block

→ Dutch: block

→ German: Block

→ Irish: bloc

→ Manx: block

→ Maori: poraka

→ Norwegian: blokk

→ Polish: blok

desctree

→ Russian: блок (blok)
→ Armenian: բլոկ (blok)
→ Yakut: блок (blok)

→ Spanish: block

→ Vietnamese: lốc

From Middle English blok (“log, stump, solid piece”), from Old French bloc (“log, block”), from Middle Dutch blok (“treetrunk”), from Old Dutch *blok (“log”), from Proto-West Germanic *blokk, from Proto-Germanic *blukką (“beam, log”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵ- (“thick plank, beam, pile, prop”). Cognate with Old Frisian blok, Old Saxon blok, Old High German bloh, bloc (“block”), Old English bolca (“gangway of a ship, plank”), Old Norse bǫlkr (“divider, partition”). More at balk. See also bloc, bulk.

طَابُوقَة

substantial often approximately cuboid piece

թաղամաս

group of buildings demarcated by streets

A logical extent or region; a grouping or apportionment of like things treated together as a unit.

(rail transport) A section of a railroad where the block system is used.


tren

trenuri (plural)
tren (accusative indefinite nominative singular)
trenul (accusative definite nominative singular)
trenuri (accusative indefinite nominative plural)
trenurile (accusative definite nominative plural)
tren (indefinite singular)
trenului (definite singular)
trenuri (indefinite plural)
trenurilor (definite plural)
trenule (singular vocative)
trenurilor (plural vocative)


tren

Borrowed from Spanish tren, from French train.


motorcar

motorcars (plural)
motor car (alternative)

→ Maori: motokā

→ Swahili: motokaa

→ Luo: mtoka, mtokaa

(rail transport, US) A self-propelled railway vehicle.


chauffeur

fr-noun

chauffeur m (plural chauffeurs, feminine chauffeuse or chauffeure)

chauffeurs (plural)
chauffeuse (feminine)
chauffeure (feminine)

→ Catalan: xofer, xòfer

→ Czech: šofér

→ Danish: chauffør

desctree

→ Dutch: chauffeur
→ Aukan: safeli
→ Caribbean Javanese: sopir
→ Indonesian: sopir
→ Javanese: ꦱꦺꦴꦥꦶꦂ (sopir)
→ West Frisian: sjauffeur

→ English: chauffeur

⇒ Esperanto: ŝoforo

→ German: Chauffeur

→ Hungarian: sofőr

→ Javanese: (New Caledonian) chauffeur

→ Ladino: shofer, shofor

→ Lingala: sofɛ́lɛ

→ Moroccan Arabic: شيفور

→ Norwegian: sjåfør

→ Persian: شوفر (šufer)

→ Polish: szofer

→ Portuguese: chofer, chauffeur

→ Romanian: șofer

→ Russian: шофёр (šofjór)

→ Serbo-Croatian: шо̀фе̄р m

→ Spanish: chofer

→ Swedish: chaufför

→ Thai: โชเฟอร์ (choo-fə̂ə)

→ Turkish: şoför


merry-go-round

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-merry-go-round.wav

Some of the desirable characteristics of the "Merry-go-round" railway described in this article are found in the Tyne Dock-Consett iron ore traffic of the N.E.R. The ore is carried in high capacity wagons, run in trains of fixed formation. A triangle at the Consett works enables each train, complete with its locomotive, to be turned and sent back without any remarshalling after unloading to Tyne Dock. At the quayside, the wagons are mechanically loaded as a train and at Consett they run directly on to a gantry above unloading bunkers; they have air-operated bottom-discharge doors worked from the locomotive.

1963 January, G. F. Fiennes, “The "Merry-go-Round" railway - a new plan for mineral trains”, in Modern Railways, page 23:

Reshaping [of British Railways] initiated the development of what would become merry-go-round trains, delivering coal non-stop to power stations in newly built hopper wagons.

2023 March 8, Gareth Dennis, “The Reshaping of things to come...”, in RAIL, number 978, page 48:

(rail transport) A freight train of hopper wagons which loads and unloads its cargo while moving, a balloon loop being provided at power stations.


normal

en-adj

normal (comparative normaler or more normal, superlative normalest or most normal)

normaler (comparative)
more normal (comparative)
normalest (superlative)
most normal (superlative)

From Latin normālis (“made according to a carpenter's square; later: according to a rule”), from nōrma (“carpenter's square”), of uncertain origin; doublet of normale. The earliest meaning of the word in English was "perpendicular; forming a right angle" like something normālis (“made according to a carpenter's square”), but by Late Latin normālis had also come to mean "according to a rule", from which modern English senses of the word derive: in the 1800s, as people began to quantitatively study things like height, weight and blood pressure, the usual or most common values came to be called "normal", and by extension values regarded as healthy or desirable came to be called "normal" regardless of their usuality.

der

(rail transport, of points) In the default position, set for the most frequently used route.

normal

rail transport, of points: in the default position


doll

en-noun

doll (plural dolls or (Internet slang) dollz)

desc

→ Kashubian: dolka (Canada, United States, New Zealand)

Green's Dictionary of Slang
Valley of the Dolls (film)
Valley of the Dolls (novel)
doll

From Doll, pet form of the given name Dorothy.
The drug sense was coined and popularized by American writer Jacqueline Susann in 1966 through her book Valley of the Dolls (1966) or the film Valley of the Dolls (1967).

coinage

The signals are on a three-doll bracket post; one doll carries two [signal] arms, one above the other.

1943 March and April, “Notes and News: Peculiar Distant Signals on L.N.E.R”, in Railway Magazine, page 116:

(rail transport) A short signal post mounted on a bracket mounted on the main signal post, or on a signal gantry.


spur

From Middle English spure, spore, from Old English spora, spura, from Proto-West Germanic *spurō, from Proto-Germanic *spurô, from Proto-Indo-European *sperH- (“to kick”).

(rail transport) A very short branch line of a railway line.


bay

From Middle English, from Old French baee, beee, from the verb beer (“gape open”), from Early Medieval Latin batāre. Compare Modern French baie. More at bevel, badinage.

There is a short bay at the west end of each platform, but neither is used for passenger trains.

1946 May and June, G. A. Sekon, “L.B.S.C.R. West Coast Section—3”, in Railway Magazine, page 149:


rack

From Middle English rakke, rekke, from Middle Dutch rac, recke, rec (Dutch rek), see rekken.

Just beyond that station the first step is encountered and the rack resorted to, taking the line on a gradient of 1 in 9 over a steeply inclined bridge and through a spiral tunnel.

1950 November, H. P. White, “The Furka-Oberalp Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 767:

The ladder-type Riggenbach rack is the one in use on both systems.

1960 December, 'Voyageur', “The Mountain Railways of the Bernese Oberland”, in Trains Illustrated, page 750:

mechanical engineering
mechanical engineering

(mechanical engineering, rail transport) A bar with teeth on its face or edge, to work with those of a gearwheel, pinion, or worm, which is to drive or be driven by it.


acar

acari (plural)
acar (accusative indefinite nominative singular)
acarul (accusative definite nominative singular)
acari (accusative indefinite nominative plural)
acarii (accusative definite nominative plural)
acar (indefinite singular)
acarului (definite singular)
acari (indefinite plural)
acarilor (definite plural)
acarule (singular vocative)
acarilor (plural vocative)

From ac + -ar, or possibly Latin ac(u)ārius. The final sense was based on French aiguilleur.


throat

throats (plural)
throate (alternative obsolete)
throte (alternative obsolete)

peak

antonym(s) of “end of a gaff next to the mast”

From Middle English throte, from Old English þrote, þrota, þrotu (“throat”), from Proto-Germanic *þrutō (“throat”), from Proto-Indo-European *trud- (“to swell, become stiff”). Cognate with Dutch strot (“throat”), German Drossel (“throttle, gorge of game (wild animals)”) (etymology 2), Icelandic þroti (“swelling”), Swedish trut.

cog

one's belly thinks one's throat has been cut

one's stomach thinks one's throat has been cut

(rail transport) Short for station throat


target

→ Japanese: ターゲット (tāgetto)

From Middle French targette, targuete, diminutive of targe (“light shield”), from Old French, from Frankish *targa (“buckler”), akin to Old Norse targa (“small round shield”) (whence also Old English targe, targa (“shield”)) from Proto-Germanic *targǭ (“edge”), from Proto-Indo-European *derǵʰ- (“fenced lot”). Akin to Old High German zarga (“side wall, rim”) (German Zarge (“frame”)), Spanish tarjeta (“card”).

cog

(rail transport) A conspicuous disk attached to a switch lever to show its position, or for use as a signal.


kettle

→ Brunei Malay: kitil

→ Persian: کتری (ketri)

→ Bengali: কেটলি (keṭli)

→ Hindi: केतली (ketlī)

→ Gujarati: કીટલી (kīṭlī)

→ Irish: citeal

→ Maltese: kitla

→ Zulu: igedlela

From Middle English ketel, also chetel, from Old English ċietel (“kettle, cauldron”) and in Middle English possibly influenced by Old Norse ketill and both from Proto-Germanic *katilaz (“kettle, bucket, vessel”), of uncertain origin and formation. Usually regarded as a borrowing of Late Latin catīllus (“small bowl”), diminutive of Latin catinus (“deep bowl, vessel for cooking up or serving food”), however, the word may be Germanic confused with the Latin: compare Old English cete (“cooking pot”), Old High German chezzi (“a kettle, dish, bowl”), Icelandic kati, ketla (“a small boat”). Cognate with West Frisian tsjettel (“kettle”), Dutch ketel (“kettle”), German Kessel (“kettle”), Swedish kittel (“cauldron”), Swedish kittel (“kettle”), Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃 (katils, “kettle”), Finnish kattila, Polish kocioł (“cauldron”), Czech kotel (“boiler”), Russian котёл (kotjól, “boiler, cauldron”).
(watch): Cockney rhyming slang from 'kettle and hob' to 'fob' (fob watch).

cog

(rail transport, slang) A steam locomotive


helper

From Middle English helpere, from Old English *helpere, from Proto-West Germanic *helpārī (“helper”), equivalent to help + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hälper (“helper”), West Frisian helper (“helper”), Dutch helper (“helper”), German Low German Helper (“helper”), German Helfer (“helper”), Danish hjælper (“helper”), Swedish hjälpare (“helper”), Icelandic hjálpar (“helper”).

A device for the automatic control of crewless helper locomotives cut into the make-up of heavy freight trains has been perfected by the Louisville & Nashville RR in conjunction with the General Railway Signalling Co.

1964 November, “Automatic helper locomotive control on the Louisville & Nashville RR, USA”, in Modern Railways, page 354:

(rail transport, US) A locomotive that assists a train, usually on steep gradients.


reverse

From Middle English revers, from Anglo-Norman revers, Middle French revers, and their source, Latin reversus, perfect passive participle of reversō, from re- + versō. Doublet of revers.

(rail transport, of points) To be in the non-default position; to be set for the lesser-used route.

invertito

of points: to be in the non-default position


reverse

en-verb

reverse (third-person singular simple present reverses, present participle reversing, simple past and past participle reversed)

reverses (present singular third-person)
reversing (participle present)
reversed (participle past)
reversed (past)

unreverse

antonym(s) of “to turn something in the opposite direction”

From Middle English reversen, from Anglo-Norman reverser, Middle French reverser, and their source, Latin reversō, from re- + versō.

tolat

rail transport, of points: to move from the normal position to the reverse position

(rail transport, transitive) To place (a set of points) in the reverse position.

