point

en-noun

point (countable and uncountable, plural points)

→ Cantonese: point

→ Indonesian: poin

→ Japanese: ポイント (pointo)

→ Korean: 포인트 (pointeu)

→ Malay: poin

From Middle English poynt, from Old French point m (“dot; minute amount”), from Latin pūnctum (“a hole punched in; a point, puncture”), substantive use of pūnctus m, perfect passive participle of pungō (“I prick, punch”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“prick, punch”)); alternatively, from Old French pointe f (“sharp tip”), from Latin pūncta f (past participle). Mostly displaced native Middle English ord (“point”), from Old English ord (“point”). Doublet of pointe, ponto, puncto, punctum, punt, and punto.

kärki

position at the front or vanguard of an advancing force

decimal point

not used when reading decimal fractions aloud

(rail transport, UK, in the plural) A railroad switch.


bank

banks (plural)
banck (alternative obsolete)
bancke (alternative obsolete)
banke (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English bank, from Old English hōbanca (“couch”) and Old English banc (“bank, hillock, embankment”), from Proto-Germanic *bankô. Akin to Old Norse bakki (“elevation, hill”), Norwegian bakke (“slope, hill”).

der

This is the hardest duty on the railway, for the trains are heavy and there are some long 1 in 40 banks.

1940 December, O. S. M. Raw, “The Rhodesia Railways—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 640:


bank

en-verb

bank (third-person singular simple present banks, present participle banking, simple past and past participle banked)

banks (present singular third-person)
banking (participle present)
banked (participle past)
banked (past)
banck (alternative obsolete)
bancke (alternative obsolete)
banke (alternative obsolete)

Some interesting facts have recently been made known by the L.N.E.R. concerning the 178-ton Garratt 2-8-0 + 0-8-2 engine No. 2395, which since construction in 1925 has spent the whole of its working life banking coal trains up the 3 miles of 1 in 40 between Wentworth junction and West Silkstone, on the Worsborough branch, near Barnsley.

1942 March, “Notes and News: Locomotive Notes”, in Railway Magazine, page 93:

[...] the 4-4-0 unhappily stalled after a stop on Reading Old Bank with its eight-coach load and the Reading Up Line pilot, a "Hall", had to bank the train into Reading General.

1960 July, “Motive Power Miscellany: Western Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 443:

Soon after leaving Bebra the line rises, mostly at 1 in 74, for 7 miles to Cornberg and all trains of over 400 tons are banked.

1960 September, P. Ransome-Wallis, “Modern motive power of the German Federal Railway: Part One”, in Trains Ilustrated, page 558:

(rail transport, UK) To provide additional power for a train ascending a bank (incline) by attaching another locomotive.


AA

en:Alcoholics Anonymous
en:Anna's Archive
en:The AA

(US, rail transport) Initialism of Ann Arbor Railroad.


triangle

/ˈtɹaɪəŋɡəl/

/ˈtɹaɪˌæŋɡəl/

/ˈtɹaɪˌæŋɡəl/

PIE word
 *tréyes
From Middle English triangle, from Old French triangle, from Latin triangulum, noun use of adjective triangulus (“three-cornered, having three angles”), from trēs (“three”) + angulus (“corner, angle”), equivalent to tri- + angle.

After turning on the triangle at Jeumont, we set off light engine back to Aulnoye.

1961 March, ""Balmore"", “Driving and firing modern French steam locomotives”, in Trains Illustrated, page 147:

(rail transport) A triangular formation of railway tracks, with a curve on at least one side.


mother

mothers (plural)
mither (alternative Northern-England Scotland)

Australian Kriol: motha

→ Japanese: マザー (mazā)

→ Korean: 마더 (madeo)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr
Proto-Germanic *mōdēr
Proto-West Germanic *mōder
Old English mōdor
Middle English moder
English mother
From Middle English moder, from Old English mōdor, from Proto-West Germanic *mōder, from Proto-Germanic *mōdēr, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr. Doublet of Madeira, mata, mater, matrix, and matter.
Some have proposed that the "dregs" sense is from Middle Dutch modder (“filth”), from Proto-Germanic *muþraz (“sediment”), but modder is not known in this meaning. On the other hand, words for "mother" have developed the secondary sense of "dregs" in several Romance and Germanic languages; compare Dutch moer, French mère de vinaigre, German Essigmutter, Italian madre, Medieval Latin māter, and Spanish madre.

ʔindi

female (human) who parents a child, gives birth to a baby, or is pregnant

metro-

of or pertaining to the mother, such as metropolis

my very educated mother just served us nachos

my very educated mother just served us nine pizzas

my very educated mother just served us nine pumpkins

my very educated mother just served us noodles

my very excellent mother just served us nine pizzas

(rail transport) A locomotive which provides electrical power for a slug.


car

cars (plural)
carr (alternative archaic)

→ French: car

→ Russian: кар (kar)

⇒ Sanskrit: कारयान (kārayāna)

→ Japanese: カー (kā)

→ Hindi: कार (kār)

→ Urdu: کار (kār)

Inherited from Middle English carre, borrowed from Anglo-Norman carre, from Old Northern French (compare Old French char), from Latin carrus (“two-wheeled baggage wagon”), from Gaulish *karros, from Proto-Celtic *karros (“wagon”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós (“vehicle”). Doublet of carrus and horse.

der

The conductor coupled the cars to the locomotive.

Any vehicle designed to run on rails, especially an unpowered one towed by being connected to others.

(rail transport, chiefly Canada, US) An unpowered unit in a railroad train, used to hold either passengers or cargo.

The 11:10 to London was operated by a 4-car diesel multiple unit.

(rail transport) an individual vehicle, powered or unpowered, in a multiple unit.

From the frontmost car of the subway, he filmed the progress through the tunnel.

(rail transport) A passenger-carrying unit in a subway or elevated train, whether powered or not.

en:passenger-carrying unit in a subway or elevated train, whether powered or not


quadruple

en-verb

quadruple (third-person singular simple present quadruples, present participle quadrupling, simple past and past participle quadrupled)

quadruples (present singular third-person)
quadrupling (participle present)
quadrupled (participle past)
quadrupled (past)

From Middle English quadruple, from Latin quadruplus. Can be analyzed as quadri- + -ple.

On June 8, 1872, the London & North Western Railway obtained powers to quadruple its main line, and a new tunnel was bored for the up and down slow lines.

1950 September, “Network News: Watford Tunnel, L.M.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 641:

Quadrupling the short remaining stretch of three-track railway north of Rugby, left over by the turn of the century modernisation, is a possibility that could be pursued.

2019 October, “Railtalk: HS2 delay - time for lateral thinking”, in Modern Railways, page 7:

A long-term aspiration is to quadruple the cross-country route between Peterborough and Werrington Junction, removing any conflict between trains on the Spalding and Leicester lines.

2020 April 22, Paul Shannon, “Felixstowe: Is 47 trains a day achievable?”, in Rail, page 52:

(rail transport) To provide four parallel running lines on a given stretch of railway.


hole

→ Japanese: ホール (hōru)

→ Korean: 홀 (hol)

Sranan Tongo: olo

Inherited from Middle English hole, hol, from Old English hol (“orifice, hollow place, cavity”), from Proto-West Germanic *hol, from Proto-Germanic *hulą (“hollow space, cavity”), noun derivative of Proto-Germanic *hulaz (“hollow”), which is of uncertain ultimate origin. Related to hollow.

отвор

orifice (see anus etc. for specific body cavities)

know one's ass from a hole in the ground

know one's head from a hole in the ground

know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground

We’re supposed to take the hole at Cronk and wait for the Limited to pass.

(slang, rail transport) A passing loop; a siding provided for trains traveling in opposite directions on a single-track line to pass each other.


stock car

stock cars (plural)
stockcar (alternative)

(rail transport) A railway car for carrying livestock.


chair

→ Assamese: চেয়াৰ (sear)

desc

→ Bengali: চেয়ার (ceẏar), চ্যায়ার (cêẏar), চ্যার (cêr) — obsolete

→ Odia: ଚେଆର୍ (ceār), ଚିୟାର୍ (ciyār), ଚିଆର (ciāra)

→ Sylheti: ꠌꠤꠀꠞ (siar)

Tamil: சேர் (cēr)

Tok Pisin: sea, sia

→ Tongan: sea

From Middle English chayer, chaire, chaiere, chaere, chayre, chayere, from Old French chaiere, chaere, from Latin cathedra (“seat”), from Ancient Greek καθέδρα (kathédra), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἕδρα (hédra, “seat”). Displaced native stool and settle, which now have more specialised senses. Doublet of cathedra and chaise.

The wooden or steel keys used to secure bull-head rails in their chairs are usually driven in the direction of the traffic, so that the effects of rail-creep may be made use of to wedge the keys more firmly, rather than to encourage them to drop out.

1934 February, “The Why and The Wherefore: Chair-keys”, in Railway Magazine, page 139:

(rail transport) A cast-iron component used on railways to support bullhead rails and secure them to the sleepers.


buff

en-noun

buff (countable and uncountable, plural buffs)

From buffe (“leather”), from Middle French buffle (“buffalo”).

(rail transport) Compressive coupler force that occurs during a slack bunched condition.


NS

(rail transport) Norfolk Southern (Railroad)

(rail transport) Initialism of Nederlandse Spoorwegen. (Dutch Railways)


read

en-verb

read (third-person singular simple present reads, present participle reading, simple past read, past participle read or (archaic, dialectal) readen)

reads (present singular third-person)
reading (participle present)
read (past)
read (participle past)
readen (archaic dialectal participle past)
read (infinitive)
read (first-person present singular)
read (first-person past singular)
read (present second-person singular)
read (past second-person singular)
reads (present singular third-person)
read (past singular third-person)
read (plural present)
read (past plural)
read (present subjunctive)
read (past subjunctive)
read (imperative present)
reading (participle present)
read (participle past)
readen (participle past)

From Middle English reden, from Old English rǣdan (“to counsel, advise, consult; interpret, read”), from Proto-West Germanic *rādan, from Proto-Germanic *rēdaną (“advise, counsel”), from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₁dʰ- (“to arrange”).
Cognate with Scots rede, red (“to advise, counsel, decipher, read”), Saterland Frisian räide (“to advise, counsel”), West Frisian riede (“to advise, counsel”), Dutch raden (“to advise; guess”), German raten (“to advise; guess”), Danish råde (“to advise”), Swedish råda (“to advise, counsel”), Persian رده (rade, “to order, to arrange, class”). In West Germanic the verb had a sense “interpret”, which developed further into “interpret letters” in English and “interpret by intuition, guess” on the continent. Compare rede.

lees

to look at and interpret letters or other information

atzeman

of text, etc., to be interpreted or read in a particular way

olvasd

to substitute (a corrected piece of text in place of an erroneous one); used to introduce an emendation of a text

A repeater signal may be used where the track geometry makes the main signal difficult to read from a distance.

