Railroad Glossary-F

F
F Units	Diesel locomotives in the F model series built by General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division (EMD) in the 1940’s and ‘50’s. The F7 was the most numerous model in the series.
Facing Point Lock	A locking device which automatically locks the switch points of a spring switch in normal position.
Facing Switch	A turnout or switch with the points facing traffic.
Factor of Adhesion	Ratio of locomotive weight to tractive force. A 400,000-pound locomotive exerting 100,000 pounds of tractive force has a factor of adhesion of 4.0.
False Gradient	The temporary air-pressure gradient that exists when the brake system is less than fully charged (for example, the exaggerated difference between the head end and rear end after a release).
Family Disturber	Pay car or pay train.
Fan	Blower on a locomotive boiler.
Fast Clock	[MR] A speeded up clock which does away with the necessity of using seconds in timetable operations of a layout. Usually a proportion such as 4 to 1 or 12 to 1 is used.
Feed Back	The result when separate circuits are so wired that some of the current from one circuit bleeds into the other circuit.
Feeder	1) A short branch road feeding traffic to a mainline. 2) [MR] Power connection from the power pack to track and elsewhere on model railroad.
Feedwater Heater	A device that uses exhaust steam to preheat water before injection to the boiler.
Federal Railroad Administration	(FRA) The agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation that conducts research and is responsible for railroad safety.
Ferroequinology	"Study of the Iron Horse" ie: railfanning.
Ferry trip	The movement of a train or engine from Point A to Point B so it can be ready for use at Point B.
Fiddle Yard	A modeling term for a set of sidings where trains are terminated and stored. Also used as a staging yard where a modeler adds or removes equipment from a layout by hand.
Field	Classification yard.
Fielder or Field Man	Yard brakeman.
Figurehead	Timekeeper.
Fill	Earth or rock, used to make a level roadbed across a valley or depression. In undulating terrain, successive cuts and fills are common. The material removed from a cut is used to construct the adjacent fill.
Fine Standards	A series of Standards closer to exact scale than NMRA standards.
Fire Boy	Locomotive fireman.
Firebox	The section of a steam locomotive boiler in which fuel is burned.
Fireman	Maintains the fire, water, fuel, lubricants, sand, etc. on a steam engine. On a diesel he services the motor. May occasionally run the engine. Not the same as Amtrak's current "ass't engineer", who is primarily an on-board mechanic and relief engineer.
Fireless Locomotive	A steam locomotive for use in chemical and munitions plants. These locomotives had a large insulated steam reservoir, instead of a firebox and boiler. This was charged with steam from a stationary boiler in a safe location.
First Generation Diesels	The first diesel locomotives to replace steam locomotives. Usually refers to the standardized EMD, Alco, Baldwin and F-M units supplied between the late 1930's and early 1950's.
First Reader	Conductor's train book.
Fish Wagon	Gas-electric car or other motorcar equipped with an air horn (which sounds like a fishmonger's horn).
Fishplate	Short pieces of steel used to join track sections to other sections or track structures. An angle bar is placed on each side of the sections being joined. Holes are drilled into each end of the angle bar and also through both track sections. Bolts with locking washers are fastened through the holes to join the sections.
Fishtail	Semaphore blade, so called from its peculiar shape.
Fist	1) The style used by a telegrapher when sending messages. 2) A telegraph operator's handwriting. This script, in the days before telephones, typewriters, and teletypes, was characterized by its swiftness, its bold flowing curves which connected one word with another, and its legibility. Ops were proud of their penmanship.
Five-Well Stack Car	Five-unit cars that carry double-stacked containers.
Fixed Man	Switchman in a hump yard assigned to one certain post from which he rides cars being humped.
Fixed Signal	A signal at a fixed location that affects the movement of a train.
Flag	1) To protect the rear of the train by having a brakeman walk back with a flag while it is stopped. 2) An assumed name. Many a boomer worked under a flag when his own name was black-listed.
Flagman	Usually, the brakeman assigned to duties at the rear end of the train.
Flange	The part of the wheel which runs below and inside the top of the rails to guide the wheel.
Flange Detection	Detection of rail wheel presence by sensing flange by using a proximity, biased Hall or biased reed switch.
Flange oiler	Devices mounted on locomotives that apply grease or oil to the wheel flanges in order to prevent flange wear. Also a trackside device that automatically applies lubricant to wheel flanges as they pass.
Flangeway	A space or groove next to a rail to allow passage for wheel flanges.
Flare	See Fusee
Flash	A thin material that has oozed from the mold during the molding process and remains attached to the finished casting.
Flat Wheel	1) Car wheel that has flat spots on the tread. 2) Slang for an employee who limps.
Flatcar	A freight car with only a flat deck and no side rails or walls.
Flexicoil Truck	Electro-Motive Division’s term for the truck that is standard on its six-axle units and available as an option on four-axle units. It is characterized by sets of coil springs between the bolster and the truck frame.
