A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y
| Ada - Old female passenger (usually accompanied by "Burt")
| Adex -
Shorthand for advertised day excursion.
| Air Brake - Brakes are held off by the use of compressed
air. Standard braking system in use on today's railways see also "vacuum
brake"
| Air Conditioned - Modern coaching stock is all air
conditioned, thus requiring the locomotive to be able to supply electric train
heat (ETH). See also "coffins".
| All Shacks - Slow passenger train, stopping at every
station en-route.
| APT - Advanced passenger train. Revolutionary
experimental tilting train developed by BR during the 1970's. The prototype
was powered by gas turbine, and the production series were to be electric. The
project ended as a dismal failure when the tilting mechanism was proven to be
unreliable. This was graphically demonstrated on demonstration runs for
journalists in the early 80's in one of the first production trains. The
project was then cancelled and part of one production APT survives at Crewe
heritage centre.
| ASLEF - Associated society of locomotive engineers and
firemen (drivers union).
| AWS - Automatic warning system. This is the standard
method of reinforcing signals to drivers in their cabs. It was introduced in
the 1950's and works as follows:- If a signal is green a bell sounds, if it is
red, yellow, or double yellow a warning horn sounds. The driver must then
acknowledge the horn or the brakes will be automatically applied. In the case
of the recent major accidents, at Southall the AWS was non-operational and for
reasons best known to themselves the train operator decided to run without its
protection - in the period we are dealing with on this site (pre-1985), this
would not have been allowed to happen. Either the locomotive would have been
replaced or in certain circumstances a second driver would have been provided.
As to Paddington - the AWS was functioning correctly, but the driver simply
cancelled the horn and then did not apply the brakes. | |
| Baby Deltic -
Nickname applied to Class 23 locomotives, as they used a Napier
engine in common with the Deltics.
| Baglet - Derogatory name applied to females of all ages.
| Bail Out - Term for leaving the train, frequently in a
hurry. For example "we bailed out at Crewe".
| Ballast Train - Train conveying ballast (stones), which
is used to secure track and sleepers. Included here as often it was a case
of:- question - "where is 40040?" answer - "on a ballast train"
| Bananas - Derogatory name applied to HST (High Speed
Trains) on account of a) their original livery and b) the fact that everyone
hated them.
| Bang Road - When engineering work, or emergencies forced
the use of the "wrong line" i.e.: the one on the right not left. This is a
railwayman's term as if the signalman is not on the ball a "bang" is what you
will get!
| Banker - Term used to describe locomotive (s) provided to
assist trains up steep inclines - by pushing from the rear. Normally named
after the particular incline in question e.g.: "Lickey Bankers". In the
pre-1985 period very few passenger trains were "booked" to receive banking
assistance, they being mainly used on freight trains. However, if an
underpowered locomotive was provided the banker(s) would assist if required.
On occasion the train engine might fail in which case the bankers would pull
as opposed to push the train. For example the Lickey Bankers (2xClass 37)
would appear at Birmingham New Street from time to time, dragging a failed
locomotive and its train.
| Bash - Travel around rail network for haulage reasons, done by
"basher".
| Basher - Person "bashing" for haulage reasons
| Bay Platform - Normally, but not always short,
terminating platform alongside main (through) platform. In the main used only
by DMU's, thus loco hauled departure from bay platforms was quite rateable.
| Beast - Rare locomotive - see "big", "monster".
| Beeching - Doctor Beeching, chairman of British Railways
in the early 1960's. Appointed by the Tory government of the time with a brief
to make the railways pay their way. His plans were twofold - a) close
unprofitable parts of the network and b) invest heavily in the remainder.
Needless to say the government were quite keen on the first part - but never
really came up with the investment that was needed for the strategy to work.
He produced two infamous reports concerned with network reduction - "Beeching
1" and "Beeching 2". The former was largely implemented, the latter was not.
Had both reports been implemented in full there would be no railways at all in
Cornwall, or in Wales save for the Paddington-Cardiff line and none in
Scotland above Glasgow or Edinburgh. The name Beeching is hated with a passion
by all railway enthusiasts although the real culprits were the government (as
usual).
| Beer Move - When festering between trains, the occasional
pint was sampled. These days bashing is often a thinly disguised beer
move in itself.
| Bellowers - Term used to describe bashers or more
specifically those that "bellow" - enjoy themselves loudly and occasionally to
the detriment of other passengers. Usually but not always involving much
waving of arms (see "flailing").
| Bert n' Ada - Term used to describe an elderly couple,
not really derogatory.
| BCK - Brake Composite Corridor Coach
| Beattock - Famous steep incline on Carlisle-Glasgow line.
Bankers retained (2xClass 20's) but only for use on freight (unless there was
a failure). Diesel haulage over Beattock was fairly rare and runs with Class
40's were particularly prized.
| BFK - Brake First Corridor Coach
| BG - BR Bogie Brake Van, gangwayed - was usually found at
the head or tail or expresses, used for carrying parcels, bicycles, pets etc.
| Bible - All line timetable - indispensable bashing aid.
| Big - Rare engine (on passenger train) - see also
"beast", "monster"
| Blind - To go to "cover" a train without any knowledge of
what was working it. Sometimes you "scored", but on the other hand you were
frequently "bowled". Very common then, with limited amounts of "gen". Modern
bashers have the luxury of mobile phones, laptops etc and never go blind for
anything. On the other hand there are so few loco hauled trains now that
everyone knows everything!
| Blocks, To The - Stay on train until the terminus station
was reached. Used most often in reference to Kings Cross - "I am going to the
blocks with this".
| Blow(n) Up - Engine failure, sometimes shortened to "gone
up". This was always an interesting situation, as a failure meant that a
replacement engine would be found ASAP, frequently this would be whatever
happens to be on the nearest freight train - 2xClass 20's, Class 37, Class 40
etc. etc. In the main these days failure simply means that the train is
cancelled.