(rail transport, intransitive, of points) To move from the normal position to the reverse position.


triage

en-noun

triage (countable and uncountable, plural triages)

From French triage, from trier (“to sort”).

Similarly, any group of sidings is known to army railway personnel as a "triage". This word is derived from the French verb trier, which means literally "to sort," and hence "triage" has become the common army expression for a marshalling yard.

1943 September and October, “Military and Civil Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 257:

(rail transport, military, British) A marshalling yard, classification yard.


aspect

From Middle English aspect, from Latin aspectus (“look, sight; appearance”), from aspiciō (“see; catch sight of; inspect”), from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + speciō (“look, look at, behold; observe”).

der

It was in this work [on the Southern Railway] that the four-aspect system of indications, using red, yellow, double yellow, and green, was first installed. […][page 229, photo caption] Three-aspect colour-light signal with three-way junction indicator, Bow Junction, Eastern Region

1951 April, T. S. Lascelles, “British Railway Signalling since 1925”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 228:

The whole of the main lines to be electrified were being equipped with four-aspect colour-light signals, automatically operated, where appropriate, and spaced to give a 5min headway throughout.

1961 December, “Planning the London Midland main-line electrification”, in Trains Illustrated, page 719:

SWR [South Western Railway] said the move was a precautionary measure, understood to relate to electromagnetic emissions from the fleet causing changes of signal aspect in front of moving trains.

2019 October, “'442s' withdrawn due to signal interaction issues”, in Modern Railways, page 87:

(rail transport) The visual indication of a colour light (or mechanical) signal as displayed to the driver. With three-aspect colour light signals this would be red, yellow or green, and on four-aspect signals, double-yellow also; a two-aspect signal displays red or green.


compound

From Middle English compounen, from Middle French componre, compondre (“to put together”), from Latin componō, from Latin com- (“together”) + ponō (“to put”).

злучэнне

chemistry: substance made by chemical combination of elements

From a dead stand, with regulator full open and the lever at about 50 per cent we got up to about 60 m.p.h. by the top of the bank. The big compound was making plenty of noise - but what musical and wonderful noise!

1961 March, ""Balmore"", “Driving and firing modern French steam locomotives”, in Trains Illustrated, page 148:

(rail transport) A compound locomotive, a steam locomotive with both high-pressure and low-pressure cylinders.


ganger

From Middle English ganger, from Old English gangere (“a ganger, footman”), equivalent to gang + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Gunger, West Frisian gonger, Dutch ganger, German Gänger, Danish gjænger, ganger, Swedish gängare, Icelandic gangari.

inh

Primary responsibility must rest with a ganger. He failed to appreciate the danger of disturbing the track, short of ballast, on a very hot day.

1950 March, “Notes and News: Merstham Quarry Derailment”, in Railway Magazine, page 210:

The length ganger saw the train passing with the van derailed and promptly telephoned the Sandbach signalman, who restored his signals to danger, but not in time to stop the train before the final derailment occurred.

1961 November, “Talking of Trains: Derailment near Holmes Chapel”, in Trains Illustrated, page 652:

'My dad was a railway ganger.'

1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, paperback edition, Virago Press, page 159:

(business, rail transport) One who oversees a gang of workmen.


jigger

→ Catalan: gigre

From jig + -er (agent suffix). Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary suggests a possible link to Old High German gīga (“fiddle”).

(rail transport, New Zealand) A railway jigger, a small motorized or human powered vehicle used by railway workers to traverse railway tracks.


lye

Variant of lie (“to rest horizontally”) now used in a specialised sense; compare sett.

Brakevan lye. [same page in the main text] There is also an inclined lye for brakevans at each end of the yard.

1962 October, G. Freeman Allen, “The New Look in Scotland's Northern Division—II: The new Perth marshalling yard”, in Modern Railways, page 273, photo caption with indicating arrow:

(UK, rail transport) A short side line, connected with the main line; a turn-out; a siding.


pug

Origin unknown, possibly related to West Flemish pugge (“(adjective) small; (noun) short person; pet name derived from the first name Pugge”); though it is uncertain whether sense 1 (“senses relating to someone or something small”) and sense 2 (“senses relating to people”) are derived from the same source.
Sense 1.8 (“small demon”) was probably influenced by, though not a variant of, puck.

pentu

any of various animals, such as a ferret, hare, squirrel, or young salmon

Senses relating to someone or something small.

(rail transport) In full pug engine: a small locomotive chiefly used for shunting (“moving trains from one track to another, or carriages from one train to another”).


shunt

en-verb

shunt (third-person singular simple present shunts, present participle shunting, simple past and past participle shunted)

shunts (present singular third-person)
shunting (participle present)
shunted (participle past)
shunted (past)

From Middle English shunten, schunten, schonten, schounten, shont, shonte, shount, shounten, shunte (“to move rapidly or suddenly, jerk; to swerve, turn away; to avoid, dodge, escape, evade”), either:
* possibly a back-formation from Middle English shǒnen (“to decline to do, refuse; to abandon, forsake; to disdain, dislike, hate; to avoid, escape; to be afraid, fear; to be wary of”), from Old English sċunian, sċyniġan; see shun. Or
* an alteration of Middle English shunden, *schunden, *schinden, from Old English sċyndan, sċendan (“to hasten, hurry”) (as in āsċyndan (“to remove, take away”), from Proto-West Germanic *skundijan, from Proto-Germanic *skundijaną (“to compel, drive, push; to accelerate, rush, speed up”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kew(n)t- (“to rattle, shake”).
* from unrecorded Old English *sċunettan, a derivative of sċunian (“to shun, avoid”).
The English word is cognate with Danish skynde (“to hasten, hurry, speed”), Icelandic skynda, skunda (“to hasten”), Middle High German schünden (“to compel; to urge; to irritate”), Norwegian skynde (“to hurry, rush”), Swedish skynda (“to hasten, hurry; to scuttle, scurry”). Outside Germanic, compare Sanskrit स्कन्दति (skándati, “to dart, leap, spring, spurt or burst forth, ejaculate, assail, drop, split”), Albanian shkund (“to shake; to swig”).
As regards the noun sense, compare Middle English shunt (“swerve; sudden jerk”), derived from the verb.

cog

Porter, run over while shunting a luggage train, in consequence of his getting entangled in shunting-rope.

1846, “Report”, in Report of the Officers of the Railway Department to the Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council for Trade: With Appendices I. & II. For the Years 1844–45. […] (House of Commons of the United Kingdom, 1846 Session, Accounts and Papers; 15 (Railway Department)), volume XXXIX, London: Printed by W[illiam] Clowes and Sons, […], for Her Majesty's Stationery Office, →OCLC, class no. 3 (Accidents Attended with Personal Injury to Servants of the Company, under Circumstances Not Involving Danger to the Public), page xxi:

But despite its plague of tunnels, the run-in on this route is of unusual interest to the locomotive enthusiast: besides the hordes of self-important saddle-tanks shunting in the extensive yards, there was at one time the chance of seeing those slender little North London engines, with their large outside cylinders and no visible storage place for coal, and also an occasional South Eastern locomotive sporting a lot of polished brass.

1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 704:

On arrival at Spiez, the locomotive (No. 206) was immediately uncoupled and drew ahead to enable an Italian through coach from Interlaken to Milan to be loose shunted (with passengers aboard and controlled by means of its handbrake) on to the front of the train.

1953 August, J. G. Click, “The Lötschberg Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 515:

(transitive, rail transport) To move a train from one track to another, or to move carriages, etc. from one train to another.


shunt

These improvements consist, firstly, in a novel construction of apparatus to be attached to or applied upon railways, at those parts termed switches, shunts, or moveable rails, which are commonly used for transferring engines, carriages, or trains, from one line of rails to another, as occasion may require, and which apparatus I call a "switch or shunt protector."

1838 December 17, John Hawkshaw, “[Recent Patents.] To John Hawkshaw, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Civil Engineer, for His Invention of Certain Improvements in Mechanism or Apparatus Applicable to Railways, and also to Carriages to be Used thereon”, in W[illiam] Newton, editor, The London Journal and Repertory of Arts, Sciences, and Manufactures, volume XV (Conjoined Series), number XCII, London: Published by W. Newton, […], published 1840, →OCLC, page 74:

(rail transport) A switch on a railway used to move a train from one track to another.


tog

tog n (definite singular toget, indefinite plural tog, definite plural toga or togene)

toget (definite singular)
tog (indefinite plural)
toga (definite plural)
togene (definite plural)

Borrowed from German Zug (sense 1), and German Low German tog, toch (sense 2).

Flere tog kommer innom stasjonen hver dag.

Several trains stop by the station every day.

(rail transport) a train (line of connected cars or carriages, often hauled by a locomotive)


tog

tog n (definite singular toget, indefinite plural tog, definite plural toga)

toget (definite singular)
tog (indefinite plural)
toga (definite plural)

From Middle Low German tuch (“fare, pulling”) (genitive toges). In the sense of a train, it is a semantic borrow from German Zug.


banker

Between them these engines work passenger trains on the Keith line, and also act as bankers up to Dava when required.

1944 January and February, W. McGowan Gradon, “Forres as a Railway Centre”, in Railway Magazine, page 23:

Because of a shortage of W.R. pannier tanks, two "E6" 0-6-2 tanks, Nos. 32410/5, were engaged as bankers on the Folkestone Harbour branch at the beginning of March; [...].

1960 May, “Motive Power Miscellany: Southern Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 314:

(rail transport, British, Australia) A railway locomotive that can be attached to the rear of a train to assist it in climbing an incline.


gauge

en-noun

gauge (countable and uncountable, plural gauges)

From Middle English gauge, gaugen, from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French gauger (compare Modern French jauger from Old French jaugier), from gauge (“gauging rod”), from Frankish *galga (“measuring rod, pole”), from Proto-Germanic *galgô (“pole, stake, cross”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰalgʰ-, *ǵʰalg- (“perch, long switch”). Cognate with Old High German galgo, Old Frisian galga, Old English ġealga (“cross-beam, gallows”), Old Norse galgi (“cross-beam, gallows”), Old Norse gelgja (“pole, perch”). Doublet of gallows.

cog

It was Locke who concisely won the argument for a standardised gauge of 4ft 8½ inches over Brunel's 7ft 0 ¼in preference. […] Today, over 60% of the world's railways use that gauge.

2023 August 23, David E Norris, “Joseph Locke: a railway injustice...”, in RAIL, number 990, page 57:

(rail transport) Ellipsis of track gauge.

(rail transport) Ellipsis of loading gauge.


reefer

(rail transport, US) a refrigerator car (type of boxcar).


release

en-noun

release (countable and uncountable, plural releases)

From Middle English relesen, relessen, from Old French relaisser (variant of relascher).

отцепване

a device adapted to hold or release a device or mechanism as required

(railways, historical) In the block system, a printed card conveying information and instructions to be used at intermediate sidings without telegraphic stations.


route

→ Japanese: ルート

From Middle English route, from Old French route, from Latin rupta [via] (literally “a path made by force”). Compare Modern French route.

der

(rail transport) A path that has been secured by a railway signalling system for the passage of a train and locked to prevent any conflicting train movements from taking place.

togvej

path secured by a railway signalling system for the passage of a train


skate

Back-formation from Dutch schaats, from Middle Dutch schāetse, from Old Northern French escache (“a stilt, trestle”) (compare French échasse and English scatch), from a Germanic language, perhaps Frankish *skakkjā (“stilt”, literally “thing that moves”), related to *skakan (“to shake, swing”).