(transitive, rail transport) To observe and comprehend (a displayed signal).

leolvas

to observe and comprehend (a displayed signal)


snail

From the Middle English snaile, snayle, from the Old English sneġel, from Proto-Germanic *snagilaz. Cognate with Low German Snagel,
Snâel, Snâl (“snail”), German Schnegel (“slug”). Compare also Old Norse snigill, from Proto-Germanic *snigilaz.

(rail transport) A locomotive with a prime mover but no traction motors, used to provide extra electrical power to another locomotive.


slug

Nicoline van der Sijs
Slug (disambiguation)

Originally referred to a slow, lazy person, from Middle English slugge (“lazy person", also "sloth, slothfulness”), probably of either Old English or Old Norse origin; compare Norn slug (“lazy, slothful, sluggish”), dialectal Norwegian slugg (“a large, heavy body”), sluggje (“heavy, slow person”), Danish slog (“rascal, rogue”); perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sliǵ-ōn, from *sley- (“smooth; slick; sticky; slimy”) or otherwise from the root of Old Norse slókr (“lazy person, oaf”), whence Icelandic slókur (“laziness”). Compare also Dutch slak (“snail, slug”). Doublet of slotch.

inh

(rail transport) An accessory to a diesel-electric locomotive, used to increase adhesive weight and allow full power to be applied at a lower speed. It has trucks with traction motors, but lacks a prime mover, being powered by electricity from the mother locomotive, and may or may not have a control cab.


loco

A locomotive is, next to a marine engine, the most sensitive thing man ever made; and No. .007, besides being sensitive, was new. The red paint was hardly dry on his spotless bumper-bar, his headlight shone like a fireman’s helmet, and his cab might have been a hard-wood-finish parlour. They had run him into the round-house after his trial—he had said good-bye to his best friend in the shops, the overhead travelling-crane—the big world was just outside; and the other locos were taking stock of him.

1898, Rudyard Kipling, chapter .007, in The Day's Work, New York: Doubleday & McClure Co., page 243:

Small boys in 1963 could have traction engines with real steam coming out of the funnel, and Old Western locos had flashing lights, hooters and cow-pushers.

1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 94:

(rail transport, informal) A locomotive.


road

roads (plural)
rade (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English rode, rade (“ride, journey”), from Old English rād (“riding, hostile incursion”), from Proto-West Germanic *raidu, from Proto-Germanic *raidō (“a ride”), from Proto-Indo-European *reydʰ- (“to ride”). Doublet of raid, acquired from Scots. Cognates include West Frisian reed (paved trail/road, driveway).
The current primary meaning of "street, way for traveling" originated relatively late—Shakespeare seemed to expect his audiences to find it unfamiliar—and probably arose through reinterpretation of roadway "a way for riding on" as saying "way" twice, in other words as a tautological compound.

his driveway doesn't go all the way to the road

someone's driveway doesn't go all the way to the road

the grass is always greener on the other side of the road

the road to hell is paved with good intentions

what happens on the road stays on the road

The new depot, on which work started in May, 1956, has three reception roads leading to 13 sidings capable of taking 25 trains, a 450 ft.-long car examination shed with nine roads, a lifting shop with two roads and three permanent way sidings.

1959 November, “L.T. and E.R. developments in East London”, in Trains Illustrated, page 527:

(US, rail transport) A railway or (UK, rail transport) a single railway track.


path

From Middle English path, peth, from Old English pæþ (“path, track”), from Proto-West Germanic *paþ, from Proto-Germanic *paþaz (“path”). The Proto-Germanic term is possibly borrowed from Iranian, from Proto-Iranian *pántaHh, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *pántaHs, from Proto-Indo-European *póntoh₁s, from the root *pent- (“to pass”), however this is disputed. Cognate with West Frisian paad, Dutch pad, German Pfad. Indo-Iranian cognates could be Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬧𐬙𐬃 (paṇtā̊, “way”), Old Persian 𐎱𐎰 (p-θ /paθi/)), Sanskrit पन्था (panthā). See also English find). Doublet of panth.

lead someone down the garden path, lead someone up the garden path

"Permissive" working allows more than one train to be in a block section at one time but trains must be run at low speed in order to stop on sight behind the train in front. Such working is often authorised to allow freight trains to "bunch" together to await a path through a bottleneck instead of being strung out over several block sections, as would be necessary if absolute working were in force.

1962 October, “Talking of Trains: The collisions at Connington”, in Modern Railways, page 232:

... while the planned hourly fast 'Connect' service from Middlesbrough to Newcastle has been postponed indefinitely due to problems in finding paths for it on the East Coast main line.

2019 October, James Abbott, “Esk Valley revival: December 2019 changes”, in Modern Railways, page 78:

Echoing McNaughton's comments in 2009, it adds: "The WCML has exhausted its available train paths and no extra services could be run without further significant investment to enhance current infrastructure or build a new line.

2020 May 6, Philip Haigh, “Just one more stop on the long journey to HS2 fulfillment [sic]”, in Rail, page 65:

(rail transport) A slot available for allocation to a railway train over a given route in between other trains.


highway

highways (plural)
hwy. (alternative abbreviation)
hwy (alternative abbreviation)
hi'way (alternative abbreviation)
hi-way (alternative abbreviation)
hiway (alternative abbreviation)
hi way (alternative abbreviation)

From Middle English heiȝwai, heiȝwei, from Old English hēahweġ (“main road, highway”), corresponding to high + way. Compare highgate, high street, high road.
Cognate with Scots heaway, heway, hieway, hichway, heichway (“highway”).

(law, rail transport) Any public road for vehicular traffic.


rail

en-verb

rail (third-person singular simple present rails, present participle railing, simple past and past participle railed)

rails (present singular third-person)
railing (participle present)
railed (participle past)
railed (past)

From Middle English rail, rayl, *reȝel, *reȝol (found in reȝolsticke (“a ruler”)), partly from Old English regol (“a ruler, straight bar”) and partly from Old French reille; both from Latin regula (“rule, bar”), from regō (“to rule, to guide, to govern”); see regular. Doublet of regal, regula, rigol, and rule.

doublet

(transitive, rail transport, of rolling stock) To place on a track.


down

en-adv

down (not generally comparable, comparative farther down, superlative farthest down)

farther down (comparative)
farthest down (superlative)

up

antonym(s) of “from a higher position to a lower one”

up

antonym(s) of “into a state of non-operation”

up

From Middle English doun, doune, from Old English dūne (“down”), aphetic form of adūne (“down, downward”), from earlier ofdūne (“down”, literally “off the hill”), from of (“of, off of”) + dūn (“hill, mount, dune, down”). More at Etymology 2 below. For the development from directional phrases to prepositions, compare Middle Low German dāle (“down, downwards”, literally “(in/to the) dale/valley”), whence German Low German dal (“down”). Compare also Saterland Frisian deel (“down”, literally “to/into the dale”).

ncog

(rail transport) In the direction leading away from the principal terminus, away from milepost zero.

下りの

away from principal terminus in railroads


down

en-adj

down (comparative more down, superlative most down)

tlb

(chiefly predicative, but see usage notes)

more down (comparative)
most down (superlative)

The down train leaves at 10:05.

(rail transport, of a train) Travelling in the direction leading away from the principal terminus, away from milepost zero.


cut

en-noun

cut (countable and uncountable, plural cuts)

From Middle English cutten, kitten, kytten, ketten (“to cut”) (compare Scots kut, kit (“to cut”)), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse *kytja, *kutta, from Proto-Germanic *kutjaną, *kuttaną (“to cut”), of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *kwetwą (“meat, flesh”) (compare Old Norse kvett (“meat”)). Akin to Middle Swedish kotta (“to cut or carve with a knife”) (compare dialectal Swedish kåta, kuta (“to cut or chip with a knife”), Swedish kuta, kytti (“a knife”)), Norwegian Bokmål kutte (“to cut”), Norwegian Nynorsk kutte (“to cut”), Icelandic kuta (“to cut with a knife”), Old Norse kuti (“small knife”), Norwegian kyttel, kytel, kjutul (“pointed slip of wood used to strip bark”). Displaced native Middle English snithen (from Old English snīþan; compare German schneiden), which still survives in some dialects as snithe or snead. See snide. Adjective sense of "drunk" (now rare and now usually used in the originally jocular derivative form of half-cut) dates from the 17th century, from cut in the leg, to have cut your leg, euphemism for being very drunk.

leikkaus

notch, passage, or channel made by cutting or digging

The shunter has a lightweight portable radio transmitter by which, as he uncouples an incoming train into cuts for marshalling, he informs the Traffic Office of the number of wagons in each cut and its siding; [...].

1960 June, “Talking of Trains: The new Margam yard”, in Trains Illustrated, page 323:

en:any result of cutting, literally or figuratively

(literal, figurative) The result of cutting.

(rail transport) A string of railway cars coupled together, shorter than a train.


sandbox

sandboxes (plural)
sand box (alternative)
sand-box (alternative)

→ Chinese: 沙盒 (shāhé) (calque)

For the most part they were small standard gauge 0-6-0 side tanks of the type illustrated, with long tapered chimneys and an unusual feature for the Continent in the shape of domeless boilers, the protuberance just behind the chimney being a sandbox.

