He was Looking for the Local, But He Got the Express - Railroad Based Sayings, Figures of Speech, and Jargon

"Sorry, that train has left the station."

Alan

Alan, that's a good one. 

Ron, thanks for the visual.  Do you know which railroads used the ball signaling system?

Here's another off the top of my head, "all the bells and whistles."

JD

"Getting off the track":  Pretty obvious.

"Off your trolley":  When the trolley pole leaves the wire.

"Deadhead":  Traveling without generating revenue.  

Mitch 

"You're on the right track" - good idea, you're forming a correct conclusion

"I'm losing steam" - I'm exhausted after a long and tiresome day

"I've lost steam" - momentum on a project is slowing

"Thomas, your wheels have fallen off, you'll have to go back to the shop......"  - something I say when something breaks around the house.

"You've fallen off the track" - completely derailed, idea failed, nothing came out right.

"That was a train wreck" - something that seemed to be a good idea but turned into a complete failure

"She's a train wreck" - an incorrigible woman 

"Riding the gravy train" - lucrative endeavor while putting forth little effort. Anyone know the backstory? Is it rooted in real railroading?

"Blow off steam" get rid of built up energy and emotion. 

JD

Another word is the term "railroaded", which is used to mean 1) pushed into a situation not of your choosing, or 2) hastily convicted without proper evidence. I found one source that says it has its origins in the way railroads were initially built by taking land from private owners.

Google search turns up:

GRAVY TRAIN - In the 1920's, railroad men invented the expression to 'ride the gravy train' to describe a run on which there was good pay and little work. The words were quickly adopted into general speech, meaning to have an easy job that pays well, or, more commonly, to be prosperous. 'Gravy,' however, had been slang for easy money since the early 1900's.

From "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).

"Balls to the wall":  Not what you might think:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrifugal_governor  

When the weights are flung out to their maximum speed, they're closest to whatever wall is nearby.  

Mitch 

JD2035RR posted:

Ron, thanks for the visual.  Do you know which railroads used the ball signaling system?

Kind of off topic, but there is an old ball signal on display in Delmar, DE, not too far from me.  History says the New York and New Haven RR first used these to direct train movement in 1852 although they were around earlier to pass messages.  The semaphore was also developed around the same time so they were competing with each other, with the semaphore winning out.  Probably many railroads used ball signals in the late 1800s with some still in use into the early 1900s.

M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

"Balls to the wall":  Not what you might think:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrifugal_governor  

When the weights are flung out to their maximum speed, they're closest to whatever wall is nearby.  

Mitch 

When I flew EC-121s (yes I'm that old), the flight engineer had his own set of throttles.  When I asked for max power one of our FEs would always say "balls to the wall, sir".  Had to have him explain it to me.  Plus it made since for those old R-3350s because the engine's speed was controlled by the prop centrifugal governor; he really was putting balls to the wall.

 I believe the the term Full steam ahead is a maritime term. 

Full steam ahead - may be a "misstated" version of the quote attributed to Admiral Farragut at the Battle of Mobile Bay: "'Darn' the torpedoes, full speed ahead."

Had to edit since the site censor didn't like the wording in the original quote.  Guess it doesn't let you by even if quoting heroes in  historical events.

CAPPilot posted:

M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

"Balls to the wall":  Not what you might think:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrifugal_governor  

When the weights are flung out to their maximum speed, they're closest to whatever wall is nearby.  

Mitch 

When I flew EC-121s (yes I'm that old), the flight engineer had his own set of throttles.  When I asked for max power one of our FEs would always say "balls to the wall, sir".  Had to have him explain it to me.  Plus it made since for those old R-3350s because the engine's speed was controlled by the prop centrifugal governor; he really was putting balls to the wall.

I was told that "Balls to the wall" is NOT actually fromt he centrifugal governor as most assume.  I was taught it was from an aircraft whose throttle had knobs on top of each handle (one for each engine?).  When you pushed them all the way forward, they'd hit the wall of the console.

Google gave me this:

http://www.slate.com/articles/...alls_in_the_air.html

which is similar to what I said, but not throttle but control (nose dive).

