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A Glossary of Terms
ALCO: American Locomotive Company: A defunct manufacturer of locomotives including both steam and diesel. Any surviving examples of their product are greatly sought out by railfans. Almost creating a fanatical cult among railfans.
Articulated: Someone who commands a large vocabulary. OR... In this case, it refers to a railroad car that consists of multiple sections. At the point where these sections join they "share" a common set of wheels called "trucks".
BNSF: The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. The 1995 result of the corporate merging of the Burlington Northern and the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroads. (DUH!) The two separate railroads through Galesburg are now one. "The times. They are a changin'..."
Crossovers: Two switches or turnouts that are aligned in such a way as to let a train pass from one track to another.
CNW: The Chicago and North Western railway. A favorite among our gang to watch when in the Chicago area. Recently merged out of existence, it is now owned by the Union Pacific railroad (The yellow peril - gobbling helpless RRs like a giant corporate Pac-Man. AH HEM, there, I feel better now).
CB&Q: The Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy railroad. The "original" owner of the yards at Galesburg. Galesburg was known as the hub of lines east on this railroad. This name vanished in 1970 as the result of a merger with three other railroads. Many railroad employees in town first hired out on the "Q", as it was known.
Des Plaines Hobbies: One of our favorite Chicago area train stores located in, guess where, Des Plaines Illinois. Cudos to you Ron!
Detroit Edison: A power company located in Michigan. Owners of many coal cars.
End of Track Hobbies: One of our favorite Chicago area train stores. Go Fulmers!
Fallen Flag: Referring to a railroad that is no longer in existence. Often these railroads, and any surviving objects from them, become very popular with foamers, causing severe reactions among them! Some will even resort to paying rather high prices for say, an old company bridge logo sign or something. NOT that I would know or anything...
Foamer: A railroad employee's term. See railfan. Someone who begins to "foam" at the sight of a train. Railroad employees often modify this term by adding the prefix "Damned -".
GT: Grand Trunk Western railroad. A Canadian owned railroad common to people from Michigan.
Hopper: A type of railroad car. A hopper usually has a large open space inside. Most carry grain or coal.
Kato: A Japanese manufacturer of some of the finest model trains made. Thanks Hiroshi!
Lashup: A cowboy/farmer term applied to a group of locomotives which make up the front, or perhaps middle, of a train.
Mainline: Refers to the track or tracks that are the primary route for passing trains. I.E. Not just a clever nickname!
Motor: This was the term used by CB&Q employees when refering to deisel locomotives. Compare to steam locomotives, deisels seemed like "motors" to them.
M.O.W. Maintenance Of Way: Refers to facilities and equipment used to keep the tracks in proper working order.
Powder River: A river basin in Wyoming. The origin of toady's most active coal mining. Loaded coal trains often originate fromĘthere and travel through Galesburg to points east.
Railfan: A person who likes trains A LOT. They spend most, if not all their free time in pursuit of trains and related objects.
Railroad Days: One of the annual festivals of Galesburg Illinois. A celebration of the history and heritage of Galesburg's railroads and its employees. Its origins began with tours of the roundhouse complex back in the 70s.
Roundhouse: A circular shed for the repair and sheltering of steam locomotives.
Switch: Trackwork that allows two tracks to merge into one.
Spur: Something cowboys wear, but in this case it refers to a track that "deadends". Usually this track is short and may be used to place railroad cars near an industry.
Trainspotting: A British term referring to the hobby/obsession of watching trains. See Railfan.
Turntable: A circular device used to turn locomotives. (They resembled those ancient gizmos used to spin records.) Usually found near roundhouses.
Wye: Tracks forming the shape of a triangle. It allows a locomotive and, if built large enough, whole trains to be turned around. A wye was much cheaper to build than a turntable!