1941 August, “Notes and News: The Swiss South Eastern Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 376:

(rail transport) A box carried on locomotives, from which sand runs onto the rails in front of the driving wheels, to prevent slipping.

sorrera

rail transport: box from which sand runs onto the rails


light

en-adj

light (comparative lighter, superlative lightest)

lighter (comparative)
lightest (superlative)
lite (alternative)
lighte (alternative)
lyght (alternative)
lyghte (alternative)
licht (alternative Scotland)

forceful

antonym(s) of “having little force or momentum”

calorific

antonym(s) of “low in fat, calories, etc”

crucial

antonym(s) of “having little value or significance”

From Old English lēoht, līht, from Proto-West Germanic *lį̄ht, from Proto-Germanic *linhtaz or *līhtaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“light”).
Cognate with Dutch licht, German leicht, Swedish lätt, Norwegian lett, Albanian lehtë, Latin levis, Russian лёгкий (ljóxkij), Lithuanian lengvas, Sanskrit लघु (laghu), Persian لاغر (lāghar).

the light locomotives ; a locomotive may be moved light

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.

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

Lacking that which burdens or makes heavy.

(rail transport, of a locomotive or consist of locomotives) Without any piece of equipment attached or attached only to a caboose.


meet

From Middle English meten, from Old English mētan (“to meet, find, encounter”), from Proto-West Germanic *mōtijan (“to meet”), from Proto-Germanic *mōtijaną (“to meet”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“to come, meet”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots met, mete, meit (“to meet”), North Frisian mete (“to meet”), West Frisian mette, moetsje (“to meet”), Dutch ontmoeten (“to meet”), Low German möten (“to meet”), Danish møde (“to meet”), Norwegian Bokmål møte (“to meet”), Swedish möta (“to meet”), Icelandic mæta (“to meet”). Related to moot.

der

(rail transport) A meeting of two trains in opposite directions on a single track, when one is put into a siding to let the other cross.


rod

From Middle English rodde, from Old English *rodd or *rodde (attested in dative plural roddum (“rod, pole”)), of uncertain origin, but probably from Proto-Germanic *rudd- (“stick, club”), from Proto-Indo-European *rewdʰ- (“to clear land”). Compare Old Norse rudda (“club”). For the root, compare English rid. Presumably unrelated to Proto-Germanic *rōdō (“rod, pole”).

In the early days troubles were experienced with oscillation from the rod drive and with the transformers, but were overcome later, and these machines performed useful service until superseded by more modern locomotives less costly in maintenance.

1960 December, Cecil J. Allen, “Operating a mountain main line: the Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 743:

(rail transport) A coupling rod or connecting rod, which links the driving wheels of a steam locomotive, and some diesel shunters and early electric locomotives.


tractor

→ Bengali: ট্র্যাক্টর (ṭrjakṭor)

→ Japanese: トラクター (torakutā)

desc

→ Hindi: ट्रेक्टर (ṭrekṭar), ट्रैक्टर (ṭraikṭar)

→ Khmer: ត្រាក់ទ័រ (traktɔə)

→ Korean: 트랙터 (teuraekteo)

desctree

→ Russian: тра́ктор (tráktor), тра́кторъ (tráktor) — Pre-reform orthography (1918)
→ Armenian: տրակտոր (traktor)
→ Azerbaijani: traktor
⇒ Chinese:
Cantonese: 拖拉機 /拖拉机 (to¹ laai¹ gei¹)
Dungan: туәлаҗи (tuəlaži)
Mandarin: 拖拉機 /拖拉机 (tuōlājī)
Min Nan: 拖拉機 /拖拉机 (thoa-la-ki / tho-la-ki)
→ Bouyei: toylayjiy
→ Burmese: ထော် လာဂျီ (htau lagyi)
→ Lü: ᦷᦒᧈᦟᦱᧈᦋᦲᧈ (tho¹laa¹tsii¹)
→ Tibetan: ཐོ་ལ་ཅི (tho la ci)
→ Zhuang: dohlahgih
→ Dungan: трактор (traktor)
→ Georgian: ტრაქტორი (ṭrakṭori)
→ Ingrian: traktora
→ Kazakh: трактор (traktor)
→ Korean: 뜨락또르 (tteurakttoreu) (North Korea)
→ Kyrgyz: трактор (traktor)
→ Mongolian:
Cyrillic script: трактор (traktor)
Mongolian script: ᠲᠷᠠᠻᠲᠣᠷ (traktor)
→ Tajik: трактор (traktor)
→ Turkmen: traktor
→ Uyghur: تراكتور (traktor)
→ Uzbek: traktor

desc

→ Thai: แทรกเตอร์ (trɛ́k-dtə̂ə)

→ Thai: แทรกเตอร์ (trɛ́k-dtə̂ə)

→ Urdu: ٹْرَیکْٹَر (ṭraikṭar), ٹَرَیکْٹَر (ṭaraikṭar)

Formed from Latin tractus, perfect passive participle of trahere (“to pull”), + agent noun suffix -or.

On the other hand the EE type 3's have offered in a 1750 hp package, probably the most successful loco BR bought. As any crew will tell you a tractor will pull anything anywhere, and yet at the same time they were nippy enough for use on the Anglian mainlines for 20 years.

1995 May 23, Andrew Cooke, “Re: British Rail: At Last The 1948 Show”, in misc.transport.rail.europe (Usenet):

With a recent email from Mike Tetlow, I found out that there were two other 37s [37252 and 37031] present that day, also shuttling between Cambridge and Kings Lynn. As you correctly observe, the pic of little me shows that I am in a Dutch liveried tractor.

2000 April 25, Grandpops, “Calling Norfolk tractor bashers with a good brain for numbers! Possible conclusion?”, in uk.railway (Usenet):

EWS are also denying any rumours of tractors going to Spain, then again they denyed the rumours of tractors going to France until the contract was signed!

2000 May 17, Matt, “Re: "Unfixing" Class 37s and Doncaster control (rant!!)”, in uk.railway (Usenet):

(UK, rail transport) A British Rail Class 37 locomotive.


conductor

conductors (plural)
conductour (alternative obsolete)

Borrowed from Middle French conductour, from Old French conduitor, from Latin conductor.

train conductor

tram conductor

"[…] And one of the things that makes me feel safe is when I see the conductor."

2022 April 6, “Network News: Booze ban continues as part of move to prioritise women's safety”, in RAIL, number 954, page 6:

public transportation
public transportation

(rail transport) A person who takes tickets on public transportation and also helps passengers.


branch

branches (plural)
braunch (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English branche, braunche, bronche, from Old French branche, branke, from Late Latin branca (“footprint”, later also “paw, claw”) (whence Middle High German pranke, German Pranke (“paw”)), of unknown origin.
Perhaps of Celtic origin, from a hypothetical Gaulish *vranca, from Proto-Indo-European *wrónk-eh₂. If so, then Indo-European cognates include Old Norse rá, vró (“angle, corner”), and possibly Lithuanian rankà (“hand”), Old Church Slavonic рѫка (rǫka, “hand”), Albanian rangë (“yardwork”).
The verb is from Middle English braunchen, from the noun.

unk

unknown

fall out of the ugly tree and hit every branch

the highest branch is not the safest roost


shed

→ Scottish Gaelic: seada

→ Welsh: sièd

Dialectal variant of a specialized use of shade.

Never saw that but we did stand and watch a pair of Sheds (156 and 165) speed north on a loaded steel.

2000 November 12, Bruce Garbutt, “Re: DRS to Cardiff (was Re: Tractor via Eddiestown)”, in uk.railway (Usenet):

(British, rail transport, informal) A British Rail Class 66 locomotive.


freight

en-noun

freight (usually uncountable, plural freights)

From Late Middle English freight, freght, freyght [and other forms], a variant of fraught, fraght (“transport of goods or people, usually by water; transportation fee; transportation facilities; cargo or passengers of a ship; (figuratively) burden; ballast of a ship; goods; a charge”), from Middle Dutch vracht, vrecht, and Middle Low German vrecht (“cargo, freight; transportation fee”), from Old Saxon frāht, frēht, from Proto-West Germanic *fra- (from Proto-Germanic *fra- (prefix meaning ‘completely, fully’)) + *aihti (from Proto-Germanic *aihtiz (“possessions, property”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ- (“to come into possession of, obtain; to own, possess”)).
The English word can be analysed as for- + aught, and is a doublet of fraught.
Cognates
* French fret (“cargo, freight; transportation fees; rental of a ship”)
* Old English ǣht (“livestock; possession, property; power”)
* Old High German frēht (“earnings”)
* Portuguese frete (“cargo, freight; transportation fees”)
* Spanish flete (“cargo, freight; charter (hire of a vehicle for transporting cargo)”)
* Swedish frakt c (“cargo, freight; transportation fees”)

cog

They shipped it ordinary freight to spare the expense.

The track, raggedly defined in trampled loam and muddy furrow, bent in a direction which indicated that its terminus might be the switch where the empty cars had stood last night, waiting for the one-o'clock freight.

1899, Booth Tarkington, “The Court-house Bell”, in The Gentleman from Indiana, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday & McClure Co., published 1900, →OCLC, page 174:

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, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 423:

(countable, originally US, rail transport) Short for freight train.


slew

en-verb

slew (third-person singular simple present slews, present participle slewing, simple past and past participle slewed)

slews (present singular third-person)
slewing (participle present)
slewed (participle past)
slewed (past)

In all senses, a mostly British spelling of slue.

Wales, Northern England, some New England, Southern American, and Canadian

The single line was slewed onto the disused up formation to make way for the future redoubling.

Treforest: The track has been slewed to create space for the new island station platform at Treforest Estate, on the Cardiff-Merthyr line.

