Glossary of North American railway terminology

This page contains a list of terms, jargon, and slang used to varying degrees by railroad enthusiasts / railfans and railroad employees in the United States and Canada. Although not exhaustive, many of the entries in this list appear from time to time in specialist, rail-related publications. Inclusion of a term in this list does not necessarily imply its universal adoption by all railfans and railroad employees, and there may be significant regional variation in usage.

This list does not include nicknames for railroad companies; those can be found at Railroad nicknames.

For general rail terminology, see Rail terminology. For terminology specific to the types of lines used for passenger trains, see passenger rail terminology. For terminology specific to the United Kingdom, see Glossary of UK railway terminology. For terminology specific to New Zealand, see Glossary of New Zealand railway terminology

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Contents:

Top · 0–9 · A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

• ALCOhaulic: Nickname for the DH643 diesel-hydraulic locomotive built by American Locomotive Company (ALCO).^[1] Also a nickname for railfans who are "addicted" to ALCO locomotives.

• Alligator: ALCO RSD-15 locomotive, so named for its long, low nose.^[2][3][4]

• Amcan: An Amfleet passenger car; the car shape is a rounded stainless steel tube.^[5][6]

• Amshack: A small shelter that serves as a train station for Amtrak trains in a small town. There are normally no manned services offered at these small stations.^[7]

• AAR: The Association of American Railroads.

B

• B-Boat: GE B23-7, B30-7 or B36-7 locomotive. By analogy with U-boat, since with the Dash 7 line, the "B" or "C" moved to the beginning of the designation.^[8]

• B unit: A booster locomotive commonly with no cab.^[4][9][10]

• Baby Boat: GE U18B locomotive.^[4][8]

• Baby Tunnel Motor: EMD GP15-1 or GP15T locomotive, so-called because its low air intakes resemble those of the much larger SD40T-2 and SD45T-2.^[4][11]

• Bandit: Nickname for Milwaukee Road engines after the railroad was sold to the Soo Line Railroad. The Soo covered up the Milwaukee Road name and logo on the orange locomotives with black paint, causing them to resemble bandits.^[12][13][14] Also often applied to similarly patched, second-hand locomotives, especially if the patches are crudely applied.

• Baretables: Empty flat, spine or well cars.^[15][16][17]

• Big G, the: Nickname for Guilford Rail System, in reference to the large "G" emblem on their locomotives and boxcars.^[18] Also refers to Great Northern Railway.^[19]

• Big hole: Term used by railroaders when their train goes into "mmergency" (suffers a loss of all brake air and stops). Over the radio: "We just went in the big hole."

• Big hook: a railroad crane.^[20][21][22]

• Big Mac: Nickname given to EMD's SD70MAC, SD80MAC and SD90MAC locomotive models.^[23][24][25]

• Billboard: Santa Fe locomotive in the pre-1972 blue and yellow scheme.^[4]

• Black Widow: Southern Pacific locomotive (all black with some silver).^[4][8]

• Bloody Nose: Southern Pacific locomotive (post-1959 grey and red paint scheme where the nose of the diesel locomotive was painted in scarlet red).^[4][8][14]

• Bluebonnet: one of two Santa Fe paint schemes. The standard freight scheme from 1972 until the BNSF merger was dark blue with yellow on the front, with the same color division as the warbonnet scheme. It is also known as Yellowbonnet. Bluebonnet can also mean a warbonnet unit with only the red painted over, resulting in a silver and blue locomotive; this was used on passenger engines transferred to freight service after the formation of Amtrak.^[4]

• Booster: (Diesel locomotive) - a cabless B unit or Slug. Although a Slug and a B unit differ slightly, (See related articles for details) both serve the same purpose of adding more tractive effort.^[26][27]

• Bright Future: The middle CSX tricolor paint scheme (also known as Yellow Nose 2 or YN2).^[28][29]

• Buggy: A caboose on the Boston and Maine Railroad.^[30]

• Bull: A railroad police officer.^[4][19]

C

• Cabbage: Former EMD F40PH locomotives with the diesel engine removed, and a roll-up baggage door installed in the center of the carbody; used as cab/baggage cars in Amtrak push-pull service. Portmanteau of 'cab' and 'baggage'.^[31]

