Model railway glossary
Every model railway and railroad term from parallel track to reversing loop — clearly explained, with schematic track-plan diagrams.
B
Baseboard
The baseboard is the layout's base surface on which track and scenery are built. In the Trackplanner you define its…
Benchwork
The benchwork carries the layout: frame, legs, risers, trackbeds. Rigid, warp-free benchwork prevents track distortion…
Buffer stop
The buffer stop ends a stub track: it prevents vehicles from rolling off the end of the rails. On the track plan a…
C
Clearance (loading gauge)
The clearance envelope is the space around the track that must stay free for vehicles to pass — sideways (tunnel walls,…
Close coupling (close coupler)
A close coupler keeps adjacent cars tight together on straight track but lets the gap open automatically in curves.…
Coupler (coupling)
The coupler joins vehicles into a train. Models use many systems (loop couplers, knuckle couplers, close couplers with…
Crest/sag
Crest and sag are the two shapes of a vertical transition in the height profile: the crest where a grade turns into the…
Crossing (diamond)
At a crossing two tracks intersect without any connection between them — there are no movable blades. Crossings come in…
Crossover
A crossover links two parallel tracks via two opposed turnouts so trains can change tracks. Two crossed crossovers in…
Curved track (curve)
A curve is a track section with a fixed radius and arc angle (e.g. 30°). Track systems offer several graded radii (R1,…
Curved turnout
The curved turnout lies entirely within a curve: both routes are curved (inner and outer curve). It allows junctions…
D
E
Easement (transition curve)
An easement mediates smoothly between straight and circular curve: curvature builds up gradually instead of starting…
Engine shed (roundhouse)
The engine shed is the locomotives' garage. The roundhouse arranges its shed tracks in a circle around a turntable —…
Era (epoch)
The eras (I to VI) divide railway history into periods — from the early private railways (era I) through the steam…
F
Facing and trailing points
Facing and trailing describe from which direction a train runs through a turnout. A facing move approaches from the…
Flex track
Flex track is bendable track (usually about 90 cm long) that can be shaped freely and cut to length. It fills gaps that…
Fouling point
The fouling point marks the spot at a turnout or crossing beyond which a vehicle standing on one track would foul the…
Frog
The frog is the point of a turnout or crossing where two rails intersect. Model turnouts come with live (polarised) or…
G
G scale (garden railway)
G (about 1:22.5 on 45 mm track) is the garden railway: weatherproof large-scale models for outdoor operation, robust…
Gauge 1
Gauge 1 (1:32, gauge 45 mm) is considered the premier league of model railways: large, heavy, elaborate models — some…
Gradient (grade)
The gradient states how steeply a track climbs — as a percentage (rise per run, e.g. 3% = 3 cm per 100 cm) or as a…
H
H0 scale (HO)
H0 ("half zero", 1:87, gauge 16.5 mm) is by far the most popular model railway scale — with a correspondingly huge…
Headshunt (shunting neck)
The headshunt is a stub track at the edge of a station or yard onto which the shunting locomotive draws groups of cars…
Helix
A helix carries the track in a spiral over several turns up or down — the most space-efficient way to connect levels…
I
L
Layout edge
The layout edge is the outer rim of the baseboard — the boundary between model and floor. It matters for planning…
Layout shape (rectangle, L, U)
The layout shape describes the footprint: the rectangular board is the classic, L and U shapes exploit walls and room…
Length over buffers (LOB)
The length over buffers is a vehicle's total length from buffer face to buffer face — the standard figure in…
Level (deck)
Levels stack the layout vertically: visible main level, staging yard below, perhaps a branch line above. Levels are…
Locomotive depot (motive power depot)
The locomotive depot is the home base of the engines: servicing, coaling, watering, storing. Typical elements:…
M
N
O
O scale (0 gauge)
O scale (1:45 in Europe, gauge 32 mm) was the standard size of the tinplate era; today it is a niche for highly…
OO gauge (British)
OO (1:76) runs on the same 16.5 mm track as H0, but the vehicles are slightly larger — the historically grown British…
Oval
The oval is the simplest closed track figure: two half circles joined by straights. Almost every starter set builds an…
Overhead line (catenary)
The overhead line feeds electric locomotives via the contact wire. On model railways it is usually modelled…
P
Parallel track
A parallel track runs at the fixed system spacing beside an existing track — as a second main line, a station track or…
Parts list (bill of materials)
