My son is throughly confused with this one...
buffer vs bumper
...I think Thomas the Tank is responsible for messing him up on that one.
buffer vs bumper
...I think Thomas the Tank is responsible for messing him up on that one.
North American vs. British RR terms
- Thread starter RobertInOntario
- Start date
Thanks, I'll check that site out. At least my (British) in-laws didn't understand our train signals and one of them is a huge train buff.
Yes, "buffers" are the two disk-like objects at the front and ends of locos, rolling stock and at the ends of sidings.
Sometimes I see British locos listed on eBay, by Canadian sellers, describing the condition of the "bumpers" -- that makes me wince! ;-)
You can learn a lot by watching Thomas!
Rob
bumper = buffer stop.
I have a friend who prides himself on being bilingual on railway matters. he was helping at a British sales table at a show and someone asked if they had "trucks". He translated this to "bogies" and produced some; turned out the fellow wanted "lorries" (highway trucks).
I work on a glossary of terms every so often; it's a major task.
try also:
Vacuum pipe(Br) = brake pipe = air bag.
Fully fitted (Br) = brakes on all cars controlled from the locomotive = normal (NA)
loose coupled (Br) = not continuous brakes and wagons joined with chains = not over here (NA)
I have a friend who prides himself on being bilingual on railway matters. he was helping at a British sales table at a show and someone asked if they had "trucks". He translated this to "bogies" and produced some; turned out the fellow wanted "lorries" (highway trucks).
I work on a glossary of terms every so often; it's a major task.
try also:
Vacuum pipe(Br) = brake pipe = air bag.
Fully fitted (Br) = brakes on all cars controlled from the locomotive = normal (NA)
loose coupled (Br) = not continuous brakes and wagons joined with chains = not over here (NA)
Thanks, David -- more good terms.
I just thought of another one -- is "level crossing" British or is it used over here? I have heard it used, but usually by Brits. Is there a N. American equivalent?
Rob
As the well known quote goes: "America and Britain are two nations sperated by a common language". 
Ahhhh Canada, where we spend half our time telling the Americans we are not British and the other half of the time telling the British that we are not American so that we have no time to be ourselves.
Robert, great topic, its nice to see the comparisons. I had never heard a caboose called a van until I started to model. Level crossing and grade crossing seem to be interchangeable.
Robert, great topic, its nice to see the comparisons. I had never heard a caboose called a van until I started to model. Level crossing and grade crossing seem to be interchangeable.
Thanks, kirkendale. Good points. Yes, there are certainly lots of British and American words and traditions in our culture, as well as French and many others! Rob
Here's something to confuse you more:
In South Africa we call turnout/points "sets".
We mix EVERYTHING up- Example of a few: flatcar, carriage, caboose, wagon, freight train, goods train. Whatever your in the mood of saying.
When you're around American tourists you use their terminology and around British tourists their's.
AND then a third version in another language- Afrikaans (Comes from Dutch so it sounds similar).
It gets interesting!!
In South Africa we call turnout/points "sets".
We mix EVERYTHING up- Example of a few: flatcar, carriage, caboose, wagon, freight train, goods train. Whatever your in the mood of saying.
When you're around American tourists you use their terminology and around British tourists their's.
AND then a third version in another language- Afrikaans (Comes from Dutch so it sounds similar).
It gets interesting!!
Thanks! I can relate. In Canada -- in general -- much of our words, spelling, traditions, etc. are a funny mixture of American-isms and British-isms as well. And this goes far beyond just railway terms. Then, we have our own particular words and traditions.
For example, I still don't get how Britain and America can survive without donut shops!
Rob
and then there are the times where they use the same word for quite different things, like "beer".
Thanks, David! You're right, in NA "beer" = "lager".
In Britain, "beer" = "ale"! (Lager is a specific drink.)
Getting back to railways, has this one been mentioned?
"Goods train" = Br
"Freight train" = NA
Rob
These are all good ones -- some I knew about but others are quite new! I'm finding that I'm more familiar with the British ones, i.e. platform manager, 1 in 50 gradient, signal box, etc.
RobertInOntario- I know why you know more about the Brit. stuff- it has something to do with your Avatar, you must have some English stuff.