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INDUSTRIAL & OFFLINE TERMINAL RAILROADS
OF BROOKLYN, QUEENS, STATEN ISLAND AND THE BRONX:

GLOSSARY OF TERMS & DEFINITIONS

Indicative to Rail / Marine Terminal Operations
in the New York Harbor Area

Please note:
Terms may differ based on geographical region..

edited by and special thanks to: Tom Flagg

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Apron	The portion of a transfer bridge that actually connected to the carfloat and was hinged to allow for vertical movement of the transfer bridge and / or carfloat.
Bridge Plate	Also called a "dock plate" A bridge plate was used to connect the open doors of boxcars located adjacent to on another to facilitate loading or unloading and in conjunction with a loading dock or freight house. The bridge plates (yellow) allowed employees to access the left most boxcar (in red) by using the boxcars between the freight house and red boxcar as bridges themselves. The white boxcar would unloaded first, with the light gray boxcar being unloaded next. Once a pathway was clear through the white boxcar, both the white and light gray boxcars could be unloaded simultaneously. Once a pathway was clear to and through the dark gray boxcar, the red boxcar could be accessed for loading / unloading. This method would be applied to the other boxcars stationed on the freight house tracks, so more than four boxcars could be unloaded simultaneously. This method could be used anywhere the freight cars were located adjacent to a loading dock or freight door that was the same height as the floor of the boxcar. ....
Carfloat	A flat topped barge, constructed of wood or steel, that has railroad tracks mounted on the top. There are various kinds on carfloats, depending on the need, and freight car capacities varied and depended on length of carfloat and length of freight cars loaded. Two track interchange carfloats were rare. Three track interchange carfloats were mainly used for the transport of freight cars from one rail - marine terminal to another. Station or Platform carfloats had a wood or steel deck platform the height of the floor of the freight car running down the center (long axis) of the carfloat. This allowed freight to be unloaded directly out of the freight car onto the platform, where it could be handtrucked to a pier station. In some cases, a station carfloat would be moored alongside a waterfront building, where a bridge plate was placed between the building and a boxcar on the carfloat. Then using the boxcar as a bridge, all the cars could be accessed and unloaded via the platform. Centerpipe carfloats were used specifically with covered hoppers, with a waist level pipe running down the center (long axis) of the carfloat. This pipe had hose connections several feet apart so that hoses may be coupled up to the bottom of a covered hopper and the material "vacuumed" out. This type of carfloat was mainly used by the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal in servicing the Schaefer Brewery along the Brooklyn waterfront.
Class 1 Railroad	A Class I railroad in the United States is a large freight railroad company, as classified based on operating revenue. The Surface Transportation Board (STB) defines a Class I railroad in the United States as "having annual carrier operating revenues of $250 million or more" Smaller railroads are classified as Class II and Class III. (see Class II and Class III for criteria) The classification of railroads in the U.S. as Class I, II or III was started by the Interstate Commerce Commission in the 1930's. Initially Class I railroads were defined as railroads with operating revenue of at least $1 million. The $1 million figure was used until 1956. In 1956 it was increased to $3 million. By 1965 the financial criteria was increased to $5 million, in 1976, to $10 million, and to $50 million in 1978. The American Association of Railroads typically divides non-Class I companies into three categories: Regional railroads operate at least 350 miles or make at least $40 million per year. Local railroads are non-regional railroads that engage in line-haul service. Switching and terminal railroads mainly switch cars between other railroads or provide service from other lines to a common terminal.
Class II Railroad	A Class II railroad in the United States is a mid-sized freight-hauling railroad, in terms of its operating revenue. As of 2006, a railroad with revenues greater than $20.5 million but less than $277.7 million for at least three consecutive years is considered a Class II railroad. Switching and terminal railroads are excluded from Class II status.
Class III Railroad	A Class III railroad, as defined by the Surface Transportation Board, is a railroad with an annual operating revenue of less than $20 million (1991 dollars). Class III railroads are typically local short line railroads, serving a very small number of towns or industries; many Class III railroads were once branch lines of larger railroads that were spun off, or portions of mainlines that had been abandoned. The Class III category was dropped in 1956, but reinstated in 1978. In 1979 all switching and terminal railroads, even those with Class I or Class II revenues, were re-designated as Class III.
Common Carrier	A common carrier is one who represents to the public that his business is one of transporting persons or cargo from place to place for compensation, and such services are generally open to the public. Generally speaking; commercial buses, ferries, trains, and airplanes are considered common carriers.
Contract Terminal	A freight terminal company that is contracted by the trunk line / Class 1 railroads to perform the final delivery aspects of shipped freight that the Class 1 railroad is unable to deliver themselves. Since some of the Class 1 railroads (Erie, CRRNJ, NYC, etc.) did not have freight terminals in certain areas of Brooklyn, they would contract with the Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal, Bush Terminal, New York Dock and / or the Jay Street Terminal to pick up freight from the trunk line / Class 1 railroad facilities in New Jersey, and forward said freight to the respective consignees in Brooklyn.
