designed for the conveyance of passengers by rail (the first such vehicles were, in fact, often road coaches mounted on frames equipped with railway wheels). A railway coach can be self-propelled (such as the Budd Rail Diesel Car, in which case it is known as a railcar), form part of a multiple unit of self-propelled vehicles, or be pulled or pushed by one or more locomotives either singly or together with other railroad cars. Coaches are sometimes referred to as "chair cars."
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Layout
The interior of modern coaches is generally arranged in two ways:
- Open: a centre corridor, with seats along each side, running across the carriage. Pairs of seats may either face each other, or face the same direction. Some carriages have fixed direction seating, while other have rotating seats so that passengers are always facing the direction of travel.
- Compartment: a side corridor, with the car divided into separated rooms or compartments. Each compartment has two rows of seating: one facing forward while the other faces backward.
Space for carry-on baggage is provided in racks above the window line, or in compartments at the end of the carriage. Toilets may also be provided in the coach.
Access into the carriage is via doors located at one or both ends of the carriage, often opening into a vestibule. From this vestibule doors open into the seating area, or into neighbouring cars. Some early carriages did not have any corridor running through them, instead consisting of a number of compartments the full width of the train, each compartment having an external door on each side of the carriage.
Seating layouts differ depending on the intended usage of the car:
- Rapid transit systems omit the entrance vestibules, with multiple doors per side opening directly into the seating area, where longitudinal seats run along the side of the car.
- Commuter rail may have fewer doors, with high density seating permitting a greater number of passengers to be carried.
- Regional rail may have fewer seats, with room for luggage and toilets provided.
- Inter-city rail provides even fewer seats for greater comfort, often with more comfortable seating. As well as coaches the train may have other facilities such as dining or lounge facilities.
In some countries, such as India, the word "coach" may have a slightly different or expanded meaning, including sleeping cars. In India, moreover, the interior layout of a coach is often different from the European and American standards, with cars including multiple layers of benches/berths (people sit above other people, as well as in front and behind). On suburban trains in India, coaches are often full of standees.
 thumb|Interior of a compartment type coach, from the side corridor]] |
 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad #3505, a heavyweight coach, photographed in June of 1960. The marker lamps mounted on each side are required on the last car of any consist |
 Chicago and North Western Railway coach #10808, in drover's service, passes through Chadron, Nebraska on July 14, 1956 |
See also
External links
- Nevada Central Railway Coach No. 3 Silver State — photographs and short history of a "shorty" Coach built in 1881.
References
- The American Railroad Passenger Car by John H. White, Jr. Two Volumes (1978) by Johns Hopkins University Press.
- ISBN 0-8018-2743-4 (pbk.: set: alk. paper)
- ISBN 0-8018-2722-1 (pbk.: v.1: alk. paper)
- ISBN 0-8018-2747-7 (pbk.: v.2: alk. paper)
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