Descriptionary

brakeman conductor's assistant who maintains and inspects the brakes.

bumper a small top barrier at the end of a track. cab the driving compartment.

caboose a car with sleeping and eating facilities for the crew; it is pulled at the end of the train.

coach a car for carrying passengers.

coaling road a coal track.

coupler the clamping device that allows each car to lock onto another car.

crossbuck the X-like railroad crossing warning sign.

crow the peep of a steam whistle.

dead-end bay a substation.

dining car a car in which meals are served.

downtrain from the home terminal.

driver the engineman.

engineer one who operates the engine.

engine road a track leading to the engine house.

flatcar a riding platform without roof or walls, for hauling large objects.

gauge the width between the two rails of a track.

gondola an open, shallow freight car.

grade the slope or inclination of a track.

grade crossing an intersection of a road and a rail crossing.

highball a railroad signal to go full-speed ahead.

hopper car a freight car having large funnels or hoppers for carrying and dispensing grains.

linear induction motor the electric motor that pow­ers a maglev train.

livestock car a boxcar having open slats for the transport of livestock.

locomotive the electric or diesel-powered engine that pulls the cars.

locomotive shed an engine terminal.

maglev train an unwheeled train that, levitated on a magnetic field, is free from friction and can travel at great speeds.

marshalling classifying and sorting cars in a yard. marshal yard a freight yard. monorail a single-railed track.

piggyback car a flatcar designed to haul the trailers of tractor-trailer trucks.

platform a landing for passengers beside the tracks at a station.

TRAINS AND RAILROADS 597 platform car a flatcar.

Pullman trademark name for a parlor or sleeping car, designed by George Pullman.

redcap a porter in a railway station.

refrigerator car a refrigerated car for hauling per­ishables.

regulator the throttle.

rolling stock collective term for all of a railroad's wheeled vehicles.

roundhouse a facility, often with a turntable, for repairing and switching locomotives.

semaphore a signaling apparatus employing lights or pivoting arms.

shed master an engine house foreman.

shunting switching tracks.

signal box a signal tower or station.

signal gantry a raised frame spanning one or more tracks and on which are mounted signal lights.

sleeper a railroad tie. Also, a sleeping compartment or car.

switch the apparatus that is adjusted to shunt a train onto another track.

tank car a cylindrical car designed to haul fuels and other fluids.

turntable a rail platform that rotates to turn a loco­motive in the opposite direction.

wagon slang for a freight car.

wagon-lit a sleeping car.

yard a receiving and holding yard for trains and cars.

EAPONS

clubs and hammers

chigiriki a heavy ball suspended on a 4- to 6-foot chain, which is attached to a long shaft and swung about to strike or entangle an enemy; of Japanese origin.

horseman's hammer a combination hammer and pick mounted on a shaft, used by horsemen to knock out or kill an enemy.

kusarigama a Japanese pick hammer with a long chain and weighted ball at the end.

mace a club with a weighty or spiked end.

morning star a spiked ball on a chain suspended from a shaft.

truncheon a heavy club.

war-flail one or more heavy weights attached to a short chain or chains on a shaft.

daggers

anlace a dual-edged, medieval dagger.

baselard a dagger having a crosspiece as a guard for the hand at the pommel.

bodkin a medieval dagger or stiletto.

bowie knife U.S. fighting and hunting knife having dual edge at the tip.

dudgeon dagger having a handle made out of wood of the same name. Also, the hilt of any dagger.

fullers grooves in a dagger blade.

grip the handle.

hilt the handle.

jambiya classic Arabian dagger with dual-edged, curved blade.

khanjar Indian and Persian dagger having a jade or ivory, pistol-like grip and a forward- or backward- curving handle.

knuckle-guard a bar or shield at the hilt to protect the fingers.

kris classic Malay dagger with a wavy blade.

misericord in medieval times, a narrow dagger used to deliver death quickly to an already wounded knight.

pommel the knob at the butt end of some daggers, sometimes highly ornamented.

pugio an ancient Roman military dagger having a very broad blade and a narrow grip.

quillon dagger a dagger having quillons.