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Talk:Glossary of rail transport terms

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Use of railway in the US.[edit]

The first paragraph's discussion of railroad vs. railway is a bit misleading. If you look at lists such as List_of_Class_I_railroads or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Former_Class_I_railroads_in_the_United_States, you see that railway is a widely-used term in the US. ColinClark (talk) 20:42, 8 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

"Paperwork"[edit]

Occasionally, LIRR customers may hear an announcement stating that a train is being delayed due to “paperwork”. If you’ve heard this announcement, you probably wondered what role “paperwork” could possibly play in this digital age, and how on earth would it cause a delay? The answer is that “paperwork” is railroad jargon for written instructions given to a Locomotive Engineer in cases where the train must operate slower than the usual speed limit as a precaution. This may be necessary if we receive a report of a track condition or if there’s a pedestrian or vehicle too close to the tracks. Written instructions can be handed to the train crew or they can be read to the crew via radio transmission. In the latter case, the crew is expected to write down the instructions and recite them back to the dispatcher before proceeding. While we regret any delays or inconvenience this causes, it’s a procedure that’s required to keep everyone safe – and that’s our number one priority.
— http://web.mta.info/lirr/MyLIRR/2018/07-2018.htm

Is there a better source for this? Or is it not a common term? (not watching, please {{ping}}) czar 15:26, 2 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Spur[edit]

A while ago I read an article in a mathematics journal analyzing routing with railroad track sidings and spurs. The authors used the terms backwards from how I've understood over the decades, so I emailed them about it and referred to this page. But now I realize the term "spur" is not included in the page's list. I have also understood since that (1) the authors of the article were British and perhaps there the use of the terms are reversed from the US, and (2) perhaps there is just not a formal and "correct" definition of "spur". If anyone can help it sure would be great. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.216.255.20 (talk) 01:18, 1 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Locomotive dictionary[edit]

Hello,

The Internet Archive website has an old and comprehensive dictionary of American/British locomotives. Since it dates from 1906. it may be [mostly] irrelevant for modern days locomotives. Please take look; it may hold many relevant information for Wikipedia.

Thank you, Marino 12:55, 15 January 2021 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Marino108LFS (talk • contribs)

Please be sure to mark what countries a term applies to[edit]

This page presently gives no indication of where and when a term was used. When adding new terms or editing old ones, please check to make sure the term is either global or local, and if it is the latter, edit the definition to make it clear where it is used. Eldomtom2 (talk) 08:53, 24 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

"Right of way" term in US railways usage[edit]

Work is underway to clean up and sort out the set of articles that use the term "right of way" for a variety of different purposes. There is one disambiguation article and a number of topic-specific detail articles.

One current glaring anomaly is the article Right-of-way (property access), which is ostensibly about a right of access (easement) across third-party land, such as for pipelines etc (aka Wayleave) or to get to land that does not have its own access a public highway. In reality, only the lead addresses that point (badly): most of the article is about rail corridors (see Right-of-way (property access)#Rail right of way). As I read it, this reflects (historical?) US usage? (The UK term is permanent way.) I notice that this glossary doesn't even have an entry for "right of way"?

So would an editor or editors of this article take on the challenge of finding a more suitable place for its content, please? In this article? or should that article just be split? --𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 10:08, 14 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, right-of-way (often abbreviated ROW) is US usage and it's still in use. It sounds like permanent way could be an equivalent term. I can look around for a good source that defines the term. Mackensen (talk) 10:25, 14 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
TYVM. Actually the material at Right-of-way (property access) has quite a lot of (cited) detail, so that might be a good place to start? 𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 10:31, 14 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not sure about the equivalence since permanent way [also not in the glossary?] redirects to railway track. Is there a term that includes the track-side space as well as the track itself? (i.e., the "fence to fence" owned by the railway company). 𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 10:37, 14 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I would say that in everyday use it really means just the easement, and could also be synonymous with "alignment" (also not defined here, or at Glossary of North American railway terms), not to be confused with Track_geometry#Alignment. The Federal Railroad Administration uses the term repeatedly in its publications as a term of art, so it has to be defined somewhere. Mackensen (talk) 11:02, 14 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Glossary of North American railway terms#Right-of-way is now a valid target. Mackensen (talk) 11:27, 14 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It can't mean easement surely, since that means giving another (legal) person permission to use your land but without transfer of ownership. As I understood it, the railway companies own the land the track runs on so the question shouldn't arise. Or have I misunderstood?
Tyvm re the other glossary. Can the railway related text at RoW (property access) simply be deleted as a WP:cfork? 𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 12:35, 14 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It's not uncommon in the United States for companies have a permanent easement so long as the property is used for railroad activities, instead of outright ownership. This has led to complex litigation in some railroad bankruptcies. Mackensen (talk) 12:42, 14 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
ah... So it looks like there is a good case for a dedicated article. How about moving the current RoW (access) to RoW (railroad), but removing the grid infrastructure stuff to Wayleave? Would that work? (I will propose it at that article's talk page if it makes sense here.) 𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 13:46, 14 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
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