B

Back light
The white light that is visible from the back of a signal lamp.

Back plate
The inner plate of the back of a steam-locomotive firebox.

Back slotting
This is where an Outer Distant Signal is slotted by the Stop Signal on the same post as the Inner Distant Signal ahead (in addition to being slotted by the Stop Signal immediately above). This is to prevent the Outer Distant Signal from clearing when the Stop Signal above is cleared for a move up to the Section Signal at `Danger'.a single lever.

Back-to-back
The distance between the backs of the flanges on a railway-vehicle wheelset.

Backing signal
A subsidiary signal which is used to control shunting movements within station limits in a direction which is wrong for the line in question.

Bag
Old railway term for a flexible pipe, usually used for brake pipes between rolling stock, or the water feed from a tower.

Bagnall, W
Locomotive builders at the Castle Engine Works in Stafford.

Baker valve gear
A steam locomotive valve gear similar to Walschaerts valve gear, but one where sliding surfaces are eliminated.

Bala Lake Railway
A 2ft gauge railway in Wales.

Baldwin Locomotive Works
Founded by Matthias William Baldwin, they built approximately 75000 steam locomotives between 1832 and 1955 at the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, USA.

Balance weight
Weights cast into or secured to the coupled wheels of a steam locomotive to counterbalance the reciprocating and rotational out-of-balance forces.

Ball signal
A long-ago-obsolete type of signal in which a large ball was hauled to the top of a post to indicate that the line was clear.

Ballast
Hard core used to provide a stable base and good drainage for the track. Typically granite chippings between 1-2 inches diameter are used, although other materials are not uncommon.

Baltic Locomotive
Name given to locomotives with a 4-6-4 wheel arrangement.

Banana van
A goods van incorporating steam heating to promote the ripening of fruit (especially bananas) during transit.

Banker
A banking locomotive was often used to assist trains up particularly steep or long banks, or gradients. Many banks had locomotives permanently allocated for this purpose. Trains would stop at the bottom of a bank, and the banker would buffer up to the rear (but not couple on). The train would then ascend the bank with the bankers assistance, and at the top the banker could drop off without the train needing to stop.

Banner signal
An off-the-ground signal which is in the form of a centrally-pivoted bar backed by a white disc. These signals are usually glass fronted, and illuminated by an internal light. They are often used as repeater signals.

Bardic Lamp
A battery operated lamp with a coloured filter which could be rotated to show white, red, yellow or green aspects, later models had only white, red or green. Bardic was the name of the manufacturing company.

Barlow, William Henry
Chief Civil Engineer for the Midland Railway between 1844 and 1858. His works included the MR line from St. Pancras, London to Bedford including St. Pancras Station itself. Born 1812. Died 1902.

Barry Railway
This standard gauge railway in South Wales, incorporated in 1884, involved the construction of a dock at Barry Island and 26 miles of railway, with access by junctions with existing railways to the great South Wales coalfields. By 1913 the route mileage had increased to 45 miles, with a further 20 miles working over other companies lines. It was absorbed into the Great Western Railway on 1 Jan 1922.

Barton Wright, W
Chief Mechanical Engineer from 1876 to 1886 for the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway.

Bassett-Lowke
A locomotive building company.

Battlefield Line Railway
A standard gauge preserved railway in Leicestershire run by members of the Shackerstone Railway Society. It was formerly known as the Market Bosworth Light Railway.

Bay platform
A subsidiary platform face, the railway track of which is indented into a main platform, and which ends in buffer stops.

BCK
Brake Composite Coach

Beamish
See North of England Open Air Museum.

Beattie, Joseph Hamilton
Chief Mechanical Engineer from 1850 to 1871 for the London & South Western Railway. Born 1808. Died 1871.

Bell code
The sequence of bells (block bells) used to communicate between signal boxes using a standardized code.

Bell crank
A pair of cranks, free to rotate on the same spindle, with the crank arms secured approximately at right angles to each other.

Belpaire Firebox
These fireboxes had a bottom narrow enough to fit between the frames of a locomotive. They widened higher up to the width of the barrel, thus providing a larger steam space and greater water surface area in the hottest part of the boiler. They were named after their Belgian inventor, Alfred Belpaire.

