A physical sign or plate attached to the nose or smokebox of a locomotive to identify a named passenger train. While largely a historic practice from the era of flagship streamliners, they served as moving advertisements for the railroad's premium services and allowed passengers to easily identify their train at a busy platform.
Heard on the job
They dug the old Super Chief headboard out of storage for the museum run.
Insider tip
In North American railroading, headboards were less common than drumheads (which went on the rear observation car), but were still used on specific flagship runs.