A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled

vehicle A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), ...

pulled by

draught animal A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks instead of being slaughtered to harvest animal products. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for t ...

s or on occasion by humans, used for

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

ing

goods In economics, goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility, for example, to a consumer making a purchase of a satisfying product. A common distinction is made between goods which are transferable, and services, which are not t ...

, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are immediately distinguished from carts (which have two wheels) and from lighter four-wheeled vehicles primarily for carrying people, such as carriages. Animals such as

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

s, mules, or oxen usually pull wagons. One animal or several, often in pairs or teams may pull wagons. However, there are examples of human-propelled wagons, such as mining corfs. A wagon was formerly called a wain and one who builds or repairs wagons is a wainwright. More specifically, a wain is a type of horse- or oxen-drawn, load-carrying vehicle, used for agricultural purposes rather than transporting people. A wagon or cart, usually four-wheeled; for example, a haywain, normally has four wheels, but the term has now acquired slightly poetical connotations, so is not always used with technical correctness. However, a two-wheeled "haywain" would be a hay cart, as opposed to a carriage. ''Wain'' is also an archaic term for a chariot. ''Wain'' can also be a verb, to carry or deliver, and has other meanings. Contemporary or modern animal-drawn wagons may be of

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

instead of

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

and have regular wheels with rubber tires instead of traditional wagon wheels. A person who drives wagons is called a "wagoner", a "

teamster A teamster is the American term for a truck driver or a person who drives teams of draft animals. Further, the term often refers to a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a labor union in the United States and Canada. Origi ...

", a "

bullocky A bullocky is an Australian English term for the driver of a bullock team. The American term is bullwhacker. Bullock drivers were also known as teamsters or carriers. History Bullock teams were in use in Sydney, New South Wales in 1795 wh ...

" (Australia), a "

muleteer An ''arriero'', muleteer, or more informally a muleskinner ( es, arriero; pt, tropeiro; ca, traginer) is a person who transports goods using pack animals, especially mules. Distribution and function In South America, muleskinners transport ...

", or simply a "driver".

Terminology and design

The exact name and terminology used are often dependent on the design or shape of the wagon. If low and sideless it may be called a dray, trolley or

float Float may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * ''Float'' (Aesop Rock album), 2000 * ''Float'' (Flogging Molly album), 2008 * ''Float'' (Styles P album), 2013 Songs * "Float" (Tim and the Glory Boys song), 2022 * "Float", by Bush ...

. When traveling over long distances and periods, wagons may be covered with cloth to protect their contents from the elements; these are "

covered wagon The covered wagon or prairie wagon, historically also referred to as an ambulance or prairie schooner, was a vehicle usually made out of wood and canvas that was used for transportation, prominently in 19th-century America. With roots in the he ...

s". If it has a permanent top enclosing it, it may be called a " van".

Front axle assembly

A front axle assembly, in its simplest form, is an assembly of a short

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

with a

pivot Pivot may refer to: *Pivot, the point of rotation in a lever system *More generally, the center point of any rotational system *Pivot joint, a kind of joint between bones in the body *Pivot turn, a dance move Companies *Incitec Pivot, an Austra ...

plate, two

wagon wheels Wagon Wheels are a sweet snack food sold in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, other Commonwealth countries like New Zealand and India, and Ireland. They consist of two biscuits that form a sandwich with a marshmallow filling with jam, and ...

and spindles as well as a drawbar attached to this. A pin attaches the device to a chariot, a wagon or a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

, making the

turning radius The turning diameter of a vehicle is the minimum diameter (or "width") of available space required for that vehicle to make a circular turn (i.e. U-turn). The term thus refers to a theoretical minimal circle in which for example an aeroplane, a g ...

smaller.

Types of wagons

Wagons have served numerous purposes, with numerous corresponding designs. As with motorized vehicles, some are designed to serve as many functions as possible, while others are highly specialized. This section will discuss a broad overview of the general classes of wagons; for details on specific types of wagons, see the individual links.

Beach wagon

Beach wagons are collapsible folding wagons for general multi-purpose usage on outdoor sand beaches.

Farm wagon

Farm wagons are built for general multi-purpose usage in an agricultural or rural setting. These include gathering

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticat ...

crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydropon ...

s and

, and delivering them to the

farmstead A homestead is an isolated dwelling, especially a farmhouse, and adjacent outbuildings, typically on a large agricultural holding such as a ranch or station. In North America the word "homestead" historically referred to land claimed by a set ...

