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1 4 9 Absolute signal A signal that directs main line traffic, controlled by the train dispatcher. Air The air brake system that applies the brake shoes to the wheels when it ruptures. It consists of a compressor on the engine, brake pipes running underneath the cars, and flexible rubber hoses (called rubber), which are fastened together between the cars. When cars separate, the hoses uncouple, causing the brakes to set up. Bad order Damaged, defective. Beans Meal period. Big hole An emergency application of the air brakes reducing the air pressure in the brake pipe and causing the brakes to apply. Makes a distinctive sound like a giant tire being popped. Bleed a car To drain the air from a car’s reservoir by pulling a rod on the side of the car. Bleeding removes air brakes, but not hand brakes. It allows the car to roll freely. Boomer Brakeman who travels to places that are booming in order to work. Bowl The fan-shaped tracks at the bottom of a hump, used to receive cars that are being classified . Tracks where trains are made up. Bump A seniority displacement. Car counts Distance to a stop, in car lengths, given to the engineer by a trainman riding the point. Check the list Compare the computer printout of the cars on a track against the cars actually on the track. Conductor Boss of the train, including the engineer. Crossovers switches Switches that allow movement from one track to another. csx Transportation A railroad company. CTC Centralized traffic control. Signal and switch system controlled by a dispatcher for authorizing main line trains. Cut lever Uncoupling lever that raises the coupling pin, allowing cars to separate. Located on the side of the car. Cut off To be laid off. Of cars to separate. Cut the crossing When a long train is delayed and blocks a road crossing for more than ten minutes, the cars must be separated to allow traffic to cross. Deadhead Paid travel to and from an on-duty point. Derail A switch that, when thrown, opens a section of rail, causing a runaway car or engine to go on the ground. Die on the law Work to the limit of the Federal Hours of Service Act (twelve hours). Dog catching To relieve a crew on a train that has died under the Hours of Service Act. Double To pick up a whole track and couple it to another whole track. Of working to work two shifts in twenty-four hours. Double runaround A complicated switching move used to switch the position of the engine on a cut of cars that won’t fit into the available siding or runaround track. d&rgw Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. Drag A slow train that isn’t going anywhere fast. No priority with the dispatcher. Drawbar The wrench-shaped piece of metal that the knuckle fits into. The heaviest component of a coupler and the part that remains rigid. If you break a drawbar in addition to the knuckle, you have really hit hard. Often takes two people to adjust. Drop A skilled move used in switching to reverse the position of a car in relation to the engine. Requires teamwork. One person tends the switch; one rides on the engine ready to uncouple it in motion; a third rides the car being dropped, ready to stop it in the clear with a hand brake. The engineer starts down the track, pulling the car behind the engine. At a signal, he reduces G L O S S A R Y RailroadNoir.indb 149 12/17/09 2:03 PM G L O S S A R Y 1 5 0 speed momentarily, allowing the slack to run in. The pin-puller pulls the pin, uncoupling the car, and gives the engineer a highball. The engine then outraces the car to the sidetrack switch, which is thrown when the engine goes over it. The car then sails up the sidetrack and is tied down by the brakeman riding it. The engine then reverses and picks the car up from the opposite end. End of drop. Dutch drop A drop in which cars are tied down by hand brakes and left on an incline. After the engine gets into a side track, the brakes are released, allowing the cars to roll past the engine, at which point they are stopped by hand brakes. The engine then comes out of the sidetrack and comes against the cars, thus...

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