- Facing: A turnout is facing if it can select which way to diverge a train. Opposite of trailing.
- Fairlie: A type of articulated locomotive, typically (but not exclusively) with two boilers and connected fireboxes in a central cab.
- Fall plate: A heavy, hinged steel plate attached in a horizontal position to the rear of the locomotive footplate or front of a locomotive tender. When the tender is attached to its locomotive the plate is allowed to fall to cover the gap in the "floor" between the two units. The sliding edge is not fixed and has a smooth chamfer so as to avoid a trip hazard.
- Fallen flag (US): A railroad which is defunct, having either merged or discontinued operations.
- Feedwater heater: A device to preheat the water for a steam locomotive; improves efficiency.
- Feed valve: Also regulating valve; controls the amount of air pressure being channelled from the locomotive's main reservoir to the brake pipe, in accordance with the set pressure in the equalizing reservoir.
- Fettle, fettling: Making repairs to rail track, especially concerned with maintaining the drainage of the ballast, and the proper cant of the rail track and rails.
- Fiddle Yard: A concealed group of sidings used in model railways to provide more realistic operation in limited space.
- Firebox: In steam railroading, a firebox was a chamber in which a fire would produce sufficient heat to create steam once the hot gases from the firebox were carried into the adjacent boiler via tubes or flues.
- Fireman (also Stoker, Boilerman): A worker whose primary job is to shovel coal into the firebox and ensure that the boiler maintains sufficient steam pressure; a driver's assistant.
- Fishplate (UK), Joint bar (US): A metal plate that joins the ends of rails in jointed track.
- Flat: A wheel defect where the tread of a wheel has a flat spot and is no longer round; flats can be heard as regular clicking or banging noises when the wheel passes by. This is caused either by a locked bearing, or a brake that was not fully released before the car was moved, dragging the wheel without turning.
- Flatcar (US): A type of rolling stock, which can be a flat-bottomed car with no sides on which freight (including intermodal containers) can be stacked. A bulkhead is a flatcar with walls on the front and rear. A center-beam bulkhead is a bulkhead flatcar with an additional wall dividing one side of the flatcar from the other, but still without any sides. Flat wagon (UK).
- Flying junction, Flyover: A railway junction that has a track configuration in which merging or crossing railroad lines provide track connections with each other without requiring trains to cross over in front of opposing traffic.
- Flying switch: The practice of uncoupling a locomotive from a car in motion and running over a switch, whereupon an employee on the ground lines the switch to divert the car onto an adjacent track. Once commonplace, this practice is now strictly prohibited due to the high risk to life and property.
- Foamer (US): A colloquial term for a railfan, specifically one whose enthusiasm is excessive, "foaming at the mouth".
- Fouling point: The point of a switch turnout where a car or locomotive on one track will obstruct movement on the adjacent track.
- Four-Day Ray (slang, US): An employee who habitually marks off from duty on the fifth day of the work week.
- Four-foot: The part of the line between a pair of running rails. An abbreviation for four foot, eight-and-a-half-inches. Also see six-foot and ten-foot.
- Four-quadrant gate: A type of Boom barrier, see above.
- FRA: (US) The Federal Railroad Administration. This agency oversees rail operation regulations and safety requirements for U.S. freight, passenger and commuter rail operations.
- Flashing Rear-End Device (FRED) (US): A small marking device with a flashing red light mounted on the end of the train. FRED also monitors various train functions such as brake pipe pressure, motion and GPS location. A form of an electronic caboose. Also called an EOT (end of train) device.
- Free-mo: A type of modular layout in model railroading.
- Freight (US) Goods (UK): the product(s) in which are carried.
- Frog: (US) A casting with "X" shaped grooves used in switches and crossovers.
- Full service reduction: The maximum air pressure that can be exerted against brake pistons in a normal brake application. To increase pressure beyond this point, the brakes must be placed in emergency.
- Funnel: A Thomas the Tank Engine misnomer for a chimney] (UK) or smokestack (US), although it is also used in Australia (Victoria at least). Some early steam engines had a smokestack consisting of a straight vertical flue and a funnel-shaped top, probably leading to the use of "funnel" to describe the entire stack.
- Fusee: A pyrotechnic device similar to an automotive flare that is used for signalling.
- Fusible plug: A threaded plug, with a soft metal core, that is screwed into the crown plate of a firebox. If the water level gets too low the core melts and the noise of the escaping steam warns the enginemen.
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