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, [Contents]
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, [Contents]
back light blinder 
A plate that partially
covers a backlight to enable the signalman to see that a semaphore signal is
operating correctly.
Warrant: Lexique General de Termes Ferroviares, Union
Internationale des Chemins de Fer, 1975
Plural form: back light blinders
UF blinder
CL Control and communications
BT signal arm assembly component
back plate
The back of the outside
of a locomotive firebox on which many of the gauges and controls are
secured.
Warrant: Great Western Railway Drawing Registers
Plural form:
back plates
USE backhead
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT cab component
back strap
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: back straps
CL Unidentified
BT <unidentified terms>
backdrive
An additional drive
connected to the switch rails of a set of points at a position closer to the
crossing than the switch tips.
Warrant: The History & Development of
Railway Signalling in the British Isles, Friends of the National Railway Museum
Plural form: backdrives
CL Control and communications
BT <rod transmission>
backhead
The back of the outside of a
locomotive firebox on which many of the gauges and controls are secured.
Warrant: Heritage Railways Association - Glossary,
http://ukhrail.ac.uk/glossary, 2000
Plural form: backheads
UF back plate
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT firebox component
backing signal
A signal used to indicate
that a driver may shunt back into a siding, yard, etc.
Warrant: The First
Principles of Railway Signalling, C B Byles, The Railway Gazette, c1910 p39.
Plural form: backing signals
CL Control and communications
BT subsidiary signal
bag (vacuum hose)
A slang term for the
flexible vacuum hose used for connecting brake pipes between vehicles.
Warrant: The Railway Dictionary, An A-Z of Railway Terminology, Alan A Jackson,
Alan Sutton Publishing, 1996
Plural form: bags (vacuum hoses)
USE vacuum hose
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT brake hose
Baker valve gear
Steam locomotive valve gear
similar to Walshaerts but where sliding surfaces are eliminated.
Warrant:
Developments in Locomotive Practice, Bowen Cooke, 1910
Plural form: Baker
valve gear
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT valve gear
<bakery product, confectionery, etc. carrying
vehicles>
Railway vehicles dedicated
to the carriage of bread, biscuits, confectionary, etc.
Plural form:
<bakery product, confectionery, etc. carrying vehicles>
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <foodstuff carrying vehicles>
NT biscuit wagon
NT bread van
balance weight truck
A railway vehicle for
carrying the balance weights required by a heavy lift rail mounted crane.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: balance weight trucks
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <cranes and ancillary vehicles>
balance weight (crane component)
A weight used to
counterbalance the load on a travelling crane.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: balance weights (crane components)
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT vehicle component
balance weight (locomotive component)
A weight attached to
directly driven or coupled locomotive driving wheels to "balance" the
motion.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: balance weights
(locomotive components)
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT wheel component
balanced slide valve
An arrangement for reducing
the load induced by steam pressure on the back of the slide valves.
Warrant:
Locomotive Management, J T Hodgson & J Williams, The Railway Engineer, 3rd
Edition, 1908
Plural form: balanced slide valves
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <cylinders and associated components>
balancing pipe
A large diameter pipe
running between two separate water tanks on a tank engine to allow the contents
to level when one side is being filled.
Warrant: Great Western Railway
Drawing Registers
Plural form: balancing pipes
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <water storage components>
Baldeyrou and Verpilleux system
Scope note required.
Warrant: Articulated Locomotives, L Wiener, 1930
Plural form: Baldeyrou and
Verpilleux systems
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT permanent steam tender
balise
A trackside train control
system transmitter.
Warrant: Railtrack Jargon Buster, 1999
Plural form:
balises
CL Control and communications
BT Automatic Train Protection (ATP) equipment
ball accelerometer
A device for measuring and
recording vehicle deceleration in braking mode.
Warrant: Richard Gibbon BSc
FIMechE, National Railway Museum
Plural form: ball accelerometers
CL Tools and equipment
BT locomotive testing equipment
ballast
Graded stone sub-base
providing drainage, support and lateral restraint of the track.
Warrant:
Railtrack Jargon Buster, 1999
Plural form: ballast
CL Track and track components
BT <trackbed by material>
NT ash ballast
NT granite ballast
NT limestone ballast
NT small coal ballast
ballast brake van
A goods brake van provided
with mess accommodation for use in Permanent Way Department trains.
Warrant:
Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Wagon Diagrams, Noel Coates, Lancashire &
Yorkshire Railway Society, undated p16 Warrant: A Pictorial Record of LNER
Wagons, P Tatlow, Oxford Publishing Company, 1976 p141
Plural form: ballast
brake vans
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT departmental brake van
RT ballast plough brake van
ballast cleaner
A large self-contained
on-track unit which is self-propelled whilst it performs its task. It cuts away
old consolidated ballast from under the track, conveys it to vibrating screens
or sieves where small and dirty material is rejected, and then returns the
clean ballast to the track.
Warrant: On-track plant on British Railways,
Roger Butcher, Platform 5 Publishing Ltd, 4th edition, 1981, p39
Plural
form: ballast cleaners
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <track maintenance vehicles>
ballast consolidator
An on-track machine used to
further consolidate ballast after tamping.
Warrant: On-track plant on British
Railways, Roger Butcher, Platform 5 Publishing Ltd, 4th edition, 1981, p17
Plural form: ballast consolidators
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <track maintenance vehicles>
ballast fork
A large, long handled fork
with blunt ended tines, used for spreading ballast on railway track.
Warrant: National Railway Museum
Plural form: ballast forks
UF fork (ballast)
CL Tools and equipment
BT gangers equipment
ballast plough brake van
A goods brake van provided
with plough ends for use in a Permanent Way Department train, to spread newly
discharged ballast on the track.
Warrant: The LMS Wagon, R J Essery & K
R Morgan, David & Charles, 1977 Warrant: A Pictorial Record of LNER Wagons,
P Tatlow, Oxford Publishing Company, 1976 p142
Plural form: ballast plough
brake vans
UF plough brake
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <track maintenance vehicles>
RT ballast brake van
ballast post
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: ballast posts
CL Unidentified
BT <unidentified terms>
ballast pot
A metal pot of a specified
size used for measuring and grading the stone ballast used for constructing
railway track.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: ballast pots
CL Tools and equipment
BT gangers equipment
ballast profiler and grader
An on-track machine used to
grade, profile and compact ballast in loose sleeper relaying work.
