railroad truck vs van

railroad truck

noun
  • A chassis or framework-like structure underneath a railroad car to which wheel axles (and, hence, wheels) are attached through bearings. (Not to be confused with railway truck or railtruck, which are British English synonyms of railroad car) 

van

noun
  • An enclosed railway vehicle for transport of goods, such as a boxcar/box van. 

  • A large towable vehicle equipped for the repair of structures that cannot easily be moved. 

  • A shovel used in cleansing ore. 

  • A fan or other contrivance, such as a sieve, for winnowing grain. 

  • A covered motor vehicle used to carry goods or (normally less than ten) persons, usually roughly cuboid in shape, longer and higher than a car but relatively smaller than a truck/lorry or a bus. 

  • A wing with which the air is beaten. 

verb
  • To wash or cleanse, as a small portion of ore, on a shovel. 

  • To transport in a van or similar vehicle (especially of horses). 

  • Of law enforcement: to arrest (not necessarily in a van; derived from party van). 

How often have the words railroad truck and van occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )