Glossary of North American Railway Terms - H

H

• Hammerhead: A GE locomotive with "winged" radiators, when running long hood forward. Also a nickname given to certain early ALCO roadswitchers with a high nose.

• High Ball: Another term for a clear signal, derived from the days of steam where a station operator would hoist a large wooden ball up a scaffold, signalling the engineer he was authorized to proceed.

• Hog Law: The federal hours-of-service law that forbids certain classes of railroad employees, including those operating trains, from working longer than a certain time after reporting for duty. Currently 12 hours.

• Hogger: locomotive engineer.

• Honorary Steam Engine: Common term for Alco diesel locomotives, due to their tendency to blow clouds of black smoke when throttling up, due to turbo lag.

• Horsehead: Norfolk Southern's current locomotive livery with a horse's head embedded in the NS Logo (sometimes also called 'Mr. Ed').

• Hot box: Overheated wheel bearing. This comes from the era before the widespread use of roller bearings where the ends of an axle rested in solid copper bearings housed in a journal box filled with oil soaked cotton waste. An overheated axle led to a hot journal box that often ignited the oiled waste. The term is used to refer to a railway wheel bearing that has over-heated due to internal friction caused by some fault in the bearing.