Saturday Slanguage: Emergency Brake

There are a couple of slang terms that come to mind for emergency braking, whether intentional or not.  I know other railroads may use other terms, in addition to the ones I talk about.  Around here, the two most common terms for emergency braking are dynamite and plug.  They're used as verbs, and they mean "to put the train brakes in emergency."  The two words can be  used interchangeably.  Let me explain how they are used.

When someone tells you to plug the train, they are telling you to apply the emergency brakes.  For example, the Conductor might be having a hard time taking off a hand brake on a car.  One way to make it easier is to apply the brakes.  First, the Conductor may ask to "set 'em up," or apply the brakes.  If it is still stuck, the Conductor will usually ask the Engineer to plug the train, or put the brakes in emergency.  If the hand brakes are still stuck, then the Conductor will get a hammer and try to loosen the brake wheel up that way, but very often a brake application will free the hand brake.

In another scenario, the word dynamite might be used instead.  If there is a problem with the distributed power unit, on the end of the train, sometimes it will put the train in emergency.  If the dispatcher asks what the delay is in getting ready to go, someone would have to explain that the DP is having problems and keeps dynamiting the train.Usually that lets the dispatcher know it may be a little while before that train can get going.

*Note that other railroads and other locations have other terms for emergency braking besides the ones above.