(rail transport, Philippines, chiefly Bicol) A makeshift handcar.


slack

Either from the adjective in Etymology 1 or the verb in Etymology 2.

This pitfall, beginning in February and finishing in May, resulted in a drop of about 3 ft. in the platform level; during this period it was necessary to level the track three times weekly, and impose a service slack of 15 m.p.h. The subsidence appears now to have finished, and normal speed is once again permitted.

1939 June, “Pertinent Paragraphs: Pitfalls”, in Railway Magazine, page 456:

The train runs slowly with frequent slacks for bridge and culvert repairs. At one point occurs the changeover from left- to right-hand running.

1949 September and October, “The "Nord Express"”, in Railway Magazine, page 336:

A 40 m.p.h. slack at West Ruislip, quickly followed by a 30 m.p.h. slack at Gerrards Cross, increased our lateness to four minutes at High Wycombe.

1960 February, R. C. Riley, “The London-Birmingham services - Past, Present and Future”, in Trains Illustrated, page 103:

(rail transport) A temporary speed restriction where track maintenance or engineering work is being carried out at a particular place.


spectacle

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-spectacle.wav

From Middle English spectacle, from Middle French spectacle, from Latin spectāculum (“a show, spectacle”), from spectō (“to see, behold”), frequentative of speciō (“to see”). See species. Doublet of spectaculum.

(rail transport) A frame with different coloured lenses on a semaphore signal through which light from a lamp shines at night, often a part of the signal arm.


sunflower

From sun + flower. Compare English sunbloom.

(UK, rail transport) An Automatic Warning System (AWS) indicator in the driver's cab that is displayed after a driver has acknowledged an audible warning, which consists of a yellow circle enclosing a white circle, with black spokes overlaid.


track

→ Kashubian: trak (Canada)

From Middle English trak, tracke, from Old French trac (“track of horses, trail, trace”), of uncertain origin. Likely from a Germanic source, either Old Norse traðk ("a track; path; trodden spot"; > Icelandic traðk (“a track; path; tread”), Faroese traðk (“track; tracks”), Norwegian tråkke (“to trample”)) or from Middle Dutch trec, *trac, treck ("line, row, series"; > Dutch trek (“a draft; feature; trait; groove; expedition”)), German Low German Treck (“a draught; movement; passage; flow”). See tread, trek.

gloss

"line, row, series"; > Dutch <i class="Latn mention" lang="nl">trek</i> (“a draft; feature; trait; groove; expedition”)

cog

They briefly closed the railway to remove debris found on the track.

(railways) The way or rails along which a train moves.


chugger

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-chugger.wav

(rail transport, colloquial) A heavy-duty locomotive whether electric, diesel, hybrid or steam-powered


Chunnel

Blend of Channel (“the English Channel”) + tunnel; the term had been coined by 1960 (see quotation).

blend

Sir Brian Robertson, Chairman of the B.T.C., told a London audience in January that he would not be surprised if a Channel tunnel for rail traffic, equipped with special wagons to carry road vehicles, were recommended by the study group which has been re-assessing the feasibility of the "Chunnel".

1960 March, “Talking of Trains: London-Paris in four hours”, in Trains Illustrated, page 134:

Rumors, carefully and cleverly circulated by Mascodagama’s friends, diverted speculations toward his being a mysterious visitor from beyond the Golden Curtain, particularly since at least half-a-dozen members of a large Good-will Circus Company that had come from Tartary just then […] had already defected between France and England, somewhere in the newly constructed ‘Chunnel.’

1969, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 30, in Ada, or, Ardor: A Family Chronicle, Harmondsworth, London: Penguin Books, published 1970, →ISBN, part 1, page 144:

She knows a café here, a French place. Remembering breakfast there with Damien. […]Here it is: faux-French with real French waiting tables. Chunnel kids, guest workers.

2003, William Gibson, Pattern Recognition (Bigend cycle; book 1), New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, page 79:

(rail transport, informal) :Template:blend of.

le tunnel sous la Manche

Channel Tunnel — see also Channel Tunnel


Channel Tunnel

From Channel (English Channel) + tunnel.

(rail transport) The man-made tunnel under the English Channel joining England and France.


U-boat

(rail transport, slang) Nickname given to the General Electric Universal Series diesel-electric locomotives.


limited

Twentieth Century Limited

(rail transport) An express train that only halts at a limited number of stops.


In a letter to the author he says that when he went to King's Cross in 1936 the A4s were, and had been for some time, at a low ebb in performance.

1990, H.C.B. Rogers, Express Steam Locomotive Development in Great Britain and France, Crecy Publishing, →ISBN, page 89:

(UK, rail transport) A4 class, a class of steam locomotive used on the London and North Eastern Railway.


APT

(UK, rail transport) Initialism of advanced passenger train.


goods

→ Japanese: グッズ (guzzu)

→ Korean: 굿즈 (gutjeu)

An unusual visitor to Leeds on September 26 was Class 4 4-6-0 No. 75042 (17A), on a Class H goods from York; it soon returned on the 6.30 p.m. Leeds-York parcels.

1962 December, “Motive Power Miscellany: North Eastern Region”, in Modern Railways, page 425:

(rail transport, UK) Ellipsis of goods train.


pedestal

Borrowed from Middle French piédestal, itself borrowed from Italian piedistallo (literally “foot stand”). Spelling influenced by Latin pēs, pedem.

der

(rail transport) A casting secured to the frame of a truck of a railcar and forming a jaw for holding a journal box.


MGM

(rail transport) The station code for the Metheringham railway station in England.


NEC

(US, rail transport) Initialism of Northeast Corridor.


torpedo

* Borrowed from Latin torpēdō (“a torpedo fish; numbness, torpidity, electric ray”), from torpeō (“I am stiff, numb, torpid; I am astounded; I am inactive”) + -ēdō (noun suffix), from Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“stiff”). In the military sense coined by Robert Fulton in 1805. Cognate with Old English steorfan (“to die”), Ancient Greek στερεός (stereós, “solid”), Lithuanian tirpstu (“to become rigid”), Old Church Slavonic трупети (trupeti).
* (type of car): From 1908, after "the Torpedo", a car designed by Captain Theo Masui.

cog

(rail transport, US) A small explosive device attached to the top of the rail to provide an audible warning when a train passes over it.


hump

en-verb

hump (third-person singular simple present humps, present participle humping, simple past and past participle humped)

humps (present singular third-person)
humping (participle present)
humped (participle past)
humped (past)

Probably borrowed from Dutch homp (“hump, lump”) or Middle Low German hump (“heap, hill, stump”), from Old Saxon *hump (“hill, heap, thick piece”), from Proto-Germanic *humpaz (“hip, height”), from Proto-Indo-European *kumb- (“curved”). Compare Proto-Germanic *huppōną (“to hop”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewb-, *ḱewb- (unnasalised root), and English hub (a softened variant without nasal?).
Cognate with West Frisian hompe (“lump, chunk”), Icelandic huppur (“flank”), Welsh cwm (“a hollow”), Latin incumbō (“to lie down”), Albanian sumbull (“round button, bud”), Ancient Greek κύμβη (kúmbē, “bowl”), Avestan 𐬑𐬎𐬨𐬠𐬀 (xumba, “pot”), Sanskrit कुम्ब (kúmba, “thick end of bone”). Replaced, and perhaps influenced by, Old English crump (“crooked, bent”). More at cramp.

cog

In the first phase of the new yard's operation, from March 6 last, it was wisely decided to restrict the yard's use to allow for any "teething" ailments with complex electronic gadgets, so when I visited Margam early in May it was working well below its capacity, humping about 1,000 wagons a day; [...].

1960 July, G. Freeman Allen, “Margam yard - the most modern in Europe”, in Trains Illustrated, pages 405, 407:

(rail transport) To shunt wagons / freight cars over the hump in a hump yard.


Atlantic

Atlantics (plural)
Atlantick (alternative obsolete)

[ætˈlæɾ̃.ɪk]

From Middle English Atlantyke, from Latin Ā̆tlanticus, from Ancient Greek Ἀτλαντικός (Atlantikós, “Atlantean, of Atlas”), from Ancient Greek Ἄτλᾱς (Átlās), either from ἁ- (ha-, copulative prefix) + Proto-Indo-European *telh₂- (“bear, undergo, endure”) or of Pre-Greek origin.

der

It is equally curious that whereas the first Swindon-built Atlantic began its career as a 4-6-0, the first Great Western 4-cylinder 4-6-0 began its career as an Atlantic.

1944 January and February, 'Voyageur', “Atlantic Locomotives on the G.W.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 26:

Where these Atlantics fell from acoustic grace, however, was in their feeble screechy little whistle, so different from the N.B.R. mellow standard pattern.

1952 December, R. S. McNaught, “The Voice of the Locomotive”, in Railway Magazine, page 839:

(rail transport) A steam locomotive of the 4-4-2 wheel arrangement.


gondola

Borrowed from Italian gondola, from Venetan góndoƚa, from Byzantine Greek κοντούρα (kontoúra, “cutter, kind of ship”).

[on the outskirts of Stalingrad] The railroad paralelled the road, and along the track we saw lines of burned-out gondolas and freight cars which had been destroyed during the war.

1948, John Steinbeck, chapter 6, in A Russian Journal:

(rail transport, US) A type of open railway car with low sides, used to carry heavy freight such as crushed rock or steel.


bond

en-noun

bond (countable and uncountable, plural bonds)

From Middle English bond, a variant of band, from Old English beand, bænd, bend (“bond, chain, fetter, band, ribbon, ornament, chaplet, crown”), from Proto-Germanic *bandaz, *bandiz (“band, fetter”). Cognate with Dutch band, German Band, Swedish band. Doublet of Bund. Related to bind.

(railways) A heavy copper wire or rod connecting adjacent rails of an electric railway track when used as a part of the electric circuit.


stable

en-verb

stable (third-person singular simple present stables, present participle stabling, simple past and past participle stabled)

stables (present singular third-person)
stabling (participle present)
stabled (participle past)
stabled (past)

From Middle English stable, borrowed from Anglo-Norman stable, singular derived from the plural Latin stab(u)la (“dwellings, stables”).

S.R. Pacific No. 34010 Sidmouth leaves Wembley Central to stable the stock of its excursion from the S.R. at North Wembley; the train was run in connection with a Wembley football event on April 30, 1960.

1960 July, Trains Illustrated, page 385, photo caption:

Great Western Railway has placed its Class 143 Pacer fleet into warm storage, with the majority stabled at Exeter.

2020 April 22, “Fleet News: Passenger operators put parts of fleet into warm storage...”, in Rail, page 25:

(rail transport, transitive) To park (a rail vehicle).


halt

From Middle French halt, from early modern German halt (“stop!”), imperative of halten (“to hold, to stop”). More at hold.

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-halt.wav

The halt itself never achieved much importance, even with workers coming to and from the adjacent works.

On once more we swung, bumping uneasily along in the antique narrow-gauge coach, with gloomy woods and gathering night outside, shouts and songs (and quacks) inside—this was not at all the sort of train ordained by the logical strategists in Paris—then grinding to a stop at a mysterious halt which was no more than a nameboard in the pinewoods, without even a footpath leading to it, but nevertheless with a solitary passenger stolidly waiting.

1961 November, H. G. Ellison, P. G. Barlow, “Journey through France: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 668:

(rail transport) A minor railway station (usually unstaffed) in the United Kingdom.


