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"LAGGING" - An insulative covering laid in sections on the outside of a boiler and cylinders to prevent loss of heat.
"LATTERAL-PLAY AXEL -An axel that permitted flanged wheels to move to one side or the other, accomodating themselves to curves. In laterinstallations the axel boxes shifted with them, bearing againstthe resistance of coil springs to provide improved stability.
LEAD - The amount that a valve moves at the beginning of a piston stroke.
LEAF SPRING - A long multiple spring composed of several layes of spring metal brackeeted together. (As in Cars)
LINK - In a valve gear a crescent-shaped piece of metal with a central slot which accommodated a a sliding rod connected to the valve rod.
LOW-PRESSURE ENGINE -An early engine in which steam had hardly more than atmospheric pressure was driven into an upright cylinder, then condensed, to create a vacuum beneath the piston, which had been raised to the top of the cylinder by a counterbalanced lever, or "walking beam."
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MAIN RESERVOIR - A cylindrical steel tank in which compressed air is stored to use in the air brake system.
MAINROD or CONNECTINGROD - A large rectangular iron or steel rod which transmitted the motion of the piston and the piston rod to the driving wheels of a locomotive.
"MALLET TYPE" - An articulated compound locomotive designed by Anatole Mallet of France in the 1870s for narrow guage lines. The first American Mallet was the 2400, nicknamed Old Maude, a powerful 0-6-6-0 designed by James Muhlfeld in the early 1900s.
"MASTADON" TYPE -A 4-8-0 locomotive introduced by the Lehigh Valley's Phillip Hoffecker in1881, and improved by A.J.Stevens of the Southern Pacific a year later. Novel features of the latter's engines included the use of steam cylinders to activate the reversing levers, and the Stevens valve gear, called a "monkey motion" by the crews.
"MERCHANDISER' - A freight train transporting other than bulk commodities.
'MIGHTY MOGUL' -A name misapplied by journalists to any extremly large engine in the nineteenth century. It was derived fro Eastwick $ Harrison's "Mogul" type of locomotives-2-6-0s built for the St.Petersburg & Moscow Railway in the 1840s.
"MIKADO" TYPE -A 2-8-2 locomotive. While the Baldwin Works was widely credited with producing the first engines of this type for Japan's Nippon Railway in 1897, the Lehigh Valley had converted a "Decapod" into a 2-8-2 in the 1860s.
"MOGUL" TYPE -A 2-6-0 first constructed by Eastwick & Harrison for thew St Petersburg & Moscow Railway in the 1840s. The type soon found favor in the United States.
"MONKEY MOTION" TYPE -Crew name for the type of valve gear designed by A.J.Stevens for his Mastadon in 1882, because the eccentric rods shuffled back & forth with a curious hop at the end of each stroke.
"MOTHER HUBBARD" TYPE -See "Camelback" type.
"MOUNTAIN" TYPE -A heavy 4-8-2 locomotive first built in 1911 and used for fast freight and passenger service.
"MUD DIGGER" TYPE -A group of 0-8-0s built by Ross Winans in the 1830s. Thee engines were typified by unprecidented grate areas of 17 square feet and cast iron drivers with chilled rims. The name refered to the fact that their hammering action caused clay to wee up between the ties in wet weather. A few of the engines were in service until 1865.
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NARROW-GUAGE LINE -A Track narrower than the standard 4-foot 8 1/2-inch standard guage.
"NON-AIR" CAR - A freight car without air brakes. During the latter part of the 19th century many railroads ewere reluctant to equip their freight cars with expensive air brakes. This led to a mixture of freight trains of "air" and "non air" cars.
OFFSET-HEADED SPIKE - The most commonly used rail fastner. The head is forged entirely on one side of the spike and bears down on the upper surface of the rail's broad base.
"PACIFIC" TYPE - A 4-6-2 locomotive which derived its name from a group built by Baldwin for the New Zealand Railways in 1901.