The parts list (BOM) itemises every article of a track plan with quantities: each track piece, turnout and accessory.…
Passing siding (passing loop)
The passing siding lies parallel to the through main track and is connected by turnouts at both ends. A train can wait…
Point-to-point layout
On a point-to-point layout trains run from one terminal to the other (e.g. terminus to terminus) instead of in circles.…
R
Radius (nominal radius)
The radius of a curve is stated as the nominal radius, measured to the track centreline — that is how manufacturers…
Rail (rail profile)
The rail is the steel or nickel-silver profile the wheels run on. Model rails differ in profile height (given as a…
Rail joiner
Rail joiners are small metal or plastic clips that join the rail ends of two track sections mechanically and…
Reversing loop (balloon loop)
A reversing loop turns a track back onto itself in a 180° loop — the train returns onto the same track heading the…
Roadbed (ballasted track)
The roadbed is the ballast bed beneath the track. Roadbed track systems (e.g. Märklin C track, Roco geoLine, Kato…
Rolling stock
Rolling stock is the collective term for everything that runs on rails: locomotives, railcars, passenger and freight…
Runaround track
A runaround track lets the locomotive run around its own train and move to the other end — essential at a terminus and…
Running round (run-round)
Running round means moving the locomotive from one end of its train to the other — for example to pull an arriving…
S
S-curve
An S-curve forms where two curves of opposite direction meet directly, with no straight between them — the train is…
Scale (H0, N, TT, Z, G)
A scale (in German: Nenngröße) is a standardised model railway size class — it fixes the scale ratio and the track…
Scale ratio
The scale ratio is the reduction factor between the prototype and the model. In H0 (1:87), 1 cm on the layout…
Segment turntable (sector plate)
The segment turntable is the turntable's little sister: its bridge sweeps only a sector instead of the full circle. It…
Shunting (switching)
Shunting (US: switching) is moving individual vehicles and car groups outside normal train runs: spotting cars, making…
Siding (storage track)
A siding is connected by a turnout at one end only and ends at a buffer stop. Locomotives, cars or whole trains park…
Single slip switch
The single slip combines a crossing with one connecting route: in addition to crossing, exactly one connection between…
Sleeper (tie)
Sleepers (US: ties) are the cross members under the rails; they hold the gauge and transfer the load into the ground.…
Staging yard (hidden yard, fiddle yard)
The staging yard is a concealed storage yard — under the layout, behind the backdrop or on a lower level. Complete…
Station throat
The station throat is the turnout zone at a station entrance where the line fans out into the station tracks. Its…
Straight track
The straight section is the basic element of every track system and comes in several standard lengths that complement…
Stub-end track (dead-end track)
A stub-end track ends blind at a buffer stop — one entrance only. Stub tracks are the basic form of storage, loading…
Switch blade (point blade)
The switch blades are the two movable, tapered rails of a turnout. Depending on their position they lie against one or…
Switchback spur (sawtooth siding)
On a switchback (or sawtooth) spur a siding can only be reached by reversing: the train runs past the turnout, stops,…
T
Terminus (terminal station)
In a terminus all tracks end at buffer stops — trains run in forwards and leave backwards (or with the locomotive run…
Three-way turnout
The three-way turnout combines two turnouts in one piece of track: routes diverge both left and right, and the straight…
Through station
In a through station the line continues on both sides — trains stop and carry on in the same direction. The most common…
Track
Track is the railway's running surface: two rails held at a fixed distance (the gauge) by sleepers. Model track comes…
Track gauge
The track gauge is the distance between the inner faces of the two rails. The prototype standard gauge is 1435 mm (4 ft…
Track plan
The track plan is the scale drawing of a model railway layout seen from above: track, turnouts, baseboard, often…
Track spacing (parallel track distance)
Track spacing is the distance between the centrelines of two parallel tracks. Every track system has a standard spacing…
Track system
A track system is a manufacturer's coordinated track range with a fixed geometry grid: radii, lengths, turnout angles…
Trackbed (sub-roadbed)
The trackbed is the structural strip the track is laid on — on open line often a plywood strip on risers. The alignment…
Train consist
A consist is the fixed combination of locomotive(s) and cars that runs as one train. For planning, its total length is…
