|
A
|
Acrylic
paint |
|
Acrylic
paint dries faster and is preferable to oil-based paint. It can be mixed
with water and cleaned from tools and skin using water and soap. |
| Articulated
Locomotive |
|
A steam or diesel locomotive with two or more power trucks (sets of driver
wheels) with separate frames connected with pivoting joints. These joints
enable the locomotive to negotiate curves. |
|
B
|
Block
control |
|
A system of train control that uses electrically insulated track sections
to control separate trains. See Cab Control. |
| Bobo |
| Four
wheeled bogies. |
| Boiler
|
| That
part of a steam locomotive in which water is heated and turned into steam
pressure to provide energy to turn the wheels and move the train. |
| Bumper
(buffer stop) |
| Stop
placed at the end of a siding to prevent a car or locomotive from accidentally
running past the end of the rails. |
|
C
|
Cab |
|
That part of an engine where the engineer and fireman ride while running
the train. Also, a handheld controller that regulates the speed and direction
of a model train. |
| Cab
Control |
| A
train control system in which multiple power packs or command control
units are used to operate multiple trains. See Block Control. |
| Caboose |
|
A non-freight car coupled to the end of a freight train and used as a
rolling crew office, bunkhouse and observation point to watch the train
ahead. |
| Can
Motor |
| A
fully or partially enclosed electric motor with low electric current draw
and smooth, quiet operation. |
| Coco |
| Six
wheeled bogies |
| Command
Control |
|
A train control system that uses electronic signals sent through the rails
to a receiver in the engine to regulate engine speed, direction and other
functions. It facilitates independent, multiple-train operation on the
same track. |
| Constant
Lighting |
|
An electrical circuit that causes a locomotive's headlight to burn at
the same brightness any time the engine is running. |
| Controller |
|
Any device which regulates an electrically or mechanically operated machine
such as a train, turnout, lights or other hardware. |
| Crossing |
|
The place where a highway crosses a railroad track, or where two railroad
tracks cross each other. |
| Crossing
Gate |
|
A pair of safety arms that automatically lower across a highway when a
train approaches. |
| Curve
Radius |
|
The measurement from the center of a circle formed by a curved track to
the centerline of the track. The radius is expressed in inches, such as
an 18-inch or 24-inch radius. |
|
D
|
DCC |
|
Digital Command Control, the term that describes the hobby industry standard
for command control systems for model trains. |
| Decoder |
|
The electrical component installed in a locomotive that allows a command
control system to regulate speed, direction and other functions. |
| Diesel
|
| A
locomotive that uses a diesel engine to run a generator and provide power
for the engine's traction motors. |
| Double-Deck
Layout |
|
A layout built with two separate, independent levels, one over the other,
to make double use of the space and provide more track length and running
time. |
| Drivers |
|
The powered wheels on a steam or diesel locomotive. |
|
E
|
|
|
F
|
Flexi
Track |
|
Ready-to-lay
track that can be used straight or bent into any curve radius to fit any
track plan. |
|
Freight
Cars |
| |
(box, tank, stock, refrigerator, flat, ore, hopper, etc.) Railroad cars
designed to carry solid or liquid cargo but no passengers. |
|
Frog |
|
The
spot in a switch where the rails come together at a point and then cross
over each other. |
|
G
|
Gauge |
|
The distance between rails. |
|
Gondola |
|
A
low-profile, open-top freight car designed to carry bulk cargo such as
rock, coal, iron ore or scrap metal. |
|
Grade |
|
The
steepness of a hill measured as a percentage. For example, a four percent
grade rises four feet for every 100 feet of travel. |
|
H
|
Hand
Car |
|
A
small four-wheeled car with levers for propelling the car by hand and
used for moving work crews to and from a railroad construction site. |
|
Handrails
|
|
Safety
railings made of round steel bars that give train crews something to hold
on to while walking on an engine's or car's walkways. |
|
Heavyweight |
|
A heavy steel passenger car that became popular before World War I. The
car was called a heavyweight because it replaced a much lighter-weight
wood car. |
|
Hopper
|
|
A
tall-sided, open-top car with dumping doors in the floor designed to carry
bulk commodities such as coal or iron ore |
|
I
|
Sorry,
no definitions here yet. |
|
J
|
Sorry,
no definitions here yet. |
|
K
|
Knuckle
Coupler |
|
Also called a safety or automatic coupler, it replaced the dangerous old-style
link-and-pin coupler and provides automatic coupling between train cars. |
|
L
|
|
|
M
|
Mallet |
|
type of articulated locomotive with two separate sets of drivers and pistons
operating with high- and low-pressure steam on separate frames. |