• Cadillac: A nickname for EMD SD9 locomotives, in reference to their smooth ride quality reminiscent of a Cadillac automobile. This nickname is said to have originated on the Southern Pacific Railroad.^[8]

• Calf: A cabless switcher. Not a slug; it has its own diesel engine.^{[20][27][32][33]}

• Can Opener: Conrail's herald.^[34]

• Catfish: Norfolk Southern locomotives with white stripes painted on the nose, which are said to look like catfish whiskers.^[8][35]

• Centennials: Name given to Union Pacific's EMD DDA40X locomotives. World's most powerful diesel locomotives, delivered in 1969, the year of Union Pacific's centennial.^[36]

• Centipede: Nickname given to a 12-axled Baldwin diesel locomotive.^[37]

• Ches-C: Chessie System's kitten logo; the profile of the Chesapeake and Ohio's sleeping kitten mascot "Chessie" appears inside the corporate C logo.^[38][39]

• Circus loading: Loading trailers on flatcars sequentially from the end; the standard method of loading in early piggyback service.^[40]

• Coal Drag: A train loaded with coal.^[41][42][43]

• Coal jimmies: small, low-capacity hopper cars for carrying coal.^[44]

• Coffin car: Nickname for a passenger car with an engineer's cab. Also known as a cab car or control car. So named due to the alleged additional danger posed to passengers in such cars (which are pushed by the heavier trailing locomotive) in frontal collisions.^[45]

• Covered wagon: an EMD E-series or F-series locomotive.^[8][22][46]

• Cow: a switcher locomotive, when paired with a Calf.^{[20][27][32][33]}

• CPLs: Color Position Lights, a type of signal used most prominently by the Baltimore & Ohio and the Norfolk & Western railroads.^[47]

• Critter: A small industrial locomotive.^[48][49]

• Crummy: A caboose.^[50]

D

• Dark Future: The current CSX paint scheme, also known as Yellow Nose 3 (YN3) or Gold Nose 1 (GN1).^[14][35]

• Darth Vader: Term used to describe the lens hood on a modern style of railroad signals, due to its visual resemblance to the helmet of Darth Vader from Star Wars.

• Deadhead: A term used to describe a passenger train that is travelling along a line but is not hauling passengers.

• Deathstar: Term used to describe the logo of the Illinois Central, which has the letter "i" inside a circle — based on a resemblance to the Death Star battle station in Star Wars.^[8]

• Diamond/Diamonds: Level crossing of two railroad tracks, at any angle from 15° to 90°.^[51]

• Dinky: Nickname given to small locomotives, particularly one running in industrial service and/or on narrow gauge tracks.^[52] Also, a small old-fashioned trolley.^[53]

• Draper-Taper: Nickname for certain Canadian locomotives that feature a full-width carbody with improved rear visibility, designed by William L. Draper, an employee of Canadian National Railway.^[54]

• Dynamics/dynamic braking: Regenerative braking in which the motors on the locomotive wheels generate electric power off of the momentum of the moving train, and this power is dissipated through resistor grids as heat.^[55][56]

E

• Elephant-style: A lashup of multiple locomotives with all units facing forward; resembling the nose-to-tail train of elephants in a circus parade.^[57]

• Emergency, in: When a train has made a full brake application due to adverse event, or has lost its train air due to a defective valve (a "kicker"), or a broken air line or train separation. The train crew will normally declare that they are "in emergency" over the train radio, thus warning other trains and the dispatcher that there is a problem.

• Ex-Con: A former Conrail locomotive or former Conrail employee.

F

• Fallen flag: a railroad company that no longer operates, or has been merged with (or acquired by) another railroad company.^[58]

• FELA: the Federal Employers Liability Act, a U.S. federal law that protects and compensates railroaders injured on the job.^[59]

• Filet-toupee: Filet refers to converting a double stack container train to single stack by removing the top layer of containers, allowing the rest of the train to proceed along track that lacks double stack clearance. The removed containers can be trucked to local destinations. Toupee refers to the reverse process, where a single stack train coming from reduced clearance territory has additional containers placed on top for the rest of its trip.^[60]

• Flares: Refers to the EMD SD45, with its dynamic brake blisters and radiators that distinctively flare from the top of the unit. Also Flare 45. Both forms distinguish the SD45 from the SD45-2 and SD45T-2, which lack flared radiators.^[61]

