Lowmac on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Lowmac is a
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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
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 k ...
.
History
'Lowmac' is the telegraphic term within theGreat Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...
's coding of railway wagons for a flat wagon
Flat wagons (sometimes flat beds, flats or rail flats, US: flatcars), as classified by the International Union of Railways (UIC), are railway goods wagons that have a flat, usually full-length, deck (or 2 decks on car transporters) and little ...
with a recessed floor. In full the code is 'Low Machine Wagon'; 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 rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...
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. Most were removed from service and were scrapped by British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...
ways because they were replaced by more modern bogie wagons such as warwell wagons. However, some wagons were re-coded to a Z code (under the TOPS programme), and survived in ''Departmental'' use (non-revenue earning traffic) being used in engineering trains typically carrying lineside equipment such as transformers for overhead electrification works.
See also
*Class U special wagon
The International Union of Railways groups all special classes of railway goods wagon (less those in classes F, H, L, S or Z) into Class U in its UIC classification of goods wagons, goods wagon classification system.
These are:
* Bulk goods wagons ...
* Flat wagon
Flat wagons (sometimes flat beds, flats or rail flats, US: flatcars), as classified by the International Union of Railways (UIC), are railway goods wagons that have a flat, usually full-length, deck (or 2 decks on car transporters) and little ...
* Well car
References
British railway wagons {{UK-rail-transport-stub