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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 5, Issue 2 (June 2, 1930)

The High-Capacity Wagon

The High-Capacity Wagon.

For freight handling on the European railways, many types of high-capacity wagon are now employed. At Home, there has been a steady growth in the carrying capacities of freight cars of all kinds, the first types of high-capacity wagon being introduced by the North Eastern Railway as early as 1902. To-day, both the L. and N.E. and L.M. and S. Railways employ trucks of as large a carrying capacity as 40 tons for coal traffic, these wagons being found most economical in service. The L. and N.E. Railway has recently put into traffic (for the movement of bricks) wagons having a carrying capacity of 50 tons, and, for the carriage of coal in the South Wales mining area, new high-capacity cars have been introduced on the Great Western line.

page 23

Notwithstanding the recent growth in the carrying capacity of the Home railway goods wagon, the British freight car still compares unfavourably in size with those of other lands. At Home, the average carrying capacity of freight cars works out at eleven tons. This figure compares with the French and Belgian average of fifteen tons, the German average of sixteen tons, and the American figure of forty-two tons. Conditions ruling in Britain and in America are, of course, vastly different, and all things considered, the British average wagon load figure of eleven tons is a very satisfactory one.