Infrastructure Translator

Reconnections’ Miscellany: Infrastructure Translator – March 2022

On By In Long reads, Miscellany

Today on Reconnections:

Asset Management Hierarchy, in ascending order:

a. Run to failure
b. Corrective maintenance
c. Preventative maintenance
d. Condition-based maintenance
e. Predictive maintenance
f. Prescriptive maintenance
g. Foresight maintenance

There’s also percussive maintenance – the art of hitting something to get it working again.

Portmanteaux

A combination of two (or more) words and their definitions into a new word, the word portmanteau comes from the name of an early 20th century English luggage piece that opened into two halves.

  • anecdata – anecdotal data.
  • Bakerloo – Baker Street & Waterloo Railway (BS&WR). G H F Nichols, writing under the pseudonym ‘Quex’ in the early 1900’s London Evening News, coined the name ‘Bakerloo’, which proved so popular that in 1906 the railway adopted it.
  • BakerLew – Bakerloo’s planned south-east extension to Lewisham.
  • Becktroland – Extending the DLR past Beckton for a ‘Field of Dreams’ for the Build It and They (housing) Will Come effect. A play on the Metroland suburban development made possible by the Metropolitan Railway. See also this LR DLR post.
  • Bombatranz – Bombardier-Adtranz, when the former had acquired the latter tram building company.
  • bustitution – replacing train or Tube service with bus. In the worst cases, permanently. Not to be confused with being paid to take a bus.
  • chairdrobe – the bedroom chair upon which one puts one’s clothes.
  • planestitution – Replacing long distance train sleeper services with arguably less subsidised air travel. See the Caledonian Sleeper situation.
  • cargotecture – using shipping containers as buildings.
  • Chelney Line – Chelsea-Hackney tube/mainline proposal, Chelsea and Hackney through central London, and extending northeast and southwest. Now known as Crossrail 2/CR2/XR2.
  • Hacksea – Less popular portmanteau for the Chelney proposed line.
  • Romminster – The Romford-Upminster rail shuttle, now part of the Overground. Alternate name is Upminford.
  • Oxbridge – Oxford-Cambridge university hub. Also called the Varsity Line.
  • prosumer – half professional, half consumer, ie the dedicated amateur.
  • ideation – overly clever mashing of idea and creation, like Disney’s ‘imagineering’.
  • Wimbleware – the Wimbledon-Edgware Road District Line branch service that used to be run by C-Stock, in contrast to the D-Stock on the rest of the District. (Now all District branches are operated by S7 Stock).

You can’t make these terms up

  • EETPU – Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union
  • FOGWOFT – Friends of Greenwich and Woolwich Foot Tunnels
  • PENIS – Plessey Electronic Network Information Services (unironic name)
  • TWERPS – Tunbridge Wells & Eridge Railway Preservation Society
  • WOGLTRUB – Working Group on Local Transport/Trunk Roads Balance ministry unit
  • C*NT – Critical Update Notification Tool. Microsoft. In. 2002.
  • ARSE – Assistant Rolling Stock Engineer
  • OLE – Overhead Line Engineer

Vertical Transport

Whilst almost all transport covered in LR is horizontal in direxion, vertical transport is important but generally unnoticed, unless it is malfunctioning.

  • double decker lift – Mused increased capacity lift for Underground stations. Several such lifts have been built over the last century in buildings, but they are very rare.
  • funicular – inclined railway, usually on rack and pinion.
  • gondolas/cable cars/aerial trams/cableways – traditionally used to scale cliffs and mountains for sightseeing and skiing, the technology is being increasingly used as urban transport to bridge rivers and escarpments.
  • inclined lift – elevator that runs diagonally. Starting to be installed in TfL stations to provide accessibility to users with mobility and disability challenges. Also called angled lifts.
  • paternoster – an open-doored lift that’s on a loop which moves slowly and continually. The name comes from the first two words of the Lord’s Prayer in Latin, “paternoster”, meaning Our Father, as this device travels in a loop, similar to rosary beads in reciting prayers.

Trans-Atlantic Infrastructure Translator

Note the numerous faux amis:

UK – North America

  • pavement – sidewalk
  • road surface – pavement
  • terrace – townhouse
  • row house – townhouse
  • townhouse – three-floor property, usually terraced, where the ground floor includes an integral garage
  • garden – yard/backyard
  • first floor – second floor
  • ground floor – first floor
  • storey – story
  • Cadestre – Registry of Land Ownership
  • car park – parking lot
  • pick up & drop off (PUDO) – Kiss’N’Ride
  • kerb – curb
  • cul-de-sac – dead end
  • roundabout – traffic circle
  • central reserve – median
  • crossroads – 4-way stop
  • dual carriageway – divided highway
  • Sleeping Policeman – speed bump
  • Zebra crossing – crosswalk
  • cab/Black Cab – taxi
  • minicab / private hire taxi (there is only one type of taxi in North America, not including Uber/Lyft ‘rideshares’)
  • rail(way) station – train station
  • subway – pedestrian underpass
  • Underground – subway
  • dual carriageway – highway
  • shopping centre – mall
  • sleepers – ties
  • signalling – interlockings
  • passing loop – passing siding
  • slip road – on/off ramp
  • switching – shunting
  • switcher – shunter
  • coach – carriage

What is Level of Traffic Stress for cyclists?

