Tie up
Tie up turns up in 2 fields: railroad, textiles. Here is what it means to the people in each one.
Tie up in railroad
To go off duty at the end of a trip or shift and record the final time.
Crews tie up when they finish their work, whether at the far terminal, at home or out on the line where they died on the law. The tie-up time starts the clock on mandatory rest and decides pay, so it is recorded to the minute and reported to crew management. Tied up at the away terminal means a hotel room and a wait before the trip home.
"We'll yard it on 3, cut away from the train and tie up at the depot, my rest starts at 2215."
Tie-up in textiles
The specific physical connection between the treadles and the harnesses on a floor loom.
In weaving, this refers to the configuration of cords or chains linking the foot pedals (treadles) to the shafts (harnesses). By pressing one treadle, the weaver raises or lowers a specific combination of shafts to create the shed. The tie-up dictates the structural pattern of the woven cloth, working in tandem with the threading and treadling sequence.
"I need to crawl under the loom and change the tie-up for a broken twill draft."