Train length
The train length is the total length of a consist (sum of the lengths over buffers). Rule of thumb for coherent…
Transfer table (traverser)
The transfer table moves vehicles sideways between parallel tracks — instead of rotating like a turntable, the bridge…
TT scale
TT (1:120, gauge 12 mm, "table top") sits between H0 and N: noticeably more layout on the same area than H0, while…
Tunnel
The tunnel takes the line concealed through the "mountain" — on model railways less a piece of scenery than an elegant…
Turnout (switch, points)
A turnout branches one track into two routes: the diverging track leaves the through track to the left or right, guided…
Turnout ladder
A turnout ladder (in German: Weichenstraße) is a run of several turnouts in sequence that distributes traffic across…
Turnout motor (switch machine)
The turnout motor throws the turnout remotely — solenoid, motor-driven or servo. Under-board motors disappear beneath…
Turntable
The turntable rotates locomotives on a bridge and distributes them onto radial tracks — classically in front of the…
Two-rail / three-rail (stud contact)
In two-rail systems (DC, e.g. Piko, Roco, Fleischmann) current flows through the two rails — polarity matters, hence…
U
V
W
Scales and Eras
Era (epoch)
The eras (I to VI) divide railway history into periods — from the early private railways (era I) through the steam…
G scale (garden railway)
G (about 1:22.5 on 45 mm track) is the garden railway: weatherproof large-scale models for outdoor operation, robust…
Gauge 1
Gauge 1 (1:32, gauge 45 mm) is considered the premier league of model railways: large, heavy, elaborate models — some…
H0 scale (HO)
H0 ("half zero", 1:87, gauge 16.5 mm) is by far the most popular model railway scale — with a correspondingly huge…
N scale
N (1:160, gauge 9 mm) is the second most popular scale: about half the size of H0 — the same layout fits on roughly a…
Narrow gauge (H0e, H0m)
Narrow-gauge railways use a smaller gauge than standard gauge on the prototype (e.g. 750 mm or metre gauge). In the…
O scale (0 gauge)
O scale (1:45 in Europe, gauge 32 mm) was the standard size of the tinplate era; today it is a niche for highly…
OO gauge (British)
OO (1:76) runs on the same 16.5 mm track as H0, but the vehicles are slightly larger — the historically grown British…
Scale (H0, N, TT, Z, G)
A scale (in German: Nenngröße) is a standardised model railway size class — it fixes the scale ratio and the track…
Scale ratio
The scale ratio is the reduction factor between the prototype and the model. In H0 (1:87), 1 cm on the layout…
Track gauge
The track gauge is the distance between the inner faces of the two rails. The prototype standard gauge is 1435 mm (4 ft…
TT scale
TT (1:120, gauge 12 mm, "table top") sits between H0 and N: noticeably more layout on the same area than H0, while…
Z scale
Z (1:220, gauge 6.5 mm) is the smallest series-produced scale, introduced by Märklin in 1972 as "mini-club". A complete…
Track Components and Geometry
Buffer stop
The buffer stop ends a stub track: it prevents vehicles from rolling off the end of the rails. On the track plan a…
Clearance (loading gauge)
The clearance envelope is the space around the track that must stay free for vehicles to pass — sideways (tunnel walls,…
Crest/sag
Crest and sag are the two shapes of a vertical transition in the height profile: the crest where a grade turns into the…
Curved track (curve)
A curve is a track section with a fixed radius and arc angle (e.g. 30°). Track systems offer several graded radii (R1,…
Easement (transition curve)
An easement mediates smoothly between straight and circular curve: curvature builds up gradually instead of starting…
Flex track
Flex track is bendable track (usually about 90 cm long) that can be shaped freely and cut to length. It fills gaps that…
Gradient (grade)
The gradient states how steeply a track climbs — as a percentage (rise per run, e.g. 3% = 3 cm per 100 cm) or as a…
Minimum radius
The minimum radius is the tightest radius a vehicle or a layout can handle. Manufacturers state a minimum radius for…
Radius (nominal radius)
The radius of a curve is stated as the nominal radius, measured to the track centreline — that is how manufacturers…
Rail (rail profile)
The rail is the steel or nickel-silver profile the wheels run on. Model rails differ in profile height (given as a…
Rail joiner
Rail joiners are small metal or plastic clips that join the rail ends of two track sections mechanically and…
Roadbed (ballasted track)
The roadbed is the ballast bed beneath the track. Roadbed track systems (e.g. Märklin C track, Roco geoLine, Kato…
S-curve
An S-curve forms where two curves of opposite direction meet directly, with no straight between them — the train is…
Sleeper (tie)