|
Minimum
Radius |
|
This is a measure of the sharpest (smallest) track curve radius on which
a train car or engine can successfully operate. |
|
N
|
Narrow
Gauge |
|
A
type of railroad built with the rails closer together than the standard
4'8-1/2" gauge. These were often 3', 2'6" and 2' gauge between the rails
in the U.S. |
|
NMRA |
|
The National Model Railroad Association, a standards and practices organization
that helps model train manufacturers build universal, interchangeable
train parts. |
|
O
|
Sorry,
no definitions here yet. |
|
P
|
Passenger
Cars |
|
(vista dome, observation, combine, coach, sleeper, etc.) A railroad car
designed to haul passengers. A combine also hauls mail or some small amount
of cargo. |
| Pilot
Truck |
|
Also called a pony truck, the set of two or four unpowered wheels under
the front end of a steam locomotive used to help guide the engine through
curves and support the front of the engine. |
| Power
Pack |
|
An electrical device that changes household AC current into a lower-voltage
DC current suitable for model train control. See Transformer. |
| Pullman |
|
A passenger car with separate compartments and seats that can be changed
into sleeping bunks at night. |
|
Q
|
Sorry,
no definitions here yet. |
|
R
|
Rail
Joiner |
|
|
A
folded metal plate used to join the ends of two pieces of rail and hold
them in mechanical alignment and electrical contact. Reefer - Slang expression
for refrigerator car, a boxcar-like freight car cooled by ice or a mechanical
refrigeration unit and used to carry perishable foods. |
|
S
|
Scale |
|
The mathematical method to describe the size of a model in proportion
to the real world. HO scale is 1:87 scale; there are 87 HO scale feet
in one real foot of measurement. |
| Shelf
Walkaround Layout |
| A
layout built on narrow shelf-like benchwork which allows the operators
to walk along and follow their trains through the scenery. See Walkaround
Control. |
| Siding
|
| A
section of track next to the mainline track where trains can pass. |
| Signal
|
| A
machine which uses mechanical arms or lights to deliver information to
the train engineer about track and train traffic conditions ahead. |
| Steam
Locomotive |
| An
early-model train engine, described using numbers such as 2-8-2 or 4-6-6-4,
that uses steam pressure from its boiler to power its drivers. The numbers
refer to the number of pilot or pony truck wheels, drivers and trailing
truck wheels. A 2-8-2 has two pilot truck wheels, eight drivers and two
trailing truck wheels. An articulated locomotive, described as a 4-6-6-4
for example, has four pilot truck wheels, two sets of six drivers each
and four trailing truck wheels. |
| Streamlined |
| A
train is said to be streamlined when its original shape is concealed under
an aerodynamic housing or shell, like the front of an airplane, designed
to smooth the train's passage through the air. |
| Switch
(point) |
| An
electrical control mechanism operated by hand, or another name for a kind
of track section. See Turnout. |
| Switch
Machine |
| An
electrical, mechanical or air-powered machine used to operate the points
of a turnout to direct a train along alternate routes. |
| Switcher
(shunter) |
|
A locomotive designed for low-speed switching work in a yard or industrial
area. |
|
T
|
Tender
|
|
A
special car permanently coupled behind a steam engine that carries the
engine's water and fuel supply, which can be wood, oil or coal. |
| Transformer
|
| Another
name, seldom used today, for a power pack. |
| Track
Power Clips |
| Electrical
connectors which usually snap into place and secure the train power wires
from a power pack to the track. |
| Trailing
Truck |
| The
set of two, four or six normally unpowered wheels in a truck under the
cab area of a steam engine, used to provide support for the back end of
the engine. |
| Truck
|
| A
mechanical component with four, six or eight wheels that swivels and has
suspension parts to support each end of a train car or locomotive. |
| Turnout
|
| Also
known as a switch, a turnout is a piece of track where two or sometimes
three track lines separate from a single line, allowing a train to follow
one of several routes. |
| Turntable
|
|
A short bridge-like device with a center pivot used to turn a steam or
diesel locomotive end-for-end so it can operate front-end forward when
it travels in the opposite direction from which it arrived. |
|
U
|
Uncoupler |
|
|
A mechanism mounted in the layout under the tracks or carried by the engineer
and used to disconnect the couplers on two cars. |
|
V
|
Sorry,
no definitions here yet. |
|
W
|
Walkaround
Control |
|
|
A system of train control where the engineer follows the train around
the layout while carrying a portable handheld cab. |
|
X
|
Sorry,
no definitions here yet. |
|
Y
|
Sorry,
no definitions here yet. |
|
Z
|
Sorry,
no definitions here yet. |