| Boat Train - Train specifically timed to connect with a
ferry departure. In the pre 1985 era BR still owned "Sealink" and thus made
every effort to connect with ferries. As the Holyhead-Dun Laoghire service was
so erratic, partly due to the weather, this meant boat trains waiting at
Holyhead for hours for the ferry.
| Bogie - Framework that supports wheels on most forms of
rolling stock - locomotives, coaches etc.
| Boggo - Slang term for a DMU
| Boiler - When BR decided to replace steam with diesel and
electric in 1955 they faced the problem of the heating of the train. Steam
locomotives had simply used their boilers to supply steam and thus heat the
train. There were 2 choices a) replace all the coaching stock heaters with
electric or b) fit boilers to the diesels. In the short term BR chose the
latter, although in the long run all trains became electrically heated (steam
heat finally faded out in 1987). The interim situation was that some engines
had boilers, some electric heat, and some no heat. Some coaches could accept
only steam heat, some only electric and others both. You couldn't have
made it more complex if you had tried!
| Bonehead - Derogatory term meaning idiot - applied to
other bashers - see also "withered".
| Booked - Term indicating that this is
the planned, pre-ordained state of affairs. Can be applied to locomotives
e.g.: "booked for a duff" or a working "booked to wait in the loop for 5
minutes", or indeed crew "booked for a Saltley man".
| Bowled (Caught And)- Term that
indicates that the locomotive on the train that you had gone for was NOT what
you wanted. For example, waiting at Taunton for 1A09 (16.10
Penzance-Paddington) having been assured it was a "Western", when around the
corner rolls a Class 50 - "bowled!". See also duff gen
| BR - British Railways, Or British Rail as it was more
commonly known. Formed in 1948 by the nationalization of the previous 4
railway companies - London Midland & Scottish, London & North Eastern,
Great Western and Southern. BR was subdivided into regions that closely
resembled the old four companies (plus Scotland as a separate region) until
the mid 1980's. From that point on BR was divided into business sectors -
Inter City, Freight etc. BR was broken up and privatised between 1995 and
1997. From a bashers point of view, BR were heavily criticized for being
bureaucratic and engineering led, it was however infinitely preferable to what
was to follow it.
| BREL - British Railways Engineering Limited, the heavy
engineering side of BR. Responsible for construction and heavy repair of
locomotives and other rolling stock. The principal locations for the "works"
being Ashford, Crewe, Darlington, Derby, Doncaster, Eastleigh, Horwich, St
Rollox, Stratford, Swindon, Wolverton & York. Many of the locomotives that
are referred to on this site were built by BREL, almost all the coaching stock
was also built by BREL. Rolling stock was also maintained by these "works".
BREL was broken up and sold off during the late 1980's, with some works
closing e.g.: Swindon, and as virtually no new trains were ordered in the run
up to privatisation, the engineering base shrunk dramatically. Now that the
railways are re-equipping their fleets, most trains are being imported. This
is the first time ever that the UK has had to import railway equipment in any
quantity.
| Brush - Major suppliers of electrical equipment, based at
Loughborough, that also constructed diesel locomotives: Class 31 and Class 47.
Now part of Hawker Siddeley.
| BRUTE - British Railways Universal Trolley Equipment.
These are the wire cage trolleys that used to lie around on platforms. Bashers
would often sit on BRUTE's in the absence of anywhere else to sit.
| BTH - British Thomson Houston. Long closed locomotive
manufacturer that built the Class 15's.
| BTP - British Transport Police - "evening all"
| Bubble Car - Slang for single car DMU - as featured on
the "Rochdale Cowboy" and other memorable charters - 12 pints of real ale and
then a 3 hour journey without a toilet - makes my eyes water to remember it!
| Buckeye - Type of automatic coupling used on modern
rolling stock.
| Buffet - Railway catering on and off the train. Most
trains used to have a buffet which would serve the legendary BR sandwiches and
tea. The former certainly lived down to their reputation whilst the tea was
ok. In Scotland however a bacon buttie could be bought on the train and these
were superb (particularly when on the 08.15 Inverness-Glasgow behind 40142,
the buffet being the front coach). As far as buffets on stations were
concerned, the best ones were (and still are) privately run e.g.: Stalybridge.
Bashers would spend many hours in buffets "covering" the various trains and
drinking vast quantities of tea. Dundee was a particularly memorable spot for
this.
| Bunk - Slang term for wandering around locomotive depot's
without permission. More appropriate to trainspotters than bashers. Very
common in the 1970's when depot's had reputations as to how hard they were to
"bunk" e.g.: Thornaby - easy, Tinsley - very hard, Gateshead - impossible,
Stewarts Lane - ok but very dangerous due to third rail. The HSE would have
forty fits at what went on in those days. | |
| Cab - Slang term
for having a look around the cab of a locomotive.
| Cab Ride - Slang term for riding with the driver on a
locomotive. Despite the fact that this would get the driver into big trouble,
many cab rides were to be had, in fact on some days bashers spent more time in
the cab than on the train! A subtle variation on this was riding in the "back
cab" i.e.: not the end with the driver, this was normally simply to get from A
to B normally in the dead of night.
| Cape'd - Cancelled train, normally as a result of severe delay.
| Catch Points - Additional set of points that guards a
dangerous junction. As a back up to signals, AWS and various other safety
measures, catch points will be set so as to prevent a high-speed collision, a
train will be diverted into a short siding and derail relatively safely. The
removal of catch points was another contributory factor to the Paddington
crash.
| Catenary - Term used to describe the overhead power lines
on railways, usually carrying 25,000 volts a.c.
| Caught And Bowled - See Bowled
| CCT - Covered Carriage Truck - A small van used for
carrying parcels and mail.
| Central Wales Line - The line from Craven Arms to
Carmarthen, through beautiful countryside. The entire service has been
operated by DMU's since the 1960's and locomotive haulage was rare, although
not totally unknown.
| Chair, In The - Slang for sitting in the drivers seat.
