Rail terminology

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Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the mainly American term "railroad" and the mainly British term "railway" is the most obvious trans-Atlantic difference in rail terminology (see usage of the terms railroad and railway for more information). There are also several others, caused by the parallel development of rail transport systems on both sides of the Atlantic. Various terms are here presented alphabetically; where a term has multiple names this is indicated. The note "US" indicates a term originating on the North American continent, while "UK" refers to terms originating in the British Isles/Europe.

For terminology specific to the types of passenger rail lines, see passenger rail terminology.

Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


0-9

Note: for 4-4-0, 2-6-4T, 0-4-4-0, etc. see Whyte notation or UIC classification

A

B

  • B unit (US): a cabless booster locomotive, controlled via MU from a cab-equipped A unit.
  • Bacon Slicer (UK): Slang term for a Cut Off controlled by a wheel operating through a worm and nut, rather than the more usual quadrant lever. The device was slow to operate, but very precise, and therefore only fitted to long-distance locomotives where frequent changes of cut-off were not required.
  • Ballast (UK): aggregate stone, gravel or cinders forming the track-bed on which sleepers (ties) and track are laid to ensure stability and proper drainage.
  • Bank : a particularly steep section of line that requires additional bank (or banking) engines (US: booster engines) to help trains climb.
  • Baobab: (PRR only): an oversize load. From the telegraph code-word used. A baobab tree is a very large tropical tree.
  • Bay platform: a type of platform/track arrangement where the train pulls into a siding, or dead-end, when serving the platform.
  • Blower: A steam pipe leading into the smokebox, causing necessary draft in the stack when the engine is not running. However, UK practice is to turn on the blower also when entering tunnels, etc, to avoid dangerous blow-back into the cab. The UK loading gauge is much smaller than that in the US and the tunnel roof would otherwise spoil the normal draft created from the exhaust.
  • Bobber: (archaic, US): a slang word for a small caboose with just four wheels, all rigidly mounted to the frame. This design was common in the 1800s. Bobber refers to the bouncing or bobbing motion made by such a caboose when in motion.
  • BoBo (Europe): a lighter duty locomotive with a 4 wheel per truck configuration as opposed to a 6 wheel "CoCo" configuration.
  • Bogie (UK): truck (US): The under-carriage assembly incorporating the wheels, suspension, brakes and, in powered units, the traction motors.
  • Boiler: in steam railroading, a boiler was a cylindrical container adjacent to the firebox in which steam is produced to drive a locomotive.
  • Bonds: Short wires used to bridge gaps in electrical circuits, usuallt at track circuit joints or between rails.
  • Booster: (steam locomotive) - an extra set of cylinders that can be engaged to drive a trailing truck or tender truck to give additional tractive effort at starting and low speeds; (US) (diesel locomotive) - a cabless B unit
  • Boxcar (US): a type of rolling stock with a flat-bottomed rail car enclosed on all sides and above, which is loaded and unloaded from sliding doors on each side. Same as van (UK).
  • Brake van (UK): A heavy vehicle with powerful brakes which was attached to the rear of goods trains in the days when most wagons were not fitted with a continuous braking system. Its function was to supplement the locomotive's braking power in slowing and stopping the train, and also conveyed the train guard, hence its alternative name of "guard's van". Corresponds in part to caboose (US) and cabin car (US, Pennsylvania Railroad only).
  • Brakeman: a train crewmember who performs railcar and track management; often a single job description along with switchman ("brakeman/switchman"). Originally a brakeman performed manual activation of brakes on railroad cars before the advent of the air brake.
  • Branch line: a secondary railway line that branches off a main line.
  • Broad Gauge: track where the rails are spaced more widely apart than 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (which is called Standard Gauge). Many early railroads were broad gauge, for example the Great Western Railway in the UK which adopted 7 ft 1/4 in (2141 mm) gauge until it was converted to standard gauge in the 1860s and 1870s. Russia still has over 80,000 km of broad gauge (1520 mm or 5 ft) railroads.
  • Buckeye coupler: A particular form of coupler which will lock automatically when the two parts are pushed together.
  • Buffer stop (UK): the barrier installed at the end of a dead-end track to prevent rail vehicles from proceding further. Bumper (US).
  • Buggy (slang, US): a caboose on the Boston and Maine Railroad.