Covered Barge	A barge constructed of wood or steel with an enclosed structure on deck for the transport of freight or goods that needed to be protected from the weather. Some covered barges were heavily insulated and equipped with ice rooms for the purpose of transporting perishable items, i.e.: meat, fish, fruits vegetables, flowers, etc.
Diamond	Also called a crossing or cross over. Where one set of railroad tracks crosses another set of tracks, without impeding access to either set of tracks.
Float Bridge	The commonly accepted and used name for a transfer bridge. see Transfer Bridge
Float Bridge Jack	A hydraulic cylinder that was that was vertically mounted to either the center truss or a steel 'A' frame on the outer end of a pontoon type transfer bridge and either manually operated (hand lever pumped) or operated by connecting a hose to a pump on the locomotive.  The float bridge jack was used to raise the transfer bridge out of the water and to match the rail height of a high riding (light) carfloat about to be affixed to the transfer bridge. As the carfloat was larger and more buoyant, the transfer bridge would rise out of the water instead of the carfloat being pushed down into the water. float bridge jack on Howe Truss (W. 26th Street) float bridge jack on Pony Truss (Pidgeon Street)
Freight Terminal	A broad term used in describing a railroad freight handling facility. Usually denotes a railroad location offering less than carload (LCL) and / or car load shipping and receiving, and usually denotes carfloat service. Also usually meant a location offering  freight storage facilities. There are two types of freight terminals: Online and Offline. Online means being located upon or having a physical track connection to a trunk line railroad. Offline denotes being removed from trunk line connections and being an isolated location with no physical rail connection to a trunk line railroad.
Gantlet Track	Also known as a "Gauntlet Track". A set of rails closely laid and parallel to another set of rails, and used to minimize space (width) usage and / or used to relocate a turnout from an obstruction, inconvenient or hazardous location. (Gantlet rails took on the appearance of wide spaced guard rails). Gantlet track usage on transfer bridges was preferred by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad facilities, where the turnout accessing the center track of three track interchange carfloat was relocated from the outer end of the transfer bridge onto land.
Industrial Railroad	A railroad that operated strictly in a specific capacity and  / or hauled a specific commodity (i.e.: construction, mining, excavation, chemical, etc). Also, a private railroad that interchanged with a common carrier, but only transported freight cars holding mixed cargo to and from their own facility. Usually but not in every case, an industrial railroad operated equipment of narrow gauge i.e.: 30 inches or 36 inches. The opposite of a common carrier railroad.
LCL	Abbreviation for Less than Car Load or Less than Carload Lot. see Less than Car Load.
Less than Car Load / Less than Carload Lot	Any type of shipment that does not occupy or warrant the leasing or hiring of a entire railroad freight car. A Less than Car Load shipment of freight was insufficient to command the lower shipping rates that would apply to full carloads or multiple carloads. The freight from several Less Than Car load consignors would occupy a single freight car. Abbreviation: "LCL"
Lighter	A piece of marine equipment with a tall derrick or boom equipped with a hoist and a cabin on deck. Used for the transfer of oversized or bulky loads. Two types of lighters existed: Self Propelled and Towed, a/k/a Stick Lighters. Self propelled lighters in most cases resembled a tugboat with a tall derrick and long foredeck. Usually steam powered, the self propelled lighters usually had a lifting capacity in the range of 30 tons and greater than that of towed lighters. Towed or Stick Lighters took on more of a barge type appearance with a tall derrick and hoist and a small control cabin. Hoisting mechanisms for the generation of stick lighters from circa 1870 until 1900 used hand powered winches. Around 1900 small steam engines began to be used, which were rather maintenance-heavy. These in turn gave way to small internal combustion engines. Stick lighters were usually rated under 10 ton lifting capacity. ... self propelled  towed or stick
Lighterage	Carriage of cargo by a barge or lighter within a ports waters, such as from a ship to the docks. In most cases, this term was used to define short haulage within a harbor or port, not port to port or over long distances.
Mule	A very small electric, battery powered or internal combustion locomotive used in a lightweight switching, mining or hauling capacity. In most cases a "mule" was of open design (no cab for operator), and were used in sheltered or indoor applications. Depending on customers needs and applications, some designs utilized narrow gauge trackage (24" or 30" being common) for both mule and cars, or the cars remained on tracks while the mule was on tires, and yet other designs had the mule and cars trackless and resembled tow carts familiar to airport luggage handling.