2022 November 16, Howard Johnston, “Regional News: Wales”, in RAIL, number 970, page 27:

(transitive, rail transport) To move something (usually a railway line) sideways.

verschuiven

to move something (usually a railway line) sideways


box

en-noun

box (plural boxes or (nonstandard, computing, humorous) boxen)

boxes (plural)
boxen (humorous nonstandard plural)

Tok Pisin: bokis

→ Afrikaans: boks

→ Bengali: বাক্স (bakśo)

→ Bulgarian: бокс (boks)

→ Crimean Tatar: boks

→ Danish: boks

→ Dutch: box m

→ Faroese: boks

→ French: box m

→ German: Box f

→ Hindustani:

Hindi: बकस m (bakas), बक्सा m (baksā)

Urdu: بکس m (baks, bakas)

→ Icelandic: box n

→ Indonesian: boks

→ Irish: bosca m

→ Italian: box m

→ Japanese: ボックス (bokkusu)

→ Korean: 박스 (bakseu)

→ Maori: pāka

→ Marwari: बकस (baks, bakas)

→ Nepali: बाकस (bākas)

→ Norman: bosc m

→ Norwegian: boks m

→ Pashto: بکس (baks)

→ Persian: باکس (bâks)

→ Polish: boks m

→ Portuguese: box m

→ Russian: бокс m (boks)

→ Scottish Gaelic: bogsa m, bocsa

→ Spanish: box m

→ Swedish: box c

→ Welsh: bocs

Etymology tree
Ancient Greek πῠ́ξος (pŭ́xos)
Ancient Greek -ις (-is)
Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís)bor.
Late Latin buxisbor.
Proto-West Germanic *buhsā
Old English box
Middle English box
English box
From Middle English box (“container, box, cup”), from Old English box (“box, case”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhsā (“box”) from Late Latin buxis (“box”), Latin pyxis (“small box for medicines or toiletries”), of uncertain origin; compare Ancient Greek πύξος (púxos, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”) and Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”). Doublet of piseog, pyx, and pyxis.
Cognate with Middle Dutch bosse, busse (“jar; tin; round box”) (modern Dutch bos (“wood, forest”), bus (“container, box; bushing of a wheel”)), Old High German buhsa (Middle High German buhse, bühse, modern German Büchse (“box; can”)), Swedish bössa (“box”).
The humorous plural form boxen is from box + -en, by analogy with oxen.

кутия

compartment or receptacle for receiving items

ramme

rectangular border around an image, text, etc.

квадратче

small area on a document for a tick mark

tofu

empty box displayed by some computer systems in place of a character not supported by available fonts

Sparks from the derailed bogie of the train were first noticed by the signalman at Slough West box, who immediately sent to Slough Middle box the "Stop and Examine" signal, followed at once by "Obstruction Danger" when he realised that the coach was derailed.

1960 March, “Talking of Trains: The Slough derailment”, in Trains Illustrated, page 132:

Senses relating to a three-dimensional object or space.


collar

→ Hausa: kwala

→ Burmese: ကော်လာ (kaula)

→ Swahili: kola

From Middle English coler, borrowed from Old French coler (Modern French collier), from Late Latin collāre, from Latin collāris, from collum (“neck”). Cognate with Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐍃 (hals, “neck”), Old English heals (“neck”). Compare Spanish cuello (“neck”). More at halse. Doublet of collet.

(technology) Any encircling device or structure.

(rail transport) A physical lockout device to prevent operation of a mechanical signal lever.


flat

From Middle English flat, a borrowing from Old Norse flatr (compare Norwegian and Swedish flat, Danish flad), from Proto-Germanic *flataz, from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“flat”); akin to Saterland Frisian flot (“smooth”), German Flöz (“a geological layer”), Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús), Latvian plats, Sanskrit प्रथस् (prathas, “extension”). Doublet of plat and pleyt.
The noun is from Middle English flat (“level piece of ground, flat edge of a weapon”), from the adjective.
The algebraic sense was coined by Serre in a 1956 paper, originally as French plat.

inh

For example, when trailers containing new automobiles were first piggybacked two areas of potential damage became evident: (1) diesel locomotive exhaust left a film of oil on the new autos; and (2) auto windshields could be scarred or cracked by the metal-tipped "tell-tales" which warn men atop trains of oncoming bridges or tunnels. Accordingly, automobiles aboard piggyback flats are usually coupled into the train 15 or more cars behind the locomotive; and telltales have been raised.

1960 November, David Morgan, “"Piggyback"—U.S. success story”, in Trains Illustrated, page 684:

(rail transport, US) A railroad car without a roof, and whose body is a platform without sides; a platform car or flatcar.

The tender roared along vibrating vigorously; braking had resulted in "flats" on most of its tyres.

1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 706:

(rail transport) A flat spot on the wheel of a rail vehicle.


danger

en-noun

danger (countable and uncountable, plural dangers)

From Middle English daunger (“power, dominion, peril”), from Anglo-Norman dangier, from Old French dangier, alteration of Old French dongier (due to association with Latin damnum (“damage”)) from Vulgar Latin *dominārium (“authority, power”) from Latin dominus (“lord, master”). Displaced native Old English frēcennes.

der

The north signal was at danger because of the rockslide.

(mainly outside US, rail transport) The stop indication of a signal (usually in the phrase "at danger").


key

From Middle English keye, kaye, keiȝe, from Old English cǣġ (“key, solution, experiment”) (whence also Scots key and kay (“key”)), of uncertain origin. The only sure cognates are Saterland Frisian Koai (“key”), West Frisian kaai (“key”), and North Frisian kay (“key”). Possibly from Proto-Germanic *kēgaz, *kēguz (“stake, post, pole”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵogʰ-, *ǵegʰ-, *ǵegʰn- (“branch, stake, bush”), which would make it cognate with Middle Low German kāk (“whipping post, pillory”), and perhaps to Middle Dutch keige (“javelin, spear”) and Middle Low German keie, keige (“spear”). For the semantic development, note that medieval keys were simply long poles (ending in a hook) with which a crossbar obstructing a door from the inside could be removed from the outside, by lifting it through a hole in the door. Liberman has noted, however, "The original meaning of *kaig-jo- was presumably '*pin with a twisted end.' Words with the root *kai- followed by a consonant meaning 'crooked, bent; twisted' are common only in the North Germanic languages."

шпи́лка

object used to maintain the orientation between two others

Key in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

(rail transport) A wooden wedge, driven sideways between a bullhead rail and a cast-iron chair, to keep the rail securely in position.


pass

→ Tibetan: སྤ་སེ (spa se)

From Middle English pas, pase, pace, from passen (“to pass”).

(rail transport) A passing of two trains in the same direction on a single track, when one is put into a siding to let the other overtake it.


American

Americans (plural)
Am. (alternative)
Amer. (alternative)
Americanian (alternative)
Murican (alternative)

Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *amalą
Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-
Proto-Indo-European *-s
Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs
Proto-Celtic *rīxsbor.
Proto-Germanic *rīks
Proto-Germanic *Amalarīksder.
Proto-Indo-European *ḱey-
Proto-Indo-European *-mos
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóymos
Proto-Indo-European *tḱóymos
Proto-Germanic *haimaz
Proto-Germanic *rīks
Proto-Germanic *Haimarīksder.?
Italian Amerigoder.
New Latin Americalbor.
English America
Middle English -n
English -n
English American
From America + -n. compare Latin amerī̆canus.

etymon

(rail transport) A steam locomotive of the 4-4-0 wheel arrangement.


platform

en-verb

platform (third-person singular simple present platforms, present participle platforming, simple past and past participle platformed)

platforms (present singular third-person)
platforming (participle present)
platformed (participle past)
platformed (past)

From Middle French plateforme (“a flat form”), from plate (“flat”) (from Old French plat, from Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús, “flat”)) + forme (“form”) (from Latin fōrma (“shape; figure; form”)); compare flatscape.

der

There he was welcomed onboard Vivarail's new three-car battery-powered train and Porterbrook's HydroFLEX hydrogen-powered train, which had been platformed side-by-side to showcase the potential of these low-carbon alternative technologies.

2021 December 1, Paul Stephen, “Network News: Battery and hydrogen trains showcased to PM at COP26”, in RAIL, number 945, page 14:

(rail transport) To place a train alongside a station platform.


fast

From Middle English fast, fest, from Old English fæst (“firm, secure”), from Proto-West Germanic *fast, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz; see it for cognates and further etymology.
The development of “rapid” from an original sense of “secure” apparently happened first in the adverb and then transferred to the adjective; compare hard in expressions like “to run hard”. The original sense of “secure, firm” is now slightly archaic, but retained in the related fasten (“make secure”). Also compare close meaning change from Latin rapiō (“to snatch”) to Latin rapidus (“rapid, quick”), from Irish sciob (“to snatch”) to Irish sciobtha (“quick”).

(British, rail transport) A train that calls at only some stations it passes between its origin and destination, typically just the principal stations.


TOC

train operating company
train operating company#English

(UK, rail transport) Initialism of train operating company.


ABC

en-noun

ABC (countable and uncountable, plural ABCs or ABC's)

ABCs (plural)
ABC's (plural)
absey (alternative)

From Middle English abece, ABC, from the first three letters of the Latin alphabet, standing for the whole alphabet.

For this reason his heart sank when, emerging from his study into the great hall at quarter to eleven, he met Beaver already dressed and prepared to be entertained; it was only a momentary vexation, however, for while he wished him good morning he noticed that his guest had an A.B.C. in his hands and was clearly looking out a train.

1934, Evelyn Waugh, A Handful of Dust, Chapman & Hall:

(UK, rail transport) A British alphabetized guidebook listing trains and their stations.


