Railway Terminology

[jonb]

Morning all - I'm working on a project and was wondering whether there is a list of railway terminology out there? For example - "Clag - Diesel fumes emitted from an engine"

Many thanks,

 

[sprinterguy]

Try this for a list of railway slang terms:
http://www.dreadful.org.uk/start.htm

There have also been occasional threads on this forum on the topic. There's a very old thread on this subject to be found here:
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2191
Which if you scroll down to post 11 includes an amusing example of a story told in "basher speak".

 

[jonb]

Try this for a list of railway slang terms:
http://www.dreadful.org.uk/start.htm

There have also been occasional threads on this forum on the topic. There's a very old thread on this subject to be found here:
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2191
Which if you scroll down to post 11 includes an amusing example of a story told in "basher speak".

Thanks for the reply, however the first link appears to be broken!

 

[sprinterguy]

Aww, that's a shame, as it's quite an interesting little site. I can't access it myself at the moment (limited internet access at work), but I'll see if I can find the "proper" address later on, if nobody else beats me to it.

 

[Mojo]

London Underground has a "jargon buster" which is 305 pages long. 68 pages of abbreviations, 234 pages of terms and 3 pages of introduction. SAP can mean 10 different things.

 

[MCR247]

There is one on another forum (TMR), I'll get the link, if the mods don't mind, as it is relevant to the thread...?

 

[jonb]

Feel free to drop me a PM if easier?

Thanks,

 

[4SRKT]

Do people really use this sort of speak as much as they used to? Certain terms like 'hellfire', 'clag', 'thrash', 'normals'. 'gripped', 'bowled', and 'withered' seem to be common currency still, but the jargon certainly seems much less opaque than it used to. I suppose saying 'My Lords!' when a 170 comes into view is likely to result in a severe withering!

 

[The Barlow Boy]

Morning all - I'm working on a project and was wondering whether there is a list of railway terminology out there? For example - "Clag - Diesel fumes emitted from an engine"

Many thanks,

That's not railway terminology, it's trainspotter's terminology. Diesel fumes emitted from an engine is "exhaust".

 

[4SRKT]

Athough 'exhaust' is hardly railway terminology.

 

[ChrisCooper]

It's not all "trainspotter" related, just like class nicknames. Much of the jargon is from inside the industry. Ok some of it is from spotters, but much goes back a long way to before "trainspotter" was a derogratory term. Oviously some will go from spotters to the industry too, afterall many in the industry are enthusiasts.

 

[The Barlow Boy]

Athough 'exhaust' is hardly railway terminology.

I think that you'll find it's general terminology that's also used on the railway.

 

[Hydro]

Athough 'exhaust' is hardly railway terminology.

"Get the fault book. It's chucking out some sh*t again"


Railway terminology for "exhaust" can be found in the penultimate word of this commonly found sentence.