Warrant:
On-track plant on British Railways, Roger Butcher, Platform 5 Publishing Ltd,
4th edition, 1981, p49
Plural form: ballast profiler and graders
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <track maintenance vehicles>
ballast regulator
An on-track machine used to
plough and grade the ballast, placing ballast in the sleeper cribs for tamping
or sweeping and tidying the track after tamping.
Warrant: On-track plant on
British Railways, Roger Butcher, Platform 5 Publishing Ltd, 4th edition, 1981,
p43
Plural form: ballast regulators
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <track maintenance vehicles>
ballast tamper (vehicle)
An on-track machine used to
pack ballast underneath the railway sleepers.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: ballast tampers (vehicles)
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <track maintenance vehicles>
NT tamper/liner
ballast train
A train designed for
bringing in new ballast and from which ballast is distributed over the
formation.
Warrant: The Railway Dictionary, An A-Z of Railway Terminology,
Alan A Jackson, Alan Sutton Publishing, 1996
Plural form: ballast trains
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT service train
ballast wagon
A railway vehicle dedicated
to the carriage of railway ballast.
Literary warrant required.
Plural
form: ballast wagons
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <vehicles for permanent way materials>
NT hopper ballast wagon
balloon
An oversized carriage
designed by Marsh for the London Brighton & South Coast Railway.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: balloons
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <rolling stock by design feature>
Baltic locomotive
A steam locomotive with
4-6-4 wheel arrangement.
Warrant: The Railway Dictionary, An A-Z of Railway
Terminology, Alan A Jackson, Alan Sutton Publishing, 1996
Plural form:
Baltic locomotives
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT six coupled locomotive
banana van
A heated or insulated goods
vehicle for transporting bananas by rail.
Warrant: An Illustrated History of
BR Wagons, Volume 1, Paul Bartlett, David Larkin, Trevor Mann, Roger Silsbury
& Andrew Ward, Oxford Publishing Company, 1985
Plural form: banana
vans
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <fruit carrying vehicles>
banger
Slang term for detonator.
Warrant: Ray Towell, Curator of Operations, National Railway Museum
Plural
form: bangers
USE detonator
CL Control and communications
BT <audible signals>
banjo
A slang term for some types
of vacuum brake valve handle.
Warrant: Railway Technical Web Pages, Piers
Connor, 2000
Plural form: banjos
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT brake component
bank foot
The bottom of a rope
incline.
Warrant: Jim Rees, Beamish North of England Open Air Museum
Plural form: bank feet
CL Built works and components
BT <route by inclination, etc.>
bank head
The top of a rope
incline.
Warrant: Jim Rees, Beamish North of England Open Air Museum
Plural form: bank heads
CL Built works and components
BT <route by inclination, etc.>
bank top
The top of a rope
incline.
Warrant: Jim Rees, Beamish North of England Open Air Museum
Plural form: bank tops
CL Built works and components
BT <route by inclination, etc.>
banker
An additional locomotive at
the rear of a train to assist it up a gradient.
Warrant: The Railway
Dictionary, An A-Z of Railway Terminology, Alan A Jackson, Alan Sutton
Publishing, 1996
Plural form: bankers
USE banking locomotive
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <locomotives by activity>
banking engine
A locomotive used
for assisting trains on steep inclines.
Warrant: The Railway Dictionary, An
A-Z of Railway Terminology, Alan A Jackson, Alan Sutton Publishing, 1996
Plural form: banking engines
USE banking locomotive
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <locomotives by activity>
banking locomotive
A locomotive used for
assisting trains on steep inclines.
Warrant: Modern Locomotive Design Bowen
Cooke 1910
Plural form: banking locomotives
UF banker
UF banking engine
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <locomotives by activity>
banner repeater
A signal whose function is
to repeat the indication shown by another when the latter cannot be seen by the
driver.
Warrant: Railtrack Jargon Buster, 1999
Plural form: banner
repeaters
CL Control and communications
BT repeating signal
banner repeating signal
A signal whose function is
to repeat the indication shown by another when the latter cannot be seen by the
driver.
Warrant: Railway Signalling and Communications, Installation and
Maintenance, The St Margaret's Technical Press Ltd, undated
Plural form:
banner repeating signals
CL Control and communications
BT repeating signal
RT banner signal
banner signal
An early form of mechanical
rotating signal.
Warrant: Two Centuries of Railway Signalling, G Kichenside
& A Williams, Oxford Publishing Company, 1998
Plural form: banner
signals
CL Control and communications
BT <signals by form>
RT banner repeating signal
bar frame
A type of locomotive frame
fabricated from steel bars of about 4 inches square section.
Warrant:
Locomotives and Their Working, C R H Simpson & F B Roberts, Virtue & Co
Ltd, 1952
Plural form: bar frames
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT locomotive frame
bar iron wagon
A railway vehicle dedicated
to the carriage of iron bars.
Warrant: Wagons on the LNER - North British,
John Hooper, Irwell Press, 1991 p25 (twin bar iron wagons)
Plural form: bar
iron wagons
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <steel carrying vehicles>
Bardic electric tail lamp
A battery operated lamp,
showing a red light on the rear end of a moving train, named after the original
manufacturing company.
Warrant: Richard Gibbon BSc FIMechE, National Railway
Museum
Plural form: Bardic electric tail lamps
CL Control and communications
BT tail lamp
Bardic lamp
A standard railway issue
battery powered handlamp used for giving hand signals and for general inspection
work, named after the manufacturing company.
Warrant: Richard Gibbon BSc
FIMechE, National Railway Museum
Plural form: Bardic lamps
CL Tools and equipment
BT handlamp
Barlow rail
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: Barlow rails
CL Track and track components
BT <rails by form>
Barlows fastener
A type of fixing used for
holding Barlow's rail to the track.
Warrant: Jim Rees, Beamish North of
England Open Air Museum
Plural form: Barlows fasteners
CL Track and track components
BT rail key
barrier coach
A carriage fitted with dual
or multiple coupling systems to allow non-standard rolling stock (e.g. vehicles
built for overseas railway systems) to be hauled by British locomotives or
marshalled in trains next to rolling stock equipped with normal buffing and
drawgear.