ABC

w:Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad

(US, rail transport) Initialism of Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad.


tank

→ Afrikaans: tenk

→ Albanian: tank

→ Gulf Arabic: تانْكي (tānki)

→ Armenian: տանկ (tank)

→ Assamese: টেংকি (teṅki)

→ Asturian: tanque

→ Azerbaijani: tank

→ Bashkir: танк (tank)

→ Belarusian: танк (tank)

→ Bengali: ট্যাংক (ṭêṅko)

→ Burmese: တင့်ကား (tang.ka:)

→ Buryat: танк (tank)

→ Catalan: tanc

→ Chechen: танк (tank)

→ Chinese:

Mandarin: 坦克 (tǎnkè)

→ Chuvash: танк (tank)

→ Czech: tank

→ Danish: tank

→ Dutch: tank

→ Dzongkha: ཏེངཀ (tengk)

→ Eastern Mari: танк (tank)

→ Estonian: tank

→ Fiji Hindi: tanki

→ Finnish: tankki

→ French: tank

→ Galician: tanque

→ Georgian: ტანკი (ṭanḳi)

→ German: Tank

→ Greek: τανκ (tank)

→ Greenlandic: tanki

→ Hebrew: טנק (tank)

desctree

→ Hindi: टंकी (ṭaṅkī)
→ Burmese: တိုင်ကီ (tuingki)

→ Hungarian: tank

→ Indonesian: tank

→ Italian: tank, tanca

→ Japanese: タンク (tanku)

→ Kazakh: танк (tank)

→ Korean: 탱크 (taengkeu)

→ Kumyk: танк (tank)

→ Kyrgyz: танк (tank)

→ Lao: ຖັງ (thang)

→ Latvian: tanks

→ Lezgi: танк (tank)

→ Lithuanian: tankas

→ Macedonian: тенк (tenk)

→ Malay: tank

→ Maori: taika

→ Norwegian: tank, tanks

→ Ossetian: танк (tank)

→ Persian: تانک (tânk)

desc

→ Portuguese: tanque (“armored vehicle”)

→ Quechua: tanki

→ Romanian: tanc

→ Romansch: tanc

desctree

→ Russian: танк (tank), танкъ (tank) — Pre-reform orthography (1918)
→ Armenian: տանկ (tank)
→ Kazakh: танк (tank)
→ Mongolian: танк (tank)

→ Carpathian Rusyn: танк (tank)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: тенк

Latin script: tenk

→ Sidamo: tanke

→ Slovak: tank

→ Slovene: tank

→ Swahili: tangi

→ Tajik: танк (tank), тонк (tonk)

→ Tamil: தாங்கி (tāṅki)

→ Tatar: танк (tank)

→ Thai: ถัง (tǎng)

→ Tokelauan: tane

→ Turkish: tank

→ Turkmen: tank

→ Ukrainian: танк (tank)

→ Upper Sorbian: tank

→ Urdu: ٹینک (ṭaink)

→ Uyghur: تانكا (tanka)

→ Uzbek: tank

→ Vietnamese: xe tăng, tăng

→ Walloon: tank

→ Welsh: tanc

→ Yakut: тааҥка (taañka)

→ Yiddish: טאַנק (tank)

From Portuguese tanque (“tank, liquid container”), from an Indo-Aryan language such as Gujarati ટાંકી (ṭā̃kī, “cistern”) or Marathi टांकी (ṭāṅkī). Compare the Arabic verb اِسْتَنْقَعَ (istanqaʕa, “to become stagnant, to stagnate”).
In the sense of armoured vehicle, first attested in 1915, prototypes were described as tanks for carrying water to disguise their nature as well as due to physical resemblance.

der

Before their conversion to 4-6-0 tender locomotives, the L.B. & S.C.R. Baltic tank engines Nos. 330 to 334 measured 50 ft. 5 in. over buffers; the nearest present approach to this figure is the 49 ft. 10½ in. of the remaining ex-Lancashire & Yorkshire Hughes type 4-cylinder 4-6-4 tanks of the L.M.S.R. The Furness and G. & S.W.R. 4-6-4 tanks of the same company, all now scrapped, were, respectively, 49 ft. 1½ in. and 47 ft. 8 in. long.

1941 September, “The Why and the Wherefore: The Longest Tank Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, pages 431–432:

Representing the older types now are some Stroudley 0-6-0 tanks, while a Drummond "C14" 0-4-0 tank might still be pottering about on the Town Quays as of yore.

1952 February, R. A. H. Weight, “A Railway Recorder in Wessex”, in Railway Magazine, page 133:

(rail transport) Short for tank engine and tank locomotive.


line

en-verb

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

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

From Middle English line, lyne, from Old English līne (“line, cable, rope, hawser, series, row, rule, direction”), from Proto-West Germanic *līnā, from Proto-Germanic *līnǭ (“line, rope, flaxen cord, thread”), from Proto-Germanic *līną (“flax, linen”), from Proto-Indo-European *līno- (“flax”).
Influenced in Middle English by Middle French ligne (“line”), from Latin linea. More at linen.
The oldest sense of the word is “rope, cord, thread”; from this the senses “path”, “continuous mark” were derived.

inh

The dispatcher lined the switches at Pickle interlocking for the freight turnout to clear the train into the passing track before the express arrived.

(rail transport) To align (one or more switches) to direct a train onto a particular track.


feather

feathers (plural)
fether (alternative archaic)

From Middle English feþer, from Old English feþer, from Proto-West Germanic *feþru, from Proto-Germanic *feþrō, from Proto-Indo-European *péth₂r̥ (“feather, wing”), from *peth₂- (“to fly”).
See also West Frisian fear, German Low German Fedder, Dutch veder, veer, German Feder, Yiddish פֿעדער (feder), Danish fjer, Swedish fjäder, Icelandic fjöður, Faroese fjøður, Norwegian Bokmål fjær, fjør, Norwegian Nynorsk fjør. Also Ancient Greek πέτομαι (pétomai), Albanian shpend (“bird”), Latin penna, Old Armenian թիռ (tʻiṙ).

Signal M123 is a conventional 3-aspect colour light with three Junction Indicators - commonly known as 'feathers'.

2020 December 30, David Allen, “Unusual signals...: Morpeth Signal M123”, in Rail, page 64:

(rail transport) A junction indicator attached to a colour-light signal at an angle, which lights up, typically with four white lights in a row, when a diverging route is set up.


pot

From Middle English pot, potte, from Old English pott (“pot”) and Old French pot (“pot”) (probably from Frankish *pott); both Old English and Frankish from Proto-Germanic *puttaz (“pot”), from Proto-Indo-European *budnós (“a type of vessel”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Pot (“pot”), Dutch pot (“pot”), German Low German Pott (“pot”), German Pott (“pot”), Swedish potta (“chamber pot”), Icelandic pottur (“tub, pot”), Old Armenian պոյտն (poytn, “pot, earthen pot”). Also, Old Norse pottr (“pot, tub, basin”).
The sense of ruin or deterioration was originally a general allusion to "being chopped up and tossed in a (normally fiery) pot, like a piece of meat" (i.e. to get wasted or done with (by someone)). The 'clean' slang term which was used in reference to toilet rooms and lavatories apparently derives from English chamberpots, although now usually encountered as potty in the context of children's toilet training.

pussitus

cue sports: act of causing a ball to fall into a pocket

not have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of

(rail transport) A pot-shaped non-conducting (usually ceramic) stand that supports an electrified rail while insulating it from the ground.

eriste

rail transport: non-conducting stand that supports the third rail


MM

Mahim Junction railway station
w:Mahim Junction railway station

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


pilot

→ Dari: پیلوت (pilot)

→ Hindi: पायलट (pāylaṭ)

→ Japanese: パイロット (pairotto)

→ Korean: 파일럿 (pailleot)

→ Northern Kurdish: pîlot

From Middle French pilot, pillot, from Italian pilota, piloto, older also pedotta, pedot(t)o (the form in pil- is probably influenced by pileggiare (“to sail, navigate”)); ultimately from unattested Byzantine Greek *πηδώτης (*pēdṓtēs, “helmsman”), from Ancient Greek πηδόν (pēdón, “blade of an oar, oar”), hence also Ancient and Modern Greek πηδάλιον (pēdálion, “rudder”).


pilot

en-verb

pilot (third-person singular simple present pilots, present participle piloting, simple past and past participle piloted)

pilots (present singular third-person)
piloting (participle present)
piloted (participle past)
piloted (past)

One of the Midland Lines' Birmingham R.C.W. Type 2 diesels, No. D5403, made the debut of its class in the Manchester area on July 28 when it appeared in the early hours on freight; after four days in the area it left for the south piloting B.R./Sulzer Type 4 diesel No. D88 on the 2.25 Manchester Central-St. Pancras.

1962 October, “Motive Power Miscellany: London Midland Region: Midland Lines”, in Modern Railways, page 279:

(rail transport, of a locomotive) To serve as the leading locomotive on a double-headed train.


staff

en-noun

staff (countable and uncountable, plural staffs or staves)

Token (railway signalling)#Staff and ticket

→ French: staff

→ Italian: staff

→ Japanese: スタッフ (sutaffu)

→ Korean: 스태프 (seutaepeu)

→ Malay: staf

desc

→ Portuguese: stafe, staff, estafe (Brazil)

→ Spanish: staff

From Middle English staf, from Old English stæf (“letter of the alphabet”), from Proto-West Germanic *stab, from Proto-Germanic *stabaz. Cognate with Dutch staf, German Stab, Swedish stav.
Sense of "group of military officers that assists a commander" and similar meanings, attested from 1702, is influenced by or is even from German Stab.

inh

The train-staff and ticket system was used widely at one time, until superseded by electrical token systems, the first of which, the tablet system, appeared in 1878, […].

1946 July and August, “Wise's Train Staff”, in Railway Magazine, page 214:

The first up train was the morning semi-fast ex Buncrana, which sped through with No. 8 at its head, adroitly exchanging staffs at about 15 m.p.h. […] The next train through Tooban was our opposite number, and we duly received the vital staff.

1949 November and December, K. Longbottom, “By Goods Train to Gweedore”, in Railway Magazine, page 355:

The unusual rolling stock, the fare collection methods, and the exchange of train staffs make it quite clear that here is something out of the ordinary run of suburban electric lines.

1951 November, R. K. Kirkland, “The Wimbledon and West Croydon Line of the Southern Region”, in Railway Magazine, page 726:

(rail transport, archaic) A form of token once used, in combination with a ticket, for safe train movements between two points on a single line.


switch

→ Gulf Arabic: سويچ (swīč)

→ German: Switch

Perhaps from Middle Dutch swijch (“twig”), first attested in c. 1592. The mechanical device for altering the direction of something sense is first attested in c. 1797, pertaining to pivoted rails on minecart railways, which were once wooden.

