Railway Terminology

[Smudger105e]

This was written in another thread...

Alterations to services, capes (cancellations), pines (service terminating mid journey) used to be 'wired out' with the instruction 'walnut rede' (inform all concerned) at the bottom. As someone else has said, probably email now, and possibily not with the old railway terminology either.

And it got me thinking, what railway terminology is there still in use that originated from days gone by?

I was told years ago that CAPE originated from 'cancel and putaway engine', which although sounding feasible, I think is unlikely.

So, post here your railway terminology that is still used (and stuff that is rarely if ever used), its origin (if known) and whether is is a geographical thing.

 

[Toots]

CAPE,is Cancelled at point of entry I think,but views vary.

Homeboard:Home signal,goes back to the days when the signal was actually a slotted board.

 

[Smudger105e]

There are also brake sticks, which are still put on all freight locos, but most people don't know what they are for.

And a common railway threat is "a brake stick round the back of the head"!

 

[Toots]

Dolly for a Ground Disc shunting signal.
Slack for a TSR.

 

[Rugd1022]

We still use CAPE on our printed train crew diagrams at Rugby and I've seen it used in internal emails, it's also used in text messages from our Control at Crewe. DYKE is still used occasionally, as in 'being put inside' or put in a loop or yard somewhere.

When we're shunting at various palaces some of the groundstaff still say 'hit em up' so we don't keep having to ease up to uncouple. Nice and easy on an 08 but 66s aren't much cop for old style shunting.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

A fiddle is a mutually beneficial swap of turns.

 

[jp4712]

'Bobby' for a signalman - goes back 150 years to when signalling duties were undertaken by Railway Policemen.

'Peg' or 'stick' for a signal, even though that location has been colour-light for fifty years...

And I know a couple of railwaymen whose loyalty is firmly LYR and who feel uneasy when they set foot on the LNWR, let alone the Evil Eastern Region!

 

[Tottenham Flyer]

CAPE I was always told to mean Cancel All Passenger Entries

 

[CaptainHaddock]

CAPE I was always told to mean Cancel All Passenger Entries

I was told CAPE stood for Cats Always Pee Everywhere, after the incident in 1972 when the incontinent station cat at Crewe shortcircuited the electrics at the station by urinating on them, leading to several dozen cancellations.

 

[blackfive460]

I was told CAPE stood for Cats Always Pee Everywhere, after the incident in 1972 when the incontinent station cat at Crewe shortcircuited the electrics at the station by urinating on them, leading to several dozen cancellations.

But it dates back to at least the 50s and probably much earlier.
And then there's PINE which CAPE is often confused with. I've often heard '1Axx has been CAPEd at xxxx'. No, it's been PINEd, terminated short of destination.
I did once find a full list of telegraphic code words on the web but it seems to have gone.

 

[FGWman]

On the lines out of paddington they are still called main and relief as per the GWR. Everywhere else has fast and slow lines.

 

[Eagle]

And then there's PINE which CAPE is often confused with. I've often heard '1Axx has been CAPEd at xxxx'.

And it's this error (combined with a lack of capitalization) that meant that until about a week ago I assumed that the term was that a service was capped at a station—that is, the short destination has put a cap on the service. It was the fact that so many people seemed to forget that there were two Ps in capped that prompted me to investigate...

 

[Metroland]

CAPE comes from the GWR telegraph terminology, cancelled at point of entry. There were over 900 codes, and some are listed here

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

There is more terminology here

http://www.railway-technical.com/LAAR.shtml and http://www.railway-technical.com/us-uk.shtml

and here

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

 

[es373]

The job is fu**ed OR Job is up the wall....

Take a wild guess what this means lol

 

[AlterEgo]

Not a railway term, but FUBAR gets bandied around a lot in my part of the world!

 

[driver9000]

Bang road - to move in the wrong direction
Piece up - couple vehicles together (also tie on)
Traps -Driver or Guards equipment bag

 

[es373]

c**t - Lazy/devious employee.

 

[Hydro]

Swinger - unbraked vehicle

Put back - signal revert to a more restrictive aspect

Drop down - to move from a yard or siding to a signal controlling the exit

Drop the handle - to put the brake into emergency

Earth fault/off the road/in the dirt - derailment

Put inside - diverted/timed into a loop or goods line

Deadmans - slang for any safety device, such as DSD/Vigilence etc that the driver must actively control to prevent a emergency brake application

Jocko/pilot/350 - diesel shunt loco, usually of the 08/9 variety

 

[driver9000]

Track circuit ballast - The act of climbing down to use the SPT at a signal and the placing of ones foot on the ballast completes the circuit causing the signal to clear.

Demic - failed vehicle/loco/unit

Slack - Temporary speed restriction

 

[Minilad]

Track circuit ballast - The act of climbing down to use the SPT at a signal and the placing of ones foot on the ballast completes the circuit causing the signal to clear.

Also available as a track circuited phone. As in picking up the SPT and the signal comes off. Also known as the signaller reminder appliance

 

[Rugd1022]

Don't talk to me about Track Curcuit Phones...! Makes you wonder if certain signalboxes have rigged up CCTV in a nearby tree sometimes....

Approach control - it ''doesn't exist'', but the term is still bandied about sometimes.

Drop the tap - carry out a brake test.

 

[Hydro]

Put the key on - activating the drivers desk using the master controller key

 

[Wyvern]

Not a railway term, but FUBAR gets bandied around a lot in my part of the world!

I'm sure I've already written this somewhere but FUBAR is an American acronym meaning F***d up beyond all recognition.

Another is SNAFU - Situation Normal All F***d Up. Americans dont have our reservations about the word f**k as BBC Breakfast found out with Lisa Minelli the other week. When I was in Saudi the Yanks would use it in practically every sentence.

The terms CAPE and PINE date back to the old telegraphic codes in the early twentieth century. I have a whole list of them from BR days, but my main computer is out of action.

They may well date back to the Midland Railway's introduction of control centres: "by 1905 the whole system was so overloaded that no one able to predict when many of the trains would reach their destinations and there were crews spending as much as a whole shift standing at a signal.

At this point Sir Guy Granet took over as General Manager. He introduced a centralised traffic control system, and the locomotive power classifications that became the model for those used by British Rail." (Wkipedia)

 

[es373]

Lol!!! Try that with 7 types of signalling systems!