Western Railroad Discussion > Railroad Slang Terms

There is always slang terminology for different things on the railroad: Crummies and Hacks for cabooses, Cruds for switchers, etc. Where does it come from and is there an all-encompassing compendium ($10 word) out here for all the known terms? How about posting a list of terms out here for the uninformed or the curious? TIA.

Lane.

Anyone else ever hear of the dynamic brake being referred to as the "rubber brake"? An old WP head, Graham Snyder, called it that when he & I were on the OMW back in 1976.

Tom

"Hoghead" for engineer (still widely used),
"Skipper" for conductor (rarely used),
"Car Knocker" for carman,
"Gandy dancer" for section man,
"All Black" for a good rollby,
"Highball" for same, or for proceed, or running work;
"Baldface" for shove,
"Washout" for emergency stop hand signal,
"Make wind" for lacing air hoses,
"Big hole" or "Plug It" for putting train into emergency,
"FRED" for rear end device,
"Mary" for head end device,
"86'ing" for flagging,
"Guns" for torpedoes,
"Tie up" for go off duty,
"Goat" for switch engine,
"Jack" for road power,
"Decorate" for rollby,
"Drag" or "Dog" for slow freight,
"Shooter" for fast freight,
"Dogcatch" for relief crew,
"Peanut" for short air hose extension,
"Wheel" for train list,
"Whiskers" for seniority,
"In the hole" for in the siding,
"Man in the hole" for train in the siding,
"Hot rail" for an approaching train,
"Dope" for switch list or switching instructions, or other train info,
"Soup" for loads, empties, tons and feet,
"Groundhog" for engineer working as a conductor,
"Piglette" for student engineer,
"Old head" for railroader with lots of seniority, or a bossy railroader,
"Pig" for intermodal car,
"Bucket" for intermodal well,
"Reefer" for refrigerated boxcar

many more that someone else will post, some are regional, but I've heard all of the above used before.

Oh, and I had to add, the first time I worked as a switch foreman and a yardmaster asked me "Did you get doped up yet?" I thought he was asking if I was on drugs, true story.

Cub = student conductor
Bend The Iron = Throw a switch (Some old guys still use this)

Bad Iron - turnout aligned against your movement

Steve Carter
Gig Harbor, WA
My Photography

One that I don't see mentioned on here to often is "humper", which refers to a train that originates and/or terminates at a hump yard.

http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/glossry1.Html

"Beans" = meal/lunch

Thanks to all for the responses, so far.
lurchdel, great compendium.

So, how did a switcher (SW1000, 1200, 1500, etc.) get the name "Crud"? Will AC4400s/C44-9s be called Flame Throwers?

Too much good information out here.

Lane.

GP40X Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks to all for the responses, so far. How did a
> switcher (SW1000, 1200, 1500, etc.) get the name
> "Crud"?

I've never heard that one before -- it could be a local term somewhere. In the northeast, switcher-type units are sometimes referred to as "pups."

toledopatch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> GP40X Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Thanks to all for the responses, so far. How did
> a
> > switcher (SW1000, 1200, 1500, etc.) get the
> name
> > "Crud"?
>
> I've never heard that one before -- it could be a
> local term somewhere. In the northeast,
> switcher-type units are sometimes referred to as
> "pups."

GP40X,

The term "Crud" has been used on the west coast to talk about specificaly SP SW-1500's and by extension MP-15 and MP-15AC's. As for where the term came from, I haven't a clue. It has been used almost as long as the SW-1500's have been around.

toledo,

Pups is a term used mostly with the LV SW-8, SW-800 and SW-900's and most specificaly those that were set up with MU for some light rail branches in Pennsylvania.

J.

J.Ferris Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> toledo,
>
> Pups is a term used mostly with the LV SW-8,
> SW-800 and SW-900's and most specificaly those
> that were set up with MU for some light rail
> branches in Pennsylvania.

I've heard the term applied to other SW-types, but agree that it originated with those LV units.

"Hostler's dynamics" = reverse.

Commuter trains: dinkies / scoots on Metra
Jack or pot signal: dwarf signal

"Groundhog" also can be a Remote operator (newer term)

Here's a huge list, with some real oldies -

http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/glossry1.Html

also some slang among the railroad terminology at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_terminology

"Stabbed." Being put into a siding and/or delayed, particularly if the delayed train is a "shooter" or a passenger train. Usually refers to the location, "We got stabbed at LaSalle by a manifest." Or a dispatcher, "We got stabbed by Dispatcher ** at Smithville."

FRB = [censored]

Break wind - make a cut on some cars.

I heard that Crud came from "the crud that replace the Baldwins" on the SP in Los Angeles, being a perjorative.

- Kit