I agree with John D on "Balls to the walls"

A google search showed most word origin sites (if not all - didn't check every one of them) attribute the saying to aviation - pushing the handles with round "ball" nobs all the way forward.

One site even had this:

There are two common misconceptions about the phrase. The first is that it is a reference to a part of the male anatomy.

The second is that it arose in railroad work. A speed governor on train engines would have round, metal weights at the end of arms. As the speed increased, the spinning balls would rise--being perpendicular to the walls at maximum speed. But there is no evidence to support either of these two stories. No use of the phrase is known to exist prior to the mid-1960's, and all the early cites are from military aviation.

Retlaw posted:

I agree with John D on "Balls to the walls"

A google search showed most word origin sites (if not all - didn't check every one of them) attribute the saying to aviation - pushing the handles with round "ball" nobs all the way forward.

One site even had this:

There are two common misconceptions about the phrase. The first is that it is a reference to a part of the male anatomy.

The second is that it arose in railroad work. A speed governor on train engines would have round, metal weights at the end of arms. As the speed increased, the spinning balls would rise--being perpendicular to the walls at maximum speed. But there is no evidence to support either of these two stories. No use of the phrase is known to exist prior to the mid-1960's, and all the early cites are from military aviation.

 

I believe the centrifugal governor would be running "balls out" at top speed. Now that's a different phrase I've heard. 

I have heard the term, "By the seat of your pants" is a term which began with the railroad.

Asleep at the switch.

Wrong side of the tracks.

Hotbox.

Railroad "Bull".

Hog and hogger.

Go into the hole.

John D. posted:

I believe the centrifugal governor would be running "balls out" at top speed. Now that's a different phrase I've heard. 

And, of course,  "Full Throttle" would be train related as well. 

CAPPilot posted:

When I flew EC-121s (yes I'm that old), the flight engineer had his own set of throttles.  When I asked for max power one of our FEs would always say "balls to the wall, sir".  Had to have him explain it to me.  Plus it made since for those old R-3350s because the engine's speed was controlled by the prop centrifugal governor; he really was putting balls to the wall.

Loverly planes, the Connies.   My uncle flew 'em for the IAF during "Operation Magic Carpet" after WWII...  

Mitch 

And there is always "i can see the light at the end of a tunnel"

"get on the ball"

Refers to the Ball RR watches which were considered to be the standard at the time.  Also see Kipton train wreck.

Budkole posted:

"get on the ball"

Refers to the Ball RR watches which were considered to be the standard at the time. 

Not so sure about that, since "Ball" never actually manufactured any railroad watches. He contracted with all the various top watch manufacturers of that time, to make "Ball" pocket watches (Elgin, Waltham, Illinois , and Hamilton made 'Ball' railroad grade pocket watches). The "Get on the Ball", might have been an excellent advertising slogan, however.

Hot Water posted:

Budkole posted:

"get on the ball"

Refers to the Ball RR watches which were considered to be the standard at the time. 

Not so sure about that, since "Ball" never actually manufactured any railroad watches. He contracted with all the various top watch manufacturers of that time, to make "Ball" pocket watches (Elgin, Waltham, Illinois , and Hamilton made 'Ball' railroad grade pocket watches). The "Get on the Ball", might have been an excellent advertising slogan, however.

Again...you should take the time to research first before speaking.

However,  I will say that was not his watches themselves so you are correct there (poor wording on my part), but his standards of checks.

  Big cabooses aren't just a train thing anymore...though that evolved from ship's galleys I guess.

'Blow your stack' maybe?

  I thought gravy train started with cattle drives and wagon trains an alternate to chuck wagon 

I miss both dog food comercials too

 Traffic lights are modeled after RR signals...and they can both found at the beginning of some blocks .

I think a whistle blower would be early police.

Popping off?

Dominic Mazoch posted:

Asleep at the switch.

Wrong side of the tracks.

Hotbox.

Railroad "Bull".

Hog and hogger.

Go into the hole.

I had to google a few of these I hadn't heard before. 

Hotbox - overheating axel bearing

Railroad Bull - railroad police, term popularized by hobos and bindle stiffs riding the rails during the Great Depression.