Sometimes used in connection with cab ride e.g. "I sat in the chair".
| Chartex - Chartered excursion. An excursion train
chartered for private use only. This could present a challenge to the
determined basher, as if the Chartex had an interesting engine on it then it
had to be had, private or not!
| Check Rail - Additional third rail used on tight corners
to assist in preventing derailments.
| Choppers - Slang term for Class 20 locomotives. These
almost always ran in multiple making the term "pair of choppers" one of the
most frequently heard. I sometimes wonder if anyone was offended as they
assumed we were talking about women's anatomy.
| Clag - Slang for the filthy black diesel exhaust given
off by diesel locomotives. This could be particularly spectacular on old, run
down engines such as Westerns.
| Claytons - Term used to describe Class 17 locomotives.
| Clown - Derogatory term used to describe a fellow basher
who doesn't really know what he is doing.
| Coast, The - Shorthand description of the North Wales
coast line. A mecca for Class 40 bashers pre-1985, and still containing a few
loco-hauled trains to this day (although not for much longer).
| Coffin - Slang description for air-conditioned stock.
| Colour-Light Signal - Modern 3 or 4 aspect signals,
almost totally replaced semaphore signals.
| Compartment/Compo - Six or eight seat closed compartment,
as found on Mark 1 and early Mark 2 coaches. Bashers generally preferred
"compos" as they could "bellow" in private without disturbing anyone.
Compartments were especially prized on overnight trains as they would allow a
reasonable chance of sleep - especially with the bulbs removed and the blinds
down.
| Conductor - Name given to additional driver who is
supervising the original driver on either the locomotive or the route. For
example, a Gloucester driver arrives at Birmingham driving a Western, which
due to a locomotive shortage is required to work forward to Leeds. The driver
does not "know" the route nor does the relief driver (Sheffield) "know" the
locomotive. Result - Gloucester man goes to Leeds being conducted on the route
by the Sheffield driver (this actually happened!).
| Control - Almost mythical all seeing officialdom held in
awe by both other railwaymen and bashers. Control offices were located at
strategic points throughout the network e.g.: Birmingham, Crewe, Preston, York
etc. Their job was to make decisions, including most importantly what engines
worked what trains. For example Birmingham control would allocate engines to
trains originating or changing engines in the Birmingham area. Thus knowledge
of what control had decided was a huge advantage to the basher. Also, control
would occasionally make blatantly bashing friendly decisions - see
fixed.
| Copypit - Steep incline and tunnel on the
Yorkshire/Lancashire border near Burnley. Only passenger train to use this
route being the Bradford-Blackpool. Complete riot occurred here on a memorable
railtour - see memories.
| Cornish Riviera Express - The Western Region's crack
express service - 11.30 Paddington-Penzance (1B45) and 11.00
Penzance-Paddington (1A19). Non-stop between Paddington and Exeter in both
directions, the "rivo" was THE train and enjoyed "Western" haulage until well
into 1976.
| Crank - Affectionate name for all railway enthusiasts,
particularly older eccentrics (that's most of us now!)
| Crankex - A railtour - a special charter train for railway
enthusiasts - cranks.
| Crompton Parkinson - Electrical company that supplied
traction motors to several famous diesel types.
| Cromptons - Term used to describe Class 33 locomotives,
as they had Crompton Parkinson traction motors. Also used to describe Class
45's (more usually known as peaks) - this was mainly used by Birmingham
bashers, who in turn picked it up from Saltley drivers. | |
| Dainton - Steep incline or "bank"
in south Devon between Newton Abbott and Totnes.
| Dance Halls - Slang name for Class 84 electric
locomotives on account of the fact that they were full of fresh air (I believe
Mr. Rollason was the only one to use this term, but that's good enough for
me).
| Dead - Slang reference to a locomotive that was not
working.
| Dead Connection - Normal connections were between trains
where it would be logical to have a connection, bashers however were
interested in making connections that were often totally illogical. For
example returning whence they came - obviously as far as BR were concerned
these were not connections at all. Dead connection refers to needing to catch
a train from a station that is due to depart at exactly the same time as the
one you are on should arrive i.e.: the waiting time being nil - thus "dead".
If there was waiting time this would be referred to as "plus" and if the train
should miss the one back then it was referred to as "minus". For example the
FO Birmingham-Holyhead (1D82) was due into Holyhead at 01.43 and should
therefore miss the 01.25 Holyhead-Birmingham (1G00) by 18 minutes - "minus
18". Going for these dead and even minus connections required either nerves of
steel or a lot of luck (or both) see "men of steel".
| Declassified - First class accommodation made available
to passengers with second class tickets. Bashers would scan a train as it
rolled in with practiced eyes for the tell tale white stickers for their extra
comfort.
| Deltics - Class 55 Diesel locomotives, when built (1961)
the most powerful in the world.
| DEMU - Diesel Electric Multiple Unit
| Desert - Slang for the section of line between Reading
and Taunton, so called because there was very little there.
| Desperate - Bash that involved huge distances for little gain
or truly brave connections with the alternative being a "move to oblivion".
| Desperate Grip - Extremely keen conductor guard/TTI - when
travelling with "dubious" validity to be avoided at all costs.
| Detonator - Explosive charge laid on track, used in foggy
conditions to warn drivers of signals etc. Traditionally, detonators are laid
on the track when lines are being closed, locos making last runs etc.
| Diagrams - Term used to describe the logistical planning
on the railway. For example locomotives are allocated to work trains in
sequences, as are sets of rolling stock and train crew. These are all referred
to as diagrams. Knowledge of this information (as far as locomotives were)
concerned) was indispensable to the basher. For example the locomotive that
worked the 07.52 Leeds-Llandudno was "diagrammed" to work the 13.42
Llandudno-York. Safe in this knowledge the basher knew that they did not need
to cover the inbound Leeds working as they could have it on the way back. That
is unless the engine was "swapped" or failed. See "caught and
bowled".
| Diesel - Primary method of propulsion on modern railways.
