A slang name for a freight train, built on the bang and clatter of loose cars and slack running in and out. Freight hoppers talk about catching a rattler, and the word turns up in railroad songs, crew room stories and old-head talk, where it adds a little color. A fast rattler is a hot freight; a slow one is just a drag.
Old head in the beanery says he rode rattlers all over the West before he ever hired out as a brakie.
Also heard as
- freight
Related terms
Drag
A slow, heavy, low-priority freight train, often of bulk loads or empties.
Boomer
A railroader who drifts from railroad to railroad, hiring on wherever the work is good.
Old head
A veteran railroader with long seniority, respected for knowledge and sometimes resented for it.
Hotshot
A high-priority train on a tight schedule that dispatchers move ahead of almost everything else.