This nickname was given to the crew member responsible for maintaining boiler pressure on a steam locomotive. The job required standing inches from the open firebox door, exposing the worker's face and head to intense radiant heat. While the role vanished with the transition to diesel power, the term survives in railroad lore.
Heard on the job
My grandfather hired on as a bakehead in the twenties, shoveling ten tons of coal a shift over the mountain division.
Also heard as
- tallowpot
- ashcat