Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 72, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 March 1912 — IDIOMS OF TRAINMEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

IDIOMS OF TRAINMEN

PICTURESQUE SLANG GREEK TV Only Those Belonging to the Honor* able Fraternity of the Ralf Under* stand Expressions in Common < W» Some Instances.. wbsmmbmm* *' ‘ ~ The talk of trainmen is about an rich in picturesque slang as any ixk

this land of free and fancy speech. Some of the lingo can be understood even by the outsider. A, ' “side door Pullman,” for Instance, Is a rather common way of referring to a - box car. But most of the phrases are Greek to the uninitiated. "Taking her by the neck,” fbr - example, is used' when an engine ,is made to pull <

heavy “drag" up a steep hill or around' a sharp curve; Once at the top of the grade the “hogger” just "lets her drift.” "Plugging her” is an'bld term, used when the throttle is closed by a quick motion of the left hand while at the same time tlje Reverse lever is thrown back with the right hand. This is not. calculated to do any good to engine frames and cylinders and is resorted to only in great emergencies. It isn’t so common Mince the introduction of automatic air. 1 An old box car or a small building occupied as the yardmaster’s office is known as .the “doghouse.” It is sometimes used to indicate the small fourwheeled caboose used by some roads at the tail end of freight trains. This Is also called the “hut,” “crummle,” “crum box,” or “cage.” “Hitting the grit" is what no trainman likes to do, but he sometimes has to when a train is running at full speed and his only chance of not being caught in a wreck is to jump. “Getting her down in the corner” is setting the reverse lever down in the lowest forward notch of the quadrant so that the engine has the full length of the stroke. “Patting her on the back" is an expression used When the reverse lever is down in the comer and is gradually hooked up notch by notch on the quadrant as the saturated steam is worked off. “Making her pop" is to maintain a fire so that the Instant the engine stops working she blows off. To “keep her hot” is to maintain a fire as a steady heat, thus furnishing all the dry steam needed, no matter how bard the engine may be working or regardless of the condition of the weather. As. every fireman knows, the weather often tests the mettle of a “diamond pusher” on hard runs with a heavy drag of "rattlers.” A thin plume of dry steam escaping from the pop is "carrying a white feather.” This usually occurs after an engine has been working hard and the condition of roadbed and gradient permits of the engineer easing her off a little. W When an,engine has to haul a particularly heavy load up a steep grade it is often necessary to “pound her.” The engineer gets over the bill with her, but is apt to strain the engine in so doing. Working an engine to full capacity after she has been reported for light repairs which have not been, given her or working an engine to a higher limit than her builders dweigned is also called “pounding her.” -A