Glossary of Australian railway terms

This article lists some of the terminology used at present and in the past by railway employees, railway enthusiasts and railway historians in Australia. Many appear from time to time in specialist, rail-related publications. Significant regional variations exist, indicated by abbreviations of the state (e.g. Vic, NSW) or railway (e.g. SAR).

B

 * Bandicoot (Qld)
 * An electric multiple unit (EMU) with a distinctive grey band painted across the cab wind shields


 * Banjo or scoop (SAR)
 * Fireman's shovel


 * Barwell's bull (SAR)
 * Model 75 Brill railcar (nickname from the South Australian premier 1920–1924, Henry Barwell; "bull" may have originated in the characteristic deep "bellow" of the railcar's horn


 * Basket (SAR)
 * Basket of coal (measurement: 25 baskets to the ton)


 * BETY (Qld)
 * QR BB18$1/4$ class Pacific type (4-6-2) steam locomotive used on express passenger and freight trains (named after the telegraphic code; pronounced "Betty")


 * Bleed (SAR)
 * Drain the air from the brake reservoir of a train or a rail vehicle


 * Blister (SAR)
 * Official serious caution


 * Blood and bone (Vic)
 * Livery used by V/Line


 * Blue babies (Qld)
 * QR DD17 class suburban tank engine, in a blue midway between navy and sky blue


 * Blue Goose (NSW)
 * Livery used by the PTC in NSW found on B, S, V and W sets, and Tulloch trailers


 * Bluebird (SAR)
 * South Australian Railways 100/250/280 class country-lines diesel railcar, which had a blue and stainless-steel side and silver roof


 * Bowser (SAR)
 * Switchstand


 * Boxcar (SAR)
 * Enclosed bogie vehicle (e.g. M, DW class etc boxcar)


 * Brass (SAR)
 * Railway official


 * Brill (SAR)
 * Model 55 or Model 75 Brill railcars


 * Broad gauge (all jurisdictions)
 * gauge in the states of Victoria and South Australia (and for a short time, Tasmania)


 * Brown bomber (Qld)
 * A QR C17 4-8-0 (2D) steam engine, typically painted brown


 * Button up (SAR)
 * Connect air hoses and open air taps (see "Make good"


 * B.V. (SAR)
 * Brakevan

C

 * Caboose (SAR)
 * U.S.-style brakevan without passenger accommodation, with cupola in the centre; sometimes referred to as "Webb caboose"


 * Candy (NSW)
 * Red, black and yellow livery used widely by the New South Wales State Rail Authority


 * Cannonball crew / top engine crew (SAR)
 * Cannonball Link crews that worked The Overland, East-West Express and other express trains


 * Captain/skipper (SAR)
 * Guard


 * Car (SAR)
 * Rail vehicle (passenger, freight or service)


 * Centralised traffic control (all jurisdictions)
 * A system in which signals and switches for a given area of track are controlled from a centralised location (abbreviated as CTC)


 * Cheeseburger (Vic)
 * V/Line Mk 3 Livery (2008–2017), which featured the colours red, white and yellow.


 * Conductor (all jurisdictions)
 * The person who checks (and may sell) tickets on a train or tram


 * Connie (SAR)
 * Conductor


 * Compo (SAR)
 * Guards van with passenger compartment each end (short for "composite")


 * Consist (SAR)
 * The make-up of a train; a list containing specific information for each car of a train; also a group of locomotives (see Rake)


 * Corner shunt (SAR)
 * Bumping a vehicle or vehicles standing foul into the clear when running on an adjacent line


 * Corrie (SAR)
 * Correspondence, especially for trainworking


 * Creamy Kate (NSW)
 * Colloquial name for NSW Rail Motor No.38


 * Cripple (SAR)
 * Red or green carder (rail vehicle with a red card or green card)


 * Cyclops (Qld)
 * A Queensland electric multiple unit with one cab modified to only have one central windshield, which can then only be used as a guard's cab in the middle of a six-car set