Berkshire

From Middle English Barrokschire, Berchesire, Barrokshyre, Berrucsire, from Old English Bearrocsċīr; the first element is possibly from Proto-Brythonic *barrọg, perhaps meaning “hilly” (compare *barros (“hill, peak, top”)) + Old English sċīr (“shire, county”).

Berkshire
Berkshire (disambiguation)#Other places
Berkshire pig

Erie, always an interesting road to watch, fortified itself in the late '20's with the largest roster of Berkshires in the land, and these engines were easily able to sustain the road until dieselization …

1959, David P. Morgan, editor, Steam's Finest Hour, Kalmbach Publishing Co.:

(rail transport) A steam locomotive of the 2-8-4 wheel arrangement.


motor car

The 20 sets of B.W. [British Westinghouse] equipment, including motor bogies and traction motors, were refitted to 20 new motor cars, similar in design to the 1913 stock, again at the railway company's Neasden Works.

1951 January, “The Inner Circle and its Rolling Stock”, in Railway Magazine, page 59:

A motor car is provided with two self-ventilated series-wound G.E.C. traction motors, each having a continuous rating of 80 h.p. at 575 V. 116 A. at a field strength of 66 per cent.

1960 February, “The first of London's new Piccadilly Line trains is delivered”, in Trains Illustrated, page 94:

(rail transport, US) Synonym of railcar (“self-propelled railway vehicle”).


bunker

→ Catalan: búnquer

desctree

→ German: Bunker
→ Polish: bunkier
→ Romanian: buncăr

The origin of the noun is uncertain; the earliest sense is sense 6.1 (“box or chest, the lid of which serves as a seat”), from Scots bunker (“bench; pew; window-seat; sand pit (especially in golf); coal receptacle; sleeping berth, bunk”), from Early Scots bunker, bunkur, bonker (“a chest or box, often serving as a seat”), probably from Old Norse bunki (“a heap”) (probably whence bunk (“sleeping berth in a ship, train, etc.”)), from Proto-Germanic *bunkô (“a heap, pile; a bump, lump, a crowd”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰenǵʰ- (“thick”) or *bʰeg- (“to billow, swell; to arch, bend, curve (?)”). Compare Middle Low German bunge (“drum, container”), Middle High German bunge (“drum”). Sense 1 (“hardened shelter designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks”) was derived from German Bunker during World War II, which was itself from bunker (“large bin or container for storing coal”) (sense 5).
The verb is derived from the noun.

cog

Among tank engines, the 0-6-2 wheel arrangement was by far the most numerous, there being nearly 450 of this arrangement, which offers the advantage of good power and adhesive weight, coupled with adequate tank and bunker capacity, within a limited compass.

1939 September, D. S. Barrie, “The Railways of South Wales”, in The Railway Magazine, Westminster, London: IPC Transport Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 161:

The bunkers of these engines hold enough coal for one round journey of 120½ miles, and water is taken in each direction at Hexham.

1941 December, “Notes and News: A Tank Engine's 241-mile Day”, in Railway Magazine, page 569:

The superstructure of the tender is modified by the removal of the side raves, and compartments for the fire-irons are formed on each side of the coal bunker.

1956 April, “"Merchant Navy" Class Pacific Modified”, in Railway Magazine, page 212:

(rail transport) The coal compartment on a tank engine; it can also refer to that on a tender engine.


FOC

freight operating company
freight operating company

(UK, rail transport) freight operating company


wagon

wagons (plural)
wagan (alternative)
waghen (alternative)
waggon (alternative British dated)

→ Dutch: wagon

→ French: wagon (see there for further descendants)

→ German: Waggon

→ Japanese: わごん, ワゴン (wagon)

→ Polish: wagon

→ Spanish: vagón

Borrowed from Middle Dutch wagen, from Old Dutch *wagan, from Proto-West Germanic *wagn, from Proto-Germanic *wagnaz (“wagon”), from Proto-Indo-European *woǵʰnos (“wagon, primitive carriage”), from *weǵʰ- (“to transport”). Doublet of wain. Related also to way, weigh.
Sense 8 (“woman of loose morals; obnoxious woman”) is probably a derogatory and jocular reference to a woman being “ridden”, that is, mounted for the purpose of sexual intercourse.
The verb is derived from the noun.

wa

four-wheeled cart for hauling loads — see also cart

Various methods have been suggested for effecting this transfer by a bodily removal of whole wagons; either by lifting the bodies from one set of wheels to another, or transferring the wagons, wheels and all, to some kind of truck; but practically these projects wholly fail. […] It is calculated that to bring a train of fifty wagons under the machine, one by one, a horse would have to traverse five miles and a half.

1846, Thornton [Leigh] Hunt, Unity of the Iron Network: Showing how the Last Argument for the Break of Gauge, Competition, is at Variance with the True Interests of the Public, 2nd edition, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 6:

The total weight of goods and minerals loaded into wagons on the railways of the United Kingdom during the year 1913, the last complete period of working under normal conditions before the outbreak of war, was 372,037,000 tons, of which 299,129,000 tons, or 80.41 per cent., consisting of coal and minerals.

1918 June 21, H. Kelway-Bamber, “Coal and Mineral Traffic on the Railways of the United Kingdom”, in The Engineer, volume CXXV, number 3260, London: Office for publication and advertisements, […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 546, column 2:

(rail transport) A vehicle (wagon) designed to transport goods or people on railway.


wagon

wagon (nominative singular)
wagony (nominative plural)
wagonu (genitive singular)
wagonów (genitive plural)
wagonowi (dative singular)
wagonom (dative plural)
wagon (accusative singular)
wagony (accusative plural)
wagonem (instrumental singular)
wagonami (instrumental plural)
wagonie (locative singular)
wagonach (locative plural)
wagonie (singular vocative)
wagony (plural vocative)

Borrowed from French wagon, from English wagon, from Middle Dutch wagen, from Old Dutch *wagan, from Proto-West Germanic *wagn, from Proto-Germanic *wagnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *woǵʰnos, from *weǵʰ-.

(rail transport) car, railroad car (nonpowered unit in a railroad train)


engineer

→ Burmese: အင်ဂျင်နီယာ (anggyangniya)

→ Hawaiian: ʻenekinia

→ Hindi: इंजीनियर (iñjīniyar)

→ Japanese: エンジニア (enjinia)

desc

အိန်ဂျေန်နဳယျာ

→ Mon: အိန်ဂျေန်နဳယျာ

→ Mon: အိန်ဂျေန်နဳယျာ

→ Persian:

Dari: اِنْجِنِیر (injinīr)

/ˌɛn(d)ʒɪˈnɪə/

/ˌɛnd͡ʒɪˈnɪ(ə)ɹ/

/ɪnˈd͡ʒɪnɪjə(ɾ)/

The noun is derived from:
* Middle English enginour (“one who designs, constructs, or operates military works for attack or defence, etc.; machine designer”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman enginour, engigneour [and other forms], and Middle French and Old French engigneor, engigneour, engignier (“one who designs, constructs, or operates military works for attack or defence; architect; carpenter; craftsman; designer; planner; one who deceives or schemes”) (modern French ingénieur), from engin (“contraption, device; machine; invention; creativity, ingenuity; intelligence; deception, ruse, trickery”) + -eor, -or (suffix forming agent nouns); engin is derived from Latin ingenium (“innate or natural quality, nature; intelligence, natural capacity; ability, skill, talent; (Medieval Latin) engine; machine”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + gignere (the present active infinitive of gignō (“to bear, beget, give birth to; to cause, produce, yield”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget, give birth to; to produce”)) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns); and
* from engine + -er (occupational suffix); and
* from engine + -eer (suffix forming nouns denoting people associated with, concerned with, or engaged in specified activities), possibly modelled after Middle French ingénieur (a variant of Middle French, Old French engigneour; see above), and Italian ingegniere (“engineer”) (obsolete; modern Italian ingegnere).
The verb is derived from the noun.
Cognates
* Medieval Latin, Late Latin ingeniārius (“engineer”)
* Medieval Latin ingeniator (“one constructing or using an engine”)
* Old Occitan engenhador, enginhador
* Portuguese engenhador (obsolete), engenheiro (“engineer”)
* Spanish engeñero (obsolete), ingeniero (“engineer”)

nb...

(Late Middle English) engyner, (Middle English) engineour, enginer, engyneour, engyneor, engynour, yngynore

engineor, enginere, engineur, enginor, enginur

cog

(chiefly US, rail transport) A person who drives or operates a locomotive; a train driver.


points

(rail transport, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Movable rails which can be used to switch a train from one railway track to another.

výhybka

movable rails used to switch a train from one track to another


lantern

lanterns (plural)
lanthorn (alternative archaic)

→ Bengali: লন্ঠন (lonṭhon)

Hindi: लालटेन (lālṭen)

→ Irish: laindéar

→ Malay: lentera

Indonesian: lentera

→ Telugu: లాంతరు (lāntaru)

From Middle English lanterne (13th century), via Old French lanterne from Latin lanterna (“lantern”), itself a corruption of Ancient Greek λαμπτήρ (lamptḗr, “torch”) (see lamp, λάμπω (lámpō)) by influence of Latin lucerna (“lamp”). The spelling lanthorn was current during the 16th to 19th centuries and originates with a folk etymology associating the word with the use of horn as translucent cover. For the verb, compare French lanterner to hang at the lamppost. Displaced native Old English lēohtfæt (literally “light-container”).

ncog

(rail transport) A light formerly used as a signal by a railway guard or conductor at night.


sidetrack

sidetracks (plural)
side-track (alternative)
side track (alternative)

railroad siding

small railroad track for unloading, passing

(rail transport) A second, relatively short length of track just to the side of a railroad track, joined to the main track by switches at one or both ends, used either for unloading freight, or to allow two trains on a same track to meet (opposite directions) or pass (same direction); a railroad siding.


sidetrack

en-verb

sidetrack (third-person singular simple present sidetracks, present participle sidetracking, simple past and past participle sidetracked)

sidetracks (present singular third-person)
sidetracking (participle present)
sidetracked (participle past)
sidetracked (past)
side-track (alternative)
side track (alternative)

It was just after 5 p.m.; would the non-stop "Capitals Limited" come up next? It was due in at 5.30 and other trains are often side-tracked in its favour.

1951 January, R. A. H. Weight, “A Railway Recorder in Essex and Hertfordshire”, in Railway Magazine, page 46:

Two westbound freights were in the vicinity and the operator was kept busy passing them radio messages with the latest information on the late running of the streamliners, to allow the enginemen to keep moving until the last possible minute before they had to sidetrack their trains to let the fast trains overtake.

1961 July, J.Geoffrey Todd, “Impressions of railroading in the United States: Part Two”, in Trains Illustrated, page 423:

(rail transport) To divert (a locomotive or train) on to a lesser used track in order to allow other trains to pass.


cross-platform

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-cross-platform.wav

At Euston the cross-platform interchange between the Victoria Line and the Northern Line (City branch) will be unusual in that passengers will board trains travelling in the opposite direction to continue their journey. Normally, of course, in cross-platform interchange, trains depart in the same direction.

1962 October, “London gets its Victoria tube”, in Modern Railways, page 256:

(rail transport) That takes place between two trains in different platforms, usually across an island platform.


FOT

(rail transport) The station code of Fo Tan in Hong Kong.


fleeting

From Middle English fleten (“to float”), from Old English flēotan (“to float”), from Proto-Germanic *fleutaną, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd-. By surface analysis, fleet + -ing.