камута́тар

system allowing the interconnection of telephone lines

(rail transport, US, Philippines) A movable section of railroad track which allows the train to be directed down one of two destination tracks; (set of) points.


tangent

Borrowed from Latin tangentem, the accusative of tangēns (“touching”) (in the phrase līnea tangēns (“a touching line”)), the present participle of the verb tangō (“touch”, verb), from Proto-Italic *tangō, from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to touch”).
Cognate with Old English þaccian (“to touch lightly, pat, stroke”). More at thack, thwack.

cog

The collision occurred on a two-mile stretch of tangent track.

(rail transport, of track) Straight; not horizontally curved.


fan

en-verb

fan (third-person singular simple present fans, present participle fanning, simple past and past participle fanned)

fans (present singular third-person)
fanning (participle present)
fanned (participle past)
fanned (past)

Inherited from Middle English fan, inherited from Old English fann (“a winnowing, fan”), derived from Latin vannus (“fan for winnowing grain”), derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”).
Cognates
*Latin ventus (“wind”)
*Dutch wan (“winnowing basket”)
*German Wanne (“winnowing basket”)
*Swedish vanna (“a fan for winnowing”)
*Old English windwian (“to fan, winnow”).
More at winnow.

der+

Audio (Southern England)

Fanning the brakes results in the gradual depletion of the pressure in the cars' brake reservoirs, which can eventually cause a loss of all braking.

(rail transport, transitive) To apply (the air brake) many times in rapid succession.


tie

From Middle English teye (“cord, chain”), from Old English tēag, tēah (“cord, chain”), from Proto-West Germanic *taugu, from Proto-Germanic *taugō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dewk-. Compare Danish tov, Icelandic taug.

(rail transport, US) A horizontal wooden or concrete structural member that supports and ties together rails.


turnout

en-noun

turnout (countable and uncountable, plural turnouts)

turnouts (plural)
turn-out (alternative)

An article published recently in our associated weekly contemporary, The Railway Gazette, dealt at some length with the differences in construction and operation between civil and military railways, and explained that points and crossings are more commonly termed "turnouts" in military parlance.

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

Crossing stations on single lines are laid out so that one line has a straight run through, and is signalled in each direction, avoiding the need to slow down to take the turnout into the loop.

1954 August, J. B. Snell, “The New Zealand Government Railways—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 562:

[...] the Welwyn bottleneck will be relaid with high-speed turnouts and resignalled for reversible working.

1960 June, “Talking of Trains: Sunday on the G.N. line”, in Trains Illustrated, page 322:

When the engineer of Extra 3119 West reported that he was in trouble, the VAN train was about 4 1/2 minutes from the east turnout of Dawes passing track and about 4 miles ahead of Extra 3119 West. The dispatcher probably could have averted the accident by immediately acting to align the turnout at Dawes to the passing track and instructing the VAN train engineer to slow down sufficiently to allow for the time it would take for the CTC command to be executed.

1981 August 18, National Transportation Safety Board, “Role of Dispatcher”, in Railroad Accident Report: Rear-End Collision of Union Pacific Railroad Company Freight Trains Extra 3119 West and Extra 8044 West, Near Kelso, California, November 17, 1980, archived from the original on 2022-03-29, page 30:

(rail transport, chiefly US) A place where moveable rails allow a train to switch tracks; a set of points.


gauntlet

gauntlets (plural)
gantlet (alternative)

Modified, under the influence of etymology 1, from gantlope, from Swedish gatlopp (“passageway”), from Old Swedish gata (“lane”) + lopp (“course”), from löpa (“to run”)
]

running the gauntlet

having to run between rows of attackers as a punishment

(rail transport) Overlapping parallel rail tracks; either to allowing passage through a narrow opening in each direction without switching, or to allow vehicles of a larger gauge to pass through a station without hitting the platforms.


ex

From Latin ex (“out of, from”); originated as a telegraphic abbreviation.

When between the station and the junction I was looking to the rear of the train on the near side, thinking it possible that we might receive a signal from the guard to shunt at Swindon junction to allow the 2.27 a.m. fast train ex Derby to pass, but the guard did not give any signal

1885, F. A. Marindin, quoting Arthur Oakes, edited by Henry G. Calcraft, Annual Reports, Returns, Etc, Midland Railway - inquiry into the causes of a collision at Swinton station, page 96:

The train was the 12.40 p.m. ex Derby on January 14th, 1914

1921, John Hope Fellows, editor, The Locomotive News and Railway Contractor, Volumes 8-10, Locomotive news agency, page 34:

All trains from start of service up to the 13.57 ex Norwich (16.45 ex Nottingham) are 4 cars between Nottingham and Liverpool and all East bound trains are 4 cars from Liverpool Lime Street as far as Nottingham.

2003 February 11, "Fat Richard", “Re: Chiltern not stopping at Warwick Parkway”, in uk.railway (Usenet), retrieved 2018-06-11, message-ID <2a1e76b8-185c-4b27-a8d2-6f3f3331f6cd@dp10g2000vbb.googlegroups.com>:

The outward timing is: Ashford International railway station (domestic side) *departs at 09.25hrs* (connecting with the 07.32 ex Brighton *Marshlink* train and, 08.37 ex London St. Pancras International *HS1* train)

2016 March 17, Derek Jones, “South East Bus Festival, Detling, 2 April 2016”, in Invicta Newsgroup (Usenet), retrieved 2018-06-11, message-ID <CAJ9GgXJNSabs=QsEzzf-tCXQcXPdZyRZgiEtk9J3e8ToRs+ctg@mail.gmail.com>:

(rail transport, of a train) the place the train originated from or called at prior to the present location.


pool

pools (plural)
poole (alternative obsolete)

1. From French poule (“collective stakes in a game”). The French word "poule" in this context is an abbreviation of "poulain, pouliche" (foal, filly), and referred to races with female horses under 3 years old. It then became used by punters to designate bets on that race, and started to be used from the racetrack to the stadiums.
2. The OED suggests that this may be a transferred use of poule (“hen”), which has been explained anecdotally as deriving from an old informal betting game in France - 'jeu de poule' - Game of Chicken (or Hen, literally) in which poule became synonymous with the combined money pot claimed by the winner.

bor

pull (accents with FOOT-GOOSE merger or full-fool merger)

(rail transport) A mutual arrangement between competing lines, by which the receipts of all are aggregated, and then distributed pro rata according to agreement.


truck

en-noun

truck (countable and uncountable, plural trucks)

Belizean Creole: chrok

→ Bengali: ট্রাক (ṭrak)

→ Bislama: trak

→ Cebuano: trak

→ French: truck

→ Hindi: ट्रक (ṭrak)

→ Indonesian: truk

→ Japanese: トラック (torakku)

→ Korean: 트럭 (teureok)

→ Maguindanao: trak

→ Malay: trak

desctree

→ Spanish: troca
→ Southeastern Tepehuan: trooka

→ Polish: trak

→ Tagalog: trak

→ Taos: tròkiʼína

→ Tausug: tarak

→ Tok Pisin: trak

→ Urdu: ٹْرَک (ṭrak)

Perhaps a shortening of truckle, related to Latin trochus (“iron hoop, wheel”) from Ancient Greek τροχός (trokhós).

(UK, rail transport) A railroad car, chiefly one designed to carry goods.

(US, rail transport) Abbreviation of railroad truck or wheel truck; a pivoting frame, one attached to the bottom of the bed of a railway car at each end, that rests on the axle and which swivels to allow the axle (at each end of which is a solid wheel) to turn with curves in the track.


local

From Middle English local, from Late Latin locālis (“belonging to a place”), possibly also via Old French local; ultimately from Latin locus (“a place”).
The ring-theoretic senses derive from Krull, who first referred to Noetherian commutative rings with a unique maximal ideal as "Stellenring" (Stellen (“place”) + ring) in 1938. The term was inspired by algebraic geometry, where local rings encode information about the behavior of curves (surfaces, etc.) at points; hence, describe "local" behavior.

der

The expresses skipped my station, so I had to take a local.

(rail transport) Clipping of local train.


tram

→ German: Tram

→ Hindi: ट्राम (ṭrām)

desc

→ Urdu: ٹرام

→ Urdu: ٹرام

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
Oxford University Press

Early 16th century, borrowed from Scots, probably from Low German traam (“tram, shaft of a barrow”), from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch trame (“narrow shaft, beam”), said to be ultimately from a lost West Germanic (Ingvaeonic) word, probably from Proto-Germanic *drum (“splinter, fragment”), from Proto-Indo-European *térmn̥ (“peg, post, boundary”), cognate with Latin terminus.
Compare Middle Low German treme; West Flemish traam, trame.
The popular derivation from the surname of the English pioneer tramway builder Benjamin Outram (1764–1805) is false: the term pre-dated him.
The sense of a rail vehicle derives from tram-way, in its earliest sense meaning literally a log-covered road, but later applied to the earliest wooden railways, used for transporting coal in carts which came to be called "trams".

der

Lizzie and she got a dozen of large bottles and the loan of a basket and we got a currant pan and a half-pound of cooked ham in the shop next door and got on the tram for Whitehall.

1981, Brendan Behan, edited by Peter Fallon, After the Wake: Twenty-one Prose Works including Previously Unpublished Material (Classic Irish Fiction Series), Dublin: The O'Brien Press, →ISBN:

(Australia, British, rail transport) A passenger vehicle for public use that runs on tracks in the road (called a streetcar or trolley in North America).

The game Half-Life, for example, begins with a movie in which Gordon Freeman, the player's avatar, takes a tram ride through the Black Mesa research complex while a voice explains why he is there.