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

. Wagons can also be pulled with

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commo ...

s for easy transportation of those materials. A common form found throughout Europe is the , a large wagon the sides of which often consisted of

ladder A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps used for climbing or descending. There are two types: rigid ladders that are self-supporting or that may be leaned against a vertical surface such as a wall, and rollable ladders, such ...

s strapped in place to hold in hay or grain, though these could be removed to serve other needs. A common type of farm wagon particular to North America is the

buckboard A buckboard is a four-wheeled wagon of simple construction meant to be drawn by a horse or other large animal. A distinctly American utility vehicle, the buckboard has no springs between the body and the axles. The suspension is provided by the f ...

Freight wagon

Freight wagons are wagons used for the overland hauling of freight and bulk commodities. Freight wagons were designed for hauling loads, not people, and were not built for comfort. A driver did not have a seat in front of the wagon like the image most people have of wagons. A driver walked along side the wagon or rode on top of one of the horses. There was no place in front for a person to sit. Many freight wagons, however, had a unique feature called a "lazyboard." This was a plank that could be pulled out and sat on, and then pushed back in if not needed. It was located on the left side of the wagon between the wheels and close to the brake. If a driver was too tired to walk, he could pull out the lazyboard, and take a rest. That is why it was called a "lazyboard." (Some sources spell "lazyboard" as two words. There is no standard spelling.) In America, lazyboards were located on the left side because carts were steered from the left side. The cart itself was on the right side of the road. Unless a driver wanted to walk in the ditch, he had to steer from the left side. In Europe, carts were steered from the right side. The cart itself was driven on the left side of the road, as vehicles are driven there today. A European freight wagon had its lazyboard on the right side. In both places the driver would walk in the center of the road. More than a hundred years ago, almost everyone knew what a "lazyboard" was. Today, almost nobody would know. In the United States and Canada, the Conestoga wagon was a predominant form of wagon used for hauling freight in the late 18th and 19th centuries, often used for hauling goods on the

Great Wagon Road Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

in the Appalachian Valley and across the Appalachian Mountains. Even larger freight wagons existed. For instance, the "

twenty-mule team Twenty-mule teams were teams of eighteen mules and two horses attached to large wagons that transported borax out of Death Valley from 1883 to 1889. They traveled from mines across the Mojave Desert to the nearest railroad spur, away in Moja ...

" wagons, used for hauling borax from

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the ...

, could haul per pair. The wagons’ bodies were long and deep; the rear wheels were in diameter.

Delivery wagon

A delivery wagon is a wagon used to deliver merchandise such as milk, bread, or produce to houses or markets, as well as to

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

customers, often in urban settings. The concept of express wagons and of paneled delivery vans developed in the 19th century. By the end of the 19th century, delivery wagons were often finely painted, lettered and varnished, so as to serve as advertisement for the particular business through the quality of the wagon. Special forms of delivery wagon include an ice wagon and a

milk wagon A milk float is a vehicle specifically designed for the delivery of fresh milk. Today, milk floats are usually battery electric vehicles (BEV), but they were formerly horse-drawn floats. They were once common in many European countries, ...

Nomadic wagons

Some wagons are intended to serve as mobile homes or mobile

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the on ...

s. These include the Vardo, a traditional wagon of the 19th-century British

Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...

Living van

Steam wagon

The steam wagon, a self-powered development of the horse-drawn wagon, was a surprisingly late innovation, entering service only in the late nineteenth century.

Irrigation tank wagon

In the city center of

Schwäbisch Gmünd Schwäbisch Gmünd (, until 1934: Gmünd; Swabian: ''Gmẽẽd'' or ''Gmend'') is a city in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the city is the second largest in the Ostalb district and ...

, Germany, since 1992 the city's plants are irrigated using a horse-drawn wagon with a

water tank A water tank is a container for storing water. Water tanks are used to provide storage of water for use in many applications, drinking water, irrigation agriculture, fire suppression, agricultural farming, both for plants and livestock, chemi ...

Horse drawn wooden tank wagon

A horse-drawn wooden tank wagon is a wooden cylinder on four wagon wheels. It can carry water, liquid

manure Manure is organic matter that is used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Most manure consists of animal feces; other sources include compost and green manure. Manures contribute to the Soil fertility, fertility of soil by adding organic ma ...

or other liquids, but not in turn in the same wagon.