(US, rail transport) An automatic operation mode of an absolute signal that reserves a route for several trains following one another, without the need for dispatcher to re-set the route for each train.


Darth Vader

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Darth Vader.wav

"Darth" is a blend of dark + death (the derivation from Dark Lord of the Sith is a later development).
"Vader" is traditionally explained as being from Dutch vader (“father”). However, the idea of Vader's fatherhood was only developed for The Empire Strikes Back (after the character was introduced), making this improbable. It is more likely a shortening of invader or from the surname Vader.

When the new GEX stock (Darth Vaders!!) are in service, and the inevitable happens and they break down, EWS will no doubt trundle along to rescue it

1999 September 17, gl1, “Gatwick Express New Stock Nose Cones”, in uk.transport.london (Usenet):

What was modified so that 73s could haul (or push) and heat air-con stock on Gatwick Express (pre Darth Vader) - the locos or the coaches?

2005 January 5, Peter Masson, “What future for the MK3's?”, in uk.railway (Usenet):

Is there not also a degree of commonality with the Darth Vader units of Gatwick Express, which are likely to join the Southern fleet when (if) the GatEx franchise is terminated?

2006 February 11, Tony Polson, “First Capital Connect want more 319s from Southern”, in uk.railway (Usenet):

(informal, British, rail transport) A British Rail Class 460 train.


nasa

nasa (absolutive indefinite)
nasa (absolutive indefinite singular)
nasak (absolutive indefinite plural)
nasak (ergative indefinite)
nasak (ergative indefinite singular)
nasek (ergative indefinite plural)
nasari (dative indefinite)
nasari (dative indefinite singular)
nasei (dative indefinite plural)
nasaren (genitive indefinite)
nasaren (genitive indefinite singular)
nasen (genitive indefinite plural)
nasarekin (comitative indefinite)
nasarekin (comitative indefinite singular)
nasekin (comitative indefinite plural)
nasarengatik (causative indefinite)
nasarengatik (causative indefinite singular)
nasengatik (causative indefinite plural)
nasarentzat (benefactive indefinite)
nasarentzat (benefactive indefinite singular)
nasentzat (benefactive indefinite plural)
nasaz (indefinite instrumental)
nasaz (indefinite instrumental singular)
nasez (indefinite instrumental plural)
nasatan (indefinite inessive)
nasan (indefinite inessive singular)
nasetan (indefinite inessive plural)
nasatako (indefinite locative)
nasako (indefinite locative singular)
nasetako (indefinite locative plural)
nasatara (allative indefinite)
nasara (allative indefinite singular)
nasetara (allative indefinite plural)
nasataraino (indefinite terminative)
nasaraino (indefinite singular terminative)
nasetaraino (indefinite plural terminative)
nasatarantz (directive indefinite)
nasarantz (directive indefinite singular)
nasetarantz (directive indefinite plural)
nasatarako (destinative indefinite)
nasarako (destinative indefinite singular)
nasetarako (destinative indefinite plural)
nasatatik (ablative indefinite)
nasatik (ablative indefinite singular)
nasetatik (ablative indefinite plural)
nasarik (indefinite partitive)
nasatzat (indefinite prolative)


knitting

en-noun

knitting (countable and uncountable, plural knittings)

From Middle English knyttynge; equivalent to knit + -ing.

Fair point. Instead of tearing down the knitting and using diesel, tear down the knitting and use turbines.

2002 April 26, David Stevenson, “Re: Diesel vs Electric”, in uk.railway (Usenet), retrieved 2018-04-10, message-ID <B8EF5604.1C7F1%hoagy@cix.co.uk>:

It also helps, if: [...] the knitting is aligned with the track below, or rather vice versa, something else that went after 1996.

2007 October 19, "Capt. Deltic", “Re: GNER knitting down (again)”, in uk.railway (Usenet), retrieved 2018-04-10, message-ID <1192811754.580518.56340@e34g2000pro.googlegroups.com>:

My suggestion would be to electrify the uphill bits only, in each direction, and to use diesel traction when coming down the other side. Massive savings on posts and knitting for a start.

2016 December 9, Andrew Clarke, “Re: Great Western Railway warns of slower journeys on new trains”, in uk.railway (Usenet), retrieved 2018-04-10, message-ID <111f6d4a-e880-4b12-89f3-04250296ea7d@googlegroups.com>:

(rail transport, informal, UK) overhead electrification wires, OHLE


layup

The caboose, long decrepit, rested on a forgotten layup just north of the dry riverbed.

The City Hall station on the BMT line [...] has a lower level that was never put into service. Yet the platforms have been maintained, are well illuminated, and serve as a layup and storage area for the MTA.

2005, Julia Solis, New York Underground: The Anatomy of a City, New York City: Routledge, →ISBN, page 83:

(rail transport, countable or uncountable) A track used to store train cars.

Though I knew we shouldn't be there, she pulled me out of the tunnel and into the dark layup, its floors still grubby from the morning commute many hours ago.

A nonmoving empty train, or a layup, was easiest to pin down at night or on weekends when trains would park on the dormant stretches of express tracks.

2010, Michele Carlo, Fish Out of Agua: My Life on Neither Side of the (Subway) Tracks, New York City: Citadel Press, →ISBN, page 88:

(rail transport) A train car sitting in storage (laid up), often overnight.


knock down

en-verb

knock down (third-person singular simple present knocks down, present participle knocking down, simple past and past participle knocked down)

knocks down (present singular third-person)
knocking down (participle present)
knocked down (participle past)
knocked down (past)

(dated, rail transport) To send a stop signal to ensure a train is signalled to stop at the correct point.


washout

en-noun

washout (countable and uncountable, plural washouts)

washouts (plural)
wash-out (alternative)

huuhtoutuminen

erosion of a relatively soft surface by a sudden gush of water; channel produced by this action

In a message to NR [National Rail] staff on August 14, Haines said: "It's not just Scotland impacted by extreme wet weather. This week we have seen, and will continue to see, heavy rain fall. This has caused washouts and landslips across the length and breadth of Great Britain."

2020 August 26, “Network News: [Grant] Shapps Orders Rapid Review of Flash Flood Resilience from NR”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 9:

The erosion of a relatively soft surface by a sudden gush of water; also, a channel produced by this action.

(originally US, rail transport, road transport) A breach in a railway or road caused by flooding.


tramline

tramlines (plural)
tram line (alternative)

(rail transport) The rails that a tram runs on.


vestibule

Early 17th century, borrowed from French vestibule (“entrance court”), from Latin vestibulum (“forecourt, entrance court; entrance”), from vestiō (“to dress, clothe, vest”) + -bulum (“place, location”, nominal suffix). Doublet of vestibulum.

նախասրահ

small entrance hall before main hall or lobby

The exit side of the front vestibule contains a sliding door.

1912, Electric Railway Journal, volume XL, number 14, page 556:

The units have transverse seats, two and three astride the passageway with single or double longitudinal seats alongside the two entrance vestibules in each car.

1960 November, “New electric multiple-units for British Railways: Glasgow Suburban”, in Trains Illustrated, page 660:

(architecture) A small entrance hall, antechamber, passage, or room between the outer door and the main hall, lobby, or interior of a building.

(rail transport) An enclosed entrance at the end of a railway passenger car.

eteinen

enclosed entrance of a railway passenger car


Mexican standoff

en-noun

Mexican standoff (plural Mexican standoffs)

Mexican standoff
Reservoir Dogs
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

1876 US.
Three-way gun standoffs, popularized in spaghetti westerns such as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966), have come to be called Mexican standoffs, though this usage appears to date to the 1990s, notably in reference to Reservoir Dogs (1992); earlier usage refers to this as a “three-way standoff” or “triangular standoff”.

(rail transport) A near-collision between two trains; an averted cornfield meet.


B-unit

(trains) A locomotive with an engine, generator, and traction motors, but without a control cab.


tablet

→ Scottish Gaelic: tablaid

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-tablet.wav

From Middle English tablet, from Old French tablete (Modern French tablette), diminutive of table (“table”).

The latter's loss of time between Manakau and Levin was due to the mishap of dropping the tablet at Ohau, which entailed an out-of-course stop of 3 min. to recover it.

1939 November, “Overseas Railways: Locomotive Performance in New Zealand”, in Railway Magazine, page 351:

(rail transport) A type of round token giving authority for a train to proceed over a single-track line.


coche

Chavacano: coche

→ Basque: kotxe

→ Bikol Central: kotse

→ Cebuano: kotse

→ Ilocano: kotse

→ Sambali: kotsi

→ Tagalog: kotse

Borrowed from Middle French coche, from German Kutsche, from Hungarian kocsi, in reference to Kocs, a village in Hungary where the first horse-drawn vehicles with an innovative suspension system were manufactured in the 15th century. Doublet of coach.

(rail transport) car (a passenger-carrying unit in a subway or elevated train)


blowback

blowback (countable and uncountable, plural blowbacks)

blowbacks (plural)
blow-back (alternative)

The Boulogne stop lasted a few minutes, during which I was surprised to see no use was made of the blower. In this country, if you shut the regulator without the blower on, the odds are there will be a blowback.

1961 February, ""Balmore"", “Driving and firing modern French steam locomotives”, in Trains Illustrated, page 109:

(rail transport) On a steam locomotive, the reversal of exhaust gases when the regulator is closed without using the blower.


detrain

en-verb

detrain (third-person singular simple present detrains, present participle detraining, simple past and past participle detrained)

detrains (present singular third-person)
detraining (participle present)
detrained (participle past)
detrained (past)

If you plan to detrain at the next stop, please begin gathering your belongings.

At Bouira the detachment detrained, and the balance of the journey was made in the saddle.

1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantyne Books, published 1963, page 57:

Here my party detrained, but the train proceeded to Souk Ahras via Duvivier.

1944 January and February, Major J. C. F. Lloyd Williamson, “Ambulance Trains in Algeria and Tunisia”, in Railway Magazine, page 6:

Arriving at York under the station's magnificent curved roof is always a delight. Detraining, I ponder my next move.

2024 October 30, Paul Bigland, “The heat is on... and will the railway fray?”, in RAIL, number 1021, page 49:

(rail transport, intransitive) To exit from a train; to disembark.

wysiąść

(intransitive) to exit from a train; to disembark

Following the accident passengers were detrained through the rear cab.

The trouble occurred on the 10.5 a.m. Paddington-Bristol trip, when gangers' tools left on the track near Swindon punctured one of the unit's fuel tanks and the passengers had to be detrained to wait for the down "Merchant Venturer".

1961 February, “Motive Power Miscellany: Western Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 122:

(rail transport, transitive) To remove (a passenger or passengers) from a train; to evacuate (passengers) from a train.


terminus

Borrowed from English terminus, from Latin terminus (“boundary, limit”).

(rail transport) terminus: the end point of a transportation system, or the town or city in which it is located


See the Wikipedia article ISO 216, the international standard on paper sizes.

(UK, rail transport) A3 class, a class of steam locomotive used on the London and North Eastern Railway.


parliamentary

The train was moving less fast through the summer night. The swift express had changed into something almost a parliamentary, had stopped three times since Norwich, and now, at long last, was approaching Banton.

