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Transporter WagonA transporter wagon, in railway terminology, is a wagon (UK) or railroad car (US) designed to carry other railway equipment. Normally, it is used to transport equipment of a different rail gauge. In most cases, a transporter wagon is a narrow gauge wagon for transporting standard gauge equipment, allowing freight in standard gauge wagons to reach destinations on the narrow gauge network without the expense and time of transshipment into narrow gauge wagons. This is an attempt to overcome one of the primary problems with a narrow gauge system—gauge incompatibility. However, it means that the narrow gauge network must be built to a loading gauge large enough to accommodate standard gauge equipment, negating one of the cost advantages of narrow gauge construction. Additionally, a large standard gauge wagon balanced on a narrow gauge transporter wagon is not very stable, and is generally restricted to low speeds of 15 mph or so. Transporter wagons have seen varying popularity. They were quite common on German narrow gauge systems; a transporter wagon is a Rollwagen in German. Also common on German and eastern European narrow gauge are transporter trucks, which are small-wheeled trucks that fit beneath each pair of the wagon's wheels and are hauled by a drawbar. These are Rollbcken in German. In Britain, they were used on the Leek and Manifold Light Railway. Transporter wagons were uncommon in North America, where the practice of exchanging trucks was more common. They were used on the Paw Paw Railroad of Paw Paw, Michigan for a short time, and on a short stretch of track of the defunct Bradford, Bordell & Kinzua Railroad by lumberman Elisha Kent Kane. During an intermediate phase of the conversion of the Port Pirie to Marree railway from narrow gauge to standard gauge, train lengths of standard gauge flat wagons were fitted with narrow gauge rails, to allow narrow gauge coal trains to by pass the difficult Flinders Ranges. The narrow gauge brakes were connected to the standard gauge train air brakes, to allow some flexing around curves. There are no tight overbridges or tunnels to resrict operation of these double deck trains. References
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