War wagon

Gravity wagon

Chuckwagon

Ox wagon

Pageant wagon

Gallery

File:Hay wagons - geograph.org.uk - 977600.jpg, Hay wagons in the UK File:Senator John Heinz History Center - IMG 7649.JPG, A Conestoga wagon, a type of freight wagon used extensively in the United States and Canada in the 18th and 19th centuries for long-distance hauling File:Baker's-van-r.jpg, A bakery delivery wagon in Queensland, Australia File:Gipsy caravan, Fishers Farm - geograph.org.uk - 238741.jpg, A Romani Vardo from England File:Circus parade wagon.jpg, The "Lion Tableau" circus parade wagon, built in 1904 File:Bewässerungsfuhrwerk Gmünd.jpeg, Horse wagon, with

, for irrigation, 2018. The illustration shows regular wheels with

tire A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which t ...

s, instead of traditional wagon wheels File:Traction engine at Coln St Aldwyns - geograph.org.uk - 629732.jpg,

Traction engine A traction engine is a steam engine, steam-powered tractor used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin ''tractus'', meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any t ...

with living van File:Reconstruction of a Roman traveling carriage richly decorated with bronze fittings, Romisch-Germanisches Museum, Cologne (8115675659).jpg, Reconstruction of a Roman traveling wagon richly decorated with bronze fittings, Romisch-Germanisches Museum,

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

File:Brockhampton Estate - horse-drawn fire pump.jpg, Horse-drawn

fire pump A fire pump usually refers to a pressure-increasing component of the water supply for fixed-place fire suppression systems such as fire sprinklers, standpipes, and foam systems. Fire pumps are also a critical component integrated into fire tru ...

given to Brockhampton Estate in 1818 File:Slant wagon.jpg, Gravity wagon File:Chuckwagon.jpg, A historical recreation of a

chuckwagon A chuckwagon is a type of field kitchen covered wagon historically used for the storage and transportation of food and cooking equipment on the prairies of the United States and Canada. Such wagons formed part of a wagon train of settlers or fed ...

at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Exposition in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

File:Chuckwagon in Girvin, TX SCN1077.JPG, Chuckwagon still used to prepare food at gatherings in

Pecos County Pecos County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 15,193. The county seat is Fort Stockton. The county was created in 1871 and organized in 1875.. By Glenn Justice and John Leffler. Retrie ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

File:John Constable carro de feno.jpg, A detail of ''The Hay Wain'' by John Constable, alt=An oil painting of a large steerable cart being drawn by two strong horses through a river File:Roger Fenton's waggon.jpg,

Roger Fenton Roger Fenton (28 March 1819 – 8 August 1869) was a British photographer, noted as one of the first war photographers. Fenton was born into a Lancashire merchant family. After graduating from London with an Arts degree, he became interested i ...

's photographic van,

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

, 1855 File:Bullock Team Wool Wagon.jpg, Bullock (ox) wagon carrying wool in New Zealand, c. 1880 File:Brazilian Princes 1883.jpg, Brazilian princes (from left to right) Luís, Antônio, and

Pedro Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, mean ...

in a goat-drawn wagon, 1883 File:Husitsky bojovy vuz replika.jpg, Modern reconstruction of a

Hussite The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Huss ...

war wagon A war wagon is any of several historical types of early fighting vehicle involving an armed or armored animal-drawn cart or wagon. China One of the earliest example of using conjoined wagons in warfare as fortification is described in the Chinese ...

Wagon train

In migration and military settings, wagons were often found in large groups called

wagon train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings ...

s. In warfare, large groups of

supply wagon In military contexts, a train is the military logistics, logistical transport elements accompanying a military force. Often called a supply train or baggage train, it has the job of providing materiel for their associated combat forces when in th ...

s were used to support traveling armies with food and munitions, forming "baggage trains". During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, these wagon trains would often be accompanied by the wagons of private merchants, known as sutlers, who sold goods to soldiers, as well as the wagons of photographers and news reporters. Special purpose-built support wagons existed for blacksmithing, telegraphy and even observation ballooning. In migration settings, such as the emigrant trails of the American West and the

Great Trek The Great Trek ( af, Die Groot Trek; nl, De Grote Trek) was a Northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyon ...

of South Africa, wagons would travel together for support, navigation and protection. A group of wagons may be used to create an improvised

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

called a

laager A wagon fort, wagon fortress, or corral, often referred to as circling the wagons, is a temporary fortification made of wagons arranged into a rectangle, circle, or other shape and possibly joined with each other to produce an improvised militar ...