Warrant: Departmental Coaching Stock, Roger Butcher & Peter
Fox, Platform 5 Publishing Ltd, 3rd edition, 1987
Plural form: barrier
coaches
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT adaptor vehicle
NT EMU barrier coach
NT HST barrier coach
barrier key
A key used to release a
locked level crossing barrier.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form:
barrier keys
CL Control and communications
BT level crossing component
barrier vehicle
A vehicle (normally empty)
marshalled adjacent to a wagon carrying a dangerous load as a protective
measure. For example, one or more barrier vehicles might be placed between a
steam locomotive and a load of highly infammable or explosive materials to
minimise the risk of ignition by sparks from the chimney or ashpan.
Literary
warrant required.
Plural form: barrier vehicles
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT runner (vehicle)
NT barrier wagon
barrier wagon
A wagon (normally empty)
marshalled adjacent to a wagon carrying a dangerous or overhanging load as a
protective measure.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: barrier
wagons
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT barrier vehicle
barrier (level crossing)
A device
pivoted at the side of the carriageway which is lowered when required to close
the carriageway to road users.
Warrant: The History & Development of
Railway Signalling in the British Isles, Friends of the National Railway Museum
Plural form: barriers (level crossing)
USE level crossing barrier
CL Control and communications
BT <level crossing gates, barriers, etc.>
barrow
A two-wheeled handcart.
Warrant: Oxford English Dictionary
Plural form: barrows
CL Tools and equipment
BT <general operating tools and equipment>
barrow crossing
level crossing at the end of
a station platform for use by station staff only.
Warrant: Railtrack Jargon
Buster, 1999
Plural form: barrow crossings
CL Control and communications
BT <level crossings by type>
RT barrow crossing warning bell
barrow crossing warning bell
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: barrow crossing warning bells
CL Control and communications
BT <station staff warning systems>
RT barrow crossing
base plate (rodding)
Cast iron or steel plate
which forms the bearing for signal equipment and rodding.
Warrant: Lexique
General de Termes Ferroviares, Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer, 1975
Plural form: base plates
CL Control and communications
BT <rod transmission>
base plate (track)
A flat plate
fixed directly to the railway sleeper, with a recess in which the flat-bottomed
rail sits.A metal casting which supports and holds a flat bottom rail on a
sleeper.
Warrant: Gordon Reed, Permanent Way Institution
Plural form:
base plates
USE rail baseplate
CL Track and track components
BT <rail supports>
baseplate (rail)
A metal casting
which supports and holds a flat bottom rail on a sleeper.
Warrant: Railtrack
Jargon Buster, 1999
Plural form: baseplates (rail)
USE rail baseplate
CL Track and track components
BT <rail supports>
<basic structural components>
Basic components such as
rails, pillars, stanchions, etc. used to form the basic body shell of a vehicle.
For single components used to form more specific features such as cabs, etc. see
'<specific body components>'.
Plural form: <basic structural
components>
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT bodywork component
NT floor component
NT inside casing board
NT partition component
NT roof component
NT <body side components>
battery locomotive
Self-propelled electric
vehicle which obtains electrical energy from storage batteries carried on the
vehicle.
Warrant: Encyclopedia of Railways, O S Nock, 1977
Plural form:
battery locomotives
UF battery powered locomotive
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <electric locomotives by current collection>
battery powered locomotive
A
locomotive which operates independently of an external electricity supply
carrying its own supply in batteries.
Warrant: Electric Locomotives and
Their Development, Henry Greenly pp1-38
Plural form: battery powered
locomotives
USE battery locomotive
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <electric locomotives by current collection>
battery (vehicle)
A device for the storage of
electrical energy.
Warrant: Electric Locomotives and Railways, H Greenly, no
date
Plural form: batteries (vehicle)
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <ancillary electrical equipment>
baulk (load support)
A roughly squared timber
beam used for supporting a load clear of the floor of a wagon.
Warrant:
Oxford English Dictionary
Plural form: baulks (load supports)
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <load support and securing components>
bay indicator
A signalling instrument to
indicate the presence of a train in a bay platform.
Warrant: Ray Towell,
Curator of Operations, National Railway Museum
Plural form: bay
indicators
CL Control and communications
BT section indicator
bay line
A dead end line adjacent to
a platform.
Warrant: Railtrack Jargon Buster, 1999
Plural form: bay
lines
CL Track and track components
BT <platform roads>
bay platform
A platform with buffer stops
at one end used for trains terminating at the station.
Warrant: The Railway
Dictionary, An A-Z of Railway Terminology, Alan A Jackson, Alan Sutton
Publishing, 1996
Plural form: bay platforms
CL Built works and components
BT platform
beam engine (haulage)
A stationary
engine which uses a large horizontal beam to transmit power from the vertical
cylinder to a pump, winding apparatus etc.
Warrant: The Stationary Steam
Engine, George Watkins, David & Charles, 1968 Warrant: The Steam Engine and
Other Heat Engines, Sir J Alfred Ewing, 1926
Plural form: beam engines
(haulage)
USE cable haulage engine
CL Built works and components
BT <cable haulage structures and equipment>
bearer
A transverse sleeper
supporting the rails in switches and crossings.
Warrant: Railtrack Jargon
Buster, 1999
Plural form: bearers
CL Track and track components
BT <sleepers by function>
bearing profile
A pattern for measuring the
axle-bearing profile.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: bearing
profiles
CL Unattributed
BT <unattributed>
bearing spring
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: bearing springs
UF spring (suspension component)
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT suspension component
NT coupled wheel spring
NT helical bearing spring
NT laminated bearing spring
NT volute bearing spring
bearing (axle)
The bushing of metal
block of anti-friction material which transmits the load via an oil film to a
journal.
Warrant: Encyclopedia of Railways, O S Nock, 1977
Plural form:
bearings (wheel)
USE axle bearing
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT axlebox component
beer van
A van adapted specifically
for the conveyance of beer.
Warrant: An Illustrated History of LMS Wagons
Vol 1, R J Essery, Oxford Publishing Company, 1981 p139
Plural form: beer
vans
UF ale truck
UF ale van
UF ale wagon
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <beer, etc. carrying vehicles>
<beer, etc. carrying vehicles>
Railway vehicles dedicated
to the carriage of brewing materials and products.
