Question about train / railroad terminology?

Question

I continue hearing terms such as 'slide,' 'pig,' and 'helper.' What are the meanings of these terms? Any other common rail term defintions would also be helpful. Thanks.

Answer 1

Indeed, Derail covered those terms you were asking about.  The link below might also be of help.

Answer 2

A few UK random rail terms:

hot box - this is when an axle bearing overheats on a carriage or wagon. When it is discovered, the train must stop and the vehicle shunted out and put into the cripple road (q.v.)

cripple road - a siding for carriages or wagons that have been taken out of service for repair

train care centre - I nearly wet myself laughing at this one. It's owned by Network South-East and is just outside Salisbury (which if you know anything about the geography of the UK, is in the south west, not the south east - so much for train operating company branding). It's what we used to call a DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) shed or depot.  I can just imagine burnt-out trains being given stress counselling.....

panel signal box - modern type of signalling centre where the operators sit a long desk, which has illuminated track diagrams on it covering up to 100 miles, and operate the points, signals etc. by computer.

SPAD - short for Signal Passed At Danger

flying banana - a type of diesel railcar which once operated on the Great Western Railway and later British Railways (Western Region). So - called because of its streamlined shape.

streak - a streamlined locomotive of the A4 class. One of these, 'Mallard', holds the world speed record for a steam locomotive. Another one was named, 'Dwight D. Eisenhower' and presented to the USA in honour of the eponymous General and US President.

the hole - the Severn Tunnel, on the border between England and Wales, longest tunnel on the network. It's about 5 miles from end to end.

pug - a small, 0-4-0 saddle tank steam engine.

trip off the timetable and onto the calendar - locomen's slang for a duty turn on a branch line, where the pace of life would be generally slower than on the main line.

blower king - a locoman who uses the blower a lot - this is a device fitted to steam locomotives that forces a jet of steam up through the smokebox and out through the chimney, thus helping to draw the fire when the engine is standing still.

Answer 3

About the many slang terms and jargon that are associated with railroading, I have compiled the following information.   Where possible I have also included possible origins of the terminology.   I say “possible” because there is some dispute over where and when some of these terms came into being.   Terms that I believe to be “regional” in nature are identified with an asterisk * .   They appear in no particular order nor should the list be considered complete, with the slang noted first followed by definition and origin.   Here we go..............

Highball................Usually meaning “go.”  Other uses meaning “OK,” as in “Highball the inspection,” also, it can mean you don’t have to do (something), such as “Highball the hand brakes,” meaning you don’t have to apply them, or “Highball the gates,” meaning you don’t have to line a switch behind your train, etc.   The term stems from the earliest days of railroading.   When a train was ready to depart from a terminal, it was given the signal to proceed by someone raising a large ball high into the air on a “flag pole” like device.   When a crew member observed it, he would say “We have a high ball.”   Time to get gone.

High Iron, Main Stem..............The main track.

Snake, yardlet, goat herder..... A switchman

Flimsies................................. Train Orders.  The name was derived as a result of the type of paper the orders were printed on.  Very thin, even thinner than “onionskin” paper and yellow in color, they were definitely “flimsy.”

Jewels..........................This refers to the old marker lamps that used to be displayed on the

caboose on both sides to the rear.  There were two red lenses and two green lenses on opposing sides.  When a train was occupying the main track, the markers displayed a red lens to the front and to the rear.  When clear of the main track, a man on the caboose would turn the lanterns so that the green lens would be visible from the front and rear.  This was called, “Turning the jewels.”

Tiger Tooth, Shark’s Mouth....A derail, which is a means of protecting standing equipment from entering the main track causing it to derail before fouling an adjacent track.

Beans, Go to Beans.......Eat.

Gate, Flip Flop..............A track switch.

Ash Cat, Tallow Pot, Piglet*, Belly Robber.....A locomotive fireman.  In coal fired engines the fireman would have to empty the ash pan of “clinkers,” or the coal cinders.  When stopped, the fireman would have to “oil around” the engine, carrying his oil can.  In the earliest days, the lubrication was in the form of “tallow,” hence the name “tallow pot.”  In the 1990's brakemen on the Southern Pacific were put into training to become an engineer and were referred to on this property as a “piglet.”  The term “belly robber” came as a result of collective bargaining.  When the steam engines were retired, though no longer needed the firemen were still employed, but when an engineer had one along for the trip, it cost the engineer $4 off his rate of pay.  So the fireman cut into the paycheck and was a “belly robber.”