Narrow Gauge	Locomotives or trains operating on tracks less than the US Standard Gauge (width) of 56.5 inches (4' 8 ½" or 1,435 millimeters) . Common narrow gauge track widths in the United States are 30 inches (762 millimeter) and 36 inches (914 millimeter) for light industrial and construction operations.
Offline Terminal	A terminal utilizing locomotives, transfer bridge, team tracks and yards that is not physically connected to the trunk line "Class 1" rail network of the United States. The only method of transferring freight cars to and from an offline terminal is via waterborne equipment, typically a carfloat.
Pier Station	A location owned by a railroad or railroads that accepts freight via carfloat, lighter or barge, but does not have track, float bridge or facilities for the loading and unloading of the freight car itself. Most pier stations had long freight sheds built on top of and extending the length of the pier for the storage of that freight and protection from weather. Freight is transferred directly out of the freight car while still loaded upon the carfloat, to the pier.
Poling Poling Bar Poling Pocket	A method of moving freight cars short distance from an adjacent track, without the locomotive actually being on the same track as the freight car. This method was used often in the tight confines of an offline terminal, where switching the locomotive to the freight car track might have been prevented by other freight cars blocking the turnout. A poling bar is a pole made of hardwood, about 8 feet long, 6 inches in diameter at the center, tapering very gradually to about 4 inches. About an inch or two from the end, was a metal band to prevent splitting with another band located about a foot in from the ends. On the front and rear facing corners of freight cars and locomotives were dish shaped pockets, about 6 inches in diameter and about 1- 1½ inches deep. They could be made of cast iron or pressed steel and affixed with bolts to the bodt of a freight car or cast directly into the frame. These were called poling pockets. The locomotive would be on one track, and the car on another. The engineer would stop diagonally opposed to the freight car. Two trainmen would take the poling bar off the locomotive, (usually hung on hooks below the running boards), and while one trainman held the bar in the pocket of the freight car, the other trainman would hold the poling bar in line with the poling pocket on the locomotive. Then the engineer would slowly and gently bring the locomotive up until the poling bar was snugly in both poling pockets and held by force. The engineer would then move the locomotive pushing the poling bar thereby pushing the freight car to the desired location.
Pontoon	When used in reference to a transfer "float" bridge, it is a watertight box of riveted or welded steel. Pontoons were built to varying sizes, but for the most part pontoons for wooden Howe Truss float bridges were approximately 41 feet in width by 44 feet in length and 9 - 10 feet in depth. Pontoons for steel float bridges measured 38 feet in width, 30 feet in length and 6- 8 feet in depth. All were mounted to the underside and outer (the non-hinged or floating) end of a transfer bridge. It provided buoyancy to keep the transfer bridge from sinking. Pontoons need periodic maintenance in salt water due to corrosion. If a pontoon began leaking, it needed to pumped out, raised out of the water, patched and welded, to regain water tightness. Some designs of pontoons could be loaded with a certain amount of water, to bring the transfer bridge "down" to the appropriate level to meet the incoming carfloat. This design is not known to be used in New York Harbor area.
Property Map Legend	The following legend denotes the different types of structures found on the G. W. Bromley Property Maps.
Reacher Car	A railroad car, typically a modified flatcar or gondola; used in conjunction with a locomotive to facilitate the removal of freight cars off a carfloat. In some designs, a small shanty or cabin was installed in the center of the reacher car for protection of the train crew during inclement weather. The reacher car was used to keep the full weight of a heavy locomotive away from the outer end of the transfer bridge; or, the reacher car could be ballasted with additional weight to help a light locomotive push a transfer bridge down into the water. ..... flatcar with cabin  modified gondola
Scow	A barge with broad square ends used in the marine transport of bulk materials, i.e. sand, crushed stone, ore, coal, refuse. New York Harbor Railroads used these flat deck scows for the transport of large crates of equipment, and similar oversize objects being transferred to and from ships such as: vehicles, trucks, trolley cars, and all kinds of packaged freight that had little fear from the weather.
Standard Gauge	In the United States, standard gauge railroad track is 56.5 inches (4' 8 ½" or 1,435 millimeters) in width between the inside of rail heads. This standard was adopted progressively throughout the United States after the end of the Civil War. In certain cases of tight radius curves, i.e.: the 90 foot radius curves of the Central Railroad of New Jersey's Bronx Terminal; the track gauge was widened by ½" to bring the track gauge to 57" (or 4' 9") to prevent premature flange and rail wear due to the tight curves.