Sleepers (US: ties) are the cross members under the rails; they hold the gauge and transfer the load into the ground.…
Straight track
The straight section is the basic element of every track system and comes in several standard lengths that complement…
Track
Track is the railway's running surface: two rails held at a fixed distance (the gauge) by sleepers. Model track comes…
Track spacing (parallel track distance)
Track spacing is the distance between the centrelines of two parallel tracks. Every track system has a standard spacing…
Track system
A track system is a manufacturer's coordinated track range with a fixed geometry grid: radii, lengths, turnout angles…
Uncoupler track
An uncoupler track separates couplers at a defined spot — mechanically via a ramp or electromagnetically at the push of…
Vertical clearance (clearance height)
Vertical clearance (or clearance height) is the vertical gap between the railhead and whatever sits above it — the…
Vertical easement
A vertical easement is the rounded transition between two track sections of different slope — at the foot of a ramp (a…
Turnouts and Crossings
Crossing (diamond)
At a crossing two tracks intersect without any connection between them — there are no movable blades. Crossings come in…
Crossover
A crossover links two parallel tracks via two opposed turnouts so trains can change tracks. Two crossed crossovers in…
Curved turnout
The curved turnout lies entirely within a curve: both routes are curved (inner and outer curve). It allows junctions…
Double slip switch
The double slip combines a crossing with four pairs of switch blades: vehicles can cross both tracks and change between…
Facing and trailing points
Facing and trailing describe from which direction a train runs through a turnout. A facing move approaches from the…
Frog
The frog is the point of a turnout or crossing where two rails intersect. Model turnouts come with live (polarised) or…
Single slip switch
The single slip combines a crossing with one connecting route: in addition to crossing, exactly one connection between…
Switch blade (point blade)
The switch blades are the two movable, tapered rails of a turnout. Depending on their position they lie against one or…
Three-way turnout
The three-way turnout combines two turnouts in one piece of track: routes diverge both left and right, and the straight…
Turnout (switch, points)
A turnout branches one track into two routes: the diverging track leaves the through track to the left or right, guided…
Turnout ladder
A turnout ladder (in German: Weichenstraße) is a run of several turnouts in sequence that distributes traffic across…
Turnout motor (switch machine)
The turnout motor throws the turnout remotely — solenoid, motor-driven or servo. Under-board motors disappear beneath…
Wye turnout (Y turnout)
In a wye turnout (symmetrical turnout) both routes diverge symmetrically to left and right — there is no "straight"…
Yard ladder (track fan)
The yard ladder is the bundle of parallel tracks that grows out of a turnout ladder — like the strings of a harp (the…
Track Configurations and Layout Types
Dogbone (dumbbell)
The dogbone consists of two return loops at the ends, joined by a seemingly double-track section — from above the shape…
Engine shed (roundhouse)
The engine shed is the locomotives' garage. The roundhouse arranges its shed tracks in a circle around a turntable —…
Fouling point
The fouling point marks the spot at a turnout or crossing beyond which a vehicle standing on one track would foul the…
Headshunt (shunting neck)
The headshunt is a stub track at the edge of a station or yard onto which the shunting locomotive draws groups of cars…
Helix
A helix carries the track in a spiral over several turns up or down — the most space-efficient way to connect levels…
Industry spur (industrial siding)
An industry spur connects a "customer" — factory, loading street, freight shed, harbour — to the line or the station.…
Interchange track
An interchange track is where cars are handed over between the modelled layout and the "rest of the world" — the…
Locomotive depot (motive power depot)
The locomotive depot is the home base of the engines: servicing, coaling, watering, storing. Typical elements:…
Oval
The oval is the simplest closed track figure: two half circles joined by straights. Almost every starter set builds an…
Parallel track
A parallel track runs at the fixed system spacing beside an existing track — as a second main line, a station track or…
Passing siding (passing loop)
The passing siding lies parallel to the through main track and is connected by turnouts at both ends. A train can wait…
Point-to-point layout
On a point-to-point layout trains run from one terminal to the other (e.g. terminus to terminus) instead of in circles.…
Reversing loop (balloon loop)
A reversing loop turns a track back onto itself in a 180° loop — the train returns onto the same track heading the…