D

 * DERM (Vic)
 * Victorian Railways diesel electric rail motor


 * Detonator (DET) (all jurisdictions)
 * A small explosive device placed on rail and triggered by wheel pressure, used to warn of a hazard ahead


 * Dog or dogspike (all jurisdictions)
 * A rail spike driven into a timber sleeper to secure a rail; the head shape facilitates extraction with hand tools


 * Dogbox (Qld)
 * Non-driving cab of the QR electric multiple unit with one centre windshield, used as a guards compartment (see Cyclops


 * Doggies (Vic)
 * Former "dog box" type red suburban trains


 * Dolly
 * A shunting signal


 * Dolly Varden (SAR)
 * 4400 class composite (guard, freight and passengers) brakevan


 * Dope (SAR)
 * Special water treatment for steam locomotives


 * Drag (SAR)
 * Long wayside freight train

E

 * Electric staff (all jurisdictions)
 * See staff


 * Electric multiple unit (EMU) (Qld)
 * A class of electric multiple unit suburban train in Brisbane


 * Evans set (Qld)
 * Wooden suburban passenger carriages in Brisbane

F

 * Fender (SAR)
 * Wagon between loco and wagons for dangerous goods separation or because of incompatible couplers


 * Flat (SAR)
 * Flatcar – e.g. four-wheeled (F class) or bogie (FB, FBT class)


 * Foamer
 * Slang for a rather obsessive rail or tramway enthusiast


 * Foul (SAR)
 * Obstruction by a vehicle that is not sufficiently clear of an adjacent line or switch/turnout


 * Freight (SAR)
 * Goods; alternatively, freight train


 * Full jigger (SAR)
 * Full load

G

 * Gabby (Vic)
 * A train spotter who photographs Melbourne suburban electric trains, especially Hitachi electric multiple units


 * Gondola or "gonny" (SAR)
 * An O class open bogie freight car


 * G.B. (SAR)
 * Goods brake[van]


 * Green carder (SAR)
 * Vehicle in need of repair but can be operated (see red carder)


 * Guard (all jurisdictions)
 * Crew member responsible for the safe and proper operation of the train


 * Gunzel (Vic)
 * A rail or tramway enthusiast, especially of the more obsessive kind

H

 * Harris (Vic)
 * Former Victorian Railways Harris type (or Blue) electric suburban train.


 * High flyer (NSW)
 * NSWGR Z15 and Z16 class locomotive

I

 * In the ditch (SAR)
 * Derailed

K

 * Katie (NSW)
 * NSWGR D55 class locomotive – most probably derived from original class numbering, KT

L

 * Ladder (SAR)
 * A major track through a yard


 * Lamp (all jurisdictions)
 * A portable (often handheld) light source that is used to signal train crews; former kerosene-fuelled light on signals


 * L.C.L. (SAR)
 * Less-than-car-load freight

M

 * Make good (Vic, NSW)
 * Connect air hoses and open air taps (see "Button up")


 * Mustard pot (SAR)
 * Traffic yellow (orange), red oxide and silver colour scheme of SAR 830 class diesel locomotives before AN take-over, or one of such locomotives

N

 * Nanny (NSW)
 * NSW C.35 Class locomotive – probably derived from original class numbers NN


 * Narrow gauge (all jurisdictions)
 * Most commonly gauge in the states of Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia; also sugar cane lines of 762 mm and 610 mm gauge


 * Number nicker or number shark (Vic)
 * A trainspotter who records numbers of trains they have seen

O

 * On the mat (SAR)
 * To be subject to official discipline


 * Oscar (NSW)
 * NSW TrainLink H set, a class of electric train with "outer suburban carriages"

P

 * Pain (SAR)
 * (To be rostered for) a freight shift


 * Pawpaw
 * Queensland Railways class 1170 diesel locomotive, or its colour


 * Peg (all jurisdictions)
 * Colloquial term for train staff or token


 * Petrol electric rail motor (PERM) (Vic)
 * A railmotor operated by the Victorian Railways; later called the Diesel Electric Rail Motor


 * P.I.C. (SAR)
 * Porter in charge (person in charge of a station that does not justify a stationmaster)


