Glossary Results for prefix "fa"
| ‘F’ Class 2-8-0 Locomotive class | From 1906 ten class ‘B’ goods engines were modified to have a leading pony truck the same as class ‘E’, but were also fitted with larger 5ft 2in diameter boilers. From 1911 these engines became known as class ‘F’. In addition, two class ‘E’ engines also received the larger boiler and thus brought the number of class ‘F’ engines up to twelve. |
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| Facing Points | Points that can divert a train from one line to another line when it is travelling in the normal direction for the line on which it is running. Junctions use facing points. Compare with trailing points. |
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| Fail-safe | Railway equipment in Britain is designed so that if it fails then safety is maintained. If a signal fails then it is designed to show a red aspect. Circuits are installed to ensure that an aspect is ‘proved lit’, if not then the previous signal will display the aspect instead. Train brakes are operated by air or vacuum. The system effectively causes air pressure (or vacuum) to hold the brakes off. If air pressure is lost then the brakes come on. It is possible that a signal will fail unsafe. This rare event is called a wrong-side failure. The Clapham disaster in 1988 was a wrong-side failure caused by redundant wiring coming into contact with signalling circuits after work on enhancing the signalling system. | |
| Fairbairn, Sir William (1789—1874) | Engineer. Born in Kelso (Scottish Borders), the son of a farmer, Fairbairn left the land for England to become an apprentice mill-wright. He set up a business to manufacture mill machinery in Manchester before moving to London, where he opened a shipyard and became a pioneer of the use of iron in the construction of ships. He built the first iron-hulled steamship the Lord Dundas. When assisting Robert Stephenson in the construction of his Conway and the Menai Strait bridges in North Wales, Fairbairn developed the idea of using tubular steel as a construction material. This was both stronger and lighter than solid steel. He set up an iron-works in Manchester which produced boilers for steam engines and locomotives. He was knighted in 1869. | |
| Fairburn, Charles Edward (1887—1945) | Chief Mechanical Engineer from 1944 to 1945 for the London, Midland & Scottish Railway. |
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| Family Saloon | Carriage designed or adapted for use as a private hire vehicle, usually with accommodation for a (wealthy) family, their servants and luggage, and private lavatory facilities. After 1900 or so usage declined as the standard of ordinary accommodation improved, and became virtually extinct after Word War 1. | |
| Findlay, Sir George (1829—1893) | 1864 — Appointed by the LNWR as General Goods Manager, based at Euston. 1874 —Succeeded Mr William Cawkell as Chief Traffic Manager for the LNWR. 1880 — Appointed General Manager of the LNWR. |
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| Fire Box | Literally a box containing the fire. It is surrounded by water on the top and all sides. The bottom is a grate with an ash pan below that. | |
| Fire-Doors | Used to close off the fire-hole, thus preventing flames blowing back in to the cab. The doors are usually hollow and allow a small amount of air into the firebox above the fire even when completely closed. |
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| Fire Hole | The fireman feeds coal/coke to the fire through the Fire Hole. | |
| Fire Irons | Grown-up fire pokers - long handled metal rods which come with a range of different ends to enable to fireman to keep the fire in tip-top condition while running, and to clear the firebox when disposing. |
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| Fireman | His job is to ensure that there is sufficient steam for the driver to operate the locomotive, at the same time achieving due economy in the consumption of both coal and water, and anticipating the requirement for steam in the light of the gradients and other features ahead. | |
| First Class | ?? See Passenger Class |
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| Fish Plate | A short length of flat steel that fits in the web at each end of a length of rail and is used to connect two rails together being bolted to the rails with four bolts, two at each rail end. | |
| Fish Truck | An open wagon for the conveyance of fish in boxes or barrels, NPCS rated, and often marshalled in passenger trains, particularly overnight trains. |
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| Fish Van | Normally NPCS rated, a covered and well-ventilated van intended for the conveyance of fish in boxes or barrels, often attached to passenger trains to obtain speedy transit. For obvious reasons unsuitable for use with any other commodity. Full brakes were occasionally pressed into service as fish vans; if they later were marshalled into a passenger train, the previous use was obvious for weeks afterwards. |
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| Fitter | A skilled mechanical engineer who ‘fitted’ parts together. These parts would be relatively small and requiring accuracy, such as mechanical components of a (steam, or internal combustion) engine rather than large sheet metal parts. | |
| Fixed Distant | A distant signal permanently fixed at caution, usually on a branch line when approaching a junction. |
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| Fixed-link Valve Gear | Another term for Gooch valve gear. |