Runaround track
A runaround track lets the locomotive run around its own train and move to the other end — essential at a terminus and…
Segment turntable (sector plate)
The segment turntable is the turntable's little sister: its bridge sweeps only a sector instead of the full circle. It…
Siding (storage track)
A siding is connected by a turnout at one end only and ends at a buffer stop. Locomotives, cars or whole trains park…
Staging yard (hidden yard, fiddle yard)
The staging yard is a concealed storage yard — under the layout, behind the backdrop or on a lower level. Complete…
Station throat
The station throat is the turnout zone at a station entrance where the line fans out into the station tracks. Its…
Stub-end track (dead-end track)
A stub-end track ends blind at a buffer stop — one entrance only. Stub tracks are the basic form of storage, loading…
Switchback spur (sawtooth siding)
On a switchback (or sawtooth) spur a siding can only be reached by reversing: the train runs past the turnout, stops,…
Terminus (terminal station)
In a terminus all tracks end at buffer stops — trains run in forwards and leave backwards (or with the locomotive run…
Through station
In a through station the line continues on both sides — trains stop and carry on in the same direction. The most common…
Track plan
The track plan is the scale drawing of a model railway layout seen from above: track, turnouts, baseboard, often…
Transfer table (traverser)
The transfer table moves vehicles sideways between parallel tracks — instead of rotating like a turntable, the bridge…
Turntable
The turntable rotates locomotives on a bridge and distributes them onto radial tracks — classically in front of the…
Usable length
The usable length is the portion of a track actually available for trains — measured between the fouling points of the…
Wye (triangle junction)
A wye connects three lines via three turnouts into a triangle. Side effect: vehicles traversing the full triangle…
Layout Construction
Baseboard
The baseboard is the layout's base surface on which track and scenery are built. In the Trackplanner you define its…
Benchwork
The benchwork carries the layout: frame, legs, risers, trackbeds. Rigid, warp-free benchwork prevents track distortion…
Layout edge
The layout edge is the outer rim of the baseboard — the boundary between model and floor. It matters for planning…
Layout shape (rectangle, L, U)
The layout shape describes the footprint: the rectangular board is the classic, L and U shapes exploit walls and room…
Level (deck)
Levels stack the layout vertically: visible main level, staging yard below, perhaps a branch line above. Levels are…
Module / section
Modular and sectional construction split a layout into transportable pieces. Sections are custom pieces of one fixed…
Trackbed (sub-roadbed)
The trackbed is the structural strip the track is laid on — on open line often a plywood strip on risers. The alignment…
Tunnel
The tunnel takes the line concealed through the "mountain" — on model railways less a piece of scenery than an elegant…
Rolling Stock and Operation
Analogue and digital control (DC, DCC)
Under analogue control the track voltage controls all locomotives in a circuit together; several trains require…
Close coupling (close coupler)
A close coupler keeps adjacent cars tight together on straight track but lets the gap open automatically in curves.…
Coupler (coupling)
The coupler joins vehicles into a train. Models use many systems (loop couplers, knuckle couplers, close couplers with…
Length over buffers (LOB)
The length over buffers is a vehicle's total length from buffer face to buffer face — the standard figure in…
Overhead line (catenary)
The overhead line feeds electric locomotives via the contact wire. On model railways it is usually modelled…
Parts list (bill of materials)
The parts list (BOM) itemises every article of a track plan with quantities: each track piece, turnout and accessory.…
Rolling stock
Rolling stock is the collective term for everything that runs on rails: locomotives, railcars, passenger and freight…
Running round (run-round)
Running round means moving the locomotive from one end of its train to the other — for example to pull an arriving…
Shunting (switching)
Shunting (US: switching) is moving individual vehicles and car groups outside normal train runs: spotting cars, making…
Train consist
A consist is the fixed combination of locomotive(s) and cars that runs as one train. For planning, its total length is…
Train length
The train length is the total length of a consist (sum of the lengths over buffers). Rule of thumb for coherent…
Two-rail / three-rail (stud contact)
In two-rail systems (DC, e.g. Piko, Roco, Fleischmann) current flows through the two rails — polarity matters, hence…