Saturday Slanguage: Go in the Hole

Today's phrase has a couple of meanings, although none of them have anything to do with going underground.  Every day, train crews "go in the hole," although regardless of the definition, it is never looked upon as a particularly exciting event.

Go in the Hole:
1. To bring a train into a siding, usually to wait for meeting an opposing trains.
2. Use the bathroom.

In the first definition, going in the hole is a slang term for taking a siding in a meet.  You will not usually hear the dispatcher instruct a crew to go in the hole, but if crews talk about their run, they might tell you something like, "When we got to Marsh, the dispatcher wanted us to go in the hole to meet five!  Why can't they plan their meets better?!"

The second definition refers to the locomotive bathrooms.  They are small and cramped, and most train crews use them only when absolutely necessary.  They are pretty bare bones as well.  The bathroom is located in the nose of the locomotive.  They have a toilet, which is just a stainless steel holding tank really.  There is no toilet paper, sink, mirror, or any other amenities one might expect in a bathroom.  Toilet paper comes in shrink wrapped "crew packs," which also include a couple paper towels, trash bag, motion sickness bag, and hand sanitizer.  The bathroom is so small that only fairly small in skinny people can turn around.  The ceiling is low, meaning anyone over about five feet tall has to stoop when in there.  The entire floor space in the bathroom is about four square feet.  Most guys prefer to wait until the train stops, and then step outside and use the bathroom in the great outdoors.  There's a little more space there.

In the second situation, your Engineer might say, "I gotta go in the hole, watch the alerter for me."  He is just telling you he has to use the bathroom, and to push the alerter button if it goes off before he gets back.