Hog - term for steam locomotive, stemming from constantly feeding the big piece of machinery

Hogger/Hoghead/Hog jockey - engineer

Missing an opportunity:

"Hey Bud, the train's leaving and you're not on it."

"Blowing off steam":  Not necessarily entirely railroad related, but steam locos DO do this... 

"Take the A Train":

"Last Train To Clarksville":

Mitch 

Jay Leno addressed "balls out" a year or two back on his new TV show about cars. He has steam powered cars and a stationary steam engine with the centrifugal balls. At full speed, the balls were all the way out - "balls out". I've always heard that  "balls to the wall", as noted in earlier posts, did refer to airplane controls, levers with balls on top (like a automobile stick shift) being pushed fully forward to be almost touching the firewall.

She caught the Katy.

Usually signifying heartbreak.  And as these situations seem to oftentimes go, insult is added to injury, so it must be followed with:

And left me a mule to ride...

Not used to so much now, but it used to be a common phrase to tell people, "Next time, take the train," when seeing a car broken down. I guess this was a more modern version of telling a broken down car driver, "Get a horse!"

You also see it in a few Warner Brothers cartoons from the era.

I've heard this from several WW2 vets over the years. It comes from a Southern Pacific billboard campaign (which alternately used the words, "try" and "take"):

William 1 posted:

She caught the Katy.

Usually signifying heartbreak.  And as these situations seem to oftentimes go, insult is added to injury, so it must be followed with:

And left me a mule to ride...

Mitch

p51 posted:

Not used to so much now, but it used to be a common phrase to tell people, "Next time, take the train," when seeing a car broken down. I guess this was a more modern version of telling a broken down car driver, "Get a horse!"

You also see it in a few Warner Brothers cartoons from the era.

Also from WWII era WB cartoons et cetera:  "Is this/was that trip REALLY necessary?"  

Mitch 

"Is this trip really necessary?" was a ration board slogan.
Here is a Woody Woodpecker cartoon: Woody

Three that no one has mentioned:

"He has a one-track mind."

"end of the line"

"He got sidetracked"

My personal favorite:

"Let's get outta this jerkwater burg."  (Referring to any podunk town whose only reason for existence was a water tower from which the train crew jerked down the water spout to refill the tanks.)

One of my favorites - also the signature slogan of our forum-friend HandyAndy:

"When they were passing out brains, I thought they said trains and I asked for a slow one." 

The Monkees, Duke E., the Blues Bros.--seeing and listening to stuff like that sure makes me thankful to be an American!

So, how about "stoking the fire"--does that get a pass?  "Chugging" a beer? "High-balling"? "Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel"? "That train has left the station!"? 

Serenska posted:

"Let's get outta this jerkwater burg."  (Referring to any podunk town whose only reason for existence was a water tower from which the train crew jerked down the water spout to refill the tanks.)

I heard this one differently. Jerkwater towns had no water tower and trains rarely stopped. Instead they jerked the water from a trough through a chute in the tender as they rode through.  Didn't work well so they weren't common. 

A little searching on "Jerkwater town" reveals:

Jerkwater town:  When a train stopped for water and was positioned by a water tower, the boilerman swung out the spigot arm over the water tender and "jerked" the chain to begin watering. This gave rise to a 19th-century slang term "Jerkwater town" for towns too insignificant to have a regular train station. (Irving Lewis Allen (1993) "The City in Slang: New York Life and Popular Speech", Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-509265-1 p. 254)

Another explanation that turned up:

In the early days of railroads, when the locomotives were steam-powered, the boiler’s supply of water needed to be refilled fairly often. Large towns and cities had water towers by the tracks, and topping off the tank was simply a matter of pulling under the spigot and hooking up. In smaller rural towns, however, such amenities were lacking, and a train crew in need of water faced the chore of fetching it by hand from a nearby stream. As one account explained in 1945, “… train crews, when the water got low, often had to stop by a creek, form a bucket brigade and jerk water from the stream to fill the tender tank.” “Jerk” in this context refers to the rough, sudden movement of lifting a bucket, often on a rope, from the creek. (website: Word Detective, et al.)