Diesel engine provides power, for electric transmission (or until 1977
hydraulic transmission) - see below.
| Diesel Electric - Diesel locomotive where the engine
drives a generator that provides electrical power which in turn powers
"traction motors". All mainline diesels on BR have been exclusively
Diesel-Electric since 1977.
| Diesel Hydraulic - Alternative to Diesel Electric
configuration. Diesel engine drives flywheel in hydraulic torque converter,
which in turn drives hydraulic final drive, connections being via carden
shafts. BR (Western Region) decided to use Diesel Hydraulics, based on
experience in West Germany, where the technology was developed. The first
mainline Diesel Hydraulic entered service in 1958 and the last was withdrawn
in 1977. The types involved being Class 14, Class 22, Class 35 (Hymek), Class
41/2/3 (Warship) and Class 52 (Western).
| DMU - Diesel Multiple Unit - Railcars made up into sets
of usually 2, 3 or 4cars (occasionally only 1). Used on secondary passenger
services; suburban, semi fasts and branch lines. Original DMU's were
introduced from 1955 onwards and a handful still remain in service. Their
replacements are updated and modernised DMU's with names such as "sprinter" or
"pacer". As far as bashers are concerned all DMU's, original and modern are
uninteresting and will only use them to get from A to B (see "positioning
move").
| Doss - Sleep
| Double Headed - Term used to describe train hauled by two
locomotives. This could occur for one of three reasons. Firstly, two low
powered engines could be required to work a heavy train, most noticeably 2 x
class 20's, or 2x class 25's. Secondly, there could be a spare engine being
returned to its home depot, piloting the train engine. Finally, the train
engine could be failed and requiring assistance. Technically, if the train
engine was a complete failure then it would be called "dead" and the
replacement would be said to be hauling the train on its own.
| Down - Railway term for direction of travel away from
London. For example one would travel down to Birmingham from London. The
reverse direction would be "up".
| Dragging - Term used when a diesel locomotive "dragged" a
non-operational electric locomotive, either due to diversion or the catenary
being non-working. This was particularly interesting at Preston in the
early hours of Sunday morning when a line of Class 40's would appear from
Springs Branch to drag the overnight Scotland-London Euston trains, normally
as far as Crewe, but sometimes to Birmingham.
| Dreadful! - What this site is all about. When
bashers were having a good day they would get "wound up" and start saying
things were "absolutely dreadful". This would on occasion be accompanied
by much waving of the right arm (you had to see it really!).
| Drop On - Term used to describe a locomotive backing onto
its train. Also used in describing a basher who had had something
rateable without setting out to get it i.e.: "you dropped on that".
| Drop The Handle - Railway slang for the emergency brake
application that occurs should the driver release the DSD.
| DSD - Drivers Safety Device, commonly referred to as the
"dead mans handle".
| Dual-Braked - A locomotive or train that is equipped with
both vacuum and air brakes.
| Dual Heated - A locomotive or train that is equipped with
both steam and electric heating.
| Dubious - A ticket that might (or might not) be acceptable, should
the need arise to present it - desperate grips to be avoided.
| Dud - Term used to describe a locomotive that a basher
has travelled behind before - i.e.: not "required".
| Duff - Nickname for Class 47 locomotives. The workhorse
of BR for over 30 years, most bashers regarded duffs as a necessary evil and
whilst rare ones would attract interest, the majority were very common on
passenger trains and therefore were not well regarded.
| Duff Gen - Where information (gen) as to what engines
were working what trains had been discovered this was very useful. However,
sometimes this information turned out to be wrong, i.e.: "duff gen". This may
well lead to a "caught and bowled" situation. | |
| Eastern Region - Area of BR based
on old LNER. London-Berwick, East Anglia, Sheffield, Leeds, East Coast.
| ECS - Empty coaching stock. Train making its way from the
carriage sidings to the starting point of the service, or vice versa.
Occasionally, the carriage sidings and the station could be some way apart -
like London and Manchester! Sometimes, required engines were working ECS
trains, and sometimes these trains had one or two "passengers".
| ED's - Electro-Diesels. Southern region electric
locomotives (Class 73 and 74) that had auxiliary diesel engines. These engines
were only supposed to be used on short distances and were not very powerful -
even in multiple. On very rare occasions ED's have worked passenger trains on
diesel power over long distances - e.g.: 2x Class 73 came all the way to
Birmingham from Brighton, a distance of almost 100 miles on diesel power. The
train was very, very, late!
| English Electric - Manufacturer of several important
locomotive classes - Class 20, Class 37, Class 40, Class 50 and Class 55. Also
built the Lightning jet fighter aircraft.
| EMU - Electric multiple unit. Electric powered version of
DMU.
| ETH - (Also shortened to EH) Electric train heat. Modern
form of heating train, which replaced the previous steam heating method. Both
systems ran alongside fro over 20 years until about 1987, when electric heat
was finally made standard across the whole network. All modern trains are
electric heated and many are also air-conditioned. Locomotives were either
equipped with ETH (common on passenger trains), Steam Heat (common but only on
certain services) or no heat at all (rare, in some cases very rare). A handful
of locomotives had both ETH and steam heat (dual heat) and thus could work
anything.
| Express - Fast train, normally passenger (Class 1 in BR
coding), or express parcels (Class 3 in BR coding), or even express freight. | |
| Failed - Term used to describe a
broken down locomotive. A failure was always a nuisance to normal
passengers, but of great interest fort bashers. What would be the
replacement engine? In these days a failure of a passenger train was
given very high priority by control, and the nearest engine (s) would be used
to get the train moving again. This inevitably resulted in a) freight
trains being dumped in the middle of nowhere and b) some highly inappropriate
motive power on passenger trains e.g.: 2xclass 20's, 37's, 40's, 56's etc
etc. Whether the rescuing engine would simply drag the train to the next
station and thereby be replaced itself, or would continue forward to the train
destination was always interesting. For example a class 46 working 1E54
failed at Derby, and in the goods loop was 37242 (GD NB - rock solid!), on a
freight. The 37 was duly commandeered and the train proceeded only 15
minutes late - it even came back on 1V97 the same evening. If the same
thing happened today the chances are the train would be cancelled (and the
return working!)
| Farce - Shambolic situation, massive delays, engine failures, wrong
kind of snow etc (note: but no replacement bus service)
| Fester - Long wait at a station for next train.
