Glossary

I've had a number of people write asking for a glossary of railroad terms used in Snowplow Extra. Considering that rail terms aren't common any more, it's a reasonable request. I threw this list together on the fly and hope I didn't miss anything that you can't pick up from the context of the story.

ALCO -- slang for engines, both diesel and steam but primarily the former, built by the now-defunct American Locomotive Company.

BALDWIN 2-6-0 -- The 9608 was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Company. It has 2 unpowered wheels (1 axle) in front to help with guiding the locomotive on the tracks, 6 driving wheels (3 axles) under the main part of the engine, and no trailing wheels under the cab. Small for a steam engine, in its day mostly used for local freights.

BRAKEMAN -- the name is derived from the days that brakes were set by hand, by men running along the tops of the cars. Today, the guy that makes and breaks couplings and does other train chores.

CABOOSE -- also crummy, crumbbox, way car, and others. Obsolecent at the time of this story, and obsolete today. In its day gave office and crew quarters at the back of a train.

CONDUCTOR -- the guy actually in charge of the train, at least on the D&O. On the C&SL the engineer does double duty.

CONSIST -- cars that the train consists of.

COUPLING -- the mechanism that joins two train cars together, or the act of joining

FISHPLATE -- flat metal plate that joins two rails. Today, most rails on more heavily trafficed track are welded.

FLATCAR, FLAT -- open car without sides used for hauling vehicles, containers, trailers, large items.

GEEP -- slang for "GP", the General Motors Electromotive "General Purpose" series of locomotives. All have 4 axles; newer ones, such as the GP-60, have considerably more power.

GONDOLA, GON -- open, low sided car used for hauling a variety of materials

HOGLAWED -- 12-hour "hours of service" limit, federally mandated. At one time, law mandated that hogs had to have a break after a stated period of being in cars. Railroad workers didn't have such limits...

HOPPER -- enclosed car used for hauling bulk material, such as grain, fertilizer, and so forth.

ICC, INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION -- Federal agency that oversees railroad operating rules.

PIGGYBACK -- loading trailers or containers on flat cars for delivery. The method of piggybacking vehicles given in this story is primitive; virtually all loading and unloading today is done by crane.

SECTION GANG -- guys that maintain the railway roadbed

SW, NW: Designation of various older models of Electromotive switch engines. NWs are basically pre-WWII; SWs date from the late 40s and 1950s.

SWITCHES -- The mechanism that allows trains to change tracks. Called "turnouts" by Brits and modelers.

TRACTION MOTOR: railroad engines use diesel power to run a generator, and the generator provides electric power to run electric motors called traction motors, which are mounted down near the axles, exactly where depends on the type. Though indirect, it allows train engines to pull very hard from a dead stop.

TRAIN AIR, AIR BRAKES -- Train brakes work by positive air pressure. They are defaulted to the "brakes on" position. Air pressure needs to be pumped up by the engine via hoses connecting the cars for the train to move. It can take a while to pump up train air.

TURN -- train that starts a run out of a location and returns there the same shift

VHF -- Very High Frequency radio, similar to aircraft radio but operates in a slightly different frequency range. Line of sight only, which adds to the story complexity. This story is set before cell phones!

WYE -- a set of switches making for a track layout roughly triangular, to allow trains to be turned around. Spearfish Lake is the only place north of Camden where this can be done.

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