1931, Francis Beeding, “1/1”, in Death Walks in Eastrepps:

(British, historical, railways) Of a class of train which, by an act of parliament, ran both ways along a line, at least once each day, at the rate of one penny per mile.


dead weight

en-noun

dead weight (countable and uncountable, plural dead weights)

dead weights (plural)
deadweight (alternative)

Having dropped the coach, the trio returned with the Class 47 leading and the other two locomotives as dead weight.

2023 November 29, “Network News: Test runs for WCR fleet returnees”, in RAIL, number 997, page 24:

(rail transport) The total (unpowered) weight of a train to be propelled (or hauled) by the locomotive; another locomotive being hauled dead as part of the train is a dead weight.


side chain

side chains (plural)
sidechain (alternative)
side-chain (alternative)

When the screw coupling replaced the old chain couplings on passenger stock, the latter were retained and still coupled up to prevent severance of a train in the event of a screw coupling breaking. The contingency is so remote, however, that the side chains have been abolished.

1946 May and June, “The Why and The Wherefore: Miscellanea”, in Railway Magazine, pages 197–198:

(rail transport) On some railways, a chain fitted on both sides of a centre coupler or buffer at each end of a rail vehicle, which has a hook for connection to a corresponding chain on the next vehicle in a train.


blindside

blindsides (plural)
blind side (alternative)
blind-side (alternative)

(rail transport) A tram/train driver's field of blindness around a tram (trolley/streetcar) or a train; the side areas behind the tram/train driver.

slepý úhel

motor vehicle/train/tram driver's field of blindness


turret

From Middle English touret, from Old French torete (French tourette), diminutive of tour (“tower”), from Latin turris. Doublet of tor, tourelle, and tower. See tower.

оръдейна кула

a revolving tower constructed of thick iron plates

(rail transport) The elevated central portion of the roof of a passenger car, with sides that are pierced for light and ventilation.


loop

From Middle English loupe (“noose, loop”), earlier lowp-knot (“loop-knot”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse hlaup (“a run”), used in the sense of a "running knot", from hlaupa (“to leap”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną (“to leap, run”). Compare Swedish löp-knut (“loop-knot”), Danish løb-knude (“a running knot”), Danish løb (“a course”). More at leap. The verb is derived from the noun.

der

In 1908 the line was extended to a station called Wood Lane, which was built on a terminal track loop so that trains could turn round and go back the other way, [...]

2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 119:

(rail transport) A place at a terminus where trains or trams can turn round and go back the other way without having to reverse; a balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop.

Basingstoke-Exeter will test this. From Salisbury westwards, it's largely single-track since British Rail downgraded it in 1967. There's a ten-mile loop between Templecombe and Yeovil, as well as shorter loops at Chard, Axminster and Honiton.

2025 February 5, Philip Haigh, “Where track and train integration will be put to the test”, in RAIL, number 1028, page 51:


summit

PIE word
 *upó
The noun is derived from Late Middle English somet, somete (“head, top”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman sumet and Middle French sommet (masculine), somete, sommette (“top of a thing; highest point of a mountain”) (feminine) (modern French sommet), from Old French somet, sommette, from som, sum (“highest point, summit”) + -et (suffix forming diminutive masculine nouns), -ete, -ette (suffix forming diminutive feminine nouns). Som, sum are derived from Latin summum (“top, summit”), a noun use of the neuter of summus (“greatest, highest; top, uppermost”, adjective) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *upér (“over”) + *-m̥mos, *-tm̥mos (“suffix forming superlative adjectives”)). The modern English spelling was influenced by summity (“height or top of a thing; utmost degree, perfection”) (obsolete).
The verb is derived from the noun.

The topmost point or surface of a thing; the apex, the peak.

(nautical, rail transport, road transport) The highest point of a canal, railway, road, etc.


DA

Dhaka railway station
w:Kamalapur railway station

(rail transport) The station code of Dhaka railway station in Bangladesh.


tipple

en-noun

tipple (countable and uncountable, plural tipples)

Unknown but possibly from a Scandinavian source (see Norwegian tipla), or from tip + -le.

Alternative form: tippler

(countable, rail transport) An apparatus for unloading railroad freight cars by tipping them; the place where this is done.


mail train

A journey from Mombasa to Kampala is by no means dull. The mail train consists of about 13 carriages, three first, three second, three or four third, a restaurant car and two or three old first class non-corridor carriages used as seconds. This comes to about 400 tons tare. In addition there are two vans for crew and three or four covered freight trucks.

1950 April, Timothy H. Cobb, “The Kenya-Uganda Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 263:

The slip took place near the village of Lahat, shortly after the passage of the up and down mail trains between Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

1955 December, “Notes and News: Track Subsidence in Malaya”, in Railway Magazine, page 877:

This cutting from an East African newspaper caught our eye last month:
"The up mail train from Mombasa was held up for an hour at Kibwezi by an angry rhino on Monday night. The locomotive had collided with the rhino as it tried to cross the track. For some time the animal lay stunned between the rails but when it regained consciousness it was very irate. The engine driver, Mr. Mackenzie of Nairobi, tried unsuccessfully to frighten the rhino off the track but it refused to move. Eventually, it ran off into the bush and the train was able to proceed to Nairobi, where it arrived 28 minutes late."

1961 October, “Talking of Trains: B.R. exile at work?”, in Trains Illustrated, page 586:

There are special rooms where mail can be stored and stacked ready for despatch and accommodation with cooking facilities for T.P.O. crews who change from one mail train to another at Tamworth.

1962 December, “New station at Tamworth”, in Modern Railways, page 385:

As he passed though the station, he slowed to yell to the signalman, Frank 'Sailor' Bridges: "Sailor - have you anything between here and Fordham? Where's the mail?" Gimbert knew the mail train was due, and he didn't want to endanger another train with his burning bomb wagon.

2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 42:

(rail transport) A train used by the postal service to transport mail, and in some cases, to sort mail en route.


critter

First attested 1815, from a dialectal pronunciation of creature.

One of the biggest challenges facing a railfan photographer is the correct identification of one manufacturer's "critter" locomotive from that of another competing builder.

2025 March 7 (last accessed), R. Craig Rutherford, The Diesel Shop:

(rail transport, US) A small locomotive used in an industrial setting.


motive power

motive power (usually uncountable, plural motive powers)

While at first in the U.S.A. it may have been a matter of high-pressure salesmanship—and it has undoubtely been the irresistible enterprise of the General Motors Corporation, through its Electro-Motive subsidiary, that has set in motion this amazingly rapid transformation of American railway motive power, and has caused all the steam locomotive builders in the U.S.A. to follow suit or be left out in the cold—it seems now beyond dispute that, so far as the U.S.A. is concerned, the economics of the power question can be solved no other way.

1950 January, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, pages 12–13:

(rail transport, collectively) The locomotives that operate on a railway.


ERA

(European Union, railways) Initialism of European Railway Agency, called today the European Union Agency for Railways.


cowcatcher

With its long tapered cowcatcher, massive headlamp and enormous diamond smokestack behind, wagon-top boiler, high running-plate above the driving-wheels reached from a front door in the square side-window cab, cylinders with slide valves mounted on top, and double bogie tender, General in its present form is typical of much earlier American locomotive practice.

1942 February, “Notes and News: An Historic American Locomotive”, in Railway Magazine, page 56:

The locomotive was black, an ungainly contraption led by the triangular snout of the cowcatcher, though there would be few animals where this engine was headed.

2016, Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad, Fleet (2017), page 83:

It was a rural railway that served the fertile Fens of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. But because it flanked public roads and was unfenced (to save costs), it was deemed a tramway and its locomotives had to be fitted with a cowcatcher.

2023 January 11, Richard Foster, “British Rail's weirdest railways...: Wisbech & Upwell Tramway”, in RAIL, number 974, page 46:

(rail transport, principally US) A plough-shaped device affixed to the front of a locomotive (or other large vehicle), usually wedge or V-shaped so as to push or deflect objects on the tracks out of the way, to clear out the train's path and prevent the risk of derailment or major damage to it.

كانسة عقبات

plough-like device on the front of a train locomotive


riel

riel conductor

riel de toma

riel de guía


lifeguard

lifeguards (plural)
life-guard (alternative)

/ˈlaɪfˌɡɑɹd/

From life + guard, calque of Dutch lijfgarde, where life has the sense of Dutch lijf (“body”) (hence literally “bodyguard”). Compare German Leibgarde (“bodyguard”), Danish livgarde (“bodyguard”), Swedish livgarde (“bodyguard”). Compare also Old English līfweard (“guardian of life”).

cog

It also looked at what effect stronger lifeguards might have had. They protect the leading wheels from small obstacles and in modern trains have coped with hitting landslip debris.

2022 March 23, Philip Haigh, “Network News: Driver of ScotRail HST had only seconds to react, says RAIB”, in RAIL, number 953, page 11:

(rail transport) A sturdy metal bracket fixed in front of each of the leading wheels of a train to deflect small objects away from the wheels to prevent derailment.

Schienenräumer

rail transport: metal bracket to deflect small objects


all right

/ˀoʊ̯⁵¹ laɪ̯¹/

/ˀoʊ̯⁵¹ laɪ̯¹/

From Japanese オーライ (ōrai), from English all right.

閉塞，all right

闭塞，all right

(Taiwan, rail transport) Used in the point and call system to declare a lack of problems.


facing

(rail transport, of points and crossovers) Diverging in the direction of travel.


traductor

From Latin trāductiō, from trādūcō (“lead across, bring across”), from trans (“across, beyond”) + dūcō (“bear, carry”).

As soon as the bag is removed, the lever returns to its normal position by the action of the spring in the column, the traductor striking the rubber disc already referred to.

1896, Lawrence Saunders, S. R. Blundstone, The Railway Engineer - Volume 17, page 325:

Six pouches were to be put out at Warrington, and preparations were being made to use the traductors on the leading Aberdeen sorting carriage, as well as the four in the stowage van. […] from Moore station we counted five overbridges, and then, swiftly, with one man at each door the four bags in our van were fixed to the traductor arms. […] One more landmark, the Mersey bridge; once over this the traductors were lowered, and the moving of a big lever extended the net.

1948 March and April, O. S. Nock, “Scottish Night Mails of the L.M.S.R.—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 76:

Nearing Coatbridge, with five pouches to be set down, all four traductors on the stowage van were loaded ready, and there was yet another on the sorting carriage next in rear.

1961, Oswald Stevens Nock, British steam railways, page 56:

The ground apparatus consists of one or more standards from which the bags to be picked up by the train are hung, and a net to collect the bags from the traductors.

2002, Ian Harrison, Pat Hammond, Hornby: The Official Illustrated History, page 72:

(rail transport) A long arm that is used to suspend a bag to be dropped onto a passing train and which retracts automatically be means of a spring when the bag is dropped.


Bank

From Old English banc (“bank, hillock, embankment”), from Proto-Germanic *bankô.

der

Bank and Monument stations
Bank, Hampshire

Anybody familiar with the London Underground network will know that Bank Tube station is a place to be avoided - if at all possible - on a weekday morning. Located at the very heart of London's 'Square Mile' financial district, some 70,000 people detrain there during the morning peak, to pass through its gatelines and those at the adjoining station at Monument. A further 50,000 passengers squeeze into the station complex at exactly the same time of day, in order to change between the five lines that pass through it.