C

  • Cabin car (PRR), caboose (US), crummy (slang, US), hack (slang, US), way car (CBQ); brake van (UK)
  • Caboose (US), crummy (slang, US), hack (slang, US), way car (CBQ); brake van (UK): a railroad car usually at the end of a train, in which railroad workers could ride and monitor track and rolling stock conditions. Largely obsolete, having been replaced by the electronic EOT/FRED device.
  • Cant: angle. Can be used in the context of the cant of the rail track (the relative level one rail with another); and the cant of a rail, being the angle of that single rail relative to the perpendicular.
  • Carbody unit or cab unit (US): a locomotive which derives its structural strength from a bridge-truss design framework in the sides and roof, which cover the full-width of the locomotive. It refers to both A units and B units.
  • Catenary or Catenary Structure : the overhead wire system used to send electricity to a locomotive or electric multiple unit.
  • Cess (UK): a narrow strip of land (usually with cables and often with a walkway) between the edge of the outermost track and the start of non-railway land. Shortened from access, or from the drainage term cess.
  • Centralized traffic control (CTC): a system in which signals and switches for a given area of track are controlled from a centralized location. May or may not be computerized.
  • Ches-C (US): Chessie System's kitten logo.
  • Chimney (UK): smokestack or stack (US), or funnel.
  • CoCo (Europe): a heavier duty locomotive with 6 wheel per truck configuration as opposed to a 4 wheel "BoBo" configuration. The correct classification is Co'Co', but CoCo is used more often.
  • Colour-light signals (UK): Signals the aspects of which are conveyed by lights alone; they may have 2, 3 or 4 aspects.
  • Compound locomotive: a steam locomotive passing the output steam through two sets of cylinders. One set uses high-pressure steam and passes the "low-pressure" steam on to the second.
  • Compromise joint: A special joint bar used to join rail ends of two different cross-sections while holding the top running surface and inside gauge surface even.
  • Control Point (CP) (US): an interlocking, or the location of a track signal or other marker with which dispatchers can specify in the control of trains.
  • COFC: an acronym for "Container On Flat Car".
  • Conductor (US): guard (UK). in Australia and the US, a conductor is someone who travels on the train to assist passengers, sell tickets, etc.
  • Consist: a noun to describe the group of rail vehicles which make up a train.
  • Continuous welded rail (CWR)
  • Coupling rods Rods between crank pins on the wheels, transferring power from a driving axle to a driven axle
  • Coupler (US): coupling (UK). Railroad cars in a train are connected by couplers located at both ends of each car.
  • Cowl unit (US): a locomotive whose sides and roof are non-structural, and cover the full width of the locomotive. Structural strength comes from the underframe.
  • Crank pin a pin protruding from a wheel into a main or coupling rod
  • Crosshead the pivot between the piston rod and the main rod on a steam locomotive.
  • Crummy (slang, US): a word used for a caboose in deplorable condition.
  • Cut Off: A variable device on steam locomotives which closes the steam valve to the steam cylinder before the end of the piston stroke, thus conserving steam from the boiler while allowing the steam in the cylinder to expand under its own energy. Also: Reverser.
  • Cylinder

D

  • Dead-man's handle: A safety mechanism on a train controller which automatically applies the brake if a lever is released. It is intended to stop a train if the driver is incapacitated.
  • Detonators: Small charges placed on the running rail which explode when run over; used to warn drivers in following trains of an incident ahead. Also called torpedoes (US).
  • Diesel multiple unit or DMU: a set of diesel-powered self-propelling passenger rail vehicles able to operate in multiple with other such sets. Such units, especially those consisting of a single vehicle, are sometimes termed railcars.
  • DOO: Driver only operation
  • Down (UK, etc.): a direction (usually away from London, other capital city, or the headquarters of the railway concerned) or side (on left-running railways, the left side when facing in the down direction). The opposite of up. The down direction is usually associated with odd-numbered trains and signals.
  • Driver (UK): Engineer (US)
  • Driver (UK): Steam locomotive driving wheel, particularly in "single driver" (one driven axle) engines.
  • Driving van trailer or DVT: a special end carriage from which the train can be driven in reverse for push-pull operation.