2013, Ernest Adams, “Storytelling”, in Fundamentals of Game Design, 3rd edition, [San Francisco, Calif.]: New Riders, →ISBN, page 215:


draft

en-noun

draft (countable and uncountable, plural drafts)

A phonetic spelling of draught (compare laughter), from Middle English draught, draght (“that which is pulled; that which is drawn up, a design”), from Old English *dreaht, *dræht, from Proto-West Germanic *drahti, *drahtu, from Proto-Germanic *drahtuz (“a pulling, drawing”), equivalent to draw (“to draw, drag”) + -t. Cognate with Dutch dracht, German Tracht, Icelandic dráttur.

inh

(American spelling, rail transport) The pulling force (tension) on couplers and draft gear during a slack (stretched) condition.


saloon

→ Dutch: saloon

→ Finnish: saluuna

→ French: saloon

→ Russian: салун (salun)

→ Bengali: সেলুন (śelun)

→ Hindi: सैलून (sailūn)

From Occitan salon, French salon, either augmentative of salle (“room”), or borrowed from Italian salone (“hall”), augmentative form of sala, salla (“room”); in both cases borrowed from a Germanic source such as Old High German sal (“house, hall”), from Proto-Germanic *salą, from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“dwelling”). Doublet of salon.

(rail transport) the part of a rail carriage or multiple unit containing seating for passengers.


guard

guards (plural)
gard (alternative obsolete)
garde (alternative obsolete)
guarde (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English garde, from early Middle French or late Old French guarde (“a guardian, warden, keeper”) (whence modern French garde), from the verb guarder. Doublet of garda, which is from Irish.

der

When an engineer wished to stop a swiftly moving train he had first to whistle to the guard requesting him to apply the hand-brake of the van, and then apply the hand-brake of the engine. Guards did not always hear.

1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter IX, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 141:

(rail transport) An employee, normally travelling in the last vehicle of a train, responsible for the safety of the train.


frog

frogs (plural)
frock (alternative dialectal)
frosk (alternative dialectal)
frosh (alternative dialectal)

→ Esperanto: frogo

→ Hawaiian: poloka

→ Irish: frog

From Middle English frogge, from Old English frogga, from Proto-West Germanic *froggō (“frog”). Cognate with Old Norse frauki.
Possibly related to Saterland Frisian Poage (“frog”), German Low German Pogg, Pogge (“frog”).

squirrel tree frog (Dryophytes squirellus

(rail transport) The part of a railway switch or turnout where the running rails cross (from the resemblance to the frog in a horse’s hoof).


tender

From tend + -er. Compare attender (“one who attends”).

Half the coal was out of the tender, half the fire out of the box, half the trucks were off the track, so violent was the stopping.

1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter XII, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 201:

Of locomotive interest was "an engine house for spare engines which was about 60 ft. × 51 ft.; on the outside of this was an immense turntable sufficient to turn the engine and tender at once."

1944 July and August, Reginald B. Fellows, “The Failure of Bricklayers Arms as a Passenger Station—I”, in Railway Magazine, page 211:

(rail transport) A railroad car towed behind a steam engine to carry fuel and water.


carriage

en-noun

carriage (countable and uncountable, plural carriages)

From Middle English cariage, from Old Northern French cariage, from carier (“to carry”).

When the long, hot journey drew to its end and the train slowed down for the last time, there was a stir in Jessamy’s carriage. People began to shake crumbs from their laps and tidy themselves up a little.

1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 7:

(rail transport, British, Abbreviation of railway carriage) A railroad car.


detonator

Warning messages were relayed to the signalmen at Slough East and Dolphin Junction boxes with such celerity that the up main signals were replaced to danger in front of the express before it finally stopped. The signalman at Dolphin Junction just had time to replace the down main signals and pull the emergency lever to lay detonators in front of the fast approaching 7 p.m. Paddington-Reading train.

1960 March, “Talking of Trains: The Slough Derailment”, in Trains Illustrated, page 132:

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

響墩 /响墩

rail transport: small explosive warning device


varnish

varnish (countable and uncountable, plural varnishes)

varnishes (plural)
vernish (alternative obsolete)

→ Japanese: ワニス (wanisu)

/ˈvɑː(ɹ)nɪʃ/

From Middle English vernisch, vernish, from Old French vernis, from Medieval Latin vernix, veronix, from Byzantine Greek Βερενίκη (Bereníkē, “Berenice”), a town in Cyrenaica, now called Benghazi.

der

Every transcontinental but two settled on the simple articulated for freight service, and all of them coupled their varnish to the 4-8-4.

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

(rail transport, US, informal, dated) a passenger train, probably derived from the varnished passenger cars used at one time.


token

From Middle English token, taken, from Old English tācn (“sign”), from Proto-West Germanic *taikn, from Proto-Germanic *taikną, from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show, instruct, teach”) with Germanic *k rather than *h by Kluge's law. The verb is from Middle English toknen, from Old English tācnian. Cognate with German Zeichen, Dutch teken and Danish tegn.

that and a token will get you on the subway

Although splitting a single-line section into two might seem a simple solution, Williams adds that creating another location where drivers have to get out of the cab and walk to a cabinet to exchange tokens before a train can proceed will further slow down the service: "There must be a better option in the 21st century than putting in an additional token machine."

2020 January 2, Graeme Pickering, “Fuelling the changes on Teesside rails”, in Rail, page 61:

(rail transport) A physical object used for exchange between drivers and signalmen on single track lines.


up

down

antonym(s) of “away from the centre of the Earth”

down

antonym(s) of “towards the principal terminus”

From Middle English up, from Old English upp, from Proto-Germanic *upp, see more there.

Indicating movement in any other direction visualised as "up".

(rail transport) Towards the principal terminus, towards milepost zero.

上りに

rail transport: the direction towards milepost zero


spot

en-verb

spot (third-person singular simple present spots, present participle spotting, simple past and past participle spotted)

spots (present singular third-person)
spotting (participle present)
spotted (participle past)
spotted (past)

From Middle English spot, spotte, partially from Middle Dutch spotte (“spot, speck”), and partially merging with Middle English splot, from Old English splott (“spot, plot of land”), from Proto-West Germanic *splott, from Proto-Germanic *spluttaz (“segment”), from Proto-Indo-European *splt-no- (“an off-split, segment”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- (“to split”). Cognate with North Frisian spot (“speck, piece of ground”), Low German spot (“speck”), Old Norse spotti (“small piece”). See also splot, splotch.

cog

(rail transport, transitive) To position (a locomotive or car) at a predetermined point, e.g., for loading or unloading.


shackle

From Middle English shakel, schakkyl, schakle (“a fetter, shackle; coupling used to connect a plough or wagon to a draft chain”), from Old English sċacul, sċeacel, sċeacul (“fetter, shackle”), from Proto-West Germanic *skakul, from Proto-Germanic *skakulaz (“shackle”), possibly from *skakaną (“to shake; to swing; to escape”), from Proto-Indo-European *skeg-, *skek- (“to shake; to stir”). However, this is doubted by the Oxford English Dictionary because *skeg-, *skek- lack the meaning of attaching or fastening.
Sense 3 (“length of cable or chain equal to 12½ or 15 fathoms”) derives from the original distance between two shackles (sense 1.1.2) connecting lengths of cable or chain together.
Cognates
* Danish skagle (“carriage trace”)
* Dutch schakel (“clasp; link; shackle”)
* German Schäckel (“shackle”)
* Icelandic skökull (“carriage pole”)
* Swedish skakel (“loose shaft of a carriage”)

kahleet

restraint on one’s action, etc. — see also restraint

(usually in the plural) A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.

(rail transport) A link for connecting railroad cars; a draglink, drawbar, or drawlink.


chord

chords (plural)
cord (alternative dated)

Variant of cord, with spelling alteration due to Latin chorda (“cord”), ultimately from Ancient Greek χορδή (khordḗ, “string of gut, the string of a lyre”). No relation to French accord (“chord”) and its derivations.

der

(engineering) A horizontal member of a truss.

(rail transport) A section of subsidiary railway track that interconnects two primary tracks that cross at different levels, to permit traffic to flow between them.


DVT

en-noun

DVT (countable and uncountable, plural DVTs)

driving van trailer
driving van trailer#English

(rail transport) Initialism of driving van trailer.


single

→ Dutch: single

→ Finnish: sinkku

→ German: Single

→ Indonesian: singel

→ Japanese: シングル (shinguru)

→ Korean: 싱글 (singgeul)

→ Polish: singiel

From Middle English single, sengle, from Old French sengle, saingle, sangle, from Latin singulus, a diminutive derived from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one”). Akin to Latin simplex (“simple”). See simple, and compare singular.

A few such examples have been preserved, as is well known, such as one of the Stirling 8-ft. singles of the late Great Northern Railway, the Great Western 4-4-0 City of Truro, ex-Caledonian single-driver No. 123, the Brighton 0-4-2 Gladstone, and others.

1945 March and April, “Preserving Historic Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 64:

(rail transport, obsolete) Synonym of single-driver.


toaster

→ French: toasteur

→ German: Toaster

→ Hebrew: טוסטר

ja-r

トースター (tōsutā)

→ Japanese: トースター (tōsutā)

→ Korean: 토스터 (toseuteo)

→ Polish: toster

→ Russian: то́стер (tóstɛr)

From toast + -er (agent noun suffix) or -er (patient suffix).

af

-er<id:agent noun><pos:agent noun suffix>

No. 4020 shows off the aftereffects of the GE “toaster” phenomenon as it runs on the Joint Line north of the Air Force Academy (7/02/2023).

2023 July 2, Jim Griffin, “BNSF GE Power”, in ActionRoad.net:

Railfans often call GE Dash-9s as "toasters" which certainly applies to this locomotive.

2020 December 13, containerman2, “A GE "Toaster" Leads CN Train 406 West at Boundary Creek, NB on a Nice Sunny Afternoon”, in Youtube:

IIRC, it's usually a toaster (GE).

2007 October 1, tree68, “Fire out the stack”, in Trains Forums:

(US, rail transport, informal, derogatory) Diesel locomotives built by GE Transportation known for a propensity to catch fire, especially those showing previous fire damage.

2021 December 15, Trains Staff, “News Photos: Toaster, California style”, in Trains:

The origin of the design led railroaders to dub the units “meatballs,” and its boxy appearance inspired railfans to call them “toasters.”

2018 March 29, Eric Berger, “Amtrak AEM-7 Preserved at Illinois Railway Museum”, in Railfan & Railroad:

Sometimes affectionately referred to as “toasters” and “Swedish meatballs” due to their compact, boxy design and Swedish origins, the AEM-7s first entered service in May 1980 and since then have traveled more than 220 million miles.

