Halt (or station halt)
A railway station with minimal facilities where trains will usually stop only on
request.
Hand points
A set of points which are actuated by an individual, trackside hand-
lever.
Hand rail
A long holding rail attached to a railway vehicle, the most common being the one
running the length of a locomotive boiler.
Hand-rail stanchions
Stand-off rods which are screwed onto the side of a vehicle body, and onto the
end of which a hand rail is attached.
Hand Signals
Used, mainly by shunters and guards, to indicate required
movements to drivers.
By Day
Arm moved horizontally: Move towards me.
Arm moved in vertical circle: Move away from me.
Hand moved up and down from wrist: Move slowly.
One arm held vertical above head: Acknowledge signal.
Both arms held vertical above head: STOP
One fist moved vertically above head: Create a brake (ie charge air or vacuum
brake system ready for use)
ANYTHING WAVED FRANTICALLY: EMERGENCY STOP
By Night
White light moved from side to side: Move towards the light.
Green light moved from side to side: Move towards the light slowly.
White light moved up and down: Move away from the light.
Green light moved up and down: Move away from the light slowly.
Red light held steady: STOP
Red light moved up and down: Create a brake (ie charge air or vacuum brake
vsystem ready for use)
ANYTHING WAVED FRANTICALLY: EMERGENCY STOP
Hawksworth, F.W
Chief Mechanical Engineer for the Great Western Railway from 1941 to 1948.
Head boards
Discs which when fitted to the lamp irons on the front of a train or
locomotive indicate the head-code.
Head-code
The arrangement of head-boards or head-lamps on the front of a
train which indicate to a signalman, or other railway employee, the type
of train, or route to be taken by the train.
Head-lamps
Small lights on the front of a train or locomotive the positioning of which
displays the appropriate head-code for the train.
Head shunt
A length of line connecting a number of sidings and providing a
means of shunting the sidings without occupying adjacent running lines.
Header
A steam distributing vessel into which a number of tubes are inserted.
Headstock
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 commonly referred to as the Buffer Beam.
Heritage Railway Association
A trade organisation representing heritage railways in the UK.
Formed in 1996 following a merger of the Association of Independent
Railways and the Association of Railway Preservation Societies.
Highland Railway
The Highland Railway was formed by the 1865 amalgamation of the Inverness and
Aberdeen Junction and the Inverness and Perth Junction railways. It eventually
owned 505 miles of route, much of which was single line.
It became part of the London, Midland & Scottish railway in the 1923
grouping.
Hill, A.J
Chief Mechanical Engineer for Great Eastern Railway from 1912 to 1922.
Holden, James
Chief Mechanical Engineer for Great Eastern Railway from 1885 to 1907.
Born 1837. Died 1925.
Holden, S.D
Chief Mechanical Engineer for Great Eastern Railway from 1908 to 1912.
Home signal
In the normal direction of travel on any one line, the first stop
signal encountered at a block post, is the home signal. (See also
inner-home and outer-home). On some railways and in some railway
parlance, all stop signals are called home signals.
Horn blocks
Inverted U-shaped blocks which are attached to cut outs in the side of a
frame, and into which axleboxes fit are free to slide up and down.
Horn cheeks
The sliding surfaces of horn blocks.
Horn stay
A removable stay which closes the gap at the bottom of a horn block
between the horn cheeks.
Horse box
A railway vehicle constructed for transporting horses.
Horwich Works
Main works for the former Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway.
Hot Box
An overheated axle box. Usually the result of insufficient lubrication,
or excessive speed.
Hudswell Clarke & Co Ltd
Locomotive builders in Leeds.
Hughes, George
Chief Mechanical Engineer from 1904 to 1921 for the Lancashire & Yorkshire
Railway, also for the London North Western Railway from 1921-1922 and the
London, Midland & Scottish Railway from 1923 to 1925.
Hump shunting
A system of shunting where vehicles are propelled up one side of a hump
at the throat of a fan of sidings, and then allowed to run down the other
side of the hump to their required location.
Hump Yard
A marshalling yard used in hump shunting.
Hunslet Engine Co
Locomotive builders who were based in Leeds. Hunslet took over several other
companies as follows, Avonside Engine Co in 1935, Kerr Stewart in 1930(?)
and Andrew Barclay (becoming Hunslet Barclay Ltd).
They also acquired drawings of Kitsons and Manning Wardle from Robert Stevenson
and Hawthorns in 1960.
In 1990, Hunslet were purchased by Qualter Hall Ltd of Barnsley, but
only stayed with Qualter Hall for about 11 months. It was then moved again
in the group to Hunslet Barclay in Kilmarnock were it stayed until Jan 2004.
During this period a sales, service and design office has been maintained in
Leeds.
Hunslet Engine Company is now a division of L H Group Services Limited, who
are based in Burton-Upon-Trent, Staffordshire. The company was purchased in
January 2004 by L H Group Services Limited along with the industrial
locomotive business of Hunslet-Barclay Limited in Kilmarnock. Hunslet
Engine Company now handles all locomotive business activities, backed by our
team of design, spares, and service personnel with individual locomotive
experience of some 30 years.
Hydrostatic Lubricator
A small amount of steam is taken from the regulator when open and fed into a
condensing coil (usually mounted on the cab roof), the resulting water
draining into the hydrostatic lubricator where it displaced the oil. The oil
thus displaced is fed to the pistons and cylinders to lubricate them while
the engine is in motion with the regulator open. For this reason the
regulator should be left slightly open when coasting. This type of lubricator
was mainly used on GWR locomotives.