"PICKLE BOTTLE" BOILER - A Large vertical boiler developed by Phineas Davis for his Atlanticin 1832.
"PIG" - A locomotive with a full boiler, introduced about 1910 Also called a "hog".
PILOT or "COW-CATCHER - A triangular frame curved around the lower part of the front of a locomotive to remove obstacles from the track.
PILOT BEAM - A crossbar placed at the front of an engine to absorb shocks and support the pilot.
PISTON - A thick, snug- fitting metal disk that slides back and forth within the cylinder. In early "low-pressure engines, pistons were driven by steam at little more than atmospheric pressure, the steam having been introduced into the cylinder, then condensed, to creat a vacuum beneath the piston. In "high-pressure" engines were driven by the expansive force of the steam.
PISTON-ROD - TAn iron or steel rod attached at one end to the center of the piston and at the other end to a moving block, or crosshead, and by which the pistons move the drivers.
"PLANET" CLASS - Developed by England's most important locomotive builders in the 1830s, George and Robert Stephenson, this locomotive applied the power of inside cylinders to a single driving axel. A modified version of this class was Old Ironsides built in the United States in 1832 by Matthias W. Baldwin.
"HORSE'S NECK" - The term was applied specifically to th two upright rocker arms mounted at the front of Isaac Dripp's Monster. As they nodded in response to the engine's piston thrusts, they suggested the neck action of a team of plodding horses.
PLATE - An early form of rail with a flange on its outer or inner side to restrain the wheels of Mine cars.
PLATE WHEEL - A wheel whose center was a disk, or a plate rather than spokes radiating from a hub.
"PRAIRIE" TYPE - A 2-6-2 locomotive popular principally in the Midwest. While a number of high-speed "Prairies" were built, they proved less popular than the "Pacific".
"PUSHER" - A locomotive built to help trains up steep grades by pushing from behind.
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QUADRUPLEX TYPE - A Mallet articulated compound locomotive with four driving units designed by George R, Henderson about 1915.
QUICK-ACTING BRAKE - A Modification by George Westinghouse of his automatic air-brake for quicker response at the rear of a train.
QUILL - A Whistle.
QUINTRUPLEX TYPE - A Mallet articulated compound locomotive with five driving units designed by George R, Henderson about 1915.
RACK RAIL - Either a runnin rail with iron pins projrcting from its outer surface, or a toothed third rail running between the conventional rails. Locomotives with power driven gear wheels engaged the pins otr teeth to prevent slipping.
RAILHEAD - The end of a railroad line.
RATCHET WHEEL - A toothed wheel that turned in one direction and was prevented from being turned in the other by a short metal pivoting piece.
REACTION TURBINE - A turbine in which released steam or gas rotates the member from which it is ejected
"REAL ESTATE" - Railroad lingo for coal, and more particulary fuel of an inferior grade.
RECIPROCATING ENGINE - A Piston Type engine.
REDUCTION GEAR - Two or more gears trhat reduce the input speed to a lower output speed inorder to gain more power.
RETURN-FLUE BOILER - A steam-generating system in which the distance that flames and gases travel is increased by giving the flues through which they pass a 180-degree bend at the end of a boiler farthest from the fire and bringing them back through the water section.
ROCKER ARM - An arm pivoted at some point along its length, which receives motion at one of its ends and transmits it to a connected part of the other.
ROCKER BEAM - A beam pivoted at some point along its length, and used either to transmit power or an equalizer.
"ROLLED THEIR OWN" - The proud claim of relativly few railroads that built their own locomotives instead of purchasing them from independant manufacturers.
ROLLING STOCK - The wheeled vehicles, other than locomotives, owned and used by a railroad.
"RUNNER" - A locomotive engineer.
RUNNINGBOARD - The narrow platforms on the sides of a boiler, providing convenient access to many parts on the superstructure of the engine.
RUNNING GEAR - Those parts propelling a locomotive, together with their supporting frames.
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