Beyer, Charles Fredrick
French locomotive engineer and manufacturer who settled in Manchester. After working for Sharp, Roberts & Co. he went on to found the Beyer Peacock locomotive manufacturers in partnership with Richard Peacock. Born 1813, Died 1878.

Beyer Peacock & Co.
Locomotive builders based in Gorton, Manchester. Originally founded in 1854 as a partnership between C. F. Beyer and R. Peacock, it's most famous product were the Beyer Garratt articulated locomotives, most of which were exported. The company fortunes declined as the demand for steam locomotives fell. Switching to manufacturing diesel locomotives failed to save the company due to a shortage of orders and the works closed in 1966.

BFK
Brake First Coach

BG
Bogie Brake Van with Gangway (i.e. corridor connection), usually used on passenger trains and included space for conveyance of parcels and bicycles etc.

Bicton Woodland Railway
A 18in gauge railway near Sidmouth, Devon.

Big end
The end of a connecting rod which connects to the crank pin on the driving wheel.

Big four
Slang term for the four large railway companies which were formed from numerous smaller companies at the 1923 grouping.

Billinton, Lawson B
Chief Mechanical Engineer from 1911 to 1922 for the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway.

Billinton, Robert J
Chief Mechanical Engineer from 1890 to 1904 for the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway.

Birdcage Brake
Type of Brake coach having a raised lookout for the guard to look along the train above the roofs of the other carriages.

Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon
Builder of railway rolling stock.

Birmingham Railway Museum
Located at Tyseley, the museum is also a centre for railway engineering often taking on jobs for other railway preservation groups.

Black Hawthorn & Co Ltd
A locomotive building company located in Gateshead, Tyne & Wear.

Blastpipe
Exhaust steam is released from the cylinders, via the blastpipe located inside the smokebox. Aimed up the chimney, the jet of steam blasting up through the smokebox draws air through the fire and along the boiler tubes and out the chimney. The blastpipe size and positioning was crucial to the free steaming of an engine. Too hard a draught would result in excessive fuel usage, with unburned particles being ejected from the chimney; too gentle and the fire would not burn hot enough to maintain the required supply of steam. The blastpipe also had to be large enough to exhaust steam freely, otherwise back pressure would restrict the free-running of the engine. More modern locomotives often have two blast pipes and chimneys to give a freer exhaust and better steaming.

Block bell
Bells which are used for communication between signalboxes.

Block instrument
An electrically operated indicating device used in a signalbox. The instrument is connected with a similar device in an adjacent signalbox, and can be set to indicate whether or not the block section between the two signalboxes is occupied by a train.

Block post
A location under the control of a signalman, which may consist of a station, sidings, or simply a length of track where trains can be held for train-operation purposes.

Block section
The length of track between the most advanced starting signal controlled by one signalbox and the outermost home signal controlled by the next signalbox. Entrance to this section of track is controlled by a signal which for safety reasons is normally at danger and hence the section remains "blocked" by this signal until a "line-clear" telegraphic-message is obtained from the block post in advance. With automatic signals, a block section is controlled automatically by train detection or remotely by centralized train control.

Block train
A train, either passenger or goods, which is designed to run into and out of various locations without rearrangement of the rolling stock.

Blocking back
A signaling term for a shunting movement which requires vehicles to be taken along a running line in the wrong direction to a position in rear of the clearing point.

Blowdown cock
Used on steam locomotives to blow through the water gauge to ensure that the passages are clear (if they are blocked, a false reading could be given, possibly resulting in a boiler explosion or other damage).

Blower
Used to blow steam out of the chimney thus creating a through draft to draw the fire through the boiler tubes. Mainly used when the regulator is shut and when there is no exhaust steam to create the draft. Without a draft, blowbacks into the cab are likely whenever the firebox doors are opened.

Bluebell Railway
A standard gauge preserved railway in East Sussex.

Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway
A standard gauge preserved railway in West Lothian.

Bodmin & Wenford Railway
A standard gauge preserved railway in Cornwall.

Bobby
Slang term for a signalman. (Signals were originally operated by policemen based at stations, crossings and junctions).

Body
Originally the term given to each individual compartment of a carriage, but later referring to the whole of the part above the sole-bar. The term was used since the first railway carriages were assembled by bolting together what were usually manufactured as individual stage-coach bodies onto a single underframe.

Bogie
A wheeled undercarriage pivoted below the end of a rail vehicle.

