page_title: Glossary of North American railway terms
section_title: C
hierarchical_section_title: Glossary of North American railway terms / C
context_page_description: This page contains a list of terms, jargon, and slang used to varying degrees by railfans and railroad employees in the United States and Canada. Although not exhaustive, many of the entries in this list appear from time to time in specialist, rail-related publications. Inclusion of a term in this list does not necessarily imply its universal adoption by all railfans and railroad employees, and there may be significant regional variation in usage.
context_section_description: Cab car (US)
  A passenger coach which has a full set of train controls at one end, allowing for the use of push-pull train operation
  Cab unit (US)
  A locomotive which derives its structural strength from a bridge-truss design framework in the sides and roof, which cover the full width of the locomotive
  Cabbage
  Former EMD F40PH locomotives with the diesel engine removed, and a roll-up baggage door installed in the center of the carbody; used as cab/baggage cars in Amtrak push-pull service. Portmanteau of 'cab' and 'baggage'.
  Cadillac
  A nickname for EMD SD9 locomotives, in reference to their smooth ride quality reminiscent of a Cadillac automobile. This nickname is said to have originated on the Southern Pacific Railroad.
  Calf
  A cabless switcher
  Can Opener
  Conrail's herald
  Car knocker
  Railroad car repair-person or car inspector. The term is derived from a worker who taps or "knocks" on railroad equipment to check its soundness.
  Catfish
  Norfolk Southern locomotives with white stripes painted on the nose, which are said to look like catfish whiskers
  Centennials
  Union Pacific's EMD DDA40X locomotives. World's most powerful diesel locomotives, delivered in 1969, the year of Union Pacific's centennial.
  Centipede
  A nickname given to a 12-axled Baldwin diesel locomotive. Also a tender (as on a steam engine) with seven axles (two axles in a truck, followed by five fixed axles).
  Centralized traffic control (CTC) (US)
  A system in which signals and switches for a given area of track are controlled from a centralized location
  Cherry
  Red colored signal aspects (lights) when mixed with other colors of a signal aspect (e.g. "Two cherries and a lemon" would denote a Red over Red over Yellow aspect colors)
  Ches-C
  Chessie System's kitten logo; the profile of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway's sleeping kitten mascot Chessie appears inside the corporate C logo
  Cinder dick
  Railroad police detective. The term is derived from the fact that railroad police have to walk on ballast, which is sometimes known as "cinders" (before dieselization, many railroads used spent steam locomotive cinders for ballast)
  Circus loading
  Loading trailers on flatcars sequentially from the end; the standard method of loading in early piggyback service
  Coal drag
  A train loaded with coal
  Coal jimmy
  A small, low-capacity hopper car for carrying coal
  Codebreak/Codebreaking
  Changing the front destination signs on buses or trains, sometimes including rollsign changes.
  Coffin car
  A nickname for a passenger car with an engineer's cab. Also known as a cab car or control car. So named due to the alleged additional danger posed to passengers in such cars (which are pushed by the heavier trailing locomotive) in frontal collisions.
  Color position light (CPL)
  A type of signal used most prominently by the Baltimore & Ohio and the Norfolk & Western railroads
  Conductor (US)
  The person in charge of a train and its crew. On passenger trains, a conductor is also responsible for tasks such as assisting passengers and collecting tickets.
  Consist
  The group of rail vehicles making up a train, or more commonly a group of locomotives connected together for multiple-unit (MU) operation
  Control point (CP) (US)
  An interlocking, or the location of a track signal or other marker with which dispatchers can specify when controlling trains
  Cornfield meet (US)
  A head-on collision between two trains
  Coupler (US)
   The mechanical connector at either end of a railroad car allowing it to couple together with other cars to form a train
  Covered wagon
  An EMD E-unit or F-unit locomotive
  Cow
  A switcher locomotive, when paired with a calf
  Cowl unit (US)
   A locomotive for which structural strength comes from the underframe instead of the sides and roof
  Critter
  A small industrial locomotive
  Cross-tie (US)
  See Railroad tie
  Crummy
  A caboose
  Cut (US)
  A set of cars coupled together
caption: An EMD TR1, one of several models of cow-calf locomotives
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