In the now closed thread, “ South Africa: How Thieves Destroyed the Railway Network” Mr. Cook posted a link that reported on the state of affairs. In the last paragraph they used the term, “Point Machines”.

What other alternate names are out there for railroad terms we use frequently ?

"turnouts"

And they were called "cross-tracks" in Von Ryan's Express.

Ties/sleepers
Caboose/guards van/brake van
gondola/open wagon
box car/covered van

Railroad/railway!

What I read ages ago, literally as I was learning to read:

Railroads in English-speaking North America call them "switches" universally.

Modelers and toy train guys, who have a need to distinguish them from electrical switches, call them "turnouts," a style mandate believed to have been imposed by Albert Kalmbach in the earliest days of Model Railroader.

British English/Commonwealth nomenclature is "points."

(Trying to hunt down where my several international railroad dictionaries got to.......)

In my first railroad job they were called turnouts. Might just be something from the GC side of the business though.

I was taken aback the first time I heard a non-railroad friend call them "sleepers". I was very confused, and I only recently had the etymology described to me by a Brit.

Surprised no one has mentioned one of the bigger ones yet: trucks vs bogies.

I also remember my British coworker telling me that in a switch, the frog had another name in Britain. Not sure what it was.

I have noted that what we call a passing or side track is referred to as a "loop" in England. I have seen some quotes from consultant reports for railroad projects in the the USA that have used the term "loop" instead of "passing track."

To me, with a transit/streetcar interest, the term loop is a short form of a return loop or balloon loop used for reversing a streetcar.

In proper terminology a turnout is the entire apparatus that includes points, closure rails, frog and guard rails. A switch is the part of a turnout that includes two switch points, slide plates, No. 1 and 2 rods and switch stand.

My 1915 copy of "Elements of Railroad Track and Construction" lists two types of switches. Point and stub. They also indicate that the terms switch and turnout can be used interchangeably.

"Shifter"...

For that matter, switching vs shunting.

That would be a "Drill" in New York City.

Brian

What do the Mexicans use? Some of their railroad words are Spanish translations of British words.

Which leads me to tell people that, "A swithchman can line a switch, but it takes a whole track gang to line a turnout." Everybody accuses Model Railroader magazine of popularizing an incorrect term, but when you think about it, few modelers build only the switch, they actually build the entire turnout. Of course, using the word turnout in modeling articles does avoid confusion with electrical switches.

Before I take the bait, I have a couple American RR words:

1) FIRST, in Burlington territory, it might be spelled "caboose", but it is pronounced "WAY CAR".

2) I as well always thought that "switch" was universally used by RR employees, while "turnout" was used by modelers and hobbyists, and I gave my buddies a hard time if they said "turnout". Imagine my surprise when I saw a videotaped interview with a Denver & New Orleans section foreman, and he called it a "turnout". I've had to eat crow, and go back for seconds on that one (see post from Mr. Rowlands).

Mexican RR words I can think of offhand, it's a long list, but I'll try. Also, please note that I can't make the correct diacritical markings on my keyboard:

track = VIA
switch = CAMBIO DE VIA
main line = VIA PRINCIPAL
station = ESTACION
roundhouse = CASA REDONDA
turntable = TORNAMESA
water tank = TANQUE DE AGUA
siding = ESCAPE
signal = SENAL
engineer = MAQUINISTA
fireman = FOGONERO
brakeman = GARROTERO or BRAQUERO
conductor = CONDUCTOR
machinist = MECANICO
boilermaker = CALDARERO
locomotive = MAQUINA or LOCOMOTORA
steam locomotive = MAQUINA DE VAPOR or LOCOMOTORA DE VAPOR
wheel = RUIDA
driving wheel = MOTRICE
axle = EJE
crankpin = PIN
counterweight = CONTRAPESO
truck = TRUCK
coupler = ACCOPLADOR
knuckle = MUELA
timetable = DIARIO
train orders = ORDENES DE TRENES
dispatcher = DESPACHADOR
whistle = SILBATO
bell = CAMPANA
cab = CABINA
tender = TENDER or TANQUE
throttle = MACHETE or REGULADOR DE VAPOR
safety valve = VALVULA DE SEGURIDAD
working pressure = PRESION DE VAPOR TRABAJANDO
air compressor = COMPRESOR or BOMBA DE AIRE
governor = GOBERNADOR
injector = INJECTORE
cylinder = CILENDRO
rod = BIELA
journal = CHUMACERA
lubricator = LUBRICADOR
superheater = RECALENTADOR DE VAPOR
cylinder cocks = PURGADORES
blowdown = PURGADOR DE CALDERA
steam gauge = GAGE DE VAPOR
firing valve = VALVULA DE ACIETE
water glass = VASO DE AGUA or NIVEL
blower = SOPLADOR
atomizer = ATOMIZADOR
superheater flues = FLUSES or TUBOS
2" boiler tubes = TUBITOS
smokestack = CHIMINEA
sandbox = DOMO DE ARENA
steam dome = DOMO DE VAPOR
pilot or cowcatcher = PILOTA
builders plate = PLACA DE ERECCION
headlight = FAROLA
marker light = MARCADOR
class lights = LUZES DE CLASSIFICACCION
trainmaster = JEFE DE TRENES
yardmaster = JEFE DE PATIO
generator = GENERADOR or DINAMO
switchlock = CONTADO DE VIA

There's more, but you get the idea. Some of the Mexican RR terms are adaptations from American English, but I am aware of only one derived from British English:
sleeper = DURMIENTE.
However, both the FC Mexicano and the Ferrocarril Interoceanico were built by the Brits, so it is quite possible that in parts of the republic that are unfamiliar to me, there may well be more RR terms derived from British English.

Almost all of the railroads in Guatemala were built by the Americans, and many times I would try to use the Mexican words, but nobody could understand me. Once we hashed it out, the word they used was unaltered ENGLISH. When I tried to talk to the FEGUA Road Foreman about a switch using the words "CAMBIO DE VIA", he fired back at me, "Quires decir SWITCH."

It's been my experience USA RR Operating Departments refer to them as "switches" while Engineering Departments universally call them "turnouts."

Don't get into passing sidings. In Britspeak, they're "loops;" in the USA they're "sidings." In Rapid Transit, loops are continuous return tracks. (i.e. Yeadon Loop on 13 Route returns a car to City Hall)

Some agencies do hire European Engineers who do not speak American English.

Phil Mulligan

That is my understanding too.



And then there are the old-timers who call a passing siding a "pass". For example, "We tied down our train on the east pass". I've overheard many a conversation between a grizzled old-timer and a 20-something new-hire dispatcher who has no idea what that means.

Correct, as are Rick and Dennis above. It's because of context. The engineering dept deals with the whole unit - headblocks to tail - from design and construction to installation to surface. The operating dept really only cares that they can get (safely) from one track to another and that primarily involves them only with the switch part of the turnout, which they have to operate and check that the points are properly positioned (for manual operation). And there are plenty of things about turnouts and just the switch that operating personnel don't really know or care about. There's a lot of train crews that don't know what risers are or what it means to quarter-inch a switch.

There are not many fans or model RRers who take the time to learn proper terminology, or even physics for that matter. And there's getting to be way to much European contamination of RR terminology here even in the RR industry. A large part of it seems to be due to RRs hiring management directly off the street with no RR knowledge, and they likely get polluted by looking at the internet or even trade publications that won't or can't (due to the same lack of basic traditional knowledge) be bothered to separate foreign lingo from the proper North American terms.