Glossary of North American railway terms
This page contains a list of terms, jargon, and slang used to varying degrees by 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.
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Fully apply independent brake.
Set reverser to neutral.
Turn off generator field (or notify the ground employee, depending on company-specific rules and locomotive type, that protection is provided).
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A GE locomotive with "winged" radiators, when running long hood forward
A nickname given to certain early ALCO roadswitchers with a high nose, as well as the GE BQ23-7
Another term for a clear signal, derived from the days of steam where a station operator would hoist a large wooden ball up a standard, signalling that the engineer was authorized to proceed