Steam Dummy	Also called "Street Dummy" or "Dummy Engine" A locomotive with a false carbody over the boiler and reciprocating machinery. The intent of this false carbody was to prevent the frightening of horses in the streets where the locomotives operated. As the horses were accustomed to horse drawn and electric powered street cars of similar appearance, it was hoped that the horses would not panic around the steam dummies. When the internal combustion engine was created, applied to vehicles and gained widespread usage, horses became obsolete and steam dummy designs were no longer necessary.  Steam Dummy locomotives were either converted to, or replaced with, standard saddle or side tank locomotives. Harlem Transfer #1 as Steam Dummy Harlem Transfer #1 without false carbody and with cab
Tank Locomotive	Commonly called "saddletanker" or "sidetanker" or "docksider". A type of locomotive that was used primarily for switching duties and carried its own fuel and water and therefore was without the need for a tender. Tank locomotives used by the freight terminals, had extremely short wheelbases (6.5 through 11 feet) for the negotiation of sharp radius curves, as well as short in overall length (30 feet). There were two types of tank locomotives: The saddletank has a single steel tank that draped over the boiler that held water. The sidetank has two individual tanks mounted on either side of the boiler that held water. Both carried fuel in a small rectangular bunker behind the cab.
Terminal Railroad	There are two types of terminal railroads: a) Companies operating a freight terminal, with marine - rail interchange (carfloating) capacity; or, b) Companies operating a freight terminal, without marine - rail interchange (carfloating) capacity.
Transfer Bridge	Also commonly called a "float bridge". This is the technical term used in the engineering literature, while "float bridge" is a more colloquial term. The idea and design of the "modern" carfloat and transfer bridge system used in the transport of railroad cars is credited to John Henry Starin (1825-1909) although there is some dispute to this. A wood or steel bridge with wood deck anchored to land on one end, and supported on or over the water on the other end, with two pairs of railroads track laid across the top (lengthwise) for the purpose of loading and unloading railroad freight cars from a carfloat. Due to its floating or suspended nature, a transfer bridge adjusts or can be adjusted in height between carfloat and water level heights. There were three main designs of transfer bridges: Separate Apron, Contained Apron and Pontoon: The Separate Apron type had dual independent overhead gantries and hoisting mechanisms for the two parts of the transfer bridge: the main bridge and the apron. The Contained Apron type "French Patent" has a single overhead gantry and hoisting mechanism, that controlled two independent and parallel transfer bridges, and each transfer bridge had a hinged self contained apron that was embedded into the outer end of the main bridge. Both types of these transfer bridges were adjustable through the hoisting mechanisms for list (left to right) and inclination (front to back) variances and the aprons were shock dampened to compensate for the shifting loads of the carfloat to the transfer bridge. Pontoon type Pontoon supported float bridges were supported with an enclosed watertight steel pontoon (box).  There were four distinct styles of pontoon transfer bridges: Howe Truss Constructed with heavy wood timbers and wood decks that were creosoted for protection against decay. Threaded steel rods bound the upper and lower horizontal beams together and cast iron angle irons bolted to the corners of the diagonal truss works added additional strength. Early designs used a "rocker" log as a hinge point on the bulkhead. This evolved to a cast steel pivot anchor and socket. Pony Truss Pony Truss and Pony Plate Girder types were constructed of riveted steel construction, with wood plank decks. Approximately 8 feet tall. These designs used pin and plate hinges or steel pivot anchors on the bulkhead. . . Pony Plate Girder . . Pony Plate Girder had two design varients: a two girder and three girder. This means the float bridge had a plate girder on the outer edges of the float bridge . A three girder type had an additional girder running up the center of the float bridge between the tracks. Also, the ends of the bridge varied by builder. Pony Plate Girder float bridges could be found with tapered ends, rounded ends, square ends: Hybrid (Plate Girder & Truss) The fourth type of float bridge, was a hybrid design. It used pony plate girders on the outer edges, with a single tall steel truss down the center. To date, only the Jay Street Terminal used this type of hybrid design:. Please note the above illustrations do not show winches, jacks and other equipment, and minor aesthetic differences varied by builder. In some designs of pontoon type transfer bridges, an overhead gantry with a manually operated hoist would be used to raise the pontoon transfer bridge out of water for a high riding carfloat or for maintenance. These overhead gantries were mostly replaced with float bridge jacks. See "Float Bridge Jack".
Trunk Line	Also called "Class 1" railroads. A large railroad company with long distance and interconnected routes with through train traffic. This term in not used to much extent anymore and the term "Class 1 Railroad" is used preferentially in describing currently operating railroads meeting that criteria. Prior to formation of Conrail in the Northeastern United States in 1976, the following trunk line railroads operated in the New York Metropolitan Area: Baltimore & Ohio; Central Railroad of New Jersey; Delaware, Lackawanna & Western; Erie; Lehigh Valley; Long Island, New York Central; Pennsylvania; New York, New Haven & Hartford; New York Ontario & Western; New York, Susquehanna & Western; and Reading.
Turnout:	Correct terminology for a railroad track switch. Depending on direction of travel, where two diverging routes meet (trailing points) or one route splits into two (facing points).

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