Plural form: <beer,
etc. carrying vehicles>
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <foodstuff carrying vehicles>
NT beer van
NT cask wagon
NT yeast van
bell crank
A mechanical component
used to divert the direction of point and crossing gate rodding. Warrant: Ray
Towell, Curator of Operations, National Railway Museum
Plural form: bell
cranks
USE point rod bell crank
CL Control and communications
BT <rod transmission>
bell jack
A bell-shaped hand operated
screw jack used for general engineering work and for supporting locomotives. It
has a large diameter base to give stability.
Warrant: Richard Gibbon BSc
FIMechE, National Railway Museum
Plural form: bell jacks
CL Tools and equipment
BT jack
bell plunger
The actuating mechanism for
a platform bell.
Warrant: Ray Towell, Curator of Operations, National
Railway Museum
Plural form: bell plungers
CL Control and communications
BT plunger
bell punch
A device for validating thin
card tickets on issue, usually with a numerical register. Normally associated
with lightly used branch lines or halts.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: bell punches
CL Commercial records and equipment
BT ticket issuing machine
Belpaire firebox
A type of steam locomotive
firebox invented in 1860-64 and refined in 1884 by Belgian engineer A J
Belpaire.
Warrant: The Railway Dictionary, An A-Z of Railway Terminology,
Alan A Jackson, Alan Sutton Publishing, 1996
Plural form: Belpaire
fireboxes
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT firebox
berth track circuit
A track circuit on the
approach side of a stop signal.
Warrant: The Railway Dictionary, An A-Z of
Railway Terminology, Alan A Jackson, Alan Sutton Publishing, 1996
Plural
form: berth track circuits
UF berth (track circuit)
CL Control and communications
BT track circuit
berth (sleeping)
A bunk bed for passengers
travelling overnight in sleeping coaches.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: berths (sleeping)
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <vehicle seating>
berth (track circuit)
A name
occasionally used for a specific track circuit.
Warrant: Railtrack London
& North Eastern, A Glossary of Railway Terms, October 1998
Plural form:
berths (track circuit)
USE berth track circuit
CL Control and communications
BT track circuit
Bethlehem Auxilliary engine
Scope note required.
Warrant: Articulated Locomotives, L Wiener, 1930
Plural form: Bethlehem
Auxilliary engines
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT temporary steam tender
bicycle storage ticket
A ticket issued for storage
of a bicycle at the issuing station whilst the owner undertakes a train
journey.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: bicycle storage
tickets
CL Commercial records and equipment
BT non-travel ticket
big end
The end of a connecting rod
of a steam locomotive adjoining the crank axle or pin.
Warrant: The Railway
Dictionary, An A-Z of Railway Terminology, Alan A Jackson, Alan Sutton
Publishing, 1996
Plural form: big ends
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <power transmission components>
birdcage brake
A passenger train brake van
or brake composite coach with raised glazed section in the guard's compartment
projecting above roof level to allow observation of signals, etc.
Warrant:
The Railway Dictionary, An A-Z of Railway Terminology, Alan A Jackson, Alan
Sutton Publishing, 1996
Plural form: birdcage brakes
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT birdcage stock
birdcage stock
Rolling stock with a short
deck-roofed section to provide a lookout for the guard.
Literary warrant
required.
Plural form: birdcage stock
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <rolling stock by design feature>
NT birdcage brake
biscuit wagon
A railway vehicle dedicated
to the carriage of biscuits.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form:
biscuit wagons
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <bakery product, confectionery, etc. carrying vehicles>
Bissel truck
A two or four wheeled radial
truck in which the pivotting ppoint is located at some distance from its
transverse centre.
Warrant: The Railway Dictionary, An A-Z of Railway
Terminology, Alan A Jackson, Alan Sutton Publishing, 1996
Plural form:
Bissel trucks
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT truck
bi-directional line
A line which is fully
signalled to take trains in both directions.
Warrant: Railtrack Jargon
Buster, 1999
Plural form: bi-directional lines
CL Track and track components
BT <running lines by direction of working>
blackboard for shunting notices
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: blackboards for shunting notices
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <signalling and control components>
blade (point)
The movable portion of the
switch rail chamfered to fit closely against the stock rail in a point or
switch.
Warrant: Encyclopedia of Railways, O S Nock, 1977
Plural form:
blades (point)
CL Track and track components
BT running rail
blast nozzle
A nozzle fitted to the top
of the blast pipe in the locomotive smokebox to direct the exhaust up the
chimney.
Warrant: Great Western Railway Drawing Registers
Plural form:
blast nozzles
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT smokebox component
blast pipe
The exhaust steam pipe
running from the valve chests into the smokebox box ending directly below the
chimney.
Warrant: Great Western Railway Drawing Registers
Plural form:
blast pipes
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT smokebox component
NT Kylchap blast pipe
blast pipe jimmy
An illegal implement used by
steam locomotive drivers, fitted across the blast pipe to increase combustion by
splitting the blast and causing a greater draw on the smokebox gases.
Warrant: Locomotives and Their Working, C R H Simpson & F B Roberts, Virtue
& Co Ltd, 1952
Plural form: blast pipe jimmies
UF jimmy
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT smokebox component
Blenkinsop rack rail
The side rack rail developed
by Murray & Blenkinsop, c1811.
Warrant: Early British Locomotives, C F
Dendy Marshall, The Locomotive Publishing Company, 1939
Plural form:
Blenkinsop rack rails
CL Track and track components
BT rack rail
Blenkinsop rack wheel
A toothed wheel developed by
Murray and Blenkinsop for use in conjunction with the Blenkinsop rack rail,
c1811.
Warrant: Early British Locomotives, C F Dendy Marshall, The
Locomotive Publishing Company, 1939
Plural form: Blenkinsop rack wheels
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT rack driving wheel
Blenkinsop system locomotive
A locomotive that drives
itself along the track by means of a rotating gear engaging with a particular
design of rack rather than by adhesion.
Warrant: Science Museum Catalogue
Plural form: Blenkinsop system locomotives
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT rack locomotive
blind roller
Scope note
required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: blind rollers
USE destination blind roller
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <destination, etc. indicating equipment>
blinder
A plate that partially
covers a backlight to enable the signalman to see that a semaphore signal is
operating correctly.
