Railway departmental vehicles are hauled by
departmental locomotives. They are usually
railway wagons used for the transport of works material for the maintenance of railway facilities or wagons used for other internal purposes that have been converted or specially built. They usually travel in special
work trains, frequently at low speeds. Only by exception, and under special measures, do they form part of standard
goods trains. Commonly used as departmental vehicles are those wagons or coaches that, on account of their age and design, are no longer suited to or permitted to be used in normal service. Sometimes they are converted for specific roles. Certain departmental vehicles are built for a specific purpose e.g. the transport of
ballast or as construction machines. In the UK, many departmental vehicles used by
British Rail (and later
Network Rail) were named after
aquatic creatures (such as Shark, Seacow or Mermaid). These names started life as telegraph codes. File:Schwellentransport.jpg|Departmental vehicle for laying
railway sleepers File:Fahrzeug zur Fahrleitungsmontage 1.jpg|
Road-rail vehicle with elevated platform for installing
catenary File:Weißeritztalbahn Schneepflug DR 97-09-14 SPS 037 01.JPG|
Narrow gauge snow plough on the
Weißeritztal railway Railcars that have been taken out of regular service are often assigned as railway inspection vehicles, used to inspect trackage or transport construction workers. The
Hamburg Port Railway has a museum version of such a vehicle. == Trams and trolleybuses ==