Departmental vehicles, also called departmental wagons or engineering vehicles, are special

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

vehicles used to support the engineering functions of the

.Ellis, Iain (2006). ''Ellis' British Railway Engineering Encyclopaedia''. Lulu, p. 93. . Thus they serve the internal purposes of the railway company and are not used for general passenger or goods traffic. They are typically used to maintain railway facilities, not least the

overhead catenary An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipmen ...

. Typical departmental vehicles include: * Drum carriers *

Engineering vehicle Heavy equipment or heavy machinery refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large construction tasks. ''Heavy equipment'' usually comprises five e ...

s * Hopper wagons * Mess coaches * Opens * Side rail loaders * Tool vans

Railway vehicles

Railway departmental vehicles are hauled by departmental locomotives and are usually railway wagons used for the transport of works material for the maintenance of railway facilities or wagons used for other internal purposes that have been converted or specially built. They usually travel in special

work train A work train or departmental train (engineering train in the UK) is one or more rail cars intended for internal non-revenue use by the railroad's operator. Work trains serve functions such as track maintenance, maintenance of way, revenue coll ...

s, frequently at low speeds. Only by exception, and under special measures, do they form part of standard

goods train Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...

s. Commonly used as departmental vehicles are those wagons or coaches that, on account of their age and design, are no longer suited to or permitted to be used in normal service. Sometimes they are converted for specific roles. Certain departmental vehicles are built for a specific purpose e.g. the transport of

ballast Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship ...

or as construction machines. In the UK, many departmental vehicles used by British Rail (and later

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

) were named after aquatic creatures (such as Shark, Seacow or Mermaid). These names started life as Telegraphic codes. File:Schwellentransport.jpg, Departmental vehicle for laying

railway sleeper A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie (Canadian English) or railway sleeper ( Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties trans ...

s File:Fahrzeug zur Fahrleitungsmontage 1.jpg, Road-rail vehicle with elevated platform for installing

catenary In physics and geometry, a catenary (, ) is the curve that an idealized hanging chain or cable assumes under its own weight when supported only at its ends in a uniform gravitational field. The catenary curve has a U-like shape, superfici ...

File:Weißeritztalbahn Schneepflug DR 97-09-14 SPS 037 01.JPG,

Narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

snow plough A snowplow (also snow plow, snowplough or snow plough) is a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, used for removing snow and ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes. Although this term is often used to re ...

on the

Weißeritztal railway The Weißeritz Valley Railway (german: Weißeritztalbahn) is a steam operated narrow gauge railway in Saxony, Germany. The line connects Freital, near Dresden, with the spa of Kipsdorf in the Ore Mountains, and follows the valley of the Red We ...

Railcars that have been taken out of regular service are often assigned as railway inspection vehicles, used to inspect trackage or transport construction workers. The

Hamburg Port Railway (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

has a museum version of such a vehicle.

Trams and trolleybuses

Tramway systems also have departmental vehicles, however they sometimes operate under different rules. For example, in Germany, whilst they are considered secondary vehicles by the railways, they are considered regular vehicles by the tramways and trolleybuses and have to be operated under the normal regulations that govern the construction and operation of tramways. File:Arbeitswagen CVAG.jpg, Departmental tramway vehicle with the Chemnitz Transport Company File:Schienenschleifzug 2003 Zentralwerkstatt 07061997.JPG,

Railgrinder A railgrinder (or rail grinder) is a maintenance of way vehicle or train used to restore the profile and remove irregularities from worn tracks to extend its life and to improve the ride of trains using the track. Rail grinders were developed ...

on the Frankfurt am Main Tramway File:Ab trolleybus 01.jpg, An Obus departmental vehicle of Type KTG-1 in Ukrainian

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loca ...

Railway vehicles

Trams and trolleybuses

See also

References

Further reading