The first station wagons were a product of the age of
train travel. They were originally called "depot hacks" because they worked around train
depots as
hacks (short for
hackney carriage, an old name for
taxis). They also came to be known as "carryalls" and "suburbans". The name "station wagon" is a derivative of "depot hack"; it was a
wagon that carried people and luggage from the train
station to various local destinations.