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HuskyJW
Member, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 14,549 
HuskyJW
Member, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 14,549
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Wagons are immediately distinguished from carts (which have two wheels) and from lighter four-wheeled vehicles primarily for carrying people, such as carriages. Animals such as horses, mules, or oxen usually pull wagons. One animal or several, often in pairs or teams may pull wagons. However, there are examples of human-propelled wagons, such as mining corfs.
A wagon was formerly called a wain and one who builds or repairs wagons is a wainwright. More specifically, a wain is a type of horse- or oxen-drawn, load-carrying vehicle, used for agricultural purposes rather than transporting people. A wagon or cart, usually four-wheeled;[1] for example, a haywain, normally has four wheels, but the term has now acquired slightly poetical connotations, so is not always used with technical correctness. However, a two-wheeled "haywain" would be a hay cart, as opposed to a carriage. Wain is also an archaic term for a chariot. Wain can also be a verb, to carry or deliver, and has other meanings.
Contemporary or modern animal-drawn wagons may be of metal instead of wood and have regular wheels with rubber tires instead of traditional wagon wheels.
A person who drives wagons is called a "wagoner",[2][3] a "teamster", a "bullocky" (Australia), a "muleteer", or simply a "driver".
Terminology and design[edit]
The exact name and terminology used are often dependent on the design or shape of the wagon. If low and sideless it may be called a dray, trolley or float. When traveling over long distances and periods, wagons may be covered with cloth to protect their contents from the elements; these are "covered wagons". If it has a permanent top enclosing it, it may be called a "van".
Front axle assembly[edit]
Main article: Front axle assembly
A front axle assembly, in its simplest form, is an assembly of a short beam with a pivot plate, two wagon wheels and spindles as well as a drawbar attached to this. A pin attaches the device to a chariot, a wagon or a coach, making the turning radius smaller.[4]
Types of wagons[edit]
Wagons have served numerous purposes, with numerous corresponding designs.[4] As with motorized vehicles, some are designed to serve as many functions as possible, while others are highly specialized. This section will discuss a broad overview of the general classes of wagons; for details on specific types of wagons, see the individual links.
Beach wagon[edit]
Beach wagons are collapsible folding wagons for general multi-purpose usage on outdoor sand beaches.[5]
Farm wagon[edit]
Farm wagons are built for general multi-purpose usage in an agricultural or rural setting. These include gathering hay, crops and wood, and delivering them to the farmstead or market.[4] Wagons can also be pulled with tractors for easy transportation of those materials.
A common form found throughout Europe is the ladder wagon [de], a large wagon the sides of which often consisted of ladders strapped in place to hold in hay or grain, though these could be removed to serve other needs.[4] A common type of farm wagon particular to North America is the buckboard.
Freight wagon[edit]
Freight wagons are wagons used for the overland hauling of freight and bulk commodities.[6]
Freight wagons were designed for hauling loads, not people, and were not built for comfort. A driver did not have a seat in front of the wagon like the image most people have of wagons. A driver walked alongside the wagon or rode on top of one of the horses. There was no place in front for a person to sit. Many freight wagons, however, had a unique feature called a "lazyboard." This was a plank that could be pulled out and sat on, and then pushed back in if not needed. It was located on the left side of the wagon between the wheels and close to the brake. If a driver was too tired to walk, he could pull out the lazyboard, and take a rest. That is why it was called a "lazyboard." (Some sources spell "lazyboard" as two words. There is no standard spelling.) In America, lazyboards were located on the left side because carts were steered from the left side. The cart itself was on the right side of the road. Unless a driver wanted to walk in the ditch, he had to steer from the left side. In Europe, carts were steered from the right side. The cart itself was driven on the left side of the road, as vehicles are driven there today. A European freight wagon had its lazyboard on the right side. In both places the driver would walk in the center of the road. More than a hundred years ago, almost everyone knew what a "lazyboard" was. Today, almost nobody would know.[7]
In the United States and Canada, the Conestoga wagon was a predominant form of wagon used for hauling freight in the late 18th and 19th centuries, often used for hauling goods on the Great Wagon Road in the Appalachian Valley and across the Appalachian Mountains.
