Fourth class

nounStandard termRailroad

A historic, bare-bones tier of passenger rail travel.

An obsolete category of passenger accommodation that offered the lowest possible fare. These cars typically featured open layouts with wooden benches or no seating at all, and lacked basic amenities like heating or windows. It was primarily used for immigrant trains or short-distance rural transport before standardizing into coach class.

Heard on the job

The old records show they ran fourth class immigrant cars right behind the head end.