Sometimes a basher would fester for many hours awaiting a required
engine. There are cases of a whole day being spent at Perth (on an
all-line rover!).
| Fill-In Move - Having "festered" and "covered" various trains, some
bashers would make a "move" to prevent rigour mortis setting in.
| Finished - Emotional state of basher as in "I am
absolutely finished", usually after a particularly hellfire event.
| First Class - The expensive accommodation on the
train.
| Fireman - On steam locomotives a fireman was
required. When diesels were introduced this job became the "secondman".
| Fitted Freight - Many freight trains traditionally ran
with braking only from the locomotive and brake van, this was referred to as
unfitted or loose-coupled. However some freights ran with braking on all
vehicles, these were referred to as fully fitted. When train braking was
available on some vehicles only, the train was said to be partially fitted.
| Fix (ed) - Locomotive working a train specifically to suit the
requirements of bashers, arranged by "control".eg: 86233 & 47474 allocated
to Birmingham-York ADEX, subsequently "fixed" for 84001 and 40069 (47474 now
on ballast train)
| FK - BR corridor first coach, offering first class
accommodation with corridors and compartments.
| Flail - Highly dangerous practice of waving arm out of the window
(see also "bellow")
| Flap - Uncertain of his next move a basher loses control when a
crisis occurs.
| Flying Bananas - Highly derogatory nick name applied to
HST's when first introduced mainly due to their bright yellow paint scheme.
| Flying Scotsman - Whilst the locomotive is world famous,
what is not so well known is that the name also refers to a train that ran
Kings Cross-Edinburgh, departing at 10.00 from each end, and calling only at
Newcastle. These services were almost always hauled by Deltic
locomotives.
| Flower Pot - Nick name for class 03 diesel shunter on
account of their odd shaped exhaust.
| FO - BR open first coach, offering first class
accommodation in open saloon configuration.
| FO - Friday's Only; trains that ran only on a
Friday. These would often produce something interesting, as that
additional demand on motive power resource would sometimes mean that the
bottom of the barrel would be scraped.
| Fodder - Food (usually fried and from a takeaway)
| Footex - Charter train run in connection with football
matches (see also "hoolex"). It may seem quaint today but back then the
railways actually went out of their way to move thousands of football fans by
rail, frequently getting rolling stock damaged in the process. For
example, in 1978 the FA cup semi-final at Sheffield was between Manchester
United and Liverpool. At Sheffield Victoria that afternoon were lined up
the stock for no less than 12 footex's, 6 each for each team, all load 12
coaches and every one hauled by a class 40. Thus the railways had found
from their spare resources 144 coaches and 12 locomotives, plus drivers,
guards etc etc.
| Forty - Class 40 diesel locomotive. Also known as
"type 4" or "tat" or by younger basher as "bucket"
| Fossil - Old basher (see also "old fool")
| Freight - General name for the movement of goods by rail,
covering everything from coal to milk.
| Freightliner - BR's containerised freight service
introduced in the 1960's featuring air-brakes and a maximum speed of
75mph. Freightliner trains in the north-west frequently produced a Class
40.
| Frog/Frogshit - Illegally re-used tickets (tut tut!)
| Fudge - Lying about what you had seen or what you had
had. Pointless really, as bashing was totally individual.
| Full & Standing - Official
terminology for a very well loaded train. Bashers would simply say
"wedged".
| Fully-Fitted Freight - a freight train with brakes on
every vehicle. | |
| Gauge - The distance between the rails, in the UK this is
4' 8 1/2" - standard gauge.
| Gen - Information concerning what locomotives were
working. Highly prized as it would allow bashers to "be in
position." When gen turned out to be incorrect it was referred to as
"duff gen".
| Gen Sheet - List of locos known/believed to be working
| Generals - As in General Electric, a nick name for Class
84's.
| Generators - Name given to the first 20 Class 47's due to
their unique electrical equipment.
| Goldie - Traveling ticket inspector (TTI), named due to
the gold braid on their hats - see also "desperate grip"
| Goyle - Nickname for class 31 locomotives, also known as
"ped"
| Great Eastern - London Liverpool Street to East Anglia.
| Gricer - Railway enthusiast (see also "crank")
| Grid (irons) - Nickname for class 56 locomotives.
| Grip - Ticket inspection normally followed by a hole
being punched in ticket - "gripped".
| Gronk - Nick name for class 08 shunter see also "jocko"
| Guard - The name given to the member of staff carried on
the train for safety reasons. Have been renamed several times in recent
years - not really sure what they are called now. Not even carried on
some services any more.
| GUV - General Utility Vehicle, BR bogie van.
| GWR - Great Western Railway. | |
| Haulage Basher -
What this site is all about, person who travelled around the rail
network solely because of what the locomotive was on the front of the
train. Not to confused with a trainspotter.
| Headcode - Until 1976 trains carried a 4-digit
alpha-numeric code on the front describing in detail what sort of train it
was, what its destination was, and the individual identity of the train.
