Glossary of New Zealand railway terminology

This is a list of jargon commonly used by railfans in New Zealand.

A

*Articulateds: NZR RM class 88 seater railcars.David Jones, "Where Railcars Roamed: The Railcars Which Have Served New Zealand Railways" (Wellington: Wellington Tramway Museum, 1997), 22.]

B

*Blue Streaks: three NZR RM class 88 seater railcars renovated for a fast service between Hamilton and Auckland.Eric Heath and Bob Stott, "Classic Railcars, Electric and Diesel Locomotives of New Zealand: Volume Two" (Grantham House: Wellington, 1993), 34.]
*Bumble-Bee: Yellow and black Tranz Rail livery.
*Bobtail: W^W class locomotives before rebuilding.Fact|date=May 2008

C

*Clockwork Orange: 1970s orange and yellow livery; used on DX class (also known as "Tropical" or "Popsicle").Geoffrey B. Churchman and Tony Hurst, "The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey Through History" (Auckland: HarperCollins, 1991), 58.]
* Concrete Mixer: Auckland SX carriage set.Fact|date=July 2008
* Corn-cob: Toll Rail yellow and aquamarine livery.Timotheus Frank, [http://www.frankship.com/ecanterbury.html "Canterbury Railscene"] , accessed 26 May 2008.]
* Cyclops: restored Wellington EMU set DM 556.Department of Conservation, [http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/news.aspx?id=42233 "Awards honour efforts to protect our cultural and natural heritage"] , published 10 August 2006, accessed 22 January 2008.]

D

*Dixies: DX class locomotives.Fact|date=May 2008
*Drewrys: NZR RM class 88 seater railcars.Sean Millar, "From A to Y Avoiding I: 125 Years of Railway Motive Power Classification in New Zealand" (New Zealand: Sean Millar, 2001), 35.]

E

*Elephant-style: A lashup of multiple locomotives with all units facing forward.Fact|date=May 2008
* 'En and chicken: N and M class steam locomotives coupled together. 'En, an abbreviation of 'hen', refers to the larger N class locomotive, and chicken refers to its underpowered M class assistant.Churchman and Hurst, "The Railways of New Zealand", 144.]

F

*Fiats: NZR RM class 88 seater railcars.
*Flying Tomato: simpler version of the Fruit Salad livery, with grey replaced with red.Fact|date=May 2008
* Fruit Salad: NZR red and grey livery with yellow highlights, also known as International Orange.
* Foamer: A railfan, particularly one whose enthusiasm appears excessive.Marcus Lush, "The Grand Finale", "Off the Rails: A Love Story" (New Zealand: Television New Zealand and Jam TV, 2005), DVD.]

G

* Grass Grubs: 88 seater railcars that were converted to carriages for locomotive haulage. Their name came from their green livery.
* Gull Roost: the Onerahi Branch's 323-metre-long bridge across the harbour in Whangarei. Named due to the large number of gulls that roosted there. The branch closed in 1933 and the bridge no longer exists.Churchman and Hurst, "The Railways of New Zealand", 100.]

H

* The Hill: the Johnsonville line out of Wellington, or the steep section of the North Auckland Line between Newmarket and Remuera in Auckland. See Over the hill.Fact|date=May 2008
* Hot water bottles: steam heating vans used to warm the carriages of passenger trains.

I

* International Orange: livery of yellow, orange/red and grey, more popularly known as "Fruit Salad".Churchman and Hurst, "The Railways of New Zealand", 70.]

J

* Jigger: a track inspection vehicle.Churchman and Hurst, "The Railways of New Zealand" (Auckland: HarperCollins, 1991), 22.]

K

* K^B country: the section of the Midland Line between Springfield and Arthur's Pass famous for the use of K^B class steam locomotives between 1939 and 1968.Churchman and Hurst, "The Railways of New Zealand", 189.] New Zealand Film Unit, [http://audiovisual.archives.govt.nz/wiki/index.php/KB_COUNTRY "K^B Country"] , 1968.]