2019 October 23, Paul Stephen delivers a progress report on London Underground's transformative Bank Station capacity upgrade, Rail, page 68:

London Underground
London Underground#English

(rail transport) A major London Underground station in the City of London, named after the Bank of England and one of the busiest stations on the network (OS grid ref TQ3281)


Hall

* As an English, Scottish, Irish, German, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish surname: all from the noun hall. The name was likely reinforced by similar sounding words such as Swedish häll (“rock slab”).
* As a Chinese surname, variant Romanization of 何, 賀 /贺 (hè), see He.
** (locomotive): The locomotives were named after English and Welsh country houses with 'Hall' in their titles.
** (British and Scandinavian surnames): From the buildings, halls

Hall (disambiguation)#Places
Hall (surname)

(UK, rail transport) Hall class, a class of steam locomotive used on the GWR.


King

en-prop

King (countable and uncountable, plural Kings)

→ Japanese: キング (Kingu)

(UK, rail transport) King class, a class of steam locomotives once used on the GWR.


Met

(London, rail transport) The London Underground Metropolitan line.

(London, rail transport, historical, 1863–1933) The Metropolitan Railway.


Pacific

From Latin pācificus (“peace-making”), so called by Magellan because he sailed peacefully over it after weathering Cape Horn.

Britannia's firebox would appear to have derived from those of the Bulleid Pacifics, which it closely resembles.

1951 April, Stirling Everard, “A Matter of Pedigree”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 273:

These were the first class of tender locomotives with this wheel arrangement in the world, although there is some doubt as to whether the name "Pacific" was given to the type because New Zealand is in the Pacific Ocean or because some similar engines were built a few months later for the Missouri Pacific Railroad.

1954 August, J. B. Snell, “The New Zealand Government Railways—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 559:

(rail transport) A steam locomotive of the 4-6-2 wheel arrangement.


Pullman

Ellipsis of Pullman car, after the Pullman Palace Car Company, named after American engineer and industrialist George Pullman (1831–1897).

named-after

It is realised that the old Pullman standard sleeper, with its convertible "sections", each containing upper and lower berths, and with no greater privacy at night than the curtains drawn along both sides of a middle aisle, has had its day.

1944 November and December, “"Duplex Roomette" Sleeping Cars”, in Railway Magazine, page 324:

(rail transport, US) A railroad passenger car; especially one of the luxurious ones named after the eponymous Pullman Palace Car Company.


Saint

(UK, rail transport) Saint class, a class of steam locomotives used on the GWR.


Shay

(rail transport) A geared steam locomotive, patented by Ephraim Shay.


Star

* As a German and Jewish surname, from Star (“starling”).
* Also as a German and Jewish surname, semantic loan from German Stern (“star”).
* As a Dutch surname, from star (“stiff, rigid”).
* As a Slovene surname, from star (“old”).
* As an English given name, from star, sometimes originating as a nickname.

semantic loan

(UK, rail transport) Star class, a class of steam locomotives used on the GWR.


T

en-noun

T (countable and uncountable, plural Ts)

(rail transport, in multiple unit formations) Trailer car.


Underground

Although some of the stations on ' The Branch ' have not, as yet, suffered any considerable structural alterations, all are now equipped with the familiar Underground type name boards, and as a result the imposing titles of G.N. days have been ruthlessly curtailed.

1940 October, “Notes and News: The High Barnet Branch”, in Railway Magazine, page 569:

Heathrow has a 28% share of passengers arriving by rail, two-thirds of whom come by the Underground.

2019 October, John Glover, “Heathrow rail expansion”, in Modern Railways, page 71:

(UK, rail transport) The London Underground.


cabin

→ French: cabine (see there for further descendants)

→ Hawaiian: kāpena

→ Japanese: キャビン (kyabin)

→ Korean: 캐빈 (kaebin)

From Middle English caban, cabane, from Old French cabane, from Medieval Latin capanna (“a cabin”); see further etymology there. Doublet of cabana and cabane.

(rail transport, informal) A signal box.


DB

(rail transport) Initialism of Deutsche Bahn (German Railways). Previously used by its predecessor, Deutsche Bundesbahn.


tamper

(rail transport) A railway vehicle used to tamp down ballast.


couchette

English: couchette

Russian: кушетка (kušetka)


caboose

cabooses (plural)
camboose (alternative)
cambouse (alternative)

From French cambuse, from Middle Dutch kabuys, kabuis (Modern Dutch kombuis (“galley; kitchen”)). Cognate with Swedish kabyss.

(US, rail transport) The last car on a freight train, consisting of cooking and sleeping facilities for the crew; a guard’s van.


retainer

(rail transport, mechanical engineering) A retaining valve.


RE

Rewari Junction railway station
w:Rewari Junction railway station

(rail transport) The station code of Rewari Junction railway station in India.


ICE

(rail transport) Initialism of Intercity-Express (“German high speed train”).


Mogul

On that August Thursday afternoon, there was little freight traffic; a large "K3" Mogul went down with a short, fast goods, and a W.D. 2-8-0 proceeded northward light. […] We saw a few Gresley Moguls on goods, as a limited amount of freight traffic was sandwiched in even on this busy day.

1951 January, R. A. H. Weight, “A Railway Recorder in Essex and Hertfordshire”, in Railway Magazine, pages 44, 46:

(rail transport) A steam locomotive of the 2-6-0 wheel arrangement.


RPM

rpm (alternative)
R.P.M. (alternative)
R. P. M. (alternative)

Royapuram railway station
w:Royapuram railway station

(rail transport) The station code of Royapuram railway station in India.


WP

Western Pacific
w:Western Pacific Railroad

(rail transport) Initialism of Western Pacific.


IE

(rail transport) Initialism of Iarnród Éireann (“Irish Railways”).


IE

(rail transport) initialism of Iarnród Éireann


LAT

(rail transport) The station code of Lam Tin in Hong Kong.


CR

(UK, rail transport) Initialism of Caledonian Railway.


PPI

(education, rail transport) initialism of Politeknik Perkeretaapian Indonesia (“Indonesia Train Polytechnic”)


CPR

Canadian Pacific Railway
w:Canadian Pacific Railway

(rail transport, Canada, US) Initialism of Canadian Pacific Railway.


ATO

ATO (countable and uncountable, plural ATOs)

Trains running through the Thameslink 'Core' in central London are using Automatic Train Operation (ATO) with European Train Control System (ETCS) in regular service. [...] Using ATO will enable GTR to reach the intended 24 trains per hour target between St Pancras International and Blackfriars.

2020 January 2, “Thameslink uses ATO in 'Core'”, in Rail, page 12:

automatic train operation
w:automatic train operation

(rail transport) Initialism of automatic train operation.


BR

(UK, rail transport) Initialism of British Rail, formerly British Railways up to 1965.


CFR

Căile Ferate Române
w:Căile Ferate Române

(rail transport) initialism of Căile Ferate Române (“Romanian Railways”): the state railway carrier of Romania.


Jn

(rail transport, India) Abbreviation of junction.


S&T

(rail transport) Initialism of signalling and telecommunications.


ATP

ATP (countable and uncountable, plural ATPs)

automatic train protection
w:automatic train protection

(rail transport) Initialism of automatic train protection.


tampon

English: tampon

Persian: تامپون (tâmpon)

German: Tampon

Dutch: tampon

Italian: tampone

Japanese: タンポン (tanpon)

Korean: 탐폰 (tampon)

Portuguese: tampão

Russian: тампо́н (tampón)

Spanish: tampón

Nasalized variant of tapon, from Frankish *tappō, from Proto-Germanic *tappô (“plug, tap”), cognate with Dutch tappe, German Zapfen, Old English tæppa, English tap.


vagon

vagonok (plural)
vagon (nominative singular)
vagonok (nominative plural)
vagont (accusative singular)
vagonokat (accusative plural)
vagonnak (dative singular)
vagonoknak (dative plural)
vagonnal (instrumental singular)
vagonokkal (instrumental plural)
vagonért (causal-final singular)
vagonokért (causal-final plural)
vagonná (singular translative)
vagonokká (plural translative)
vagonig (singular terminative)
vagonokig (plural terminative)
vagonként (essive-formal singular)
vagonokként (essive-formal plural)
vagonban (inessive singular)
vagonokban (inessive plural)
vagonon (singular superessive)
vagonokon (plural superessive)
vagonnál (adessive singular)
vagonoknál (adessive plural)
vagonba (illative singular)
vagonokba (illative plural)
vagonra (singular sublative)
vagonokra (plural sublative)
vagonhoz (allative singular)
vagonokhoz (allative plural)
vagonból (elative singular)
vagonokból (elative plural)
vagonról (delative singular)
vagonokról (delative plural)
vagontól (ablative singular)
vagonoktól (ablative plural)
vagoné (singular)
vagonoké (plural)
vagonéi (singular)
vagonokéi (plural)
vagonom (first-person possessed-single possessive singular)
vagonjaim (first-person possessed-many possessive singular)
vagonod (possessed-single possessive second-person singular)
vagonjaid (possessed-many possessive second-person singular)
vagonja (possessed-single possessive singular third-person)
vagonjai (possessed-many possessive singular third-person)
vagonunk (first-person plural possessed-single possessive)
vagonjaink (first-person plural possessed-many possessive)
vagonotok (plural possessed-single possessive second-person)
vagonjaitok (plural possessed-many possessive second-person)
vagonjuk (plural possessed-single possessive third-person)
vagonjaik (plural possessed-many possessive third-person)

(rail transport) freight car, wagon (a railroad car drawn by a locomotive for carrying freight or, less frequently, people)


вагон

Holonym: поезд (poyezd, “train”)

утуйар вагон


SVG

Stevenage railway station
w:Stevenage railway station

(rail transport) The station code of Stevenage railway station in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England.


Bahn

Bahn (genitive)
Bahnen (plural)
Bahn (nominative singular)
Bahnen (definite nominative plural)
Bahn (genitive singular)
Bahnen (definite genitive plural)
Bahn (dative singular)
Bahnen (dative definite plural)
Bahn (accusative singular)
Bahnen (accusative definite plural)

English: gadgetbahn

→ Greater Polish: bana

→ Kashubian: ban

Russian: (Crimean, slang) бан (ban)

→ Silesian: bana

Barren (some speakers chiefly in casual speech)

From Middle High German ban, from Old High German *bana, from Proto-West Germanic *banu, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *banō. Cognate with Luxembourgish Bunn, Dutch baan.

Ich habe eine Tageskarte für Bus und Bahn.

(rail transport) railway/railroad or rail transport


parkway

Bristol Parkway railway station
M32 motorway
Stoke Park, Bristol

By surface analysis, a blend of car park + railway. However, it is possible that the term originally derived from Bristol Parkway railway station built in the early 1970s, which appears to have been named after the M32 motorway, also called Parkway because it runs through Stoke Park.

(rail transport, British, Australia) A railway station built on the edge of a town, typically with a large car park to function as a park and ride interchange.


TGV

Borrowed from French TGV, from train à grande vitesse (“high-speed train”).

He also makes the point that in France, SNCF is currently refurbishing some TGVs built in 1988.

2024 May 29, Peter Plisner, “Network News: Gibb plans HS2 alternative with 155mph Pendolinos”, in RAIL, number 1010, page 6:

(rail transport) A French national high-speed train, run by the rail service of the same name.


