A qualified railroad employee who boards a locomotive to direct the engineer through territory where the engineer lacks route qualification, or where normal signaling is out of service. The pilotman holds the physical authority or knowledge required to move the train safely, ensuring compliance with local speed restrictions and temporary track conditions.
Heard on the job
We lost our signal system through the work zone, so they're sending a pilotman out to talk us through the single track.
Also heard as
- pilot