Although after 1976 the trains no longer displayed the code, to this day the
codes are still in use as a shorthand way of describing train
identity. This subject is worthy of a website in itself, but if
you want more information, go here.
| Headshunt - Short section of track used for shunting.
| Hellfire! - One of many words used to describe an unusual
or interesting event, ranks above dreadful.
| Hook On/Off - Attaching or detaching locomotives.
| Hoover - Nick name for class 50 locomotives.
| Hoppers - Wagons used for carrying minerals, frequently
coal. In many cases made up into Merry Go Round (MGR) trains.
| Hot Box - Railway term for a hot wheel bearing, on a locomotive or
coach/wagon.
| House, The - Waiting room where bashers would "fester"
awaiting something interesting to happen (or not!). Most famous being
platform 6a/7a at Birmingham New St.
| HST - High Speed Train, official BR term for what the
general public would understand as Inter City 125. True bashers consider
these to be high speed DMU's and thereby of no interest.
| Hymek - Class 35 diesel locomotive. | |
| Insects -
Derogatory term used by older bashers to describe the hordes of
younger enthusiasts that discovered bashing in the mid 1980's.
| Inter City - BR brand name for expresses since the 1960's
it became a business unit in the 1980's in the long run up to privatisation.
| Inspector - Loco inspectors traditionally oversaw
drivers, many wearing their traditional trilby hats!
| Irish Mail - Euston-Holyhead overnight mail and passenger
train. | |
| Jocko - Nick name
for class 08 shunter see also "gronk"
| Junk - Term used to describe non required or non
interesting motive power. Used by most bashers to describe ETH 47's
etc. However, on one memorable occasion it was used to describe a pair
of split headcode, NB, Class 40's working a Holyhead-Crewe relief train! (not
by me I hasten to add). | |
| Kettle - Diesel enthusiasts name for steam locomotive. |
| Large - Rare loco (see also "big", beast", "monster")
| Leap - Term to
describe leaving a train at a station e.g.: "we leapt at Crewe". (see
also "bailed out")
| Lawn, The - Name given to area of station forecourt at
Paddington station.
| Lickey Incline - Steepest part of the mainline railways
in the UK, starting from Bromsgrove and climbing for three miles at 1 in 37 to
Blackwell. In the diesel era almost all passenger trains climbed the
"bank" without assistance from "bankers". The only passenger train
booked for assistance being 1S19 - Bristol-Glasgow overnight. However,
the bankers did assist other trains that were underpowered or failures.
| Light engine - A locomotive traveling on its own without
a train.
| Limited, The - Shortened name for "The Cornish Riviera
Express Limited" - the principal service between Paddington and the west of
England - known by bashers as "the Rivo".
| Line In The Book Merchant - A basher who has no interest
in the locomotives, but is simply collecting engines for haulage - see also
"zero interest".
| Little ED's - Nick name for Class 73 locomotives, sometimes simply
"ED's"
| Livery - Term used to describe railway colour
schemes. In 1974-1985 the livery was standardised on all BR stock.
Locomotives were blue, with yellow ends, hauled coaching stock was blue and
grey. Multiple units and parcels stock was painted blue. Since
1985 there has been an explosion of colour schemes on the railway, with just
about every combination of colours featured by some sector or company.
Yellow ends are still compulsory however.
| London Midland Region (LMR) - Largest region of BR, based
on the old LMS company area minus Scotland.
| Loop - Track used to pass a faster train round a slower
one, e.g.: the freight train goes in the loop whilst the express passes on the
main line.
| Loose-coupled - A freight train without any train brakes
i.e.: Class 9. | |
| Mail Train -
Train that conveys the Royal Mail. These trains were always
interesting as the invariably ran at night, and often had unusual motive
power. As they linked the main GPO sorting centres they frequently
traversed some unlikely routes. Most had some passenger accommodation so
mail trains were well used by bashers.
| Main Man - Experienced basher.
| Manchester Pullman - The last Pullman service to run on
UK railways. Manchester to London Euston, normally hauled by a Class 86,
but at the very end a Class 84 was fixed to work this service. As the
service was all first class, plus a Pullman supplement and was nominally
non-stop, this presented a challenge that the determined basher had to
tackle.....
| MAS - Multiple Aspect Signalling,
modern colour light signals, can be 2, 3 or 4 aspect..
| Maybach - German manufacturer of diesel engines.
Unlike most British diesel engines, Maybachs were fast running, turbo-charged
engines. Producing a very distinctive sound, Maybachs were used in
Western region diesel-hydraulics. Class 35 had an MD870 V-16, Class 42
had 2xMD650 - V12 and Class 52 had 2xMD655 - V12.
| Men, Set Of - Term to describe driver and secondman
combination, e.g.: "a set of Saltley men".
| Men Of Steel - Term used by bashers who were brave with
connections. The men of steel went for dead and even minus
connections. Sometimes this worked other times not. The most
famous men of steel move being the Birmingham-Holyhead to the Holyhead
Birmingham overnight, which was minus 18!!!!!
| Merrymakers - BR advertising term for excursions in the
1970's.
| Metro-Cammell - Train manufacturer in Birmingham, mainly
known for DMU's, but also built the Blue Pullman.
| Metrovick - Shortened name for Metopolitan Vickers, the
company that built the short lived Class 28, these locos were usually called
"metrovicks".
| MGR - Merry Go Round train, name given to coal hopper
trains, which never actually stopped moving, loading/unloading at walking
pace. Locomotives had special slow speed control (SSC) fitted to enable
them to work MGR trains, these were mainly Class 47's and 56's, but some
Scottish Class 20's also had SSC.
| Middle Road - Term used to describe through tracks in a
station where they are not adjacent to the platforms - used for passing
non-stop trains through, frequently at high-speed.
| Midland - Shortened name for the London Midland Region
(LMR).
| Midnight, The - The overnight Paddington-Penzance service
has always been referred to as the midnight, even though it has not
departed at that time for many years. Traditionally, it left
London at 23.45.