Hoghead, hogger, golden arm, eagle eye, throttle jockey, hoggineer*, high-stepper.... A locomotive engineer.  It has long been debated as to the origin of the moniker “Hoghead,” and the truth is probably lost to history, but the two most often used explanations are that the steam engines were referred to as “water hogs,” with the engineer being known as the “water hog head.”  ÃƒÂ¢Ã‚€ÂœWater” was dropped and “hog head” remained.  An alternate theory is that there once was a type of steam engine referred to as a “Hogg” engine, with the engineer being the “Hogg head.”  I tend to think the former is probably correct.  Once a general term, today the term “hoghead” is mildly derogatory in nature and is usually applied to an engineer who is not very good at his job.

Shack, Captain......... A Conductor.

Cab, Hack, Shack, Crummy........ A caboose.

Brakey, head man, rear man, flag..............A Brakeman

Scissor Bill.......... A new hire.

Bell Bottom Brakeman............ In the ‘60's and ‘70's it wasn’t uncommon for college students to work as brakemen for a railroad during the summer when there were no classes being held.  Not having enough seniority to work year round, when furloughed in the last of the summer as business started to drop off, they would return to the classroom until the next summer.

Beanery............... A “greasy spoon” type café frequented by railroaders.

In the Hole, Stabbed, Dinged, Staked Out..........In a siding being held for another train to pass or meet.

Car Knocker, Car Toad........ A Carman.  When inspecting cars in the yard, they would carry a ballpean hammer with them and “knock” on the wheels of the cars.  They could tell by the “ring” wether or not a car had a cracked wheel.  A lost art.

Button Snapper, Train Delayer........ A Train Dispatcher.

Lung One, Get a Lung........... Breaking a drawbar.  No one I’ve asked knows where these terms came from and they may be regional as well, but I think not.

Lace Up, Make the Rubber, Make the Air.........Coupling the air hoses between the cars together.

Cannon Ball.......... It used to be a switch crew would get an extra dollar or two if they were required to couple air hoses together.

Goat......... An engine used in yard service, or a yard service job, as in, “I was working an afternoon goat.”

Puffer Billy, Water Hog, Tea Kettle, Stutter Deck*........ A steam engine.  The Southern Pacific ran a class of engine called the “Southern Pacific” which had a 4-10-2 wheel arrangement.  Most engines with ten drivers were called “decapods.”  The SP class engines had three cylinders, however, with the third cylinder powering the first axle of the drivers by employment of a crank mechanism.  Since there were three cylinders, they made an unusual, and arrhythmic, unbalanced chuffing sound, as if they were “stuttering.”  In fact, the whole engine ****** due to the imbalance and tended to knock track curvature out of alignment, so they were relegated primarily to flat land running where there were the least amount of curves to be dealt with.

Varnish.......... Any of the classic “named” passenger trains of the past.

On the Advertised............ On time.

Cab Hop, Caboose Hop............... A train consisting of only an engine and a caboose.

Hog Law........... The Federal Hours of Service Act, which was enacted to limit the amount of time train crews could remain on duty.  Before its inception, trains transporting livestock had to stop at intervals for the livestock to be fed and allowed to rest, so that they were healthier when arriving at auction in eastern markets.  The train crews, however, stayed on duty.  Successfully arguing that the men needed food and rest at intervals as well, collective bargaining and political action got the legislature to enact and pass the bill.  Originally the limit was 16 hours, then 14, then 12 hours, where it stands today.  The last revamp to 12 hours occurred in 1974.  It needs to be overhauled again to 10 hours, in my opinion, to reduce the rampant fatigue in the rail industry.

Dead, Dead on the Law............. A crewman who has reached the end of on duty time allowed by the hours of service.

Wind........... The air used for the air brakes.

Kick, Boot............ This is when an engine pushes a car to get it moving, then it is uncoupled from the engine and allowed to roll on its own, used in switching moves.

Drop, High Daddy........ This is when an engine pulls a car to get it moving, then is uncoupled and the engine accelerates away from the car rolling on its own.  The engine runs down one track, and a switch is thrown behind the engine and ahead of the rolling car, sending it down a different track.

