Wagon
Encyclopedia
A wagon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle
pulled by draught animals; it was formerly often called a wain
, and if low and sideless may be called a dray, trolley
or float
.
Wagons are pulled by animals such as horse
s, mule
s or ox
en, and are used for transport
ing goods, agricultural materials or sometimes people. Wagons are distinguished from cart
s, which have two wheels, and from lighter four-wheeled vehicles for carrying people, such as carriage
s. A wagon may be pulled by one animal or by several, often in pairs.
To enable the wagon to turn in as little space as possible, the front pair of wheels are often made smaller than the rear pair to allow them to turn close under the vehicle sides, and to allow them to turn still further the wagon body may be waisted. The front wheels of trolleys and floats are small enough to turn under the vehicle's body.
Vehicle
A vehicle is a device that is designed or used to transport people or cargo. Most often vehicles are manufactured, such as bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, and aircraft....
pulled by draught animals; it was formerly often called a wain
Wain
A wain is a type of horse-drawn, load-carrying vehicle, used for agricultural purposes rather than transporting people, for example a haywain. It normally has four wheels but the term has now acquired slightly poetical connotations so is not always used with technical correctness. However, a...
, and if low and sideless may be called a dray, trolley
Trolley (horse-drawn)
Among horse-drawn vehicles, a trolley was a goods vehicle with a platform body with four small wheels of equal size, mounted underneath it, the front two on a turntable undercarriage. The wheels were rather larger and the deck proportionately higher than those of a lorry...
or float
Float (horse-drawn)
A float is a form of two-wheeled horse-drawn cart with a dropped axle to give an especially low loadbed.They were intended for carrying heavy or unstable items such as milk churns. The name survives today in that of the milkfloat....
.
Wagons are pulled by animals such as horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s, mule
Mule
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...
s or ox
Ox
An ox , also known as a bullock in Australia, New Zealand and India, is a bovine trained as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castrated adult male cattle; castration makes the animals more tractable...
en, and are used for transport
Transport
Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
ing goods, agricultural materials or sometimes people. Wagons are distinguished from cart
Cart
A cart is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people...
s, which have two wheels, and from lighter four-wheeled vehicles for carrying people, such as carriage
Carriage
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...
s. A wagon may be pulled by one animal or by several, often in pairs.
To enable the wagon to turn in as little space as possible, the front pair of wheels are often made smaller than the rear pair to allow them to turn close under the vehicle sides, and to allow them to turn still further the wagon body may be waisted. The front wheels of trolleys and floats are small enough to turn under the vehicle's body.
See also
- Araba (carriage)Araba (carriage)An araba is a carriage , wagon or cart drawn by horses or oxen, used in Turkey and neighboring Middle Eastern countries. It is usually heavy and without springs, and often covered.-References:* Educational Technology Clearinghouse, University of South Florida. Drawing.**...
- BuckboardBuckboardA buckboard is a four-wheeled wagon of simple construction meant to be drawn by a horse or other large animal. The "buckboard" is the front-most board on the wagon that could act as both a footrest for the driver and protection for the driver from the horse's rear hooves in case of a "buck". The...
- Conestoga wagonConestoga wagonThe Conestoga wagon is a heavy, broad-wheeled covered wagon that was used extensively during the late 18th century and the 19th century in the United States and sometimes in Canada as well. It was large enough to transport loads up to 8 tons , and was drawn by horses, mules or oxen...
- Covered wagonCovered wagonThe covered wagon, also known as a Prairie schooner, is an icon of the American Old West.Although covered wagons were commonly used for shorter moves within the United States, in the mid-nineteenth century thousands of Americans took them across the Great Plains to Oregon and California...
- Horse-drawn vehicleHorse-drawn vehicleA horse-drawn vehicle is a mechanized piece of equipment pulled by one horse or by a team of horses. These vehicles typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers and/or a load...
- Lorry (horse-drawn)Lorry (horse-drawn)Among horse-drawn vehicles, a lorry was a low-loading trolley. It was used mainly for the carriage of other vehicles, for example for delivery from the coachbuilders or returning there for repair....
- BusBusA bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
- Ox-wagonOx-wagonAn ox-wagon or bullock wagon is a four-wheeled vehicle pulled by oxen . It was a traditional form of transport, especially in Southern Africa but also in New Zealand and Australia. Ox-wagons were also used in the United States...
- Toy wagonToy wagonA toy wagon has the same structure as the traditional, larger wagon, but is much smaller and has an open top. An average wagon is able to seat one child, and is generally propelled by human power through a handle at the front. Some famous brands are Radio Flyer, Red Rider, Northern Tool and...
- Twenty-mule team
- Vardo (Romani wagon)
- Wagon trainWagon trainA wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. In the American West, individuals traveling across the plains in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance, as is reflected in numerous films and television programs about the region, such as Audie Murphy's Tumbleweed and Ward Bond...
- WagonetteWagonetteA wagonette or an omnibus is a horse-drawn wagon for passenger transport. Two wooden benches along the right and left side of the wagon platform can hold several sitting people facing each other. The driver sits on a separate, front-facing bench.The term carried over to motorized vehicles...
- Wagon-wheel effectWagon-wheel effectThe wagon-wheel effect is an optical illusion in which a spoked wheel appears to rotate differently from its true rotation. The wheel can appear to rotate more slowly than the true rotation, it can appear stationary, or it can appear to rotate in the opposite direction from the true rotation...
- WheelchairWheelchairA wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...