Even larger freight wagons existed. For instance, the "twenty-mule team" wagons, used for hauling borax from Death Valley, could haul 36 short tons (32 long tons; 33 t) per pair.[8] The wagons' bodies were 16 feet (4.88 m) long and 6 feet (1.83 m) deep; the rear wheels were 7 feet (2.13 m) in diameter.[8]
Delivery wagon[edit]
A delivery wagon is a wagon used to deliver merchandise such as milk, bread, or produce to houses or markets, as well as to commercial customers, often in urban settings. The concept of express wagons and of paneled delivery vans developed in the 19th century.[9] By the end of the 19th century, delivery wagons were often finely painted, lettered and varnished, so as to serve as advertisement for the particular business through the quality of the wagon.[10][11] Special forms of delivery wagon include an ice wagon and a milk wagon.
Nomadic wagons[edit]
Some wagons are intended to serve as mobile homes or mobile workshops. These include the Vardo, a traditional wagon of the 19th-century British Romani people.
Living van[edit]
Main article: Living van
Steam wagon[edit]
Main article: Steam wagon
The steam wagon, a self-powered development of the horse-drawn wagon, was a surprisingly late innovation, entering service only in the late nineteenth century.
Irrigation tank wagon[edit]
In the city center of Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany, since 1992 the city's plants are irrigated using a horse-drawn wagon with a water tank.[12]
Horse drawn wooden tank wagon[edit]
Not to be confused with tank wagon.
A horse-drawn wooden tank wagon is a wooden cylinder on four wagon wheels. It can carry water, liquid manure or other liquids, but not in turn in the same wagon.[13]
War wagon[edit]
Main article: war wagon
Gravity wagon[edit]
Main article: Gravity wagon
Forage wagon[edit]
See also: Forage harvester
Chuckwagon[edit]
Main article: Chuckwagon
Dearborn wagon[edit]
A lighter form of wagon, pulled by one horse, whose design is attributed to General Henry Dearborn.
Ox wagon[edit]
Main article: Ox-wagon
Pageant wagon[edit]
Main article: Pageant wagon
Gallery[edit]
Types of wagons
Hay wagons in the UK
A Conestoga wagon, a type of freight wagon used extensively in the United States and Canada in the 18th and 19th centuries for long-distance hauling
A bakery delivery wagon in Queensland, Australia
A Romani Vardo from England
A horse-drawn milk wagons in Helsinki, Finland in the 1920s
The "Lion Tableau" circus parade wagon, built in 1904
Horse wagon, with metal water tank, for irrigation, 2018. The illustration shows regular wheels with tires, instead of traditional wagon wheels
Traction engine with living van
Reconstruction of a Roman traveling wagon richly decorated with bronze fittings, Romisch-Germanisches Museum, Cologne
Horse-drawn fire pump given to Brockhampton Estate in 1818
Gravity wagon
A historical recreation of a chuckwagon at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Exposition in Austin, Texas
Chuckwagon still used to prepare food at gatherings in Pecos County, Texas
A detail of The Hay Wain by John Constable
Roger Fenton's photographic van, Crimea, 1855
Bullock (ox) wagon carrying wool in New Zealand, c. 1880
Brazilian princes (from left to right) Luís, Antônio, and Pedro in a goat-drawn wagon, 1883
Modern reconstruction of a Hussite war wagon
Wagon train[edit]
Main article: wagon train
In migration and military settings, wagons were often found in large groups called wagon trains.
In warfare, large groups of supply wagons were used to support traveling armies with food and munitions, forming "baggage trains". During the American Civil War, these wagon trains would often be accompanied by the wagons of private merchants, known as sutlers, who sold goods to soldiers, as well as the wagons of photographers and news reporters.[14] Special purpose-built support wagons existed for blacksmithing, telegraphy and even observation ballooning.[15]
In migration settings, such as the emigrant trails of the American West and the Great Trek of South Africa, wagons would travel together for support, navigation and protection. A group of wagons may be used to create an improvised fort called a laager, made by circling them to form an enclosure. In these settings, a chuckwagon is a small wagon used for providing food and cooking, essentially a portable kitchen.
Wagons in art[edit]
As a common, important element in history and life, wagons have been the subjects of artwork. Some examples are the paintings The Hay Wain and The Haywain Triptych, and on the Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar.
Motorized wagons[edit]
Further information: High wheeler, International Harvester Auto-Buggy § Auto Wagon, and Hippomobile
During a transition to mechanized vehicles from animal-powered, the term wagon was sometimes used such as with the Duryea Motor Wagon. In modern times the term station wagon survives as a type of automobile.