railroad slang; diner slang

[Mullins, Bill]

This page:

http://www.parovoz.com/spravka/RailroadDefinitions.html

purports to have some railroad slang.

A few cites:

cinder dick (not in OED)
"New York Day by Day" O. O. McInture
Iowa | Iowa City | Iowa City Press Citizen | 1925-09-09  p. 4 col 7.
"A dictionary of crook terms compiled by Howard McLellan contains these:
Stolen bonds-hot paper; jail-in stir; railroad detective-cinder dick;"

"Washington Daybook"
Maryland | Frederick | The News | 1950-01-05 p. 4 col 3.
"Lusty Americana-A great project in lusty Americana is being pushed by
an enterprising graduate student at the University of Louisville Charles
D. Waggner. He's trying to collect the lingo of the railroad -the talk
exchanged between the workers.

A sample of this pure American slang is-ash cats, crummie, cut off,
dinkey, decorate, drag, hoggers, car knockers, whistle pigs, bakeheads,
clinker boys, tallow pots, dead headers, glimmer, hump, kick, no-bill,
rawhiding, gon, she, slop freight, train line, washout, reefer, dice
train, drone cage, hoptoad, cinder dick, cage, fly light, and on the
ground."


"When a Baby Lifter Meets a Car Toad"
New York | Syracuse | The Post Standard | 1978-03-16 "Neighbors West"
section p. 16 cols 2-4.
"Over The years, railroad workers developed their own slang.

The Association of American Railroads has compiled a list of railroad
slang and corresponding definitions.

Some are no longer applicable but were included for historical purposes.

Here's a quick summary:
Baby Lifter -- passenger brakeman.
Beanery Queen -- waitress.
Big Hole -- emergency position of the air brake valve; the act of
abruptly applying the brakes to the full reduction.
Black Diamonds -- company coal.
Brains -- conductor.
Car toad -- car repairer.
Corn field meet -- where two trains meet head-on, both trying to use the
same main line.
Dog Catcher -- a crew sent to relieve a crew that has become outlawed.
See outlawed.
Flag -- to work under an assumed name.
Gandy dancer -- track laborer.
Grabber -- conductor
Graveyard watch -- 12:01 a.m. to 8 a.m. work shift.
High iron -- the main line or the high speed track in a system of main
tracks.
Hop toad -- derail.
Kangaroo court -- a hearing at which mattes concerning main line mixups
are investigated and disposed of.
Outlawed -- a crew that has worked 12 hours, the maximum allowed by law.
Scissor bill -- an uncomplimentary term for a yard or road brakeman; a
student in train service.
Thousand-miler -- a starched blue shirt with an attachable starched blue
collar of deep hue, worn by railroad men universally and especially as
an insignia of rank among railroad men of times past.

Some other terms:  buggy, cage, crib, crummy, dog house, hack, hearse,
hut, louse cage, monkey house, palace, shanty, and way car."

"Railroads Have 'Slanguage'"
Ohio | Newark | The Newark Advocate | 1966-05-21 p. 3. col 3, 4;
"The slanguage of railroad men, notably, always has been extensive.
Many of their terms are integral to the Aemrican speech. On the other
hand, in talking among themselves, many of their words are completely
unintelligible to the average person.  A locomotive engineer, for
instance, is a "hogger" or "hoghead."  A fireman, likewise, is a "smoke"
or "bell-ringer."

In a colorful business many of the slang words concern themselves with
passengers.  Such as:

Alarm clock -- a rider who snores;
baby lifter -- a passenger train conductor;
bedbug -- Pullman porter;
bird cage -- an observation car;
bootlegger -- a train running over the tracks of more than one railroad;
brains -- head conductor;
cattle cars -- a commuter train;
cushions -- passenger car;
caterpillar -- a streamlined train;
drunkark -- a late Saturday night passenger train
eye drops -- cinders;
egg -- railroad policeman;
filling station -- small town;
glory -- empty passenger cars;
goose -- to make an emergency stop;
harness -- a conductor's uniform;
nailer -- a railroad detective;
snake -- a cheap tipper;
smoke blower -- any passenger who brags;
snoozer -- Pullman sleeper;
tin can -- dining car;
varnish -- a deluxe passenger train;
bib -- dining car worker's term for a napkin;
Death Valley -- trainmen's term for Cincinnati, Ohio;
cinders -- Pittsburgh, Pa.;
The City -- New York City;
The Rock -- Little Rock, Ark.;
Jolly -- Joliet, Ill.;
The Village -- Chicago.

Short order cooks and waitresses in the nation's diners also have their
own slanguage. It's designed to save time and avoid confusion.  Here are
some good examples of their shorthand vocabulary:

Gardenia -- onion;
radio -- tuna fish sandwich on toasted white bread;
Mae West -- a long cruller;
draw one -- coffee;
Tommy -- with tomato;
Adam and Eve on a raft -- poached eggs on toast;
wreck an Adam and Eve on a raft -- scrambled eggs on toast;
all the way -- French-fried potatoes with eggs;
high and dry -- no French fries with the eggs;
brown cow -- chocolate milk;
burn a limey -- toasted English muffin;
cowboy -- western omelet;
cremate -- well done;
dynamite -- buttermilk;
echo -- would you mind repeating that order?

In this concise chatter, "Go into the garden" means a portion of mixed
vegetables.  Grade "V" or squeeze one is milk.  Here are some others:
Higgins -- tips;
hold the grass -- no lettuce;
hold the hail -- no ice;
Jack Benny -- grilled cheese and bacon sandwich;
lumber -- toothpicks;
with the shoes on -- order to be taken out;
stack -- two scoops of ice cream;
short stack -- two pancakes;
shmear -- cream cheese;
fifty-one -- hot chocolate;
eight-one -- water;
eight-six -- there is no more or a poor tipper."