Locomotive presumably wouldn't apply to a stationary system, since a locomotive is something that pushes itself [and theoretically other things] forward.

Likewise, coach is one of several terms that refer specifically to a train wagon that only carries passengers (along with carriage , passenger car, and passenger wagon). A motor coach or motorcar specifically refers to a powered wagon that pulls other wagons- though, unlike the locomotive, they may be at the middle or end of the train, or even at the front on electric-based rail systems.

Railcar (or railway car) is a North American phrase, while Railway Wagon is the UK term- I believe Train Wagon and Train Car act as universal terms.

tl;dr
Single stages in a train are called wagons or cars, as you prefer. :)

8 years ago*

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Powerziege

okay i was a bit sloppy there - but the english language is pretty "undecicive" (or pretty accurate - depends on the point of view xD) when it comes to powerd traincars.
As a non-native-speaker sometimes a little bit confusing. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railcar )

View attached image.