2016 June 20, “A Fond Farewell to the AEM-7”, in Amtrak: History of America's Railroad, archived from the original on 2022-12-03:

(rail transport, US, informal) An EMD AEM-7 electric locomotive


junction

→ Bengali: জংশন (joṅśon)

→ Japanese: ジャンクション

/ˈd͡ʒʌŋkʃən/

From Latin iūnctiō (“union, joining, uniting”), from iungō (“join, attach together”). Equivalent to join + -tion.

der

In the mid-1930s, when Stalin was looking to make a statement with his new Metro, he consulted Underground engineers, who offered advice to the Russian Minister in charge of the Metro project, Nikita Khrushchev. He was severely told: 'Don't have a Circle Line - too many flat junctions.' Moscow did build a circle line, but with flying junctions, by which one track goes over another.

2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 66:

(rail transport) A place where two or more railways or railroads meet.


coach

→ Czech: kouč

→ Danish: coach

→ Dutch: coach

→ French: coach

→ German: Coach

→ Italian: coach

→ Japanese: コーチ (kōchi)

→ Korean: 코치 (kochi)

→ Malay: koc

→ Polish: coach

→ Spanish: coach

→ Swahili: kocha

→ Swedish: coach

Borrowed from Middle French coche, from German Kutsche, from Hungarian kocsi. According to historians, the coach was named after the small Hungarian town of Kocs, which made a livelihood from cart building and transport between Vienna and Budapest.
The meaning "instructor/trainer" is from Oxford University slang (c. 1830) for a "tutor" who "carries" one through an exam; the athletic sense is from 1861.

(rail transport, UK, Australia) A passenger car, either drawn by a locomotive or part of a multiple unit.

կառք

wheeled vehicle drawn by horse power — see also carriage


maglev

A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays. This set-up solves several problems […]. Stopping high-speed trains wastes energy and time, so why not simply slow them down enough for a moving platform to pull alongside?

2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly):

(rail transport) Describing a train, system, etc, that operates by magnetic levitation.


maglev

(rail transport) sort of train supported by magnetic levitation


starter

The colour-light signals admitting directly to the platforms and the inner starters (for short-length departures well up the platforms) are two-aspect, while those immediately beyond them are three-aspect, but elsewhere four-aspect signals have been installed in association with route indicators.

1961 March, “The new Glasgow Central signalbox”, in Trains Illustrated, page 179:

(rail transport) A railway signal controlling the starting of trains from a station or some other location, more fully called a starter signal or starting signal.


bogie

bogies (plural)
bogey (alternative)
bogy (alternative)

A dialectal word from Northern England of unknown origin which is unrelated to bogey (“hostile supernatural creature; terrifying thing, bugbear”).

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

1878. Bogie Trucks for Railway Locomotives, &c.: [...] Fig. 1 is a cross section and Fig. 2 a section plan of a bogie. A curved casting a is fixed to the engine and a wrought-iron beam or beams b are connected to the bogie frames by links c fitted with or without springs d.

1883 April 13, “Abstracts of Specifications Published during the Week Ending November 24, 1883”, in W[illiam] H[enry] Maw, J[ames] Dredge [Jr.], editors, Engineering: An Illustrated Weekly Journal, volume XXXVI, London: Offices for advertisements and publication, 35 & 36, Bedford Street, Strand, W.C., published 30 November 1883, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 507, column 2:

The soil all along this portion of the route is so elastic and the line so straight and level that the train goes humming along without jar or vibration, and the sensation in these cars, with their six-wheeled bogies and well arranged springs, is more like what one imagines flying to be than a mere matter-of-fact railway journey.

1889, J[ames] A[rthur] Lees, W[alter] J. Clutterbuck, “The C.P.R. [Canadian Pacific Railway]”, in B.C. 1887: A Ramble in British Columbia, new edition, London, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, pages 57–58:

An empty train was by mistake sent into the rear of an ordinary train standing at the station Rathausbrücke. The two colliding car-ends were damaged and the bogie of the standing train was lifted off the supporting rail so that its wheels settled by the side of the rail. Neither train fell, however, and nobody was seriously hurt.

1908 May 1, “Miscellanea”, in W[illiam] H[enry] Maw, B. Alfred Raworth, editors, Engineering: An Illustrated Weekly Journal, volume LXXXV, London: Offices for advertisements and publication, 35 & 36, Bedford Street, Strand, W.C., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 585, column 3:

(by extension, rail transport, also attributively) One of two sets of wheels under a locomotive or railcar; also, a structure with axles and wheels under a locomotive, railcar, or semi which provides support and reduces vibration for the vehicle.

bogi

The bogie coaches which he spoke of last year had been brought or were being brought into active service, but they had no further wagon stock available.

1917 October 12, “Company Meetings. [Assam Railways and Trading.]”, in The Near East: A Weekly Review of Oriental Politics, Literature, Finance, and Commerce, volume XIII, number 336, London: The Near East Editorial and Publishing Offices, →OCLC, page 479, column 3:

Although we took our eight bogies along to Whitstable at 60 m.p.h., and made a clean start from there, after Herne Bay the engine primed badly on Blacksole Bank and nearly stopped before we got over the top. Then we ran like the wind across the marshes with half-regulator, 30 per cent cut-off, and the engine blowing off.

1959 April, P. Ransome-Wallis, “The Southern in Trouble on the Kent Coast”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 220:

Hard work is required from men and machines as I was to experience later when footplating Lambton No 5 on five bogies battling its way up Newtondale.

1979 August, Michael Harris, “A line for all reasons: the North Yorkshire Moors Railway”, in Railway World, page 415:

[...] Ashoke was still reading at two-thirty in the morning, one of the few passengers on the train who was awake, when the locomotive engine and seven bogies derailed from the broad-gauge line. The first four bogies capsized into a depression alongside the track.

2003 September, Jhumpa Lahiri, chapter 1, in The Namesake, New York, N.Y.: Mariner Books, published 2004, →ISBN, page 17:

(British, India, rail transport) A railway carriage.


bogey

bogeys (plural)
bogie (alternative)
bogy (alternative)

Upgrading the tram bogeys to air-conditioned bogeys costs the State Government approximately INR 25,00,000/- per bogey.

2020 January 30, “Upgrading Kolkata's Tram Network”, in C40 Cities, archived from the original on 2024-02-25:

(British, dated, India, rail transport) Alternative spelling of bogie (“railway carriage”)


consist

The train's consist included a baggage car, four passenger cars, and a diner.

(rail transport) A lineup or sequence of railroad carriages or cars, with or without a locomotive, that form a unit.

編組 /编组

sequence of railroad carriages or cars that form a unit


fireman

He looked around his cab at his black greasy fireman, saying 'shovel on a little more coal, and when we cross that White Oak Mountain, you can watch Old 97 roll'.

ca. 1913 The wreck of Old 97 [ballad, Blue Ridge Mountains], verse 3

No grass grew under a train when the engineer let Fireman McLash take the throttle.

1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter IX, in Capricornia, page 140:

A few keen enginemen, such as Driver Rosewarne of York, could coax good work out of them when engaged in heavy East Coast express service, but to most footplate crews, especially firemen, they were rather heartbreaking and backbreaking machines, and gradually were relegated to secondary or fast goods duties.

1949 May and June, R. A. H. Weight, “A Short-Lived Pacific Class”, in Railway Magazine, page 196:

I was elated to pass because there were times when I did not think I was physically capable. It is quite rare for a woman to become a fireman.

2013 August 24, Sophie Wyllie, quoting Tina Pinney, “Volunteer Tina steams ahead and becomes qualified fireman on North Norfolk Railway”, in Eastern Daily Press, →ISSN:

The driver remained at his post, while telling fireman Jim Nightall to get down on the track and run back to uncouple the burning wagon from the rest.

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

(the latter is informal)

Coordinate term: engineman

(rail transport, nautical) A person (originally a man) who keeps the fire going underneath a steam boiler (originally, shoveling coal by hand), particularly on a railroad locomotive or steamship.

topič

person who keeps the fire going underneath a steam boiler

Coordinate term: engineer

(rail transport, by extension) An assistant on any locomotive, whether steam-powered or not.


Jim Crow

/ˌdʒɪm ˈkɹoʊ/

From the minstrel show song Jump Jim Crow, written in 1828 by Thomas D. Rice, the originator of blackface performance.

When rails have to be bent with a Jim Crow, as in setting stock or check-rails, or straightening a bent rail, they should always be heated first, or they are liable to crack, especially steel rails.

1886, The Railway Engineer, volume 7, page 207:

It is placed on the rail pretty much as a jim-crow is set, and as the middle roll is turned it travels along on the rail, curving the rail as it moves.

1899, W. A. Smith, Railway Review, volume 39, page 16:

Quelling his nerves, Moist grabbed a jim crow and opened the trap door on to the roof of the guard's van, to the initial amazement of the grag who had been trying to force his way in.

2013, Terry Pratchett, Raising Steam, Doubleday, →ISBN, pages 345–346:

(rail transport) A tool for bending railway rails, by holding the rail with two arms and pushing a screw into the other side.


web

From Middle English webbe, from Old English webb, from Proto-Germanic *wabją, from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“weave”).

what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive

(rail transport) The thinner vertical section of a railway rail between the top (head) and bottom (foot) of the rail.

ànima

the thinner vertical section of a railway rail between the top and bottom of the rail


regen

en-noun

regen (countable and uncountable, plural regens)

regenerative braking
regenerative braking#English

(uncountable, rail transport, automotive) Short for regenerative braking.


spiral

From Middle French spirale, from Medieval Latin spiralis, from Latin spīra, from Ancient Greek σπεῖρα (speîra, “wreath, coil, twist”).

der

(rail transport) A section of track that forms a circle and crosses over itself, used for gaining height in mountainous territory.


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.


motorcar

motorcars (plural)
motor car (alternative)

→ Maori: motokā

→ Swahili: motokaa

→ Luo: mtoka, mtokaa

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


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.


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.