Warrant: The History & Development of Railway
Signalling in the British Isles, Friends of the National Railway Museum
Plural form: blinders
USE back light blinder
CL Control and communications
BT signal arm assembly component
blinker
A smoke deflector, fitted in
pairs to the front end of a steam locomotive to lift the smoke away from the cab
windows and sides.
Warrant: The Railway Dictionary, An A-Z of Railway
Terminology, Alan A Jackson, Alan Sutton Publishing, 1996
Plural form:
blinkers
USE smoke deflector
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT smokebox component
block bell
An electrically powered
system of audible communication between signal boxes.
Warrant: Railtrack
Jargon Buster, 1999
Plural form: block bells
CL Control and communications
BT <block system working>
block gong
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: block gongs
CL Control and communications
BT <block system working>
block indicator
An instrument which
indicates the state of the line between adjacent signal boxes.
Warrant:
Railtrack Jargon Buster, 1999
Plural form: block indicators
CL Control and communications
BT block instrument
block instrument
An instrument which
indicates occupation of the line between adjacent signal boxes e.g. blocked,
clear, train on line.
Warrant: Railtrack Jargon Buster, 1999
Plural
form: block instruments
CL Control and communications
BT <block system working>
NT block indicator
NT commutator (block telegraph component)
NT intermediate block instrument
NT mechanical line clear indicator
NT section indicator
NT train describer
NT train on line indicator
NT <double line block instruments>
NT <single line block instruments>
block section
A physical length of track
protected by a fixed signal.
Warrant: Railway Technical Web Pages, Piers
Connor, 2000
Plural form: block sections
UF block (control)
CL Track and track components
BT <running lines by control>
block switch
A switch located in a signal
box by means of which the signalling control circuit to the signal boxes on
either side may be connected together enabling the signalbox in which the switch
has been so operated to close if required.
Warrant: Lexique General de Termes
Ferroviares, Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer, 1975
Plural form:
block switches
UF closing switch
CL Control and communications
BT <block system working>
<block system working>
A widely adopted signalling
arrangement in which the railway is divided into absolute intervals of space
known as 'block sections'. Only one train is allowed into each block section at
a time.
Plural form: <block system working>
CL Control and communications
BT <train protection equipment>
NT block bell
NT block gong
NT block instrument
NT block switch
NT intermediate block switch
NT tablet pouch
NT Welwyn control
NT Welwyn release
NT <emergency working forms and equipment>
NT <occupation protection equipment>
NT <radio control equipment>
NT <single staff system equipment>
NT <tokenless block system equipment>
block telephone
A means direct of telephonic
communication between signalboxes.
Warrant: Ray Towell, Curator of
Operations, National Railway Museum
Plural form: block telephones
CL Control and communications
BT railway telephone
block token
A device carried by a driver
as his authority to run over a single line worked by the Electric Token Block
System.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: block tokens
UF token (drivers authority)
CL Control and communications
BT <electric token block equipment>
NT key token
NT long section token
NT section token
NT single line tablet
NT tablet
block (control)
A physical length
of track protected by a fixed signal.
Warrant: Railway Technical Web Pages,
Piers Connor, 2000
Plural form: blocks
USE block section
CL Track and track components
BT <running lines by control>
blow off cock
A cock provided on a
locomotive boiler, normally at the lowest point to allow it to be drained.
Warrant: Locomotives and Their Working, C R H Simpson & F B Roberts, Virtue
& Co Ltd, 1952
Plural form: blow off cocks
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT boiler component
blowdown valve
A valve provided at the
lowest point in a locomotive boiler, to discharge sludge which collects at the
bottom of the boiler and foundation ring.
Warrant: Railway Technical Web
Pages, Piers Connor, 2000
Plural form: blowdown valves
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT boiler component
NT continuous blowdown valve
blower
A steam operated device for
providing a forced draught through the fire when no exhaust is available.
Warrant: Locomotives and Their Working, C R H Simpson & F B Roberts, Virtue
& Co Ltd, 1952
Plural form: blowers
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <steam exhaust components>
blower cock
The valve operating the
blower.
Warrant: Locomotives and Their Working, C R H Simpson & F B
Roberts, Virtue & Co Ltd, 1952
Plural form: blower cocks
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <steam exhaust components>
blower jet valve
The valve operating the
blower.
Warrant: Locomotives and Their Working, C R H Simpson & F B
Roberts, Virtue & Co Ltd, 1952
Plural form: blower jet valves
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <steam exhaust components>
board (signal)
Slang for a signal.
Warrant: Railtrack Jargon Buster, 1999
Plural form: boards
USE fixed signal
CL Control and communications
BT <visual signals>
boat train
A passenger train conveying
passengers to or from ferries or ocean liners.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: boat trains
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT passenger train
body
The basic body section of a
vehicle without internal fittings or wheels/bogies.
Warrant: Lexique General
de Termes Ferroviares, Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer, 1975
Plural
form: bodies
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT vehicle component
NT carbody
NT coach body
NT coach body section
NT coach section
NT monocoque body
body bolster
Lateral structural
underframe member at the pivot between body and bogie.
Warrant: Railway
Technical Web Pages, Piers Connor, 2000 Warrant: LUL Jargon Buster
Plural
form: body bolsters
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT underframe component
body framing
A basic structural frame
member of a vehicle body.
Warrant: Railway Carriages and Wagons: Their
design and construction (reprinted articles from The Railway Engineer 1892-7),
Sidney Stone, republished by Peter Kay, circa 1997.
Plural form: body
framing
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <body side components>
NT end framing
NT side framing
RT vehicle door framing
body moulding
Mouldings placed over the
joints of panelled vehicle bodies.
Literary warrant required.
Plural
form: body mouldings
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <body side components>
NT bottom light rail moulding
NT cant rail moulding
NT standing pillar moulding
NT top light rail moulding
NT waist rail moulding
body panel
A panel forming part of the
internal or external skin of a railway carriage or wagon.
Literary warrant
required.
Plural form: body panels
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <body side components>
NT bottom quarter panel
NT carriage finishing panel
NT top quarter panel
NT upright panel
NT waist panel
<body side components>
A basic component of vehicle
body sides or ends. For doors see 'vehicle door', for windows see 'light
(vehicle window)'.
