Car.
A wheeled vehicle.
The invention is ascribed to
Erichthonius, of
Athens, about 1486 B. C. It will not do. Pliny, and other commentators of his day, knew but little of
Egypt.
(See chariot; cart.) Covered and cushioned cars were used by the Romans.
(See carriage.) Triumphal cars were introduced by Tarquin the Elder, 616 B. C.
Caesar relates that Cassibelaunus, of Britain, after dismissing all his other forces, retained 4,000 war-chariots about his person?
In the
United States the term has become restricted almost entirely to vehicles designed for traveling on railways.
The varieties are numerous, and are named from their intended use or from some peculiarity in their construction.
| Adhesion-car. | Petroleum-car. |
| Aerial car. | Platform-car. |
| Box-car. | Provision-car. |
| Coal-car. | Refrigerating-car. |
| Dummy-car. | Revolving-car. |
| Dumping-car. | Safety-car. |
| Freight-car. | Sleeping-car. |
| Gravel-car. | Street-car. |
| Hand-car. | Tank-car. |
| Irish-car. | Tool-car. |
| Jaunting-car. | Wrecking-car. |
The railway-cars of the
United States are carried upon trucks which have a swiveling adjustment beneath the car, to assist in turning curves.
This is especially necessary with long cars and on roads with curves of short radius.
The cars of street-railways, being comparatively short, have pedestals for the axle-boxes attached directly to the bed-frame.
The cars constructed in 1830 for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway,
England, had four wheels, but no springs; the bodies consisting of sills, to which the journal-boxes were bolted, and upon which the floors were laid.
These cars were formed without roofs.
In 1831, one
Mr. Joseph Knight proposed to employ springs under all cars, to support the body of the car and contents, and also suggested that the treads of car-wheels should be made conical, for the purpose of facilitating their passage around the curves of the road.
Cars for the transportation of passengers in
England and
Scotland consist of three classes, the first class being well finished, and provided with seats for the passengers to sit upon, which seats are furnished with cushions.
The second class are of plain finish, without cushions or ornaments.
The third class are little more than plain boxes set upon wheels and supplied with seats, but in many cases without any
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roof.
In addition to these three classes, there are what are termed “mixed carriages,” which consist of three compartments, the center one being for firstclass passengers, and the two end ones for secondclass passengers.
The American car has a gangway lengthwise of the car, the seats on each side reversible, so that the car may travel either end forward and yet allow the passenger to “face the horses.”
It excites the admiration of the average
Briton, and will yet be the favorite form of car the world over.
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Irish jaunting-cars. |
3. A kind of twowheeled Irish vehicle in which the passengers on the two seats sit back to back, facing forward and backward, as in one of the figures; or else sideways, the seats being over the wheels and a well in the center; or else, as in the other figure, a vehicle in which the seats for the passengers face each other, while the driver has a seat in front.
Such cars are known as Irish cars, or jaunting-cars.