E

  • Ejector: Component of vacuum brake system. Steam passing through a cone sucks air from the train pipe to create the vacuum. Usually fitted in pairs: a small ejector running continuously to overcome leaks and to restore the vacuum after light braking and a large ejector operated when needed to release the brakes quickly after a heavy application or to create the initial vacuum ("making a brake" – UK) after coupling up.
  • Electric multiple unit or EMU: a set of electrically powered self-propelling passenger rail vehicles able to operate in multiple with other such sets
  • Elephant style (US) - railfan jargon to describe how multiple locomotives are coupled together in a train; the front of the second locomotive is coupled to the rear of the first locomotive, the front of the third locomotive is coupled to the rear of the second locomotive, and so on down the line. The term is reminiscent of a parade of circus elephants where the elephant behind the front elephant would hold the leading elephant's tail in its trunk.
  • Elevated railway - one typically built on supports over city streets, also just "the el"
  • Engineer (US): driver, engine driver, train driver (UK)
  • EOT (US): end of train device; same as FRED (see below).
  • EP gauge (UK): Electro-pneumatic brake gauge; recording the application and pressure of the service brake, usually repeated in the guard's van in historical rolling stock.
  • Event Recorder - a device that continuously captures analog and digital train systems information and stores that data for a minimum of 48 hours. This data is used to evaluate incidents and accidents. Typical stored data includes speed, brake pressure, dynamic brake, horn activation, track signal, etc. In the US, event recorders are mandated by the Federal Railroad Adminitration (FRA) for freight, passenger and commuter rail. Regulations for railroad outside the US vary by country. Transit operations are not generally mandated to have event recorders but have begun to add them anyway.
  • Ex-con (US): An ex-Conrail locomotive (jargon).
  • Express train: a train that runs through selected stations without stopping.

F

  • Facing: a turnout is facing if it can select which way a turnout can diverge a train. Opposite of Trailing.
  • Fallen flag (US): A railroad company that no longer operates.
  • Fairlie: type of articulated locomotive, typically (but not exclusively) with two boilers and connected fireboxes in a central cab.
  • Fallen flag (US): a railroad which is no longer in business, having either merged or discontinued operations.
  • FRA: (US) the Federal Raiload Administration. This agency overseas all rail operational regulations and safety requirements for US freight, passenger and communter rail operations.
  • Feedwater heater: a device to preheat the water for a steam locomotive; improves efficiency.
  • Fettle, fettling: making repairs to rail track, especially concerned with maintaining the drainage of the ballast, and the proper cant of the rail track and rails.
  • Firebox: in steam railroading, a firebox was a chamber in which a fire would produce sufficient heat to create steam once the hot gases from the firebox were carried into the adjacent boiler via tubes or flues.
  • Fireman: in steam railroading, a railroad worker whose primary job was to shovel coal into the firebox and ensure that the boiler maintained sufficient steam pressure.
  • Fishplate (UK) joins the ends of rails in jointed track. Joint bar (US).
  • Flatcar (US): a type of rolling stock, which can be a flat-bottomed car with no sides on which freight (including intramodal shipping containers) can be stacked. A bulkhead is a flatcar with walls on the front and back. A center-beam bulkhead is a bulkhead flatcar with an additional wall dividing one side of the flatcar from the other, but still without any sides. Flat wagon (UK).
  • Flying junction (US): a railway junction that has a track configuration in which merging or crossing railroad lines provide track connections with each other without requiring trains to cross over in front of opposing traffic.
  • Foamer (US): colloquial term for a railfan, specifically one whose enthusiasm is excessive, "foaming at the mouth".
  • Four foot: the part of the line between a pair of running rails. An abbreviation for four foot, eight-and-a-half-inches. See also six foot and ten foot.
  • FRED: (US) Flashing rear-end device
  • Freight (US): goods (UK)
  • Frog: (US) casting with "X" shaped grooves used in switches and crossovers.
  • Free-mo: type of modular layout in model railroading
  • Funnel: a Thomas the Tank Engine misnomer for a chimney (UK) or smokestack (US), although it is also used in Australia (Victoria at least).

G

  • Garratt: type of articulated locomotive
  • Gage: an alternate (US) spelling of "Gauge" as in "track or rail gage".
  • Gandy dancer (slang, US): A track maintenance worker.
  • Gauge: the width between the rails.
  • Gondola: a type of rolling stock with a flat bottom and relatively low sides, used to haul material such as ore or scrap, and loaded and unloaded from the top. May be covered or uncovered. Open wagon (UK).
  • Goods (UK): freight (US)
  • Grab bar: handle on the side of a car to allow switching personnel to hold on safely
  • Green: a colour associated with go or proceed, to a greater or lesser extent, depending on each individual railway system's definition.
  • Guard (UK): conductor (US)
  • Guard Rail (US): A double rail section of track, sometimes found in train yards to prevent derailments by having rail on both sides of the wheel flange.

