; Baby Warship :
North British D6300 class locomotives, which used one diesel engine coupled to a hydraulic transmission, making them effectively half a
D600 Warship or
D800 Warship, each of which had two engines ; Bagpipes :
British Rail Class 33/1 locomotives, specifically those fitted for push-pull working with
4TC stock ; Basils : A nickname for the
British Rail Class 755 bi-mode / diesel multiple units. Named for the TV character
Basil Fawlty due to many teething problems on introduction. ; Bed pan : A name used for the service that used to operate between
Bedford and
London St. Pancras; this service has subsequently been replaced by cross-London service on the
Thameslink route. It is sometimes used when referring to the line from Bedford to St Pancras, and not any service in particular. ;
Black Five : A
LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0. Class of
steam locomotive built in the UK, named from their black 'mixed-traffic' livery and 'Class 5' power rating. ; Blood and Custard : The Crimson and Cream livery used on BR's coaches during the 1950s and 60s ; Bobby : A signaller. From
Robert Peel; originally, the railway police were responsible for signalling. ; Bodysnatcher :
British Rail Class 57 diesel-electric locomotives—made by transplanting a
General Motors reconditioned power unit and alternator into a
Class 47 bodyshell ;
Bogie -type freight car
bogie : The undercarriage assembly of rolling stock incorporating the
train wheels, suspension, brakes and, in powered units, the
traction motors ; Booking clerk : A member of staff at railway stations, employed to sell tickets to passengers, able to provide advice on ticketing and route options, and responsible for the daily accounts and auditing of the station ; Bone :
British Rail Class 58 diesel-electric locomotive—from the shape: the body is narrow with wide cabs. (Also called
egg timer.) Ironically, one of the final workings of this class was a railfan special called the Bone Breaker which ended in a bufferstop collision and a passenger breaking his leg. ;
Brake van : A heavy vehicle with powerful brakes which was attached to the rear of goods trains in the days when most wagons were not fitted with a continuous braking system. Its function was to supplement the locomotive's braking power in slowing and stopping the train and to keep the couplings uniformly tight by selective light braking to avoid snatching and breakages. It also conveyed the train guard, hence its alternative name of
"guards van". Partly analogous to
caboose and its synonyms. ; Bubble car : A
British Rail Class 121 or
122 single railcar. This name was later made official by
Chiltern Railways, the final company to have operated the 121 in mainline service. ;
Bullhead rail : A steel rail section commonly used in 60 ft lengths on almost all railway lines throughout Britain until c1950, which due to its shape must be supported in cast iron chairs that are screwed to the sleepers. It is still found on some London Underground lines, on secondary and preserved lines, and in yards. The rail has two heads (shaped somewhat like a vertical dumbbell) which led some people to assume that when one side became worn, the rail could be inverted and reinstalled for further service rather than being replaced (it can't, because the two heads are different sizes, and by the time the top became worn down sufficiently to fit in the chairs when the rail is inverted, both the top and the bottom of the rail would be too small for further use). == C ==