Track inspectors, signal maintainers and supervisors use hi-rail trucks to get onto the railroad at a crossing, drop the guide wheels and run along the rails to inspect or work. A hi-rail on the main needs track authority just like a train, and it cannot be counted on to shunt track circuits, so some signal systems never see it. The word works as a verb too: to hi-rail a territory is to inspect it from one of these trucks.
Track inspector's hi-railing ahead of you on his own warrant, he'll be clear at the crossing at Elm in ten minutes.
Also heard as
- hy-rail
- hi-rail truck
Related terms
MOW
Maintenance of way: the department and crews that build and maintain track, bridges and roadbed.
Track warrant
A written authority from the dispatcher, copied by radio, that lets a train occupy a set stretch of main track.
Gandy dancer
A railroad track worker, especially one on a section or tie gang doing hands-on track work.
CTC
Centralized traffic control: signals and switches controlled remotely by a dispatcher who routes every train.