• Wings/Flags/Flares (W/F/F): Characteristics used to designate Union Pacific's paint scheme and engine type. Wings = "Wing" Decal on the engine nose, Flags = "American Flag" Decal on engine body, Flares = "Flared Radiators" of certain SD70Ms on the long hood. Some UP engines have one or more of these characteristics.^[14][35]

• Flatback: Industry slang for trailer-on-flatcar service in the 1970s, especially in the trade journal Railway Age.^[62]

• Foamer: a railfan, particularly one whose enthusiasm appears excessive. They figuratively "foam at the mouth" while railfanning.^[63]

• FRED: "Flashing Rear End Device" located on the rear of trains, measures train air line pressure and train speed.^[64][65]

• FRN: an acronym for "fucking rail nut", a derogatory term used by some railroaders to describe railfans.^[66]

G

• Gandy dancer: Nickname for a track maintenance worker.^[67]

• Geep: Nickname for EMD's GP series of locomotives.^[8][68]

• Gennie: A MetroNorth or Amtrak GE P32AC-DM locomotive.^[69]

• Genset: A locomotive that uses multiple high-speed diesel engines and generators (generator sets), rather than a single medium-speed diesel engine and a single generator. Sometimes confused with Green Goat locomotives; the only similarities between the two types are their outward appearance and that both are designed to reduce air pollution and fuel consumption.^[70]

• GEVO: Nickname for GE Evolution Series locomotives, in reference to the GEVO-12 engine used in those units.^[71]

• GN1: Gold Nose 1, the current CSX paint scheme. Another term for YN3.^[72]

• Goat: a locomotive used in yard switching service.^{[19][20][43][68]}

• Green Goat: A type of "hybrid" switching locomotive utilizing a small diesel engine and a large bank of rechargeable batteries.^[73]

H

• Hammerhead: A GE locomotive with "winged" radiators, when running long hood forward.^[74] Also a nickname given to certain early ALCO roadswitchers with a high nose.

• High Ball: Another term for a clear signal, derived from the days of steam where a station operator would hoist a ball up the scaffold, signalling the engineer he was authorized to proceed.^{[19][43][75][76][77]}

• Hog Law: The federal hours-of-service law that forbids certain classes of railroad employees, including those operating trains, from working longer than a certain time after reporting for duty. Currently 12 hours.

• Hogger: locomotive engineer.^{[19][43][77][78]}

• Honorary Steam Engine: Common term for Alco diesel locomotives, due to their tendency to blow clouds of black smoke when throttling up, due to turbo lag.

• Horsehead: Norfolk Southern's current locomotive livery with a horse's head embedded in the NS Logo (sometimes also called 'Mr. Ed').^[14][79][80]

• Hot box: Overheated wheel bearing. This comes from the era before the widespread use of roller bearings where the ends of an axle rested in solid copper bearings housed in a journal box filled with oil soaked cotton waste. An overheated axle led to a hot journal box that often ignited the oiled waste. The term is used to refer to a railway wheel bearing that has over-heated due to internal friction caused by some fault in the bearing.^[77][81][82]

I

• Iron Triangle (The): An area near downtown Fostoria in northwest Ohio where two main lines of CSX Transportation (the former Baltimore and Ohio line between Akron and Chicago and the former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway line between Columbus and Toledo) and one main line of Norfolk Southern (the former Nickel Plate Road line between Bellevue and Fort Wayne) cross each other in close proximity.^[83]

J

• Juice Train: Unit train of Tropicana cars.^[84]

• Joint: Term used by brakemen when flat switching a yard. Talking on the radio, they will tell the engineer how many car lengths to back up in order to couple to another car, i.e., "Five cars to a joint."

