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A long (62ft) bolster wagon used for transporting rail and pre-assembled panels of track. The GWR first built these in 1935 and BR continued to build them into the 1950's.
A type of locomotive having a single boiler mounted between two articulated power bogies. The bogies also carried water tanks and fuel. Invented by H.G.Garratt and used World-wide.
The distance between a pair of rails.
Model gauges:
Gauge N = 9mm
Gauge TT = 12mm
Gauge H0 = 16.5mm
Gauge 00 = 16.5mm
Gauge 0 = 32mm
Gauge 1 = 48mm
Gauge 2 = 54mm
Gauge 3 = 75mm
A multiple jet blast pipe with as many as seven jets set longitudinally in line. Locomotives using this apparatus are characterised by a long thin elongated chimney.
A steam-tight device fitted around an aperture in a cylinder or other pressure vessel where a piston rod or other actuating rod enters the vessel.
A valve gear similar to Stephenson valve-gear, but with the expansion link fixed so that it may pivot only. Drive from the expansion link to the valve spindle is taken via a radius link which may be moved up and down in the expansion link to obtain reversal.
A building through or alongside which a railway track and a roadway passes, and which incorporates storage facilities. Such sheds are used for the loading and unloading of goods between road and railway vehicles.
A group of sidings where goods wagons are loaded and unloaded.
A handle on a railway vehicle to hold but not to turn.
A long grab handle.
A railway line-side-post on which arms are secured, which have marked on them the gradient of the track. The arms are inclined to indicate a rise or a fall. The gradient is usually expressed as "1 in x" where "x" is the number of units along that must be travelled to rise or fall 1 unit.
A type of conjugated valve-gear used extensively on locomotives designed by Sir Nigel Gresley of the London North Eastern Railway.
A small lever frame, either in the open or in an unmanned hut, which controls points or signals remote from the main signal-box.
A loose term for any signal set at ground level, typically shunting signals.
A travelling employee who is in charge and oversees the safe working of a train. Where the guard has no assistants such as a conductor on a passenger train, the guard is also responsible for shunting operations and the comfort of passengers.
A fixed metal bar which hangs down almost to rail level just in front of a leading-wheel of a railway vehicle. The intention being that the guard iron will strike any obstructions and knock them clear of the wheels thus preventing a possible derailment.
A longitudinal rail running alongside a railway track and raised in height above the running rails. Guard rails are sometimes found on bridges and are intended to restrain the lateral movement of vehicles which might become derailed.
A periscope fitted in a guard's compartment of a train, and which projects just above the roof of the vehicle, so enabling the guard to see ahead. Periscopes are normally fitted only when the van is too wide to be able to incorporate duckets.
Another term for a brake-van or full brake.