Level of traffic stress (LTS) is a metric developed to assess the cycling suitability of roads and intersections. It classifies the road links and intersections into four categories LTS1-4 corresponding to cyclists with different skill levels and stress tolerance.

  • LTS1 means the road is safe and comfortable for most people including children.
  • LTS2 corresponds to the stress tolerance for the majority of adult population.
  • LTS3 for enthused and confident cyclists.
  • LTS4 strong and fearless cyclists.

The LTS is calculated based on the road type, the type or absence of cycling infrastructure, vehicle traffic speed and volume. The LTS of an intersection is based on the LTS of its intersecting roads and the presence of stop sign and traffic signals.

Previously on Reconnections’ Miscellany

Correct at the time of writing.

Check before you travel.
All Connections Matter.

–30–

49 comments

  1. On Geoff Marshall’s “I Rode the Brand New Elizabeth Line” he uses his Oyster card on the trip (“the first person ever!”) and it shows (at 8 minutes exactly) that the trip is from “Paddington El” to “Liverpool Street Bg”.

    The “El” is clearly Elizabeth [Line]. What’s “Bg”?

  2. AIUI a funicular is specifically a cable- or rope-hauled railway, as the etymology would imply. I have yet to find a better term than “mountain railway” to encompass untethered rack-and-pinion or similar systems.

  3. I think we should call a sloping lift a “shift”. Not quite a portmanteaux, but seems to work and be not already used.

  5. As per LMM’s comment above, a funicular is always rope-hauled and never rack and pinion. Funiculus = rope in latin

  6. No, a funicular is specifically a cable railway in which the cars are permanently attached to the cable, allowing their weight to be used for balancing purposes. Usually there are two cars, but occasionally one car and a balance weight.

  7. I believe the only public funiculars in London both have a single car and a balance weight, one in Greenford Station and one at the north end of the Millennium footbridge. The Liz infrastructure is of course not public yet.

  8. Corrections to the translator.

    crossroads – intersection (a 4-way stop is just a common type of intersection rarely if ever seen in Britain)
    minicab / private hire taxi – livery cab (these exist in at least New York and Chicago with similar rules i.e. no street hailing)

  10. The only 4-way stop that I am aware of in the UK is at Elgood Avenue / Gatehill Road in Northwood. These are both private roads. If they were public roads they presumably would have put a mini roundabout there.

  11. North America = ties, Europe, = sleepers (the wooden, concrete, steel or polymer components that keep the rails apart!)
    North America = interlockings, Europe, signalling. North American nomenclature, perhaps because, The could be long sections of track with no signalling at all.

  12. “Interlockings” has a British, separate meaning, usually referring to the safety-controls in an individual signal box or larger modern power box or an even bigger “ROC”
    An old-fashioned mechanical signal box’s interlocking would be the frame underneath the row of levers used to operate the signals & points … the meaning spread as the area of control did & was taken to mean the relays & now the logic-structures inside the equipment

  14. A recent UK addition to the list of cableways will be found in the connection between Luton Parkway railway station and its airport.

    A townhouse in UK terms usually refers to a three-floor property, usually terraced, where the ground floor includes an integral garage.

  15. In olden days, funiculars always had to be on a gradient in order for the counterbalance system to work. This isn’t the case any longer. As an example, the funicular from Bourg St Maurice to Les Arcs 1600 has a straight, flat section at the bottom of the long run. This means that the vehicles have a two cables connecting them together. One goes via the top station and one via the bottom. The bottom cable is much smaller in diameter than the top one because it only has to exert a pulling force on a vehicle that’s moving on the flat.

  16. There has long been misunderstandings about colloquial English and younger folk might not have heard of Gerard Hoffnung who had quite a lot of fun with this in his 1958 address to the Oxford Union. Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq-q6TcbHLE

    A “char” is an old fashioned term for a cleaning lady. “Compartments” were sections of railway carriages with an individual sliding door to each 6 or 8 seater section (still seen on heritage railways), and Metropolitan police stations used to display a blue lamp outside.

  19. A couple above where the dash seems to be in the wrong place

    subway – pedestrian underpass
    shopping centre – mall

    And the one that bugs all professional engineers

    train driver – engineer
    What do Americans call people with a professional qualification in engineering?