TGV

→ Portuguese: TGV

train à grande vitesse
train à grande vitesse#French

(rail transport) initialism of train à grande vitesse


NR

(rail transport) Initialism of Network Rail, a rail infrastructure manager in Great Britain.


flatcar

flatcars (plural)
flat car (alternative)

(rail transport, US) A railroad freight car without sides and roof.


silta

silta (nominative singular)
sillat (nominative plural)
silta (accusative nominative singular)
sillat (accusative nominative plural)
sillan (accusative genitive singular)
sillat (accusative genitive plural)
sillan (genitive singular)
siltojen (genitive plural)
siltain (genitive plural rare)
siltaa (partitive singular)
siltoja (partitive plural)
sillassa (inessive singular)
silloissa (inessive plural)
sillasta (elative singular)
silloista (elative plural)
siltaan (illative singular)
siltoihin (illative plural)
sillalla (adessive singular)
silloilla (adessive plural)
sillalta (ablative singular)
silloilta (ablative plural)
sillalle (allative singular)
silloille (allative plural)
siltana (essive singular)
siltoina (essive plural)
sillaksi (singular translative)
silloiksi (plural translative)
sillatta (abessive singular)
silloitta (abessive plural)
silloin (instructive plural)
See the possessive forms below. (comitative)
siltani (nominative singular)
siltani (nominative plural)
siltani (accusative nominative singular)
siltani (accusative nominative plural)
siltani (accusative genitive singular)
siltani (accusative genitive plural)
siltani (genitive singular)
siltojeni (genitive plural)
siltaini (genitive plural rare)
siltaani (partitive singular)
siltojani (partitive plural)
sillassani (inessive singular)
silloissani (inessive plural)
sillastani (elative singular)
silloistani (elative plural)
siltaani (illative singular)
siltoihini (illative plural)
sillallani (adessive singular)
silloillani (adessive plural)
sillaltani (ablative singular)
silloiltani (ablative plural)
sillalleni (allative singular)
silloilleni (allative plural)
siltanani (essive singular)
siltoinani (essive plural)
sillakseni (singular translative)
silloikseni (plural translative)
sillattani (abessive singular)
silloittani (abessive plural)
siltoineni (comitative plural)
siltasi (nominative singular)
siltasi (nominative plural)
siltasi (accusative nominative singular)
siltasi (accusative nominative plural)
siltasi (accusative genitive singular)
siltasi (accusative genitive plural)
siltasi (genitive singular)
siltojesi (genitive plural)
siltaisi (genitive plural rare)
siltaasi (partitive singular)
siltojasi (partitive plural)
sillassasi (inessive singular)
silloissasi (inessive plural)
sillastasi (elative singular)
silloistasi (elative plural)
siltaasi (illative singular)
siltoihisi (illative plural)
sillallasi (adessive singular)
silloillasi (adessive plural)
sillaltasi (ablative singular)
silloiltasi (ablative plural)
sillallesi (allative singular)
silloillesi (allative plural)
siltanasi (essive singular)
siltoinasi (essive plural)
sillaksesi (singular translative)
silloiksesi (plural translative)
sillattasi (abessive singular)
silloittasi (abessive plural)
siltoinesi (comitative plural)
siltamme (nominative singular)
siltamme (nominative plural)
siltamme (accusative nominative singular)
siltamme (accusative nominative plural)
siltamme (accusative genitive singular)
siltamme (accusative genitive plural)
siltamme (genitive singular)
siltojemme (genitive plural)
siltaimme (genitive plural rare)
siltaamme (partitive singular)
siltojamme (partitive plural)
sillassamme (inessive singular)
silloissamme (inessive plural)
sillastamme (elative singular)
silloistamme (elative plural)
siltaamme (illative singular)
siltoihimme (illative plural)
sillallamme (adessive singular)
silloillamme (adessive plural)
sillaltamme (ablative singular)
silloiltamme (ablative plural)
sillallemme (allative singular)
silloillemme (allative plural)
siltanamme (essive singular)
siltoinamme (essive plural)
sillaksemme (singular translative)
silloiksemme (plural translative)
sillattamme (abessive singular)
silloittamme (abessive plural)
siltoinemme (comitative plural)
siltanne (nominative singular)
siltanne (nominative plural)
siltanne (accusative nominative singular)
siltanne (accusative nominative plural)
siltanne (accusative genitive singular)
siltanne (accusative genitive plural)
siltanne (genitive singular)
siltojenne (genitive plural)
siltainne (genitive plural rare)
siltaanne (partitive singular)
siltojanne (partitive plural)
sillassanne (inessive singular)
silloissanne (inessive plural)
sillastanne (elative singular)
silloistanne (elative plural)
siltaanne (illative singular)
siltoihinne (illative plural)
sillallanne (adessive singular)
silloillanne (adessive plural)
sillaltanne (ablative singular)
silloiltanne (ablative plural)
sillallenne (allative singular)
silloillenne (allative plural)
siltananne (essive singular)
siltoinanne (essive plural)
sillaksenne (singular translative)
silloiksenne (plural translative)
sillattanne (abessive singular)
silloittanne (abessive plural)
siltoinenne (comitative plural)
siltansa (nominative singular)
siltansa (nominative plural)
siltansa (accusative nominative singular)
siltansa (accusative nominative plural)
siltansa (accusative genitive singular)
siltansa (accusative genitive plural)
siltansa (genitive singular)
siltojensa (genitive plural)
siltainsa (genitive plural rare)
siltaansa (partitive singular)
siltojaan (partitive plural)
siltojansa (partitive plural)
sillassaan (inessive singular)
sillassansa (inessive singular)
silloissaan (inessive plural)
silloissansa (inessive plural)
sillastaan (elative singular)
sillastansa (elative singular)
silloistaan (elative plural)
silloistansa (elative plural)
siltaansa (illative singular)
siltoihinsa (illative plural)
sillallaan (adessive singular)
sillallansa (adessive singular)
silloillaan (adessive plural)
silloillansa (adessive plural)
sillaltaan (ablative singular)
sillaltansa (ablative singular)
silloiltaan (ablative plural)
silloiltansa (ablative plural)
sillalleen (allative singular)
sillallensa (allative singular)
silloilleen (allative plural)
silloillensa (allative plural)
siltanaan (essive singular)
siltanansa (essive singular)
siltoinaan (essive plural)
siltoinansa (essive plural)
sillakseen (singular translative)
sillaksensa (singular translative)
silloikseen (plural translative)
silloiksensa (plural translative)
sillattaan (abessive singular)
sillattansa (abessive singular)
silloittaan (abessive plural)
silloittansa (abessive plural)
siltoineen (comitative plural)
siltoinensa (comitative plural)

[ˈs̠il̪t̪ɑ̝]

From Proto-Finnic *cilta, borrowed from Proto-Baltic *tílˀta (compare Latvian tilts, Lithuanian tiltas).

(rail transport) (observation) platform (open space at the end of a passenger car)


highball

Japanese: ハイボール, ハイ

From high + ball, of the same railroad origins as lowball.

A white ball hauled up to the crossbar indicated that the track was clear; a black ball, run up half way, meant stop. This was the origin of the use of the word "highball" to indicate a clear line ahead, which is still used in U.S.A. railway practice.

1946 November and December, “Notes and News: The American Highball”, in Railway Magazine, page 382:

(rail transport, US) An all clear or full speed ahead signal.


BY

Byculla railway station
w:Byculla railway station

(rail transport) The station code of Byculla railway station in India.


steamer

From steam + -er. The steamer duck or steamer (sense 6.2) is apparently named for its resemblance to a paddle steamer when swimming rapidly.

A mode of transportation propelled by steam.

(rail transport) A steam-powered road locomotive; a traction engine.


sleeper

Compare Norwegian sleip (“a sleeper (a timber); as adjective, slippery, smooth”). See slape.

траверса

structural timber in a floor perpendicular to the joists and floorboards

The train, minus the three abandoned trucks, again proceeded at a slow pace, with a pump trolley doing pilot ahead ; this was very necessary as a great many sleepers were found to have been burnt underneath the fishplates.

1901, George Gipps, The Fighting in North China (up to the Fall of Tientsin City), Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh, →OL, page 40:

I should imagine that the smooth riding and the quietness of the diesel or electric cab, coupled with the effect on the eyes of endless successions of sleepers disappearing from sight immediately under the driver's eyes, might in time have a soporific effect, so that the company of a second man, who can assist in signal observations when he is not at work in the engine cab, seems highly desirable in such conditions.

1961 July, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 401:

(rail transport, British) A railroad tie.


sleeping car

sleeping cars (plural)
sleeper car (alternative)

In August 1859, eighty years ago, a sleeping car appeared on the Chicago & Alton Railroad of the United States, a great advance on the primitive facilities previously available.

1939 November, “Pertinent Paragraphs: The Sleeping Car”, in Railway Magazine, page 360:

Today, the 'Night Riviera' is one of only two sleeping car services that survive in the UK.

2024 September 4, David Clough, “All aboard the 'Night Riviera' to Penzance”, in RAIL, number 1017, page 58:

(rail transport) A railroad car with sleeping facilities for passengers travelling overnight.

спален вагон

a railroad car with sleeping facilities for passengers travelling overnight.


rolling stock

en-noun

rolling stock (countable and uncountable, plural rolling stocks)

rolling stocks (plural)
rolling-stock (alternative)
rollingstock (alternative)

... while Grand Union says spare rolling stock could be used to provide additional capacity during events at the Principality Stadium and Celtic Manor Resort.

2019 October, “South Wales open access bid”, in Modern Railways, page 15:

(rail transport, uncountable, collectively) All vehicles that move on a railway, powered or unpowered.


interchange

interchange (countable and uncountable, plural interchanges)

/ˈɪntɚt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ/

From Old French entrechange, by surface analysis, inter- + change.

Holborn tube station is the only interchange between the London Underground Central and Piccadilly Lines.

Moving on again, I catch another GWR Class 802 bound for Oxford via the Cotswold Line. Our first stop is at one of the newest stations on the network - Worcestershire Parkway, which opened on February 23. It's a four-platform (actually three-platform) split-level interchange with the line from Birmingham to Bristol.

2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 67:

(rail transport, countable) A connection between two or more lines, services or modes of transport; a station at which such a connection can be made.

交換 /交换

rail transport: connection between two or more lines, services or modes of transport


line up

en-verb

line up (third-person singular simple present lines up, present participle lining up, simple past and past participle lined up)

lines up (present singular third-person)
lining up (participle present)
lined up (participle past)
lined up (past)

(trains) To have switches set so the train is capable of moving along its correct route.


Hudson

The water-level route, the whistle and the loud staccato exhaust of this great engine recalled most vividly memories of the New York Central Hudsons highballing along the Hudson River between Harmon and Albany!

1960 October, P. Ransome-Wallis, “Modern motive power of the German Federal Railway: Part Two”, in Trains Illustrated, page 613:

(rail transport, US, Canada) A steam locomotive of the 4-6-4 wheel arrangement.


cupola

Borrowed from Italian cupola, from Latin cūpula (“little tub”); from Latin cūpa, cuppa (“cup”); named for its resemblance to a cup turned over.

(railways, Canada, dated) a small viewing window in the top of the caboose for looking over the train, or the part of the caboose where one looks through this window.


braked

On most aircraft, the mainwheels are braked, but the nosewheel or tailwheel is not.

(mechanical engineering, rail transport, aviation, of a wheel) Equipped with brakes (the vehicle-stopping devices).


panto

en-noun

panto (countable and uncountable, plural pantos)

(countable, rail transport, informal) Clipping of pantograph.


Angus

Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Aonghas, perhaps literally "one choice".

(rail transport) A nickname for the 0-8-8-0 train configuration.


FFS

Ferrovie Federali Svizzere
w:it:Ferrovie Federali Svizzere

(Switzerland, rail transport) initialism of Ferrovie Federali Svizzere (“Swiss Federal Railways”)