H

  • Hack (slang, US): a caboose, since it carried the crew around like a taxicab.
  • Head end power or HEP: a scheme whereby the locomotive engine (rather than a separate generator) provides power to carriages.
  • Heavy Rail (US): a city based transit rail system that runs on its own dedicated track and often underground. Subways are considered heavy rail.
  • High Rail : the upper rail in a curve or superelevation which typically experiences the highest lateral loads and largest wear.
  • Hogger (slang, US): a locomotive engineer.
  • Hood unit (US): a locomotive whose sides and roof are non-structural, and do not extend the full width of the locomotive. Structural strength comes from the underframe.
  • Hoodlebug (slang, US): a small commuter passenger train or trolley.
  • Hotbox: An axle end that has gotten too hot due to friction in the journal bearing.
  • Hotbox detector: A device attached to the track which monitors passing trains for hot axles, and typically then reports the results via a radio transmission (US) or a circuit to the signal box (UK). (see defect detector).
  • Hotel power (slang, US): that power used to provide for the comfort of passengers aboard a train en-route. See "HEP" above.
  • Hotshot (US): a fast, long-distance train given priority on the track over other trains.
  • Hump: a raised section in a rail storage yard that allows operators to use gravity to move freight railcars into the proper storage position within the yard (i.e., humping the cars).

I

  • Injector: device to force water into a steam locomotive's boiler by steam pressure.
  • IRJ, IBJ: Insulated rail joint / insulated block joint. Rail joints incorporating insulation to isolate individual track circuits.
  • Interlocking (US): any location that includes a switch or crossing of two tracks, derived from the early practice of installation of a system of mechanical equipment called an interlocking plant to prevent collisions. See also Signal box. Interlocking is also the term for the actual mechanical or electrical apparatus that prevents points and signals being operated in ways that would allow for conflicting train movements.
  • Intermodal: moving goods or people by more than one type of vehicle. Intermodal freight can be transported using shipping containers which can easily be transferred among railroad flatcars, ships, airplanes, and tractor-trailer trucks.
  • Island platform: a railway platform that has tracks along the full lengths of both sides.

J

  • Jointed track: track in which the rails are laid in lengths of around 20 m and bolted to each other end-to-end by means of fishplates (UK) / joint bars (US).
  • Joint bar: joins the ends of rails in jointed track. Fishplate (UK).
  • Junction: A point at which two lines or separate routes diverge from each other.

K

L

  • Image:CNW brakeman's kerosene lantern.JPG Lantern US): A portable (often handheld) light source that is used to signal train crews. Lamp (UK).
  • Level junction: (US): a junction in which all crossings take place at grade and routings must therefore be controlled by signals and an interlocking plant. Flat junction (UK).
  • Light Rail (US): a city based transit rail system that typically shares its operational space with other vehicles (e.g. automobiles) and often runs on, across or down the center of city streets. Light rail vehicles (LRV) generally have a top speed of around 60 mph (100 km/h) though mostly operating at much lower speeds.
  • Local train (US): A train that stops at most, if not all, stations along its route. See also: Stoptrein.
  • Location case (UK): A trackside cabinet used to house signalling equipment such as relays or transformers.
  • Loop (UK), siding (US): used on single-track railway lines, a loop is a second parallel set of tracks (running for a short distance), allowing two trains to pass by one another.

M

  • Main rod US): The drive rod connecting the crosshead to a driving-wheel or axle in a steam locomotive. Connecting rod (UK).
  • Maintenance of way: The maintenance of railroad rights of way, including track.
  • Mallet: type of articulated locomotive designed by Anatole Mallet ("Mallay"). See "Compound Engine" above.
  • Mating Worms (US): Penn Central logo (jargon/slang).
  • Mechanical semaphore signal: A signal the aspect of which is conveyed by moving an arm in addition to a light.
  • Mogul: locomotive with a 2-6-0 wheel arrangement
  • Motor Train (UK): See Auto Train (UK) above.
  • Multiple aspect signalling: A system of colour-light signalling in which signals may show 3 or 4 aspects.
  • Multiple unit (UK): a self-propelled rail vehicle which can be joined with compatible others and controlled from a single driving station. The sub-classes of this type of vehicle; Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU), Diesel-Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) and Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) are more common terms. These may also be termed railcars.
  • Multiple unit (US), Multiple working (UK): generally seen as the abbreviation MU, this normally refers to the ability of most North American diesel and electric locomotives to be joined together and controlled from one driving station. Such a set of joined locomotives are called a consist or (colloquially) "lash-up" and are said to be "MUed together".
  • Multiple working (UK): see Multiple unit (above).

