Stock Car (rail)

Stock Car (rail)

In railroad terminology, a stock car or cattle wagon (British English) is a type of rolling stock used for carrying livestock (not carcasses) to market. A traditional stock car resembles a boxcar with louvered instead of solid car sides (and sometimes ends) for the purpose of providing ventilation; stock cars can be single-level for large animals such as cattle or horses, or they can have two or three levels for smaller animals such as sheep, pigs, and poultry. Specialized types of stock cars have been built to haul live fish and shellfish and circus animals such as camels and elephants. Until the 1880s, when the Mather Stock Car Company and others introduced "more humane" stock cars, loss rates could be quite high as the animals were hauled over long distances. Improved technology and faster shipping times have greatly reduced losses.


Read more about Stock Car (rail):  Initial Use and Development, Refrigerated Cars, Modern Conversions

Famous quotes containing the words stock and/or car:

    “I met a Californian who would
    Talk California—a state so blessed
    He said, in climate, none had ever died there
    A natural death, and Vigilance Committees
    Had had to organize to stock the graveyards
    And vindicate the state’s humanity.”
    —Robert Frost (1874–1963)

    “The reason American cars don’t sell anymore is that they have forgotten how to design the American Dream. What does it matter if you buy a car today or six months from now, because cars are not beautiful. That’s why the American auto industry is in trouble: no design, no desire.”
    —Karl Lagerfeld (b. 1938)