K

• Kodachrome: Southern Pacific Santa Fe Railroad's red, yellow and black paint scheme, which resembled the packaging of Kodachrome color transparency film. This was the scheme instituted when the merger between Southern Pacific and Santa Fe was assumed to be approved. Hundreds of locomotives were painted in Kodachrome colors before the merger was denied.^[8][29]

L

• Lightning Slinger: Telegraph operator.^[43][85]

M

• Manifest: A freight train with a mixture of car types and cargoes. Also known as a Mixed Freight Train.^[86][87]

• Mating Worms: The intertwined P and C letters of the Penn Central logo.^[8][35]

• Meatball/Swedish Meatball: Amtrak EMD AEM-7 / ABB ALP-44 electric locomotives; so named for their design being based on the Swedish Rc4.^[88]

• Miniquad: Four ore cars (jennies) permanently coupled.^[89][90]

• Minuteman: The name given to the maroon and gold paint scheme applied to Boston & Maine Railroad diesel-electric locomotives from the 1940s to early 1950s, bearing the famous Revolutionary-inspired Minute Man statue.

• Mother: The locomotive that is paired with a slug.^[27]

• Mud Missile: Derogatory nickname given to GE Genesis locomotives, in reference to one's involvement in the 1993 Big Bayou Canot train disaster.^[8]

N

O

P

• Pac-Man: A nickname for Canadian Pacific Railway's 1968-1996 logo featuring a black triangle within a white half-circle, which resembles the main character of the video arcade game Pac-Man. It was CP's corporate logo for all business aspects - railway (CP Rail), shipping (CP Ships), telecommunications (CNCP), trucking (CP Express) and airline (CP Air). It was officially known as the Multimark.^[14][91]

• Patch: (also patch job) A locomotive or car wearing a new reporting mark and/or number on a "patch" over existing paint, usually of the former owner's.^[14][92]

• Pennsy Style: Nickname for old Pennsylvania Railroad position light signals.^[93][94]

• Pepsi Can: An Amtrak GE Dash 8-32BWH, in reference to the units' original paint scheme with large red and blue stripes.^[8] Also referred to as "Cutters" for the striping's supposed similarity to striping on Coast Guard vessels.

• Pig train: a train devoted exclusively to intermodal (piggyback) traffic, generally trailers on flatcars (TOFC) or containers on flatcars (COFC).^[95]

• Private varnish/PV: privately owned passenger cars.^[96][97]

• Pumpkin: BNSF Railway's current bright orange paint scheme,^[8][14][35] CSX's maintenance-of-way paint scheme.^[98][99] Formerly also ICG's all-orange scheme.^[100]

Q

R

• Racetrack: Nickname for a stretch of Metra Commuter Rail line and BNSF freight line between Chicago and Aurora where commuter trains and freight trains commonly attain high speeds.^[101] Also used to refer to the parallel tracks of the O&W and DL&W north of Norwich.^[102]

• Raccoon: Norfolk Southern locomotives that have the entire area around the cab windows painted white, resembling the face of a raccoon.^[14]

• Racks: 1. Multiple autoracks 2. The portion of an autorack which is attached to a flat car in order to protect the vehicles inside and may contain 1, 2, or 3 levels depending on the height of the vehicles being shipped.

• Rare Mileage: A passenger train traveling over track that does not have regular passenger service.^[103]

• Red Barns: Canadian Pacific's SD40-2F locomotives.^[8]

• Reefer: A refrigerated boxcar.

• Rent-a-Wreck: Locomotive owned by a leasing company.^[104]

• Reporting mark: A code assigned by the Association of American Railroads to identify the owners of rolling stock in North America.

• Right Way: A "high nose" locomotive running with the long hood facing forward. Reminiscent of the Southern Railway and the Norfolk & Western Railway style of running locomotives.

• Rhino(s): Nickname for HHP-8 electric locomotives used by Amtrak for Northeast Regional service.

• Roster Shooter: Someone interested in photographing every locomotive road number they can.^[105]

• Running Board(s): Description of the walkboards found on the tops and ends of rail cars. Also called grating.

S

• Screamer or Screaming thunderbox: EMD F40PH locomotive, in reference to it operating in a constant state of full throttle (in order to provide head-end power to passenger cars).^[35] Coined by MBTA railfans.