Plural form: <body side components>
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <basic structural components>
NT body framing
NT body moulding
NT body panel
NT body stanchion
NT corner plate
NT planking
NT strapping
body stanchion
The vertical ribs, typically
of L or T section iron or steel, used on metal framed goods vehicles.
Warrant: A History of GWR Goods Wagons, A G Atkins, W Beard et al, 1986, p46
Plural form: body stanchions
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <body side components>
body (coach)
The basic body section
of a vehicle without internal fittings or wheels/bogies.
Warrant: Lexique
General de Termes Ferroviares, Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer, 1975
Plural form: bodies (coach)
USE coach body
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT body
<bodywork areas>
Scope note required.
Plural form: <bodywork areas>
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT bodywork component
NT apron (rolling stock)
NT bolection
NT carriage section
NT tumblehome
NT waist
NT weatherboard
bodywork component
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: bodywork components
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT vehicle component
NT access component
NT <areas within vehicle body>
NT <basic structural components>
NT <bodywork areas>
NT <destination, etc. indicating equipment>
NT <environmental control components>
NT <passenger and staff facility components>
NT <signalling and control components>
NT <specific body components>
NT <vehicle body subassemblies>
bogie
A swivelling wheeled
structure, to guide and support a locomotive or railway vehicle, usually 4 or 6
wheeled.
Warrant: Great Western Railway Drawing Registers
Plural form:
bogies
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <running gear subassemblies>
NT commonwealth bogie
NT equaliser bar bogie
NT motor bogie
<bogie and truck components>
Scope note required.
Plural form: <bogie and truck components>
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <running gear subassemblies>
NT bogie component
NT bolster (bogie component)
NT equaliser bar
NT pivot pin (truck)
NT spring - bogie side control
bogie bolster wagon
A bogie wagon for
transporting long loads, e.g. girders.
Literary warrant required.
Plural
form: bogie bolster wagons
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <timber/steel carrying vehicles>
bogie bolster (bogie component)
The transverse floating beam
member of the bogie suspension system supporting the weight of the vehicle
body.
Warrant: Encyclopedia of Railways, O S Nock, 1977
Plural form:
bogie bolsters (bogie components)
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT bogie component
bogie carriage
A railway carriage carried
on bogies, rather than on a fixed wheelbase.
Warrant: Lexique General de
Termes Ferroviares, Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer, 1975
Plural
form: bogie carriages
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <passenger carriages by wheel arrangement>
NT eight wheel bogie carriage
NT twelve wheel bogie carriage
RT bogie vehicle
bogie component
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: bogie components
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <bogie and truck components>
NT bogie bolster (bogie component)
NT spring plank
bogie locomotive
A locomotive where the
flexibility of the wheels to get around corners is achieved through a series of
pivoted 4 or 6 wheel trucks (bogies).
Warrant: A Manual of Locomotive
Engineering, W F Pettigrew, Charles Griffin & Co., 3rd Edn, 1909
Plural
form: bogie locomotives
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <locomotives by wheel arrangement>
bogie van
A covered freight wagon or
non-passenger carrying coach carried on bogies rather than on a fixed
wheelbase.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: bogie vans
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT bogie vehicle
bogie vehicle
A railway vehicle carried on
bogies.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: bogie vehicles
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <rolling stock by wheel arrangement>
NT bogie van
NT eight wheel bogie vehicle
NT twelve wheel bogie vehicle
boiler
The part of a steam
locomotive which produces steam, consisting of a firebox surrounded by water
space in which combustion takes place.
Warrant: Locomotives and Their
Working, C R H Simpson & F B Roberts, Virtue & Co Ltd, 1952
Plural
form: boilers
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <steam generation components>
NT coned boiler
NT multi-tube boiler
NT single flue boiler
NT tapered boiler
boiler assembly
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: boiler assemblies
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <steam generation components>
NT boiler barrel
NT dome
NT firebox
NT firebox component
NT protector
NT safety valve
NT smokebox assembly
NT superheater
NT test cock
NT top feed
boiler barrel
The main part of the
locomotive boiler between the smokebox and the firebox.
Warrant: Great
Western Railway Drawing Registers
Plural form: boiler barrels
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT boiler assembly
boiler certificate
Formal notification
verifying that a boiler is fit for use.
Warrant: Railway Technical Web
Pages, Piers Connor, 2000
Plural form: boiler certificates
CL Commercial records and equipment
BT <administration>
boiler cladding
The layer of insulating
material between the outer surface of the boiler and the cladding to help the
boiler to retain heat and work more efficiently.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: boiler claddings
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT boiler component
boiler component
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: boiler components
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <steam generation components>
NT blow off cock
NT blowdown valve
NT boiler cladding
NT boiler insulation
NT boiler mounting
NT boiler plate
NT boiler stay
NT lagging
NT locomotive boiler plate
NT manhole cover (boiler)
NT tube plate
NT washout plug
boiler insulation
layer of insulating material
between the outer surface of the boiler and the cladding to help the boiler to
retain heat and work more efficiently.
Warrant: Railway Technical Web Pages,
Piers Connor, 2000
Plural form: boiler insulations
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT boiler component
boiler mounting
The brackets fixed to the
side walls of the firebox for mounting the boiler onto the frames.
Warrant:
Railway Technical Web Pages, Piers Connor, 2000
Plural form: boiler
mountings
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT boiler component
boiler plate
The steel plate used for
manufacturing steam locomotive boilers.
Warrant: Great Western Railway
Drawing Registers
Plural form: boiler plates
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT boiler component
boiler pressure gauge
A gauge for measuring the
steam pressure in the boiler.
Warrant: Lexique General de Termes
Ferroviares, Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer, 1975
Plural form:
boiler pressure gauges
UF pressure gauge (boiler)
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <fuel and water controls and gauges>
boiler stay
One of the longitudinal rods
running between the front tube plate, firebox tubeplate and firebox backhead to
support these components against the internal pressure of the boiler.
Warrant: Great Western Railway Drawing Registers
Plural form: boiler
stays
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT boiler component
boiler stay gauge
A gauge for checking the
thread sizes in the locomotive boiler plate prior to inserting new boiler
stays.