| Mileage Man - A basher who's main interest was getting as
many miles as possible behind a particular type of locomotive e.g.: westerns,
class 40's, Deltics.
| Minus - A connection that is supposed to be missed eg: Minus 5,
indicates you will arrive 5 minutes after the train you want to catch is
supposed to leave, see "men of steel".
| Mixed Traffic Loco - A locomotive that is equally capable
of pulling both passenger and freight trains. Most modern diesels would
be quite at home on either, but the Class 47 has to be the ultimate mixed
traffic type.
| Monster - Term to describe a very rare (on passenger
trains) locomotive. In the scale of measurement, monster rates above
"big".
| Move - Term to describe travelling - either a
single journey or a whole series. For example "what was your move?,
might bring the response - 'M02 to Crewe for 'D41 to Chester with 40141, back
on 'A78.
| Move's Book - Bashers wrote it all down..
| Move To Oblivion - A move that might well end with the basher
concerned missing his last train back and consequently spending the night on a
bench in a bus stop (or blagging his way into a back cab on a freight train
simply to get back)
| MPD - Motive power depot, or simply "shed".
| Multiple, In - Two or more locomotives working together
on a train being driven by a single driver (see "pair").
| MU - Multiple Unit, diesel or electric.
| My Lords! - Exclamation made when things were going very
well, either rateable traction or route or both. Used very heavily by
wizzo (western) bashers. (see also "bellowing") | |
| NB - No
boiler. Many locomotives had a steam generator (boiler) to supply train
heat. When this was removed or made inoperable (isolated), the
locomotive could not supply train heat, and was thus freight only (in
theory). During the months May-September, BR would allow NB engines on
some passenger trains - no overnights and no air conditioned stock being the
rules. Like all rules these were broken all the time. Bashers will
remember the summer months as "NB season". NB locomotives also worked in
the winter but were much much rarer, and produced cold passengers!
| Ned - See "insect"
| New - Term to describe a locomotive that the basher had
not yet travelled behind, see also "required, "scored"
| New Line - Not been this way before (some bashers were heavily into
"new lines", and tried to travel every single bit of the network)
| NG - Not gripped as in "1A84 was NG to New St"
| Normals - People who travel on trains who are not bashers (how
strange?)
| North British - Locomotive manufacturer from Glasgow,
that built Class 21/22/43. Went bust not long afterwards!
| Nose First - Refers to class 20 locomotive that had a
driving cab at one end only. These locomotives were almost always used
in pairs, with the cabs at the two ends. The two "noses" being coupled
together. On very rare occasions a class 20 might work singly, and then
there was a possibility of "nose first" which resembles a steam locomotive
with the driver at the rear of the engine.
| Notch Up - Term to describe increasing the power on a
diesel or electric locomotive.
| NV - Ticket is Not Valid, in which case best to hope
the train is "NG"
| NRM - National railway museum at York
| NUR - National union of railwaymen. | |
| One Engine In Steam
| Off - Term to describe a signal that is clear to proceed
i.e.: not red.
| Off The Road - Term to describe a derailment.
| Old Electric - Class 81 to 85 locomotives, see also
"roarer".
| On - a signal at danger (stop) i.e.: red.
| One Man Operation - A train crewed by a single man
| On The Ballast - Basher speak for the highly dubious
practice of alighting from trains when not adjacent to platforms e.g.: in
middle roads.
| Outrageous - Extremely rare working
| Overdoss - Oops, I wanted to get off 2 hours ago!
| Overhead Wires - The electricity cables for powering
electric locomotives - 25,000 volts AC. See also centenary.
| Overnight - A "move" (or series of "moves") that involves
travelling all night. Very popular with bashers a) due to the
interesting services and engines that could be had, b) for positioning for the
following morning and c) when on rovers far from home, there being no point
trying to go home. Frequently, overnights involved very little sleep due
to overcrowded and/or overheated trains, or having to stay awake to "bail out"
in the middle of nowhere to complete the "move". After 7 consecutive
overnights on a Scottish rover, bashers would be a) almost zombie like due to
lack of sleep and b) best approached from upwind! Overnights were
frequently referred to as "rancid" or even "desperate". | |
| Pair - Two locomotives in "multiple" or "tandem".
| Papers - Short for newspapers. All newspapers were
until 1985 delivered by rail. In the main these were trains did
not carry passenger accommodation, but some did. The most famous being
those out of London Victoria to Kent, where bashers could enjoy the only Class
71 passenger turns (later Class 73).
| Parcels - Train that carries parcels traffic, Class 3 and
4 in BR speak.
| Parspec - Party special, a chartered train. A
privately hired train, not for public use. When required locomotives
where on parspec's the basher would a) negotiate with the organisers or b)
exercise their infamous stroll-on skills.
| Path - Term to describe the planned timing and route of a
train. Each train is timed along a section of line at a precise
moment. There is a gap before/after other services. This is
referred to as "the path". If a train is late it may well lose its path,
and then have to be slotted in on ad-hoc basis. In practical terms, this
means that once a train is late it is highly likely to get later.
| Pay-trains - Trains where tickets are issued by the
guard.
| Peaks - Class 44/45/46 locomotives.
| Peg - Signal, both semaphore type and MAS.
| Pick Up Only - A train that is advertised to pick-up
passengers but not set down at a particular station - this was always ignored
by bashers.
| Piece - A valid ticket (but not necessarily for the train
the basher is actually on)
| Pilot - An additional locomotive added to the train
locomotive, sometimes for a short distance only.
| Plastic - Term to describe preserved locomotives, also
anything that is "non-real" e.g.: "plastic pub" indicates a town centre beer
hall full of 16 year olds.
| Plus - The opposite of minus, where a connection is supposed to be
made e.g.: Plus 5 indicates that you have 5 minutes between arriving and
departing: in theory.
