Railroaders' Nostalgia > Thursday's Lingo

And don't forget.....

BAKEHEAD---Locomotive fireman.

IN THE DITCH / ON THE GROUND---Wrecked or derailed. This second one, 'on the ground', was/is most often used
                                                           to describe minor derailments such as a wheel dropping onto the ties due to 
                                                           wide gauge in industrial switching. 'In the ditch' was reserved to describe major 
                                                           derailments or wrecks possibly requiring contractor companies such as Hulcher
                                                           to be onsite, possibly for extended periods until the main track is re-opened.

FOOTBOARD YARDMASTER---Conductor who acts as a yardmaster in a small yard. The Switchmen's Union (Snake's)
                                                   agreement had provisions for the foreman on a yard crew at these small yards to be paid
                                                   an additional amount to their regular pay to perform additional yardmaster duties at some
                                                   of these locations.

MARKERS---Signals on rear of train, sometimes flag by day and lamps by night, to indicate the rear of a train. Very important,
                    when meeting trains in non-block signaled territory. The presence of train markers on the last car indicates the train
                    that just passed was complete; there are no more cars on that train; similar to a period following the last word in a sentence. 

PLANT---Interlocking system. 

DELAYER / DETAINER---Train dispatcher.

POOL / CHAIN GANG---Crew assigned to pool service, working first-in, first-out.

CUT---Several cars attached to an engine or coupled together by themselves. Also part of a right-of-way which is 
          excavated out of a hill or mountain. In train operations 'Cut' could mean the act of uncoupling cars at a  
          specific point as in making a 'cut' between the 4th and 5th car from the engine. In the yard office you might
          hear: "I was just 'cut' off the pool"--meaning the working list in such-an-such pool was reduced and I don't have
          enough seniority to remain working in that pool. 

PULL THE AIR---Set train air brakes by pulling the conductors valve or angle cock. Often heard with a due amount of panic
                          as when shouted: "pull the air!, pull the air!!" or that dummy "Pulled the air on me!" 

SPOT---To place a car in a designated position. Also, sleep, rest or get a cup of coffee. "Spot time" was a term we heard most
            often to describe periods where there wasn't much happening--as in "That job gets a lot of 'spot' time."

Which is what I'm going to do right now, get some 'spot'.

Charlie  
                      
                                                           

Markers - "Jewels"

A minor derailment solved with rerailing frogs causing no equipment damage was called a "run off" on branch lines in Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, Canada.

"Sorry we are a little bit late, which had a little run off while switching the mill. All fixed, no damage".  Later, I learned switch engines on the mainland had "run offs" that local managers never heard about. A sawmill obliged by welding grab irons back onto a flat car that had been "pinched off" by close clearances in the mill.

eminence_grise Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A minor derailment solved with rerailing frogs
> causing no equipment damage was called a "run off"
> on branch lines in Newfoundland and Prince Edward
> Island, Canada.
>
> "Sorry we are a little bit late, which had a
> little run off while switching the mill. All
> fixed, no damage".  Later, I learned switch
> engines on the mainland had "run offs" that local
> managers never heard about. A sawmill obliged by
> welding grab irons back onto a flat car that had
> been "pinched off" by close clearances in the
> mill.

As recently as 25 years ago...when I was working in coal country....we were expected to fix our own boo boos when we were on mine property....and we did. Get the train loaded, that's what mattered. 

engineerinvirginia Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> As recently as 25 years ago...when I was working
> in coal country....we were expected to fix our own
> boo boos when we were on mine property....and we
> did. Get the train loaded, that's what mattered. 

Ha, Ha! Remember when every switch engine carried a pair of HUMP BACKS and/or a BUTTERFLY (rerailing devices) ?

And, were expected to know how to use 'em?

And, were commended for doing so without calling for help?

-LD



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/21 06:17 by LarryDoyle.