Warrant: Richard Gibbon BSc FIMechE, National Railway Museum
Plural form: boiler stay gauges
CL Tools and equipment
BT engineering workshop tools and equipment
boiler tube
One of the horizontal
pipes carrying smoke and burning gases from the firebox to the smokebox, heating
the boiler water which surrounds them and thus producing the steam. The term
'boiler tube' is generally used to mean smoke tube but use 'water tube' if
appropriate.
Warrant: Railway Technical Web Pages, Piers Connor, 2000
Plural form: boiler tubes
USE smoke tube
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT boiler component
boiler wagon
A special vehicle dedicated
to the conveyance of industrial boilers.
Warrant: Phil Atkins, National
Railway Museum
Plural form: boiler wagons
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <machinery, etc. carrying vehicles>
boiler water level gauge
The indication provided in
every steam locomotive cab showing the level of water in the boiler.
Warrant: Lexique General de Termes Ferroviares, Union Internationale des Chemins
de Fer, 1975
Plural form: boiler water level gauges
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <fuel and water controls and gauges>
bolection
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: bolections
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <bodywork areas>
bolster wagon
An open freight vehicle
fitted with one or more raised transverse beams (bolsters) on which the load is
carried clear of the floor to facilitate loading and unloading. The bolsters are
normally equipped with removable stanchions to control lateral movement of the
load.
Warrant: Encyclopedia of Railways, O S Nock, 1977
Plural form:
bolster wagons
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <timber/steel carrying vehicles>
bolster (bogie component)
The transverse member of a
bogie or truck normally carrying the weight of the car body and usually
separated from the bogie frames by springs or other shock-absorbing devices.
Warrant: The Railway Dictionary, An A-Z of Railway Terminology, Alan A Jackson,
Alan Sutton Publishing, 1996
Plural form: bolsters (bogie components)
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <bogie and truck components>
bolster (load bearer)
A transverse load bearing
support fitted to the floor of a wagon designed for the carriage of long loads
of timber, steel, etc., usually equipped with stanchions to hold the load in
place.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: bolsters (load
bearers)
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <load support and securing components>
bolt catch
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: bolt catches
CL Unidentified
BT <unidentified terms>
bond
A wire connection between
the rails to ensure electrical continuity.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: bonds
CL Track and track components
BT conductor rail equipment
book of ticket stubs
The counterfoils of tickets
issued from a book.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: books of
ticket stubs
CL Commercial records and equipment
BT <permits>
book of tickets
Early railways adopted the
stagecoach system of writing out tickets in a ledger or book. The ticket was
torn from the ledger leaving a stub or counterfoil as an accounting record of
the transaction.
Warrant: Lexique General de Termes Ferroviares, Union
Internationale des Chemins de Fer, 1975
Plural form: books of tickets
CL Commercial records and equipment
BT <permits>
booking office
Room, office or structure
used by clerks issuing tickets for travel to the public.
Literary warrant
required.
Plural form: booking offices
UF ticket office
CL Built works and components
BT <station rooms and spaces>
booklet ticket
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: booklet tickets
CL Commercial records and equipment
BT <tickets by form>
boom straightener
A device for straightening
level crossing barrier booms that have been misaligned.
Warrant: Richard
Gibbon BSc FIMechE, National Railway Museum
Plural form: boom
straighteners
CL Tools and equipment
BT <unidentified tools and equipment>
booster
A small steam engine driving
the wheels of a locomotive tender or the trailing pony truck or bogie between
the footplate and the tender.
Warrant: The Railway Dictionary, An A-Z of
Railway Terminology, Alan A Jackson, Alan Sutton Publishing, 1996
Plural
form: boosters
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <engine components>
booth (ticket)
An enclosed cabin, normally
manned by a ticket seller or collector.
Warrant: Railway Terminology Working
Group
Plural form: booths (ticket)
CL Built works and components
BT <station structures>
boss (wheel)
The centre part of a wheel
through which the axle passes.
Warrant: Lexique General de Termes
Ferroviares, Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer, 1975
Plural form:
bosses (wheel)
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT wheel component
bottle jack
A bottle-shaped hand
operated screw jack used for general engineering work and for rerailing and
supporting railway vehicles.
Warrant: Richard Gibbon BSc FIMechE, National
Railway Museum
Plural form: bottle jacks
CL Tools and equipment
BT jack
bottom discharge hopper wagon
A wagon with a hopper shaped
load space that is emptied through doors in the floor.
Literary warrant
required.
Plural form: bottom discharge hopper wagons
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <rolling stock by access/discharge arrangements>
RT hopper wagon
bottom door rail
A horizontal structural
member forming the bottom of a vehicle door.
Warrant: Railway Carriages and
Wagons: Their design and construction (reprinted articles from The Railway
Engineer 1892-7), Sidney Stone, republished by Peter Kay, circa 1997 Fig 511.
Plural form: bottom door rails
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT vehicle door framing
bottom door vehicle
A railway vehicle with doors
in the floor or hopper bottom for gravity discharge of the load.
Literary
warrant required.
Plural form: bottom door vehicles
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <rolling stock by access/discharge arrangements>
bottom end
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: bottom ends
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <unidentified vehicle components>
bottom framing
A longitudinal or transverse
member forming a basic structural component of a vehicle floor.
Warrant:
Railway Carriages and Wagons: Their design and construction (reprinted articles
from The Railway Engineer 1892-7), Sidney Stone, republished by Peter Kay, circa
1997.
Plural form: bottom framing
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT floor component
NT bottom side member
NT curb rail
NT end bar
NT intermediate floor bearer
NT partition floor bearer
NT side rail
bottom light rail
A horizontal structural
member running along the vehicle body side immediately below the quarter
lights.
Warrant: Railway Carriages and Wagons: Their design and construction
(reprinted articles from The Railway Engineer 1892-7), Sidney Stone, republished
by Peter Kay, circa 1997.
Plural form: bottom light rails
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT side framing
bottom light rail moulding
The horizontal moulding
placed over the joint between the waist panel and the bottom of the quarter
lights and upright panel, along the line of the bottom light rail.
Warrant:
Railway Carriages and Wagons: Their design and construction (reprinted articles
from The Railway Engineer 1892-7), Sidney Stone, republished by Peter Kay, circa
1997.
Plural form: bottom light rail mouldings
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT body moulding
bottom quarter panel
The lowest side panel on a
carriage body.