 * Pig (NSW)
 * NSW C36 class locomotive


 * Plastic Fantastic (NSW)
 * NSW XPT (Express Passenger Train) when new


 * Provisional stopping place (SAR)
 * Place shown on public timetables at which a passenger either signals a train to stop or, if on board, asks the guard beforehand (see also Rail motor stopping place)


 * Pull the pin (SAR)
 * Finish the work for a shift

R

 * Rabbit/block (SAR)
 * A derail


 * Rail motor stopping place (RMSP) (Vic)
 * A short platform on a Victorian country line specifically for picking up and setting down rail motor passengers (see also Provisional stopping place)


 * Rake/string/cut (SAR)
 * Several rail vehicles coupled together (see Consist)


 * Rattler (Qld)
 * Colloquial term for former wooden suburban passenger carriages ("Evans sets") in Brisbane


 * Rattler (SAR)
 * Fast freight


 * Red carder (SAR)
 * Vehicle in need of repair and cannot be operated (see green carder)


 * Red Hen (SAR)
 * South Australian Railways 300 or 400 class suburban-lines diesel railcar


 * Red Rattler (NSW)
 * First-generation single-deck electrical multiple units which operated in Sydney from 1926 to 1993


 * Red Rattler (Vic)
 * Melbourne suburban passenger "Tait" electric multiple units that ran in Melbourne from 1909 to 1984


 * Reefer/cool car (SAR)
 * Refrigerator car (later "insulated van"), four-wheeled or bogie


 * Ridgy (NSW)
 * Sydney Trains S, S and K sets


 * Ringmaster (SAR)
 * Yardmaster

S

 * Screw the anchor on (SAR)
 * Set the hand brakes


 * Set-up (SAR)
 * Specific orders for placement of rolling stock


 * Silver ribbon (Vic)
 * Hitachi suburban electric multiple units, also known as "tea cup"


 * Snapper (Qld)
 * Roaming employee who checks tickets on trains or at stations (see also Conductor)


 * Spark
 * A suburban electric train


 * Spragger (SAR)
 * Employee who applies brakes on rolling stock in yard work


 * Staff
 * System of safe-working used on single track to allow the movement of trains; in its simplest form each block section had a small bar or staff which must be carried by any train moving over the section. This, however, requires trains to run alternately in opposite directions. With the electric staff system, there are several staffs to each block, and these are placed in cases at either

end. The cases are electrically connected, each one controlled by the signalman at the other end.
 * Steel set (Qld)
 * QR suburban electric passenger sets from the 1960s, replacing the Evans sets (see Red rattler (Qld))


 * Stick (SAR and others)
 * Signal


 * Sweat set (NSW)
 * Sydney Trains S set ("Waratah"), so named because of their lack of air conditioning.


 * Silver stripes/silver ribbons
 * Livery that V/Line used in its formative years; original from VicRail


 * Swinger (SAR)
 * Freight vehicle fitted with bogies suitable for higher-speed passenger operation, such as an RBP class Reefer/cool car

T

 * Tangara (NSW)
 * Officially used name for Sydney Trains T set, a class of electric suburban train in Sydney


 * Tin hare (NSW, SAR)
 * NSW CPH class rail motor; SAR model 55 Brill railcar


 * Twix
 * Two trains on the same mainline


 * Teacup (Vic)
 * Livery used by VicRail, also known as "silver ribbon"


 * Tommy Dodd (SAR)
 * Dwarf signal

U

 * Uniform gauge (Qld)
 * gauge, known elsewhere (and in Queensland) as standard gauge

V

 * Van (SAR)
 * Guard's van (brakevan) or enclosed four-wheeled rail vehicle (e.g. DA, DWF class) (see Boxcar)

W

 * White set (Qld)
 * A Queensland Railways long-distance train with livery from the 1950s


 * Waratah (NSW)
 * Sydney Trains A and B set electric multiple unit that operated in Sydney

X

 * Xtrap (Vic)
 * X'Trapolis 100 electric multiple unit that operates in Melbourne

Y

 * Yard goat (SAR)
 * Yard shunt locomotive