Boiler
Literally that part of a steam locomotive in which the water is boiled, comprising the boiler barrel and Firebox.

Boiler barrel
The part of the boiler between the firebox and the smokebox.

Bolection
The form of wooden window frame moulding frequently employed on a railway carriage, where the frame overlaps the side of the vehicle as well as the (recessed) glass.

Bolster
A transverse beam which transmits the weight of the vehicle body, via springs and swing-links, to the frames of the bogie.

Bolster wagon
A flat open wagon having horizontal bolsters (relatively narrow boards projecting above the surface of the wagon and running across the width of the vehicle). Thus the load was carried resting only on the bolsters, lifted clear of the base of the wagon. These allowed a rail, for example, to be carried on two "single bolsters" (four wheel wagons with a single bolster each). The bolster allowed freedom for the load to pivot as it went around corners.

Borail
A long bolster wagon (60 foot) used by the London North Eastern Railway to transport rail and pre-assembled panels of track, 60ft in length. They were originally called Septuple's.
British Rail later built further versions of these wagons, some with flat beds (Borail EC) and others with bolsters (Borail EB). All were 62ft long and had distinctive fish belly solebar construction. A later series were built in 1981/82 with new bogies and air brakes, these are called Mullet's.

Bottom End
In the construction of a railway coach, the timber running across the end of the vehicle under the floor, joining the ends of the two "Bottom Sides".

Bottom Rail
In the construction of a railway coach, the timbers which run horizontally between the vertical pillars behind the lower body panels, about a foot above the bottom side.

Bottom Side Member
In the construction of a railway coach, the timber running along the length of the sides of the vehicle under the floor, immediately above the solebar, and with door-pillars and other vertical members jointed into it.

Bourden gauge
The type of pressure gauge used on most locomotives. The gauge consists of a coiled hollow tube; which, when pressure is applied to the inside of the tube, tends to straighten out; and, in so doing, operates a system of levers connected to the gauge's indicating needle.

Bow end
A term describing the shape of the ends of those railway carriages which are curved or "bow-shaped" in plan.

Bow Works
The main works for the North London Railway.

Bowen-Cooke, Charles J
Chief Mechanical Engineer from 1909 to 1920 for the London, North Western Railway.

Bowes Railway
A preserved standard gauge rope haulage railway located just south of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Brake block
Cast iron blocks pressed against the wheel tread during braking. Very early designs used wooden blocks.

Brake coach
Carriage having a hand-brake for the use of the guard. Usually also has a luggage area, often with a pair (or two pairs) of double doors. (N.B. original spelling was "Break", although universally changed to Brake during the 19th century.)

Brake gear
Collectively, the mechanical components of the braking mechanism as seen underneath a railway vehicle.

Brake hanger
A component of a railway vehicle which consists of a vertical bar which is pivoted at its top end; has a brake block attached near its middle; and has a brake operating mechanism connected to its bottom end.

Brake hoses
Flexible rubber pipes seen at the ends of railway vehicles. When joined to similar pipes on adjacent vehicles, the train's braking system is connected throughout the train.

Brake rigging
Brake rodding
The mechanical linkages between various components of the brake system.

Brake van
A special vehicle which is fitted with brakes which can be applied from inside the vehicle. Can be a smallish van attached to the back end of goods trains to accommodate the guard, or a special coach added to passenger trains (full brake).
Is also used to refer to the guards compartment of a brake coach.

Branch line
A railway route which branches off a main through route at one end, and usually finishes at a terminus at the other end.

Brasses
A general term describing locomotive bearings which are made from brass or bronze.

Breakdown train
A train consisting of a crane and other vehicles, which are permanently on hand for use in emergencies.

Brecon & Merthyr Tydfil Junction
A standard gauge railway in South Wales, incorporated in 1859. It was absorbed into the Great Western Railway on 1 July 1922.

BREL
British Railways Engineering Limited. The heavy engineering department of British Rail, which was responsible for construction and heavy repair of locomotives and other rolling stock. Broken up and sold off during the late 1980's.

Bressingham Steam Museum & Gardens
Includes a standard gauge railway museum and three passenger carrying railways of various gauges. Bressingham is also home to many traction engines and other vintage vehicles. The gardens are also famous in their own right. Bressingham is near Diss in Norfolk.