, made by circling them to form an enclosure. In these settings, a

is a small wagon used for providing food and cooking, essentially a portable kitchen.

Wagons in art

John constable, il carro di fieno, 1821, 04

As a common, important element in history and life, wagons have been the subjects of artwork. Some examples are the paintings ''

The Hay Wain ''The Hay Wain'' – originally titled ''Landscape: Noon'' – is a painting by John Constable, completed in 1821, which depicts a rural scene on the River Stour between the English counties of Suffolk and Essex. It hangs in the National Galler ...

'' and ''

The Haywain Triptych The ''Haywain Triptych'' is a panel painting by Hieronymus Bosch, now in the Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain. A date of around 1516 has been established by means of dendrochronological research. The central panel, signed "Jheronimus Bosch", measu ...

'', and on the

Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar The Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar was a fifty-cent piece struck intermittently by the United States Bureau of the Mint between 1926 and 1939. The coin was designed by Laura Gardin Fraser and James Earle Fraser, and commemorates those who ...

Motorized wagons

During a transition to mechanized vehicles from animal-powered, the term wagon was sometimes used such as with the

Duryea Motor Wagon The Duryea Motor Wagon was among the first standardized automobiles and among the first powered by gasoline. Fifteen examples were built by the Duryea Motor Wagon Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts, between 1893 and 1896. Their enterprise follo ...

. In modern times the term station wagon survives as a type of automobile. It describes a car with a passenger compartment that extends to the back of the vehicle, that has no trunk, that has one or more rear seats that can be folded making space for carrying cargo, as well as featuring an opening tailgate or liftgate. File:George B Selden driving automobile in 1905.jpg, George B. Selden driving an automobile in 1905 File:Lenoir Hippomobile.jpg,

Lenoir Lenoir may refer to: Locations: * Lenoir, North Carolina, United States * Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States * Lenoir City, Tennessee In Universities: * Lenoir-Rhyne University * Lenoir Dining Hall, a dining hall at the University of N ...

Hippomobile The Hippomobile is an automobile invented by Étienne Lenoir in 1863 which carried its own internal combustion engine. It was based on his 1860 invention, the Lenoir gas engine. History In 1863 the Hippomobile, powered by one cylinder internal ...

File:Corbillard 3.JPG, Ancient

hearse A hearse is a large vehicle, originally a horse carriage but later with the introduction of motor vehicles, a car, used to carry the body of a deceased person in a coffin at a funeral, wake, or memorial service. They range from deliberately a ...

hippomobile The Hippomobile is an automobile invented by Étienne Lenoir in 1863 which carried its own internal combustion engine. It was based on his 1860 invention, the Lenoir gas engine. History In 1863 the Hippomobile, powered by one cylinder internal ...

(France) File:1911 International Wagon.JPG, 1911 International Harvester Auto Wagon (

High wheeler A high wheeler is a car which uses large diameter wheels that are similar to those used by horse-drawn vehicles. These cars were produced until about 1915, predominantly in the United States. Design High wheelers were derived from horse-drawn ...

) File:International Torpedo - Coupe Florio 2015 01.jpg,

International Harvester Auto-Buggy The International Harvester Auto-Buggy is a two-cylinder, air-cooled motor car made by International Harvester Corporation. First announced in February 1907, the Auto-Buggy was dropped from their range of products in early 1912, but the Auto Wagon c ...

File:Vintage International Harvester Auto Buggy (5043226321) (cropped).jpg, International Harvester Auto Wagon File:Patent, Duryea Road Vehicle, 1895.png,

Patent drawing A patent application or patent may contain drawings, also called patent drawings, illustrating the invention, some of its embodiments (which are particular implementations or methods of carrying out the invention), or the prior art. The drawings ...

for the

Duryea Duryea may refer to: * Duryea (surname) *Duryea Motor Wagon Company The Duryea Motor Wagon Company, established in 1895 in Springfield, Massachusetts, was the first American firm to build gasoline automobiles. History Founded by Charles Duryea ...

Road Vehicle, 1895 File:Sears Model L.JPG, Sears Model L

References

External links

* * *{{Cite EB1911, wstitle=Wagon