L

* Longest xylophone in the world: former road/rail bridge on the now-closed portion of the Ross Branch south of Hokitika, named for the loud rattling its planks made.Churchman and Hurst, "The Railways of New Zealand", 193.]

M

* MAXX Blue: livery on Auckland rolling stock operated on MAXX services by Veolia.Fact|date=May 2008
* Midland Red: livery used in the 1920s and 1990s on passenger carriages, DM/D class electric multiple units and some other rolling stock. It was first trialled on the carriages of the Parnassus Express, the predecessor of the Picton Express. Its name derives from the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, from whom the colour was originally sourced.J. D. Mahoney, "Kings of the Iron Road: Steam Passenger Trains of New Zealand" (Palmerston North: Dunmore Press, 1982), 105.]

N

O

*Old reds: DM/D class electric multiple units in their traditional red livery.Heath and Stott, "Classic Railcars, Electric and Diesel Locomotives", 20.]
*Over the hill: the southern approach to Auckland from the North Island Main Trunk Railway at Westfield via the North Auckland Line and Auckland - Newmarket Line. See The Hill.Fact|date=May 2008

P

* Pearson's Dream: E 66, nicknamed after its designer, G. A. Pearson, as it did not fulfill his ambitions.W. N. Cameron, "Rimutaka Incline: Extracts from "A Line of Railway" (Wellington: New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society, 1992)", 83.]
* The Pig: DXR class locomotive 8007 and 8022.Fact|date=May 2008
* Pig Dog: DAR 517.Fact|date=May 2008
* Popsicle: 1970s orange and yellow DX class livery (also known as "Clockwork Orange" and "Tropical").Fact|date=May 2008
* Pullet: M class, named for their lack of pulling power in comparison to other classes.

Q

R

*The racetrack: the Main South Line near Rakaia, where steam-hauled passenger express trains attained high speeds.Churchman and Hurst, "The Railways of New Zealand", 179.]
*Rat hole or the Hole: the Otira Tunnel, or the Karangahake tunnel on the East Coast Main Trunk Railway's former Waihi route. Fact|date=May 2008
*Red Sets: three-car DM/D class units allocated to Tranz Metro Wellington.Fact|date=May 2008
*Red Terror: A Leyland Cub car converted to run on rails for inspection use by the Railways Department General Manager Garnet Hercules Mackley in 1933. It was converted for uses associated with electrified lines in 1941, and after spending a few years in the Hutt Valley, it was transferred to Otira and remained there until the Otira Tunnel was de-electrified in 1997. It is now owned by the Ferrymead Railway.Jones, "Where Railcars Roamed", 13.]
*Rimutaka railcars: Alternative name for the Wairarapa railcars, derived from the fact they were built to operate on the Rimutaka Incline.Fact|date=May 2008

* The Sergeant: ED electric locomotive 101, so called because of the three stripes on the body.Fact|date=May 2008
* Skippy: Toll-liveried locomotive. Derived from Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, as Toll is an Australian company.Fact|date=May 2008

T

* Tin Hares: Wairarapa railcars.Jones, "Where Railcars Roamed", 14.]
* Toasters: NZR EF class, because of their kitchen toaster-like appearance.Fact|date=May 2008
* Tonka Toy: preserved TR class locomotive [http://crusader.fotopic.net/p38735260.html TR 534] .
* Tropical: 1970s orange and yellow livery; used on the DX class (also known as "Clockwork Orange" or "Popsicle").Tony Hurst, "Farewell to Steam: Four Decades of Change on New Zealand Railways" (Auckland: HarperCollins, 1995), 81.]
* The Twins: DBR class Wellington-based locomotives 1200 and 1267, commonly paired for purposes such as banking south of Paekakariki.Fact|date=May 2008
*Twinsets: NZR RM class 88 seater railcars.

U

*Units: electric multiple units.Fact|date=May 2008

V

W

* Water bottle: Tank car filled with water, used behind preserved steam locomotives.Fact|date=May 2008

X

Y

Z

ee also

*Rail terminology
*Passenger rail terminology
*Glossary of UK railway terminology
*Glossary of North American railroad terminology

References