  20. Re asset management hierarchy, in the 90s I once had the chance to ask Gerald Corbett how much Railtrack spends on ‘repairs’. The answer was lengthy but included the phrase ‘failure maintenance’…

    @100andthirty – most German IC and ICE trains still have compartments, though the newest series don’t and future ones won’t

  22. Cadestre / registry of Land Ownership: these terms seem to be the wrong way round – ‘cadestre’ isn’t a British English word.

  23. I saw a Railway Age title “A Primer on Reciprocal Switching” and wondered what on earth it meant. Then I read the article. I’m still wondering!

    But:

    North America: Switching, UK: Shunting, and the locomotives: North America: Switcher, UK: Shunter.

    [Added, cheers! LBM]

  24. as for acronyms/TLAs I I think the Assistant Rolling Stock Engineer did sit next to the Overhead Line Engineer at one BR location at least. Does that count as portmanteau TLA?

    [Added, cheers! LBM]

  26. A crossroads is a crossroads on both sides of the pond. A 4-way-stop is a particular kind of crossroads in which traffic coming from all directions is presented with a stop sign and stop line and must come to a complete stop. I have come across these in numerous locations in the USA, particularly in the southern states, but I can’t think of any examples in the UK.

  27. Is Wimbleware a thing these days? The name originated on news:uk.transport.london when the service was run by C-Stock, in contrast to the D-Stock on the rest of the District. Now that both are run by S7 Stock, and the branch no longer appears on the Circle & Hammersmith car diagram judging by https://content.tfl.gov.uk/circle-line-cld-archive.pdf, I don’t see why Wimbleware would need a nickname any more than the Uxbridge branch of the Met would need a nickname.

  28. @ Timbeau

    “Engineer” meaning engine driver is a similar formation to charioteer or rocketeer, surely? Comes from the same route but is only coincidentally the same word as people who actually make stuff

  30. How about North America = Coach, UK = Carriage?

    [Good one! Added. LBM]

  31. Isn’t car used more in North America

    Funicular still doesn’t mean rack and pinion either

  32. From “British English A To Zed” Norman W. Schur, appendix E

    bumper guard – overrider
    cowl – scuttle
    dashboard – fascia panel
    door post – door pillar
    door stop – check strap
    door vent or vent – quarter light
    fender – wing
    firewall – bulkhead
    hood – bonnet
    license plate – number plate
    rear seat back or backrest – rear seat squab
    rocker panel – valance
    skirt – apron
    toe pan – toe board
    trunk – boot
    windshield- windscreen
    wheelhouse or housing – wheel arch

    parking brake – hand brake

    muffler – exhaust silencer
    side rail – side member

    back up light – reversing light
    dimmer switch – dip switch
    dome light – roof lamp
    gas pump or fuel pump – petrol pump
    generator – dynamo
    ignition wiring – ignition harness
    parking light – side light
    tail light – tail lamp or tail light
    spark plug – sparking-plug
    turn indicator, blinker – trafficator
    voltage regulator – control box

    carburetor – carburetter
    clutch throwout bearing – clutch release bearing
    engine block – cylinder block
    hose clamp -hose clip
    pan – sump
    piston or wrist pin – gudgeon pin
    rod (control) bearing – big-end

    axle shaft – half shaft
    drive shaft – propeller shaft
    grease fitting – grease nipple
    ring gear and pinion – crown wheel and pinion

    control arm – wishbone
    king pin – swivel pin
    pitman arm- drop arm
    steering idler – steering relay
    steering knuckle – stub axle
    tie bar or track bar – track rod

    antenna – aerial
    crank handle – starting handle
    lug wrench – box spanner
    wheel wrench – wheel brace
    wrench – spanner
    Transmission Parts – Gearbox Parts
    counter shaft – layshaft
    emergency brake – parking brake
    gear shift lever – gear lever
    output shaft – main shaft
    shift bar – selector rod
    transmission case – gearbox housing

    tire – tyre
    tread – track

  33. I just came across a new, US street phrase, but do not know what the equivalent UK term is:

    living end streets – streets that dead end… but only for cars: they allow bikes and pedestrians to permeate through.

    Anyone know?

  35. Correct that cadestre isn’t an English word – but cadastre is.

    Compartments don’t necessarily have an internal sliding door: on suburban trains there was generally no link between compartments (obsolete now, though).

    Correct that funiculars have to have cable haulage – so presumably the new Luton Airport link falls into that category.

  36. A funicular railway is characterised by two vehicles that counterbalance one another rather than independently. A counterbalanced weight can be used like a lift. Luton is two independent cable cars side by side. They can be used singly or as a pair in the same direction.

