A wagon (in old British Englishwaggon) is a wheeled vehicle, ordinarily with four wheels, usually pulled by an animal such as a horse, mule or ox, which was used for transport of heavy goods in the past.
A wagon is also a large wheeled container that is used for transporting goods – as opposed to passengers – on a railway, thus pulled by a locomotive. The American English term for this is also a freight car; an alternative in British English is a truck, though this can also be used for transport of animals.
In modern usage, a wagon can refer to a type of automobile also known as the station wagon.
A wagon can also refer to a toy--it has the same structure as the larger wagon (a box on wheels), but with an open top and a much smaller size. A child's wagon is traditionally painted red. An average wagon is able to seat one child, and is generally propelled by human power through a handle at the front. Some famous brands are Radio Flyer and Red Rider.
A wagon (in British English waggon) or dray is a wheeled vehicle, ordinarily with four wheels, usually pulled by an animal, or animals, such as horses, mules or oxen and used for transport of heavy goods.
Wagons can have side walls to retain the load it is holding, or may consist of a flat bed.
While wagons are commonly used as toys for children or carrying heavy loads in the garden, the history of the wagons dates back centuries.
Conestoga wagons were large, heavy, and had beds shaped somewhat like boats, with angled ends and a floor that sloped to the middle so barrels wouldn't roll out when the wagon was climbing or descending a hill.
The wagon box, or bed, was made of hardwoods to resist shrinking in the dry air of the plains and deserts the emigrants had to cross.
Nonetheless, many emigrants took to soaking their wagon wheels in rivers and springs overnight, as it was not unheard of for the dry air to shrink the wood so much that the iron tires would roll right off the wheels during the day.
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