I intend this to be a topic of conversation, not a provocation, but I am curious.... I see a consistent tendency of using British terminology in American operations. Some examples are: Signalman (Brit) vs Tower Operator or dispatcher (LIRR). "Stable" a train vs "Lay-up" (LIRR) Preparing a train for service is a "put-in" in my MTA experience. Any NEC specialists care to contribute? Again, I find my fellow drivers of all lands to be brothers and sisters on the rails, this is just about different conventions on different roads
I suppose because DTG is a British company there might be a tendency to slip into using some of the terms used "over here". It's fascinating how our common language deviates over time (and distance). I often wonder what the literal translation from the German terminology is. Is it the British or American words, or something different again. Here's a couple of others for your list. I'm sure I'll think of more. Points / Switches Shunting / Switching Actually creating a list might be useful. Especially for those that don't know some of the terms.
It amazes me how both countries speak common English yet so many words are different, pronounced different, etc.
Some translations from German can be fairly funny indeed. PZB. Punktförmige Zugbeeinflussung. "Point-shaped train interference." Point shaped meaning, only active at the physical point where one of the magnets is installed. As opposed to (the not yet implemented in TSW): LZB - Linienzugbeeinflussung, "linear train interference" active along the entire length of the track. Something else that wants to stop you of course, is the Sifa - Sicherheitsfahrschalter. "Fahrschalter" is a throttle selector, Sicherheit means safety (or security in other contexts) Hence, "Safety throttle lever." It's nothing of that sort from a technical standpoint, of course. And then there's the notorious BR of course - Baureihe. "manufacturing series", literally. Which is just our word for class, series, etc. Maybe I'll find a few more nice ones.
Tomaato, tomarrto. Although it can cause some confusion luckily we generally understand what each other means. I think I'll stick to PZB! But as I said it's interesting to see the direct translation. I suppose translations of technical systems/words into German also cause some humour.
Absolutely. Cab car comes to mind. "Kabinenwagen." Cabins? You mean compartments? It's not a ship mate, it's a... oh wait you refer to driver's cab. The brid... eh... the cockp... eh... Grrr just stop it already And for sake of completeness, we call it a Steuerwagen. "control car". A carriage from which the locomotive is controlled. Maybe I'll post a list/glossary of German railway vocabulary, as I wouldn't be surprised if TSW is many a railfan's first encounter with the intricacies of German railroading. Languages are just as much a hobby of mine as are trains, so that might actually be fun and a little useful at the same time.
The DVT just has luggage space (due to rules for high speed trains I think) but we do have the Driving Brake Standard Open (DBSO) that are converted from carriages and do have passenger spaces. Confusing!
Confusing? You won't say that once you saw Germany's carriage desegnation letters. DABpzfa767.0 anyone? :p
Thank you for adding more depth and humor to this topic, greatly appreciated I'm okay with the romance languages, but useless with German.
