Saturday Slanguage: Brass

Today we talk about a necessity to run the railroad, but exactly what most railroaders hope to avoid.  It is called the railroad brass, or sometimes the top brass.

I am not quite sure of the origin of this term, but it is used to describe railroad officials and company officers.  Typically it is a nickname used for some of the ones that are higher up on the corporate ladder.  Trainmasters, yardmasters, and road foremen are considered company officials, but usually they are not referred to as railroad brass.

Let's look at an example.  You might be working on the local switch job when you hear rumors of the business train coming to town.  On the BNSF, sometimes the business train is called the Silver Bullet, because all the cars are shiny stainless steel.  After you hear rumor of this, you would probably share the information with your engineer by telling him, "They're saying the Silver Bullet will be in town in an hour.  I guess we have some brass visiting today."  The engineer will probably respond with something like, "Oh, great.  Well keep busy and stay out of the depot until they're gone."

Typically when railroad officials make a visit, people try to stay away from them.  It is the easiest way to stay out of trouble.  Most railroaders fear that the officials are out to get them, and will find something they're doing wrong.  A lot of railroaders feel like the officials do not really know how a railroad runs, because most of them have never worked on a train or in railroad operations.  Most railroaders figure they do their desk jobs best, and they ought to just stay there.