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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.
A unit (US): A locomotive with a driving cab, or crew compartment, for operating on the road. When equipped with MU, it can control other A units, or B units.
Autorack (also called auto carrier): a specialized railcar used to transport unladen automobiles
B
B unit (US): a cabless booster locomotive, controlled via MU from a cab-equipped A unit.
ballast (UK): aggregate stone, gravel or cinders forming the track-bed on which sleepers (ties) and track is laid, for proper drainage
bank : a particularly steep section of line that requires bank engines (US: booster engines) to help the trains climb.
bay platform: a type of platform/track arrangement where the train pulls into a siding, or dead-end, when serving the platform.
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.
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
caboose (US), crummy (slang, US), hack (slang, US), way car (CBQ); brake van (UK)
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 A units only.
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 (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.
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.
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.
Control Point (CP) (US Conrail): An interlocking, only used by Conrail.
COFC: an acronym for "Container On Flat Car".
conductor (US): guard (UK). In Australia (and the UK?) a conductor is someone who travels on the train to assist passengers, sell tickets, etc. In some cases however, the guard and conductor roles have been combined.
consist is used as a noun to describe the group of rail vehicles which make up a train.
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.
crummy (slang, US): A word used for a caboose in deplorable condition.
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.
down (UK, etc.): A direction (usually away from London or the capital city) or side (left side when facing in down direction). The opposite of up.
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
elevated railway - one typically built on supports over city streets, also just "the el"
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
four foot the part of the line between a pair of running rails. An abbreviation of four foot, eight-and-a-half-inches. See also six foot and ten foot.
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.
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.
hotel power (slang, US): That power used to provide for the comfort of passengers aboard a train en-route. See "HEP" above.
I
injector: device to force water into a steam locomotive's boiler by steam pressure.
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.
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.
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.
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".
Pantograph (rail): 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
switcher (US), shunter (UK): A small locomotive used for assembling trains and moving railroad cars around.
T
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.
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.
up (UK, etc.): A direction (usually towards London or the capital city) or side (left side when facing in 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)
W
way car: term used by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, Chicago and Northwestern Railway and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway instead of caboose
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 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.
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
Z
zig zag: 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).
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 - 1890s.
Hunting: swaying motion of a railway vehicle caused by the coning action on which the directional stability of an adhesion railway depends.
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.
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