Glossary of Terms

[The_Ghan]

Hey Admin,

Is there a glossary of terms anywhere on this forum?

Cheers

The_Ghan

[KenS]

If there is, I've never seen it.  We don't even have a FAQ.

It's a good idea though, and you could probably create one in the wiki. Although I've never been able to figure out how to find things in the wiki, so that might not help anyone.

[miyakoji]

http://wiki.jnsforum.com/wiki/Glossary

Got it started.  Great idea Ghan, lots of words I don't know so I went to wikipedia to check English pages and then clicked through to the Japanese.  It's a wiki, have at it!

[miyakoji]

One obvious problem is variations in terminology between English-speaking countries, and maybe even differences within countries.

Something interesting: I did a search on 鉄道用語 (tetsudou yougo, railway terminology) and found this, http://yougo.rtri.or.jp/dic/ , a very handy site hosted by RTRI, the Railway Technical Research Institute.  At the bottom there appears to be a hardcover edition for 23100 yen!  What is that like $3500 these days? 

[The_Ghan]

Hey Miyakoji,

Great start to the Glossary.  Just a few points that would make it easier for me:

1. Add Katakana.  Manufacturers, such as Tomix, use the Katakana characters to describe replacement parts such as ka-pu-raaa;

2. Add replacement manufacturer parts generally, it is hard for some of us to read them in the catalogues;

3. General description of railway parts, lingo, etc.  Eg:  What is a Scharfenberg coupler? (until very recently, I didn't know!  I just ordered the Tomix TN couplers and thought that type of connection was called TN!!!)  What is a Consist, turn-out (we don't use this term in Australia), points (we use this term instead), terms used for the position a set of poinst is in (open, closed, thrown, ... whatever!) ... I could go on!

4. How signalling works - on shinkansen, subway, suburban, etc.

Cheers

The_Ghan

Great start!

[marknewton]

3. General description of railway parts, lingo, etc.  Eg:  What is a Scharfenberg coupler?

A coupler that incorporates automatic air and electrical connections for multiple-unit working, and that can be uncoupled remotely from the cab. A lot of the couplers used on Japanese MU stock are incorrectly described as Scharfenbergs, when they are in fact Sumitomo couplers.

What is a turn-out (we don't use this term in Australia)...

Sorry, but we do.

terms used for the position a set of poinst is in (open, closed, thrown, ... whatever!)

Normal and reversed.

Mark.

[keitaro]

i use mixed since everyone has a variant for switch/turnout/points

[The_Ghan]

er ... the point is to get the terms into a glossary.   

Cheers

The_Ghan

[CaptOblivious]

This glossary is a good idea, and I think a great use of the wiki. I'd still like to get a FAQ going there too....