British Railways Lowmac WP 904546 at Bodmin Parkway

Lowmac is a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

railway term for a design of low-floored ('well') wagon. A Lowmac's purpose is for carrying vehicles or equipment that would normally be over the recommended height of a normal flatbed wagon, and hence exceed the

loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and ke ...

History

'Lowmac' is the telegraphic term within the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

's coding of railway wagons for a well wagon with a recessed floor. In full the code is 'Low Machinery'; meaning a wagon with a low floor used for carrying machinery. The term was also employed by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four (British ra ...

ways but as an actual wagon name. Lowmac style wagons were widely used throughout the 1890s till the 1950s when road transport was able to take their loads of machinery and vehicles. All were removed from service and, except those on preserved railways, scrapped by

ways because they were replaced by more modern bogie wagons such as warwell wagons.

External links

Model Railway Site featuring some detail on Lowmacs
British railway wagons {{UK-rail-transport-stub

History

See also

External links