Trains at Work

by Mary Elting

RAILROADING TALK

Here are more of the slang words that railroaders have made up:

BALLING THE JACK—this is what they say when they mean a train is going very fast. Highballing means the same thing.

BOOMER—a railroad worker who moves from place to place without sticking very long at any one job. There are still a few boomers, but in the old days there were thousands.

BUCKLE THE BALONIES—this means fasten together the air brake hoses which run underneath all the cars.

CHASE THE RED—this is what the flagman says he does when he goes back with a red flag or lantern to protect a stalled train.

CRACKER BOX—a Diesel streamliner. Glowworm means the same thing.

CRADLE—a gondola or hopper car.

DOODLEBUG—a little railroad motor car that the section crew uses.

DOPE—the oily waste that is packed in journal boxes.

GARDEN—a freight yard.

GIVE HER THE GRIT—squirt sand onto a slippery track.

GREASE THE PIG—oil the engine.

HIGH IRON—the track that makes up the main line of a railroad, not switching track or station track.

PULL THE CALF’S TAIL—jerk the cord that blows the whistle.

RATTLER—a freight train.

SHOO-FLY—a track that is used only until regular track can be laid or repaired.

STRING OF VARNISH—a passenger train. High wheeler is another nickname.

INDEX

[a], [b], [c], [d], [e], [f], [g], [h], [i-i], [j], [k], [l], [m], [n], [o], [p], [q], [r], [s], [t], [v], [y], [w].

ashcat, [10]
Astra-Dome, [68]
backshop, [33-37]
bad-order car, [33]
baggage car, [78]
bakehead, [10]
ballast, [83]
banjo, [10]
barn, [10]
Big Liz, [83]
Big Wamp, [39]
bobtail, [31]
boxcars, [54-55]
brakeman, [10], [20], [28], [65]
brakes, [20]
bridges, [58]
Brotherhoods, [32]
CTC, [62-64]
caboose, [13], [16], [17]
call boy, [22]
car knocker, [34]
car retarder, [29]
car tinker, [34]
cattle cars, [49]
Centralized Traffic Control, [62-64]
cherry picker, [31]
circus cars, [57]
classification yard, [25-29]
“club down,” [18]
compartment, [74]
conductor, [65]
couplings, [32]
cowcatcher, [86]
crum box, [17]
crummy, [17]
cupola, [17]
“deckorating,” [20]
depressed center car, [57]
detector car, [84-85]
diamond pusher, [10]
Diesel locomotive, [38-40]
diner, [69-70]
dispatcher, [64]
division point, [24]
dog, [16], [78]
doghouse, [17]
dome, [21]
drag, [13]
duplex, [73]
Edaville Railroad, [81]
engineer, [9], [12-15], [21], [43], [87]
fireman, [9-22]
flimsy, [16]
fusee, [18]
galley, [70]
gandy dancer, [82]
gondolas, [52-53]
grain cars, [54-55]
greenball, [44-47]
hand signals, [32-33]
head end, [76]
head-end crew, [13]
helper engine, [18]
“highball,” [11]
hog, [10]
hogger, [10]
hoop, [14], [16]
hoppers, [52-54]
hot box, [42-44]
hotshot, [13]
hump, [26-28]
hump rider, [29]
icing machine, [45]
inspection pit, [28]
inspector, [29], [33], [34]
Iron Horse, [10]
journal box, [30], [42-44]
king snipe, [82]
link-and-pin, [32]
livestock cars, [48-49]
locomotives, [33-41]
Mikado, [41]
narrow-gauge trains, [79-81]
old-fashioned trains, [86-89]
“op,” [9]
Owney, [78-79]
Pacific, [41]
parlor, [17]
peddler car, [47]
pig-pen, [10]
pigs, [49]
porter, [67]
Pullman cars, [72-74]
quilling, [87]
radio telephone, [28], [43], [67]
Railway Express car, [77-78]
Railway Post Office car, [76-77]
redball, [13]
reefer, [44-47]
refrigerator cars, [44-47]
roller bearings, [44]
roomette, [73]
roundhouse, [10]
running inspection, [43]
sand, [20-21]
sap, [20]
section crew, [82-83]
shack, [10]
sheep, [48]
signal flags, [18]
signal lights, [14]
slip-track, [37]
snake, [31]
snow plow, [85]
snow train, [75]
special cars, [56-58]
squirrel cage, [17]
station agent, [14-16]
stewardess, [65]
stinker, [43]
stock cars, [48-49]
stoker, [12]
streamliner, [65-74]
switch engine, [26], [28], [31]
switch, [25]
switchman, [31]
tallow pot, [10]
tank cars, [50-51]
teakettle, [31]
tell-tale, [61]
torpedoes, [18]
towerman, [26-28]
track-pan, [38]
trestles, [58]
train order, [16]
tunnels, [60]
Vista-Dome, [68]
waste, [42]
yard goat, [31]

Many railroading people helped to make this book. Here are some to whom the author and the artist want to give special thanks: Margaret Gossett; Inez M. DeVille of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad; the late Lee Lyles of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway; C. J. Corliss and A. C. Browning of the Association of American Railroads; K. C. Ingram of the Southern Pacific Railroad; Eugene DuBois of the Pennsylvania Railroad; the staff in the President’s office, Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen; Frank J. Newell of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad; J. R. Sullivan of the New York Central Railroad; Howard A. Moulton of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad; and finally to Harry Hall of the New York, New Haven and Hartford, through whose good offices the artist and his children spent a memorable day on the Edaville Railroad.

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$1.50 TRAINS AT WORK By Mary Elting Illustrated by David Lyle Millard Tank cars, hoppers and gondolas; steam locomotives and Diesels; engineers, brakemen and signalmen; diners and Pullmans and ski trains—all are part of the story of TRAINS AT WORK. The language of railroading is full of its own special words for things, and the author uses and explains such expressions as “club down,” “putting her in the hole,” “highball” and “hotshot.” How do freight trains get assembled? How are trains routed over the tracks so that they can move safely in a steady flow? What is it like in a roundhouse? What are the different jobs railroad men do? Mary Elting tells the story of TRAINS AT WORK in the real, human terms of the men who run them. And David Lyle Millard, an ardent railroad fan as well as an artist, shows you in his colorful pictures, just what it all looks like. You will find this book an exciting companion to TRUCKS AT WORK, SHIPS AT WORK, MACHINES AT WORK. Garden City Books Garden City, New York

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SHIPS AT WORK By Mary Elting Illustrated by Manning deV. Lee Here is the colorful, exciting life of the sea—the men, the ships they sail, the work they do, the cargoes they carry to the far corners of the world—all vividly presented. Freighters, tankers, ferries, tugs, and the many unusual ships that do highly specialized jobs are shown in action. The work, the sailor’s language, the kind of life a seaman lives, the use of recent inventions (such as radar) all contribute to this fascinating picture of SHIPS AT WORK. The newest and proudest of ocean liners, the “United States,” is pictured and described as well as the humblest dugouts and sailing vessels of ancient times. The illustrator, famous for his marine paintings, has combined beauty with clear, sharp detail. His many full-color pictures in this book give added interest to your seafaring knowledge. Garden City Books Garden City, New York

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