Flextrack	Flexible sections of track used on a layout. In "HO" it usually comes in straight, three-foot long sections which can be bent as needed. Larger Flex Track such as large scale "G" need to be bent with a rail bender before it is assembled. Other kinds of track are sectional (rigid pieces of straight and curved track that come with train sets) and hand laid (built with handmade ties, rail, and spikes).
Flimsy	Train order. (Standard practice is to issue these on tissue paper to facilitate the making of carbon copies).
Flip	To board a moving train. The word accurately suggests the motion used.
Floater	Same as boomer.
Fly Light	Miss a meal. Boomers often did that; hoboes still do.
Flying Junction	Connection between rail lines, with at least one being two or more tracks, in which ramps and bridges carry one line over another to reduce conflicts.
Flyover	A structure carrying one set of tracks over another set of tracks for the purpose of eliminating movement conflicts that would have occurred had the two sets of tracks crossed at grade. Also known as a jumpover.
Flying Switch	Switching technique in which the engine pulls away from a car or cars it has started rolling, permitting them to be switched onto a track other than that taken by the engine. The switch is thrown instantly after the engine has passed it and just before the cars reach it. This procedure, common in bygone days, is now frowned upon by officials. The procedure is as follows. Stop train several yards from the switch. Uncouple car to be dropped from the main part of the train. Dump air from the car to be dropped, releasing brakes. Brakeman #1 rides the car to be dropped, and brakeman #2 operates the switch. Pull car towards switch. Let off throttle just prior to reaching the switch the so that brakeman #1 can uncouple the car. Engine pulls away from the rolling car so that brakeman #2 can throw the switch allowing car to enter the siding. Brakeman #1 rides car into siding and uses hand brake to spot the car.
Foamer	Railfan that behaves unsafely on or near RoW. Probably also a FOMOR.
Fog	Steam.
FOMOR	Foreign Object Meandering On Right-of-way, such as a cow, trespasser, foamer railfan, etc.
Footboard	The step on the rear and front ends of switch or freight engines. Many casualties were caused in the "good old days" by switchmen missing these steps on dark slippery nights.
Footboard Yard Master	Conductor who acts as yardmaster in a small yard.
Footplate	Deck, Cab floor, operating platform of steam locomotive.
Forced Perspective	A modeling technique that gives the impression that there are more buildings in a scene than are really possible. This is accomplished by making the buildings in the background smaller to give the impression that they are further away.
Foreign	Used to refer to locomotives or rolling stock owned by another railroad or company.
Foreman	(Frm) A person who is in charge of a Roadway Crew. A Frm is authorized to control train traffic through a section of trackage which has been designated by Form D as obstructed for maintenance.
Form D	A form used in receiving written permission to occupy track in DCS sections of railroad lines. Permission is given by Train Dispatcher or Operator.
FORM D Control System (DCS)	A block system, signaled or non-signaled, in which the movement of trains outside of yard limits is authorized by Form D.
Forty Five	Yellow signal or semaphore at 45 degrees. Train may proceed through signal, prepared to stop.
Fountain	That part of a locomotive where steam issues from the boiler and flows into pipes for lubrication, injection, etc.
FRA	Federal Railroad Administration. The agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation that conducts research and is responsible for railroad safety.
Frame	The foundation of chassis on which a locomotive is constructed.
FRED	Flashing Rear End Device See EOT Device.
Free-lance	Modeling that does not closely follow a prototype railroad.
Freeze A Hob or A Blazer	Cool a heated journal.
Freezer	A refrigerator car. Also referred to as a "reefer".
Freight	(Frt) Any type of consist other than persons which makes up the load of a train.
Freight Yard	A group of tracks used for storage, sorting and classification of freight cars.
Frequency	(Hertz / Hz) The number of times per second an alternating current reverses its direction.
Frog	1) The portion of a switch which is grooved for the wheel flanges named for its resemblance to a frog. Frogs guide wheels from one track structure to another. Also a type of rail crossing allowing two sets of running rails to cross each other at grade level at an angle of less than 90 degrees. 2) An implement to re-rail car wheels.
Frog Number	The ratio of the length of the tangent track to an equal unit of space between the tangent track and a point on the branch track. For example #6 frog is a 1 in 6 ratio.
Full Service Application	Reducing the brake pipe pressure at a service rate until the reservoir and cylinder pressures equalize.
Full Service Trackage Rights	An arrangement where one railroad (the tenant) operates its trains over the tracks of another railroad (the owner), and may directly serve customers located along the segment of owner’s track that the tenant is using.
Fusee	Warning device consisting of a cardboard tube filled with a combustible mixture of chemicals that burns brightly when ignited (red, yellow or green) and remains burning for ten to fifteen minutes as warning signals to other trains when touched off and placed or thrown on the ground by train service employees. . Fusees are ignited and dropped on the right of way to indicate to a following train the presence of stopped or slow-moving equipment ahead. No following train may pass as long as it is burning, although on some roads it is permissible to stop, extinguish the fusee, and proceed with caution in automatic block-signal limits.