Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Railroad in Everyday Language
Some are obvious while others are obscure, but many expressions
we all use in our daily lives have origins that can be traced to the
railroad. These are but a few.
blocked:
Today it means to prevent something from moving for-
ward, but originally the word described a train prevented from
entering a stretch of track, which is called a “block.”
blow off steam:
To relieve boiler pressure when it reaches dangerous
limits.
blow one's stack:
If worse comes to worst, the boiler explodes, which
is usually fatal to the head-end crew.
cut and run:
When a steam locomotive ran low on water, it had to
uncouple from the rest of the train and head for the next water-
ing point.
doubleheader:
Originally, two locomotives coupled together to pull
a long, heavy train.
flag someone down:
This refers to the railroad practice of signaling
to a train with colored flags. Radios are now used to signal the
engineer to stop for passengers at remote stations, but they're still
called “flag stops.”
full head of steam:
This expression originally referred to a steam
engine with maximum pressure in its boiler.
get onboard:
Possibly a nautical origin here, but we'll claim it anyway.
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