Airbrush

Miniature paint sprayer. Uses compressed air to spray thinned paint.

Backdrop

Painted or photographic back ground for a layout.

Ballast

Crushed rock placed between the ties on real railroads to keep the ties from moving. Also drains water off. See trackwork.

Balsa

A very lightweight wood that is easily cut.

Benchwork

Frame that makes up the foundation of a train layout.

Block

Electrically isolated section of track, used for multi train operation, signaling systems, or to avoid short circuits. See wiring.

Bolster

Part of a railroad car body underneath that connects the truck's pivot to the body. Also refers to the cross members. On trucks, the piece between the side frames.

Branch

A short section of track that diverges from the mainline to serve a town or industry.

Bumper

At the end of a spur or branch line to keep cars from running over the edge.

CA (Cyanoacrylate)

"Super Glue." Bonds metal and plastic. See Structures.

Cab control

One power pack per train, running on blocks, so each train is controlled individually. See wiring.

Casting

Process for duplicating parts.

Catenary

Overhead wires for electrical locomotives.

Code

Height of rail in thousandths of an inch. Code 83 rail is .083" tall. See Choosing and buying.

Command control

Sends signals through the rails, decoded by locomotives. On the same tracks, but running independent of one another.

Consist

List of cars that make up a train.

Craze

When glues ruin the surface of uncompatible plastic.

Crossover

Two parallel turnouts that allow a train to move from one track to the other.

Cut

A string of cars, OR a chunk taken out of a hillside. (see 'fill')

Dry brushing

Very little paint of the tip of a brush used to highlight details when weathering.

Duckunder

Bend down under some benchwork to get to another area of the layout.

Epoxy

A two part glue. See Structures

Fascia

Boards for decoration on the front of a layout.

Fiddle yard

Hidden tracks where you can move cars around, often by hand.

Fill

Add in dirt or 'fill' to bring a grade up to level.

Flash

Thin pieces of plastic or metal left on a casting.

Flextrack

Flexible, when you lay them, pieces of track. Rigid when nailed down.

Free-lance

Make up your own design.

Frog

The point where the track's rails cross the turnout's rails in a switch.

Gauge

Distance between the rails. Prototype in America is 4' 8.5" See Introduction.

Gondola

Long, short open topped car for hauling steel and scrap metals.

Grab iron (Grab)

Handles on the sides of cars or equipment.

Grade

Angle or rise or fall of tracks as they follow the land.

Grain

The direction in wood of the fibers.

Ground Foam

Synthetic rubber ground and dyed to resemble ground cover.

Hardshell

Making scenery, like mountains and hills, using plaster dipped paper towels. Laid over a light frame. See scenery.

Helix

A spiral of tracks, raising or lowering. Used on multilevel layouts.

Helper

Additional locomotive used to help a train get over a difficult or steep spot.

Hostler

Person that switches cars around.

Homasote

Paperboard often used for roadbed.

Hopper car

Open top car, tall sides. Coal and gravel, emptied through chutes at the base.

Intermodal

Shipments combining more than one method of transportation, such as carrying tracter-trailers on the rails, and then switching them to ships, and then back to the trucks.

Interurban

Self-propelled trains in cities, such as a trolley.

Journal

Load bearing part of an axle that rides in the support bearing or sideframe.

Kingpin

Pivot point of a truck that connects it to the bolster.

Kitbashing (Kitmingling)

Mixing parts of kits to make your own creation.

Main line

Portion where travel is heaviest.

Module

A section built to dimensions and standards, to be included with other modules in a large layout. N-Trak is one.

MOW Maintenance of Way

Used by railroads to maintain the tracks.

NMRA

National Model Railroad Association NMRA.ORG

Narrow gauge

Rails spaced smaller than standard gauge; often used in mines and logging areas.

Operation

Running model trains to simulate the prototype. See operation.

Points

Portions of a turnout or switch that move.

Prototype

The actual, real life, full-sized object that is modeled.

Rail joiner

A part of folded metal used to connect a butt joint between two rails.

Reefer

Refrigerator box car used to haul foods. No air conditioner or ice.

Resin

Material used for casting.

Roadbed

Foundations of tracks. See trackwork.

Rolling stock

The cars on a train.

Scale

Proportion to the prototype a model is built. See introduction.

Scratchbuilding

Not using kits to build models.

Scribe

Score a cut, not all the way through.

Solder

Metal that melts at low temperatures. Joins brass model pieces, and electrical wires.

Styrene (Polystyrene)

Versatile plastic used in modeling. Many sizes and shapes. Metallic sound when struck.

Superelevation

Banking tracks on a curve to allow for higher speeds.

Switch

A track that allows trains to swap routes. See trackwork.

Talgo trucks

Often on toy trains, couplers attached on the trucks. Allows for tighter curves, but prone to derailments when backed up.

Tender

Carries fuel and water for steam engines.

Throat

Point in a yard where all the tracks converge or diverge.

Traction

Electrically run trains in cities.

Truck

Wheel assembly a train car rides on.

Turnout

Allows movement from one track to another. Modeler's term for switch, so as not to confuse it with an electrical switch.

Weathering

Simulating years of abuse on models by washing them in chalks, etc. See details.

Wye

A turnout or switch track that curves both left and right.

Yard

A group of tracks where trains are sorted out, staged, and then recombined.

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