• Sergeant Stripes: a Canadian National locomotive in the 1970s-1980s paint scheme featuring light grey stripes on the locomotive's long hood.^[14][106]

• Slug: A locomotive, with or without an operator's cab, which lacks a diesel engine, and draws power for its traction motors from a normal locomotive, known as a "mate" or "mother."^[20][22][27]

• Speeder: a small, motorized track inspection vehicle. Also called motorcar, trackcar, putt-putt, or golf cart.^[107]

• Stacks: Nickname for double-stack cars or trains.^[108]

• Stealth Unit: The early CSX grey & blue paint scheme. So named for their virtual invisibility in poor light. Also used to describe NS D9-40CWs in light gray primer paint, and a scheme used on some Metro-North locomotives.^[8][29]

T

• T-Hog: Nickname for a Reading Railroad T-1 4-8-4 steam locomotive.^[109]

• Taco Belle: Nickname for the new Southern Belle-inspired paint scheme on Kansas City Southern Railway locomotives assigned to subsidiary KCS de Mexico.^[110]

• Toaster: Amtrak AEM-7, New Jersey Transit ABB ALP-44, or GE P42DC locomotives. Also used to refer to any GE locomotive, due both to their tendency to shoot flames out of the exhaust stack during Turbo Lag and to General Electric's historic involvement in the manufacture of household appliances.^[8][35]

• Trops: Tropicana, Reefer, Boxcar. Shortened from Tropicana, this term refers to the orange or white refrigerated boxcars used to haul frozen concentrated orange juice to packaging facilities north of Florida. Term is specifically used by CSX crews in Cincinnati Terminal where a large such packaging facility is located.

• Tunnel Motor: Southern Pacific EMD SD40T-2 / EMD SD45T-2. Named for the lower-located air intakes to prevent the locomotive from pulling diesel exhaust in with the clean air while traveling through a tunnel.^[111][112]

• Turbo Lag: Characteristic of Alco and GE diesel locomotives, where the turbocharger lags behind the throttle-up of the engine, shooting dense clouds of black smoke and/or flames from the exhaust stack when initially throttling up.^[113]

U

• U-Boat: GE Universal Series locomotive.^[8][114]

V

• Vomit Bonnet: Derogatory name for BNSF's first attempt at a paint scheme, which used olive and beige as its principal colors but in the configuration of the traditional AT&SF "Warbonnet" scheme.^[115]

W

• Warbonnet: Santa Fe's red and silver paint scheme (less common since the BNSF Railway merger in 1995).^[14][29]

• Warpumpkin: Name given to the BNSF orange and black update of the classic Sante Fe Warbonnet scheme.^[8]

• Washboards: name given to M.U. cars, subway cars, and other equipment made with corrugated side panels that resembled washboards.^[116]

• Wet Noodle: Canadian National's stylized CN logo, in use since 1961.^[8]

• Whiteface: first version of Norfolk Southern's "Horsehead" paint scheme.^[14] High visibility paint scheme used on various Burlington Northern locomotives, primarily SD60Ms, SD40-2s, GP50s, GP39 rebuilds, and GP28 rebuilds.^{[14][117][118]}

• Winnebago: Nickname for Metra's fleet of EMD F40PHM-2 locomotives, in reference to that model's resemblance to the popular recreational vehicle.^[8]

X

Y

• Yellowbonnet: one of two Santa Fe paint schemes. The standard freight scheme from 1972 until the BNSF merger was dark blue with yellow on the front, with the same color division as the warbonnet scheme. It is also known as Bluebonnet. Yellowbonnet can also mean a warbonnet unit with only the red painted over, resulting in a silver and yellow locomotive; this was used on passenger engines transferred to freight service after the formation of Amtrak.^{[14][29][119]}

• YN1: CSX's first yellow-nose paint scheme; gray overall with dark blue on the top half of the cab and yellow on the front of the nose; blue "CSX" lettering.^[14][29]

• YN2: CSX's second yellow-nose paint scheme; more yellow on the nose; the whole cab is dark blue, along with a stripe on the side; blue or yellow "CSX" lettering.^[14]

• YN3: CSX's third yellow-nose paint scheme; dark blue overall with a yellow nose; yellow "CSX" lettering.^[14]

Z

• Zebra Stripes: A Santa Fe locomotive in the early black scheme with white warning stripes.^[119]

• Z-Train: A general term for an intermodal train (such as the ZBRLC or ZLTLC). Such trains are commonly operated by BNSF and Union Pacific.

See also

• Glossary of New Zealand railway terminology
• Glossary of UK railway terminology
• Rail terminology
• Railroad nicknames

References