Warrant: Railway Carriages and Wagons: Their design and
construction (reprinted articles from The Railway Engineer 1892-7), Sidney
Stone, republished by Peter Kay, circa 1997.
Plural form: bottom quarter
panels
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT body panel
bottom side member
A longitudinal member
forming the side of a vehicle floor.
Warrant: Railway Carriages and Wagons:
Their design and construction (reprinted articles from The Railway Engineer
1892-7), Sidney Stone, republished by Peter Kay, circa 1997.
Plural form:
bottom side members
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT bottom framing
boundary marker
A post or notice indicating
the limit of the extent of the property of a railway company.
Warrant:
Lexique General de Termes Ferroviares, Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer,
1975
Plural form: boundary markers
CL Built works and components
BT <signs and markers>
NT boundary post
NT boundary stone
boundary post
A cast-iron or concrete post
marking the boundary of land owned by the railway where fencing or other
demarcation was impractical.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form:
boundary posts
CL Built works and components
BT boundary marker
boundary stone
A stone marker indicating
the limit of the extent of the property of a railway company.
Warrant:
Lexique General de Termes Ferroviares, Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer,
1975
Plural form: boundary stones
CL Built works and components
BT boundary marker
bow collector
An early form of electric
current collection device for overhead wires, later superseded by the
pantograph.
Warrant: Electric Locomotives and Railways, H Greenly, no date
Plural form: bow collectors
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <overhead power collection components>
bowmac
A concrete panel which forms
part of the road surface over the track at a level crossing.
Warrant:
Railtrack Jargon Buster, 1999
Plural form: bowmacs
CL Control and communications
BT <level crossing road surface components>
brake
The appliance fitted to
vehicles to retard or prevent motion.
Warrant: Classic British Steam
Locomotives, Peter Herring, 2000
Plural form: brakes
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT brake gear
NT disc brake
NT gripper brake
NT push rod brake
NT tread brake
brake block
The replaceable high
friction material that acts to apply braking forces to a wheel tread.
Warrant: Great Western Railway Drawing Registers Warrant: LUL Jargon Buster
Plural form: brake blocks
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT brake component
brake coach
Scope note
required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: brake coaches
USE passenger brake van (with passenger accommodation)
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <unidentified vehicle components>
brake component
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: brake components
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT braking system component
NT banjo
NT brake block
NT brake drum
NT brake drum assembly
NT brake shoe
NT slack adjuster (for brakes)
brake control valve
Scope note required.
Warrant: Great Western Railway Drawing Registers
Plural form: brake control
valves
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <brake controls>
<brake controls>
Levers, valves, etc. used by
shunters, guards, etc. to operate the brakes on a train or individual vehicle.
Driver's brake controls are included under <drivers brake controls> in the
<driving and control components> heading. Brake pressure gauges and other
indicators provided outside the driver's cab are included here, those in the cab
are included under <drivers brake controls>.
Plural form: <brake
controls>
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT braking system component
NT brake control valve
NT brake cylinder isolating cock
NT brake handle
NT brake isolating cock
NT brake lever
NT brake pressure gauge
NT brake wheel
NT combination brake and ejector valve
NT drivers brake valve
NT duplex gauge
NT ejector release valve
NT emergency brake test control
NT lap
NT passenger communication brake valve
NT passenger communication valve (air)
NT passenger communications valve (vacuum)
NT quick acting triple valve
NT remote brake release control
NT resetting rope
NT steam brake lever
NT steam brake valve
NT vacuum brake cylinder release valve
RT <drivers brake controls>
brake cylinder
A cylinder containing the
piston connected to the brake gear to retard or stop a vehicle.
Warrant:
Great Western Railway Drawing Registers
Plural form: brake cylinders
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <slave brake actuators>
NT vacuum brake cylinder
brake cylinder isolating cock
A valve for isolating a
defective brake cylinder from the braking system.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: brake cylinder isolating cocks
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <brake controls>
brake direct admission valve
A valve situated in or
adjacent to the brake pipe which, when pressure in the brake pipe rises, opens
to allow air directly from the atmosphere into the vacuum cylinder, thus
speeding up application of the brakes along the full length of the train as air
is not exhausted from the train pipe in order to fill the lower chamber of the
brake cylinder.
Warrant: The Automatic Vacuum Brake, British Railways Board,
1967 p22
Plural form: brake direct admission valves
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <slave brake actuators>
brake drum
A cylinder attached to the
wheel against which the brake block presses.
Warrant: Lexique General de
Termes Ferroviares, Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer, 1975
Plural
form: brake drums
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT brake component
brake drum assembly
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: brake drum assemblies
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT brake component
brake gear
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: brake gear
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT running gear
NT brake
NT braking system
NT braking system component
brake handle
The handle for applying and
releasing the brake.
Warrant: Great Western Railway Drawing Registers
Plural form: brake handles
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <brake controls>
brake hanger
A lever forming part of the
brake rigging to which the brake block is secured.
Warrant: Great Western
Railway Drawing Registers Warrant: LUL Jargon Buster
Plural form: brake
hangers
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <mechanical brake transmission components>
brake hose
A flexible connection
between brake pipes on adjacent vehicles coupled together to give braking
continuity along the train.
Warrant: Phil Atkins, National Railway Museum
Plural form: brake hoses
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <brake pipes, reservoirs, etc.>
NT vacuum hose
brake isolating cock
A shut off valve at the end
of an air braked vehicle to stop air leaking out of the hose.
Literary
warrant required.
Plural form: brake isolating cocks
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <brake controls>
brake lever
A large hand operated handle
for applying the brakes on railway wagons.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: brake levers
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <brake controls>
brake pipe
Scope note required.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: brake pipes
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <brake pipes, reservoirs, etc.>
NT air brake pipe
brake pipe coupling
A casting with a sealing
washer fitted to the outside end of the brake hose to allow it to couple with
identical coupling on an adjoining vehicle.
Literary warrant required.
Plural form: brake pipe couplings
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT <brake pipes, reservoirs, etc.>
<brake pipes, reservoirs, etc.>
Scope note required.
Plural form: <brake pipes, reservoirs, etc.>
CL Vehicles and vehicle components
BT braking system component
NT angle cock
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, [Contents]
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