Brick Arch
An arch of bricks was fitted to most locomotives fireboxes. Spanning the front half of the firebox just below the tubes it served a number of functions. Its primary function is to throw the flames and products of combustion from the fire to the back of the firebox and to form an area above where combustion take place. In large modern boilers this is often extended by a combustion chamber within the end of the boiler barrel, the tubeplate being set back into the boiler barrel for the purpose. By increasing the distance of the tubes from the fire itself, it protects the ends of the tubes from direct flames. When the firedoor was opened, the brick arch radiated heat and helped to keep an even temperature at the tube plate and reduce unequal expansion and contraction of the tubes which tends to make them leak.

Bridge Rail
Refers to the cross sectional shape of the rail. This type of rail was used for Brunel's Broad Gauge track on the Great Western Railway.

British Rail
Formed in 1948 by nationalizing the existing `Big Four' railway companies, Great Western Railway, London Midland and Scottish, London North Eastern Railway and Southern Railway.
British Rail operated the entire national railway network until privatization in 1995, since when various sections have been sold to other operators.

British Thomson Houston
Locomotive Builders

Broad Gauge
A railway line laid to a gauge significantly wider than standard gauge.
Most significant use was the Great Western Railway which was originally laid to 7 foot gauge and was commonly referred to as Broad Gauge. In 1854 the GWR was regauged to the new standard gauge of 4 foot 8½ inches.
Ireland also uses 5 foot 3 inch gauge.

Brown Boveri/Swiss Loco Works
Locomotive Builders, now part of ABB and Daimler Benz transportation, Adtranz.

Brunel, Isambard Kingdom
The first Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway. He designed the entire line from Paddington to Bristol, followed by the Bristol and Exeter and then the South Devon. Advocate of the 7ft `broad gauge'. Famous for several other civil engineering works, including Box Tunnel and the Royal Albert Bridge over the Tamar at Saltash. He also designed steam ships, notably the Great Eastern and Great Western. Born 1807. He died in 1859, aged 52.

Brush Electrical Engineering Co
Locomotive builders based in Loughborough.

BRUTE
British Railways Utility Transport Equipment. Typically example being the wire cage trolleys seen on platforms.

Buck-eye coupling
See couplings

Buckinghamshire Railway Centre
A standard gauge preserved railway based at Quainton, Buckinghamshire.

Buffer
Sprung protruding devices at the extreme ends of railway vehicles, used to absorb the forces of acceleration and braking between vehicles.

Buffer Beam
Component of a locomotive, carriage or wagon underframe which goes across the extreme end of the vehicle, and onto which the buffers and drawgear are mounted. (N.B. the buffer shanks and drawgear may pass through the headstock and act, via springs, on other parts of the underframe structure). Also called the Headstock.

Buffer binding
The state of affairs where a curve is so sharp that one buffer of each of two adjacent vehicles compress together so much that they derail one of the vehicles (see also buffer locking).

Buffer lamp
A red lamp set on buffer stops.

Buffer locking
The state of affairs where a curve is so sharp or the change of radius is so sudden that one buffer of each of two adjacent vehicles are displaced so much that they no longer touch; and, when the vehicles straighten up, the buffer heads of one vehicle slip behind those of the next vehicle (see also buffer binding).

Buffer stops
Railway-vehicle stopping-devices located at the end of a siding or terminating platform.

Buffet car
Buffet coach
A coach in which light refreshments are sold, but not sit-down meals (see also dining car and kitchen car).

Bulkhead
A transverse strengthening partition dividing compartments of a railway vehicle.

Bullhead Rail
Refers to the cross sectional shape of the rail.

Bullied, Oliver Victor Snell
Originally trained under H.A. Ivatt, he later worked as assistant to Sir Nigel Gresley on the London North Eastern Railway before becoming Chief Mechanical Engineer for the Southern Railway between 1937 and 1947. He introduced several revolutionary designs.

Bullied valve gear
A steam-locomotive valve gear, which in principle is similar to Walschaerts valve gear, but where the combination lever and eccentric rod are driven by chains from the driving axle. Named after its designer O.V.S.Bullied.

Bunker
The coal space, usually at the front of the tender; or just behind the cab of tank engines.

Bure Valley Railway
A 15 inch gauge railway near Norwich.

Burry Port & Gwendraeth Valley Railway
A railway company absorbed into the Great Western Railway on 1 Jan 1922.