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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 here
are presented alphabetically, where a term has multiple names this is indicated. The note "US" indicates a term originating on
the American continent, while "UK" refers to terms originating in the British
Isles/Europe.
0-9
Note: for 4-4-0, 2-6-4T, 0-4-4-0, etc. see wheel
arrangement
A
B
- B unit (US): a cabless
booster locomotive, controlled via MU from a cab-equipped lead unit.
- ballast (UK): aggregate stone, gravel or cinders forming the track-bed on which sleepers (ties) and track is laid, for proper drainage
- bay platform: a type of platform/track arrangement where the
train pulls into a siding, or dead-end, when serving the platform.
- bogie (UK): truck (US)
- boiler
- booster (US): (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; (diesel locomotive) a cabless B unit
- boxcar (US): van (UK)
- brake van (UK): caboose (US), cabin car
(PRR only)
C
- caboose (US): brake
van (UK)
- 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
- chimney (UK): smokestack or stack (US)
- compound engine: An articulated steam locomotive passing the output steam through two engines. One engine
used high-pressure steam and passed the "low-pressure" steam on to the second. Attributed to Anatole Mallet.
- conductor (US): guard (UK)
- cylinder
D
- diesel multiple unit or DMU: a set of
diesel-powered self-propelling passenger rail vehicles usually able to operate in multiple with other such sets. Such units,
especially those consisting of a single vehicle, are sometimes termed railcars.
- driver (UK): Engineer (US)
- driving van trailer or DVT: a special end carriage from which the train can be driven in reverse for
push-pull operation.
E
- electric multiple unit or EMU: a
set of electrically powered self-propelling passenger rail vehicles usually able to operate in multiple with other such sets
- engineer (US): driver, engine driver, train driver (UK)
F
- Fairlie: type of articulated
locomotive
- 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
- Free-mo: type of
modular layout in model railroading
- funnel (this is a Thomas the Tank
Engine misnomer, for a chimney
(UK), smokestack (US).
G
- Garratt: type of articulated
locomotive
- gauge: the width of gap between the rails on either side of the
road.
- guard (UK): conductor (US)
H
- head-end power or HEP: A scheme whereby the locomotive engine (rather than a separate generator) provides
power to carriages.
- hotel power (slang, US): That power used to provide for the comfort of passengers aboard a train en-route.
See "HEP" above.
I
- injector
- island platform: a type of platform/track arrangement whereby
a platform or platforms are entirely isolated from the main station by track running on either side of the platform area.
J
K
L
- loop (rail) (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
- Mallet: type of articulated locomotive designed by Anatole Mallet ("Mallee"). See "Compound Engine"
above.
- Mogul: locomotive with a 2-6-0 wheel arrangement
- Multiple unit (UK): A self-propelled rail vehicle
which can be joined with multiple 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): 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".
N
O
P
- Pacific: locomotive with a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement
- points (UK): switch (US)
- pony truck:
- Prairie: locomotive with a 2-6-2 or 2-6-2T wheel arrangement
- push-pull: a mode of operation whereby a train may be driven
in either direction without necessitating the locomotive to be at the forward end of the train.
Q
R
S
T
- ten-wheeler (US): locomotive with a 4-6-0 wheel arrangement
- 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.
- truck (US): bogie (UK)
U
V
W
- well tank: type of
tank locomotive water tank
- Whyte System: 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 powered wheels ("drivers"). Third are the trailing idler wheels, usually to provide
support to larger fireboxes.
- 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 intergal 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.
X
Y
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