# Rolling stock

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This article is about railway vehicles. For the genre of motorsports, see [stock car racing](/source/Stock_car_racing).

The term **rolling stock** in the [rail transport](/source/Rail_transport) industry refers to [railway](/source/Railway) [vehicles](/source/Vehicle), including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, [locomotives](/source/Locomotive), [freight](/source/Railroad_car#Freight_cars) and [passenger cars](/source/Passenger_railroad_car) (or coaches), and [non-revenue cars](/source/Railroad_car#Non-revenue_cars). Passenger vehicles can be unpowered, or self-propelled, [single](/source/Railcar) or [multiple](/source/Multiple_unit) units.[1][2][3][4]

In North America, Australia and other countries, the term **consist** (/ˈkɒnsɪst/ KON-sist) is used to refer to the rolling stock that a train comprises, a list containing specific information for each car of a train, or a group of locomotives.[5][6]: 1‑129

In the United States, the term *rolling stock* has been expanded from the older broadly defined "trains" to include wheeled vehicles used by businesses on roadways.[7][8][9]

The word *stock* in the term is used in the sense of [inventory](/source/Inventory). Rolling stock is considered a [liquid asset](/source/Liquid_asset), or close to it, since the value of the vehicle can be readily estimated and shipped to the buyer with minimal cost or delay.[10][11] The term contrasts with fixed stock ([infrastructure](/source/Infrastructure)), which is a collective term for the [track](/source/Rail_tracks), [signals](/source/Railway_signal), [stations](/source/Railway_station), other buildings, electric wires, etc., necessary to operate a railway.

## Manufacturers

A large number of companies and government agencies in many countries, past and present, have built rolling stock. The [list of rolling stock manufacturers](/source/List_of_rolling_stock_manufacturers) covers many of the largest ones.

## See also

- [Goods wagon](/source/Goods_wagon)
- [List of rolling stock manufacturers](/source/List_of_rolling_stock_manufacturers)
- [List of railway vehicles](/source/List_of_railway_vehicles)
- [Railroad car](/source/Railroad_car)

## References

1. ["Yaxham Light Railway rolling stock page"](https://web.archive.org/web/20150920022854/http://www.yaxham-light-railway.fsnet.co.uk/Rolling_Stock/rolling_stock.html). Archived from [the original](http://www.yaxham-light-railway.fsnet.co.uk/Rolling_Stock/rolling_stock.html) on 2015-09-20. Retrieved 2007-02-07.

1. ["Definition of "rolling stock" from the Oxford English Dictionary accessed 5 February 2007 (subscription service)"](http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50208215?single=1&query_type=word&queryword=rolling-stock&first=1&max_to_show=10). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200928023113/https://public.oed.com/help/) 28 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 5 February 2007.

1. ["Definition of "rolling stock" from the Concise Oxford Dictionary"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070306033115/http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/rollingstock?view=uk). Archived from [the original](http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/rollingstock?view=uk) on March 6, 2007.

1. ["Definition from the American Heritage Dictionary"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090222122020/http://www.bartleby.com/61/0/R0290000.html). Archived from [the original](http://www.bartleby.com/61/0/R0290000.html) on 2009-02-22.

1. ["Railroading glossary"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140822084725/http://trn.trains.com/Railroad%20Reference/Railroading%20Glossary.aspx?letter=T). *[Trains](/source/Trains_(magazine))*. [Kalmbach Media](/source/Kalmbach_Media). 2014. Archived from [the original](http://trn.trains.com/Railroad%20Reference/Railroading%20Glossary.aspx?letter=C) on 22 August 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2025.

1. McAuliffe, Des (1999). [*The Snowtown to Port Pirie line*](https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/6937092). Modelling the Railways of South Australia.

1. ["Rolling stock"](http://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/rolling+stock). *The Free Dictionary*. Farlex. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170223032601/http://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/rolling+stock) February 23, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 27, 2017.

1. Illinois Department of Revenue. ["RUT-7: Rolling Stock Certification"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180705175941/http://tax.illinois.gov/taxforms/sales/vehicleusetax/rut-7.pdf). Archived from [the original](http://tax.illinois.gov/taxforms/sales/vehicleusetax/rut-7.pdf) on July 5, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2017.

1. ["Michigan's Rolling Stock Exemption"](http://www.taxrates.com/blog/2016/01/12/michigans-rolling-stock-exemption/). *TaxRates*. Avalara. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170202040216/http://www.taxrates.com/blog/2016/01/12/michigans-rolling-stock-exemption/) February 2, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 27, 2017.

1. ["Rail infrastructure and rolling stock: investments, asset renewal and regulation"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170202065435/http://fsr.eui.eu/Documents/WorkshopPaper/Transport/2014/140428InfrastructureRollingStockObserver.pdf). European University Institute, Florence School of Regulation. 2014. pp. 8–9. Archived from [the original](http://fsr.eui.eu/Documents/WorkshopPaper/Transport/2014/140428InfrastructureRollingStockObserver.pdf) on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-27.

1. Wijnia, Y.; de Croon, J.; Liyanage, J.P. (2014). ["36: Application of a Unified Reference Model Across Asset Types: Comparative Cases"](https://books.google.com/books?id=x-m7BAAAQBAJ&q=%22rolling+stock%22+as+liquid+asset&pg=PA416). *Engineering Asset Management 2011: Proceedings of the Sixth World Congress on Engineering Asset Management*. London: Springer. pp. 416–417. ISBN 978-1-4471-4993-4. [ISSN 2195-4356](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/2195-4356). LCCN 2013934026. – via Google Books.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rolling stock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_stock) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_stock?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.