Clearance car
![A Washington Metro railcar, originally built for passenger service, later converted to a clearance car. Note the addition of feelers to the car.](/Images/godic/202501/05/WMATA_Rohr_1028_with_locomotive1653.jpg")
A clearance car is a type of railroad car in maintenance of way service. Its purpose is to check the clearances around the tracks and ensure that trains conforming to the railroad's standard loading gauge or dynamic envelope will not encounter any obstruction. Additionally, by measuring the actual clearances along a route, the railroad can determine whether outsize loads can be accommodated along that route, and the largest size feasible.