N

  • Narrow gauge: railroad track where the rails are spaced less than 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) apart. There are many common gauges narrower than standard, amongst them 3 ft 6 in (1097 mm) widely in Africa and Asia, 36 in (914 mm) which was the most common narrow gauge in the US, and 2 ft (600 mm) which saw widespread use in the UK. Narrow gauge lines are often found in mountainous terrain where the cost savings of building a smaller railroad can be considerable.

O

  • Open wagon (UK), Gondola (US).
  • Overlap (UK): A distance, normally 200 yards, beyond each signal which must be clear before the preceding signal can display a proceed aspect; allows a margin in case a train overshoots a signal before stopping.

P

  • Pacific: locomotive with a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement
  • Pannier tank: a tank locomotive with the water tanks mounted on the boiler like panniers.
  • Pantograph: arm to pick up current from overhead lines
  • Per diem: fee paid by a railroad to the owner of a car for the time it spends on the railroad's property. Pronounced by US railroaders per die-um, not per dee-um.
  • Piston: the moving part in a steam engine cylinder that translates the steam pressure into motion
  • Points (UK): switch (US). Also "turnout".
  • Point machine (UK): A motor or device which operates points.
  • Pony truck: a two-wheel truck (US) or bogie (UK) at the front of a locomotive
  • Prairie: locomotive with a 2-6-2 wheel arrangement
  • Push-pull: a mode of operation whereby a locomotive-hauled train may be driven with the locomotive at either the front or middle or the back of the train. Also: Auto Train (UK), above. See Top and tail for train with locomotives at both front and back.

Q

R

  • Railbus: a DMU the size of a bus, sometimes made using bus components.
  • Railcar: another term for Diesel Multiple Unit - DMU
  • Railfan: a hobbyist or enthusiast of trains
  • Rail Profile the specific shape of the rail. There are many different rail profiles which are often specific to individual railroads. Rails need to be periodically scanned electonically, the data inspected and analyszed, then re-profiled with rail grinding machines to maintain the safe and proper "rail profile". Rails that cannot be brought back to the proper rail profile are condemned and replaced entirely.
  • Railroad (US): railway (UK)
  • Railroad car: a railroad vehicle that is not a locomotive.
  • Railway station (UK): train station (US)
  • Red: a colour associated with stop, when shown by signals or flags.
  • Rent-a-Wreck (US): A (usually old) locomotive owned by a leasing company (slang).
  • Reporting mark: a two- to four-letter code, assigned by the Association of American Railroads, that is applied to equipment operating on North American railroads to uniquely identify the owner of the equipment.
  • Reverser: see Cut Off, above.
  • Right-side failure: A failure in a signalling system which leaves the system in a safe condition
  • Rolling stock: a railroad vehicle that is not a locomotive; synonymous with railroad car.