| Postal, The - The express mail service that ran on main
lines from London e.g.: Euston-Glasgow, or Paddington-Penzance. These
trains had the highest priority and were always given a clear path wherever
possible. The great train robbery took place on the Glasgow-Euston "West
Coast Postal".
| Power Box - Modern signal box.
| Power Handler - Control in the cab that increases power
i.e.: throttle.
| Preserved - A withdrawn locomotive that has not been
scrapped but has been restored by enthusiasts either to museum or running
standard. Whilst there are many steam locomotives preserved, there are
also many diesel and electric locomotives preserved too.
| Push-Pull - Term to describe a reversible train, either with a
locomotive at both ends, or a locomotive at one end and a driving coach at the
other (the locomotive thus pushing and pulling).
| Pullman - Luxury train service, largely withdrawn in the
steam era, with a handful of routes surviving into the modern era.
| Pull The Cord - Term to describe the application of the
emergency brake by a passenger (or a very "desperate" basher" who wishes to
"bail out" somewhere the train is not supposed to stop).
| Permanent Way - Term to describe the physical railway -
rails, sleepers and ballast.
| Produced - What worked a particular train eg: "The Newcastle-Yarmouth
Produced" this indicates that the expected working occurred, this might need
to be clarified, specifically "The Newcastle-Yarmouth produced a 37"
| PWS - Permanent Way Slack - A temporary speed restriction
due to repairs to the permanent way. | |
| Rail Rover - Type
of ticket that gave unlimited travel in an area. Used by bashers all the
time, examples being "midland railtourer", "north west rambler", "Scottish
rover" etc etc.
| Railtour - A private charter run specifically for railway
enthusiasts - featuring either rare routes or locomotives or frequently both
| Rake - Term for a number of coaches in a train formation.
| Rat - Nickname for a Class 25 locomotive.
| Recovery Time - Allowance made in the timing of a train
for delays enroute - as shown in the working timetable.
| Ref - Reference book, with a listing of locomotives.
| Relief - An additional service run to reduce overcrowding
on the normal "service" train. These relief's were usually detailed in
"special traffic notices" published a week in advance, or on occasion would be
run at very short notice - like half an hour! - In this case these would be
termed "control relief's" and were a case of whatever engine and stock can be
found - very interesting for bashers!
| Required - A locomotive that the basher has not yet
travelled behind- see also "new".
| Reject - Decline to travel on as in "I rejected 1M10 as it was a
duff"
| Require - Needed, locomotive that a basher has not yet travelled
behind, see also "line in the book"
| Right Away - Departure signalled by Guard/station staff
using flag, whistle, light etc
| Riot/Riotous - Bashers enjoying themselves, usually after some
"beer moves" have been made.
| Rivo - Nickname for the Cornish Riviera Express Limited,
Paddington-Penzance and return. Name used by wizzo (western bashers).
| Road - Term to describe a route or path. As in "we
learnt the road to Sheffield", or "the train has the road".
| Roadshow - Large group of bashers, typically on a summer Saturday
in the East Midlands, Sheffield or North Wales areas.
| Roarer - Class 81-85 electric locomotives, on account of
their noise, see also "old electric"
| Route Availability - Term used to describe which routes a
locomotive could work over. Depending upon bridges, tunnels etc.
routes had maximum weight restrictions and locomotives were classified
accordingly. For example - Class 47's were not allowed on the
Shrewsbury-Aberystwyth line (good news as passenger trains were hauled by
Class 24's and later Class 25's, and in more recent times by Class 37's).
| Rover - Shorthand for "railrover".
| Running Round - Manoeuvre to put locomotive on opposite
end of train, when train is reversing direction. | |
| Scenario - Current or projected state of affairs. When many
locomotives were working various trains, bashers would discuss the various
potential outcomes i.e.: what loco would end up on what train, as things
frequently did not go to plan.
| Scottish Region - Region of BR above
Carlisle on the west coast and above Berwick on the east coast. Scotland
was always a favourite destination with bashers, as almost every train was
loco-hauled with many Class 24/5/6/7 workings, plus Class 40's and on rare
occasions Class 20's or 37's. The 37's became much more commonplace in
the 1980's when they ousted the type 2 workings.
| Score - Required or New locomotive - see "line in the book"
| Sirocco - Term
given to the various services in the Preston area, many of which changed
engines there. When an engine had worked one of these services, it got
sucked into an unpredictable whirlpool of workings. For example the
engine off 07.53 Manchester-Glasgow, which came off at Preston, could work the
09.00 Euston-Blackpool, or perhaps the Glasgow-Blackpool, or maybe a
Crewe-Barrow, or a Glasgow to either Liverpool or back to Manchester.
There were many trains that changed from diesel to electric or vice versa at
Preston, and although nearly all diagrams were Class 47's, this rarely worked
out with many Class 40's and even Class 25's deputising (despite a lot or
air-conditioned stock).
| Second Class - What most BR accommodation was classified
as. Renamed standard class during the 1980's.
| Second man - Or drivers assistant. The job title
given to steam locomotive firemen when diesels were introduced. Whilst
second men were not exactly worked hard (as they were when firemen), secondman
was a useful apprenticeship, an opportunity to learn the job at first
hand. The main job of a second man was to operate the train heating
boiler on locomotives so equipped. As a result, if a train was booked
for a steam heat engine, it would have a secondman, except in the summer
months when heating was often switched off.
| Semaphore Signal - Traditional mechanical signaling
system, commonplace on secondary routes in the 1970's and 80's and even today
is still in use at some locations. Shrewsbury for example is almost all
semaphore signals. Whilst this system is undoubtedly obsolete and more
costly to maintain than modern MAS, it has much less to go wrong, and there
are some that believe it has a greater fail safe value than MAS.
| Seminar (Shot) - Photograph of a group of bashers, usually (but not
always) with a suitably dreadful locomotive working as a backdrop.
| |