  37. Betterbee. I always took the view that there could be cable hauled guided transport that didn’t count as funiculars and those that do. The former are transit on (largely) the same level, and funiculars involve a change of height. As Luton Airport is somewhat higher in altitude than Luton Airport Parkway, then I’d agree that the new link counts as a funicular, albeit not on an Alpine scale!

  38. 130:: Where does this leave the San Fransisco cable trams – and indeed any cable trams. I would not myself call them funiculars.

  39. JimJordan. I’d put the SF system into a category of its own, but what do I know?!!!

  40. Funicular specifically means counterbalanced in some way, with gravity being the main motive force. Cable hauled systems with motors for power like Luton or SF are just that, cable-driven/hauled

  41. @LBM Cycling campaigners use “filtered permeability” for living end streets

  43. Two obsolete railway portmanteaus:

    BedPan – term for the pre-Thameslink Bedford-St Pancras service, not approved by BR but widely used locally
    Harlequin – Network SouthEast gave this name to the Watford DC lines, after a completion for schoolchildren to come up with a name. Usually cited as a portmanteau of HARLEsden and QUeeN’s Park, occasionally as a portmanteau of Harrow, WilLEsden and QUeen’s Park. Abandoned on privatisation, but with the Mayor’s election promise to give individual names to the Overground lines, maybe due a comeback?

    And a combined Portmanteau and transatlantic translation entry:

    Chunnel – Portmanteau term for the Channel Tunnel, beloved of Americans but not used in the UK

  44. As I remember it “Chunnel” was used in Britain during the construction period, but dropped out of use after the Eurotunnel and Eurostar brands were introduced.

  45. What the Americans call an engineer is presumably “engineer”, prefixed with one or more other words indicating what type of professional qualifications or skills they possess, or what type of work they specialise in.

    Since medieval times, the term “engine” has been used, in English at any rate, to describe all sorts of mechanical contrivances, eg siege engines, etc., which were constructed from integrated components intended to achieve some sort of action beyond the strength or power of mere flesh and blood. I thought I’d look online for a definition, and found the following posted in 1998, which seems pretty good to me:

    “Engine is from ‘ingenium’ which referred to one’s ability to create things, one’s native genius: it comes from a root meaning ‘create, beget’, from which we get words like genetic, and is also the source of ingenious and ingenuity (engineer derives from a related word)”

    Since one of the best known usages of the word over the last two centuries refers to the railway locomotive engine, I think the emergence among plain-speaking Americans of ‘engineer’ to describe someone who operates and controls a locomotive seems reasonable and logical to me.

    On the contentious subject of “train station”, which annoys me intensely – I’m not quite sure why, I think because it just sounds inelegant and chav-ish to me (yes, I’m an inverted snob), there seems to be a school of thought that in fact this didn’t originate in the US, where many folk still refer to a railroad or railway depot or station, but seems to have emerged in the UK as a result of lazy journalism, but it seems to be too widespread to do much about it now.

    Steve Boulding

    Member of Railfuture West Mids. Bch. Cttee., Dep. Chair of Shrewsbury-Chester RUA, volunteer on C&PRR, born and raised in Wimbledon Park alongside District and LSWR main lines, and retd. LT bus driver (and pedantic old git)

    Stanwardine, North Shropshire.

  46. On the contentious subject of “train station”, this didn’t originate in the US, where many folk still refer to a railroad or railway depot or station, but seems to have emerged in the UK but it seems to be too widespread to do much about it now.

    The post-war growth of motor-buses with stations often closely located for “integration” required directions and signage to differentiate between the bus and train.

  48. On portmanteaux I suppose the elegance and longevity of “Bakerloo” has led to many attempts to make as much of an impression on the travelling public. BEDPAN (mentioned above) and GOBLIN (Gospel Oak to Barking not mentioned so far) have had some stickability in their day. Oxbridge is an example which has been widely used in other contexts, and may or may not catch on for the reinstated railway route. I have my doubts about those such as “Romminster” which I have seen occasionally on this site and nowhere else (please tell me if I am mistaken).

    Reading Jackson and Croome’s “Rails Through the Clay” at the moment, I have come across some examples that fell by the wayside, in connection with work in the 1920s on what we now know as the Northern Line. Correspondents to The Times suggested such “monstrous tags” (the authors’ words) as: Edgmor Line, Medgeway, Mordenware Line and the Edgmorden Line. Unsurprsingly, they did not stick, though I expect the search continued for alternatives to “Hampstead and Highgate Line” and “City Railway”.

  49. @timbeau

    train driver – engineer
    What do Americans call people with a professional qualification in engineering?

    North Americans also call professional engineers ‘engineers’, with the ‘professional’ qualifier when there is ambiguity.

Comments are closed.