S

  • Saddle: a plate which is bolted to sleepers, holding the rails in place.
  • Saddle tank: a tank locomotive with the water tank mounted on top of the boiler like a saddle.
  • Safeworking (Australia): the system of rules and equipment designed to ensure the safe operation of trains.
  • Semaphore: usually a type of signal that has a mechanical moving arm, but the term strictly applies to any signalling using semaphores.
  • Safety Appliance Act (US): law mandating air brakes, grab bars, and automatic couplers
  • Schnabel car: A specialized type of freight car for extra heavy and oversized loads; the car is loaded in such a way that the load forms part of the car superstructure.
  • Section: the division of the track for security (occupation).
  • Shoofly: A temporary stretch of track that takes trains around construction or an accident scene.
  • Shunt: to move trains or vehicles from one track to another.
  • Shunter (UK): switcher (US) or shifter (PRR only): a small locomotive used for assembling trains and moving railroad cars around. Also, a person involved in such work.
  • Shuttle service: a train, usually a passenger service, that runs back and forth over a relatively short distance, such as between a junction station and a branch-line terminus.
  • Side tank: a tank locomotive with water tanks mounted each side of the boiler.
  • Siding: a section of track off the main line used for storing rolling stock or freight. In the US the term is also used to cover the British term: loop.
  • Signal: a device that indicates to the driver of a train information about the line ahead.
  • Signal aspect: The colour shown on a signal, or the position of the arm on a semaphore signal, ncluding the track status. In the UK, multiple aspect signals are:
    • green = clear
    • red = stop
    • double yellow = preliminary caution (The next signal but one is likely to be red)
    • single yellow = caution (The next signal is likely to be red)
  • Signal Passed At Danger or SPAD (UK): where a train disobeys a stop signal.
  • Six foot: the narrow corridor between a pair of closely-spaced tracks, measuring six feet, and the most dangerous place to stand. The boundary between a six foot, where one may be hit by a train, and the wider designation/width of ten foot, where one is usually safe, is hard to judge. See also four foot and ten foot.
  • Sleeper (UK), tie (US): bars placed at 90 degrees to the rail tracks to support the rails. Generally of wood, concrete or steel, with various contraptions to affix the rails to the sleeper. Usually spikes, nails or bolts are used.
  • Smokestack (US): chimney (UK)
  • Image:Railroad spikes.JPG Spike: a bolt, pin or nail used to hold rails, or plates connected to the rails (known as saddles), to sleepers.
  • SPAD or SPAD (UK): Signal Passed At Danger, where a train disobeys a stop signal.
  • SPT (UK): Signal-post telephone - a direct no-dial telephone link to the relevant signal box, positioned on or near a signal.
  • SPURT (India): an acronym for Self Propelled Ultrasonic Rail Testing, a self-propelled rail defect detector car.
  • Staff and ticket: a method of safeworking involving a token.
  • Standard Gauge: railroad track where the rails are spaced 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) apart. This is by far the most common gauge of railway wordlwide.
  • Stoptrein (Netherlands): A Dutch term for a train that stops at every station along its route. See Local train.
  • Subway (US): a railroad that runs underground, generally in a large city. Subways are also considered "heavy rail" because they operate on their own dedicated track.
  • Superelevation (UK): synonymous with cant: the banking of railroad track on curves. Specifically, the practice on high speed lines (where the cant needs to be higher) of gently introducing the elevation of the outer rail before the bend starts, in order to avoid sudden lurches.
  • Superheater: a device for further heating the steam on a steam locomotive to increase power.
  • Switch (US): points (UK). Also "turnout".
  • Switcher (US), shunter (UK): a small locomotive used for assembling trains and moving railroad cars around.
  • Switchman: a railroad worker responsible for assembling trains and switching railroad cars in a yard; these days often used together with brakeman as a single job description ("brakeman/switchman").

T

  • Tank engine (UK): a locomotive which, instead of hauling a tender, carries its own fuel and water, the former usually in a bunker behind the cab and the latter in tanks on either side of, above, or below the boiler (respectively: side tanks, saddle tank, well tank).
  • Ten foot: an area, usually at least ten feet wide, between a pair of widely-spaced tracks, wide enough to form a place of safety in which railwaymen can stand while a train goes past. See also four foot and six foot.
  • Ten-wheeler (US): locomotive with a 4-6-0 wheel arrangement
  • Terminal station: a station sited where a railway line ends or terminates.
  • Tie (US): sleeper (UK)
  • Through platform: the standard platform and track arrangement at a station. The train pulls alongside the platform, arriving from one end of the station, and may pass out the other side of the station by continuing along the same track.
  • TOFC: an acronym for "Trailer On Flat Car".
  • Token: a physical object given to a locomotive driver to authorize him to use a particular stretch of single track.
  • Top and tail (UK): a train with locomotives at both ends, for ease of changing direction.
  • Track circuit: an electrical device for detecting the presence of trains on sections of tracks, and used to put signals automatically to green or red as required.
Image:Rail track tamper - DR73238 - Jarvis Fastline livery - Chester railway station - 2005-10-09.jpg
  • Track tamping machine - generally, a locomotive used in track maintenance and equipped with track lifting facilities, and paddles enabling ballast to be pushed beneath a rail track so as to assure its level and cant.
  • Track warrant, safeworking for single lines.
  • Trainman: a general term for an employee assigned to Train Service such as a Conductor, Brakeman or Switchman.
  • Traction supply: The supply for the driving motors of electric trains.
  • Trailing: a turnout is trailing if the two legs of that turnout merge in the direction of travel. See Facing.
  • Train register (UK): A book or loose-leaf sheets kept in a signal box and used to record the passage of trains, messages passed, and other prescribed events.
  • Trainset: a group of rolling stock that is permanently or semipermanently coupled together to form a unified set of equipment. Trainsets are most often used in passenger train configurations.
  • Triangle (railway): a way of turning engines or trains. Wye (US).
  • Truck (US): bogie (UK).
  • Truck (UK, outdated/informal): freight car (US).
  • Trackage rights (US): the legal right of one railroad company to use the tracks of another, as agreed to by the companies concerned or their predecessors. Running powers (UK).
  • Turntable: a section of track that can rotate, allowing engines to change direction, and also allow a large number of engine maintenance sidings to be accessed in a small area.