Dutch Drop............ The same as above, but when clearing a switch with the points in the opposite direction, the engine stops, is lined backwards into a track, then the switch is relined for the car’s movement.  Used to get a car from one end of the engine to the other when there is no way to run around the car.  This is a very tricky move for only the experienced and those not feint of heart.  

Drag, Dog, Heavy Lifter*............... A very heavy tonnage freight train.

Hot Shot, Cannon Ball........... A freight train with an expedited schedule, usually a “pig,” or piggyback train, though not always.

Boob Time, Hat Time, Alimony*......... As a result of collective bargaining to provide an incentive to get crews at their away from home terminals back on duty and headed home, a crewman held at away from home terminal “H.A.H.T.” would be paid at an hourly rate when laying over away from home after 16 hours, until again called on duty.  The crewmen working for the SP and UP out of Eugene, Oregon, are the only ones I have heard use the term “Alimony.”

Shorts.......... Cars that will not make the trip to destination with the train, either set out and left en route or left within a terminal.

Peanut Hose....... A short air hose with couplers (glad hands) on each end to be used where two air hoses between two cars are not long enough to be connected.

Dummy......... A coupling that attaches to an air hose, usually on the front of the engine or on a caboose, that keeps the hose clear of debris when not coupled to another hose.  In some outlying areas where equipment is left unattended, the dummy is secured so that if the engine rolls out by accident, the dummy and hose will separate, applying the brakes automatically.  There are those who insist that “dummy” is another term for a brakeman, however.

Whiskers........ Any company official.

Answer 4

Interesting question,

I dont have much to add, as you can see railroading has it's own colorful expressions and can vary from one region to another and from one railroad to another.

Until I started working with guys that had been off the old CB & Q I had never heard a caboose called a "weigh car"

Added: for Bob, we always called held time alimony too.

If a trip goes over a certain amont of time with no meal period there was an extra pay based on miles, called belly miles.

Did anywhere else call a fireman "bakehead" for keeping his head in a firebox door until his brains were half baked and they made him an engineer?

I often heard old timers refer to air brakes and their use simply as Westinghouse. (from wabco or westinghouse air brake company). An engineer would connect with another one and say "she sure takes a lot of westinghouse" by way of telling him it was a hard braking train.

A train that was unable to make a steep grade and the wheels spun was said to have "slipped down"

Anyone ever have to do "saw-by" meets where one train was longer than the available siding, or a double saw-by if you had three trains meeting.

The "geeps" referred to above were 4 axle engines as opposed to 6 axle for the heavy duty road power and we called them "prairie diesels"

It is not uncommon to have a car in a train with a defective brake valve that places the train into an emergency brake application whenever you try to use the brakes, these cars are usually called "dynamiters", which has caused some confusion over the years.

Actually, I'm often surprised no one to my knowledge has written a book on this subject, for every term I see here, several more come to mind, it is an endless subject with endless variations.

Answer 5

I don't know about "slide", but sometimes a pig is a flat car to carry semi truck trailers. Comes from piggy back.  A helper usually means an engine in the middle or at the rear of the train.

"Dead-head" is an off duty employee catching a ride on a train back to his home terminal.

"Geep" is an engine model prefix. There are GP-9s, GP-20s, GP-38s, etcetera. So everyone calls them Geeps, which is different from the SD and SW type engines.

"Going in the hole", means to go in a siding to let another train pass on the main line.

"High ball," dates back to well over 100 years. It means, in a sense, go for it - take off - get out of here, and so on.

"We're dumping air on the ground." That means a triple valve is stuck open on one of the cars and compressed air is escaping the brake system. The train can't move until the brakeman walks back to fix the triple valve, which requires little effort to fix - just takes time.

"Dump the air". That puts the train in emergency braking.

"Lace up" is to connect all the air hoses between the cars when making up a train.

"Pull the pin" refers to uncoupling a car. It dates back before 1890 before automatic couplers were mandatory. A train car was connected with a giant chain link type steel oval, with a 8 pound steel pin at the ends of the cars to hold it. The system was very dangerous because a brakeman had to hold the link level for alignment, as two cars came together. To disconnect the cars, the brakeman would simply pull the pin out of the cars' coupler pocket. Now, no one has to get between cars as they come together, but the term for uncoupling them never went away.

Apparently, my cohorts are still at work. Leave your question up a time longer. I KNOW they'll have many more to add as soon as they "Tie up" (get off work).