The footplate of a steam locomotive is a large metal plate that rests on top of the frames and is normally covered with wooden floorboards. It is usually the full width of the locomotive and extends from the front of the cab to the rear of cab or coal bunker just above the buffer beam. The boiler, the cab, and other superstructure elements are in turn mounted on the footplate. The footplate does extrend beyond the front of the cab on some locomotives, but is then usually referd to as the "running board/plate" The footplate is where the Driver and Fireman stand in the cab to operate the locomotive, giving rise to the expression of working on the footplate[1] for being in the cab of a steam locomotive. The part of the footplate ahead of the cab is referred to by different titles, from different teachings.
The "reader" of this article should be aware that all steam locomotives are different and all railways are different, so there are different designs and teachings respectivelly. Therefore terminology will vary across different establishments.
The presence of a footplate is almost universal in British locomotive construction, is often (but not universally) seen in continental European locomotives, and practically never on locomotives constructed in the United States. American practice mounted the locomotive's boiler and cab directly on the frame.[2] The walkways and running boards seen on American locomotives that sometimes give an appearance of a footplate are attached to the boiler or the pilot and are not structural elements. The absence of a footplate on American locomotives is one thing that makes them look "not quite right" to those accustomed to the British look.
The footplate has openings cut in it for various purposes. The firebox always extends beneath the footplate. The cylinders are beneath the footplate, and steam pipes pass through holes to them. The reversing gear control for the valve gear also passes through, and in some locomotives part of the valve motion also extends through the footplate. On British Railways Standard Locomotives the running plate was high enough to clear the wheels. On earlier British locomotives the tops of the wheels usually projected through slots in the running plate and were covered by "splashers" which are analogous to mudguards on a road vehicle.