U

  • Union station or union terminal: a train station (UK: railway station) at which tracks and facilities are shared by two or more railway companies. Joint station (UK).
  • Up (UK, etc.): a direction (usually towards London, other capital city, or the headquarters of the railway concerned) or side (on left-running railways, the left side when facing in the up direction). The opposite of down. The up direction is usually associated with even-numbered trains and signals.

V

  • (goods) Van (UK), boxcar (US): an enclosed railroad car, or piece of rolling stock, used to transport freight.
    van (Canada): slang word for caboose.
  • Vacuum brake Continuous train brake which is fail-safe in operation: the brake is powered by a vacuum from the locomotive but the application is actually by atmospheric pressure when the vacuum is released. Now largely superseded by the air brake.

W

  • Water glass/gauge: a device showing the amount of water in the boiler
  • Way car: term used by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, Chicago and North Western Railway and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway instead of caboose
  • Wayside: Trackside. The term presumably has it's origin from the term right of way.
  • Well tank: type of tank locomotive. The water tank is mounted between the frame plates, beneath the cab and boiler.
  • Wheel: the rolling component typically pressed onto an axle and mounted on a rail car or locomotive truck or bogie. Wheels are cast or forged (wrought) and are heat treated to have a specific hardness. New wheels are trued to a specific profile before being pressed onto an axle. All wheel profiles need to be periodically monitored to insure proper wheel to rail interface. Improperly trued wheels increase rolling resistance, reduce energy efficiency and may create unsafe operation.
  • Wheel Climb: the process of a wheel climbing up and often off the inside or gauge side of the rail and is a major source of derailments. Wheel climb is more likely to occur in curves with wheels whose flanges are worn or have improperly trued angles.
  • Wheel Flange: the inner section of a wheel that rides between the two rails. The angle between the wheel tread and flange are often specific to the rail to prevent wheel climb and possible derailments.
  • Wheel tapper: historical railway occupation; people employed to tap train wheels with hammers, with a view to listening to the sound made so as to determine the integrity of the wheel; cracked wheels, like cracked bells, do not sound the same as their intact counterparts. The job was associated with the steam age, and is an early form of acoustic investigation. Contemporary planned maintenance procedures have obviated need for the wheel-tapper.
  • Wheel Tread: the flat angular section (often with a 1 in 20 slope) of a railroad wheel that is the major contact point with the rail.
  • Whistle: train whistles are used as a safety warning and also by the engineer to communicate to other railroad workers. See train whistle for a description of the whistle code used to communicate.
  • Whyte notation: system of describing steam locomotive wheel arrangements, ie. 4-6-4, 2-10-2, etc. The first number indicates the "pilot" wheels that help lead the engine into turns. The second in the number of coupled wheels ("drivers"). Third are the trailing idler wheels, usually to provide support to larger fireboxes.
  • Wrong-side failure: A failure in a signalling system which leaves the system in a dangerous condition
  • Wye: (UK: triangle): three railroad tracks in a triangular form with switches at all three corners. With sufficient lengths of track leading away in all three directions, a wye can turn a train of any length.

X

Y

  • Yard: a location where rolling stock is switched to and from trains, freight is loaded or unloaded, and consist made up.
  • Yellow: a colour assocated with warning or slow down when used by flags or signals; the exact meaning varies from railway system to railway.

Z

  • Zig zag, switchback (US): a way of climbing hills, where the train reverses direction for a while, and then reverses again to resume the forward motion. Some Zig Zags:
    • Lapstone or Little Zig Zag, New South Wales, Australia (c1860-1890)
    • Lithgow or Great Zig Zag, New South Wales, Australia (c1870-1910) (now a Museum railway).


Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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