sectionman

English

Etymology

From section +‎ man.

Noun

sectionman (plural sectionmen)

1. (rail transport, US, Canada) a railroad worker who maintains and patrols the track.
   • 1916, Annual Report of the Public Utilities Commission, State of Maine, Sentinel Publishing Company [1]

     ... a sectionman was killed when his motor velocipede was struck by an extra freight on a curve; a sectionman was crushed between two cars when working on a track left unprotected; a sectionman was struck by a shifting engine; …

   • 1959, Steam's Finest Hour, edited by David P. Morgan, Kalmbach Publishing Co. (photo caption):

     Sectionmen step back to admire a T&P Texas in West Texas as the 2-10-4 comes charging up bad Baird Hill.

   • 2013, Canadian Folk: Portraits of Remarkable Lives‎^[2], by Peter Unwin, Dundum, →ISBN:

     Being on the engine when the engineer applied the brakes I asked why he was stopping and he said "there's a sectionman fighting with a wolf". So I backed up to the spot and the fireman and I jumped off with pick and shaker bar. I hit the wolf on the head with the pick and fireman Grier hit it with the shaker bar. This finished the wolf.

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