axle counter

noun

A safety device fitted to railway track which counts the axles in a train as it passes over it. A check is carried out when the train passes the next axle counter to make sure the train is still complete.

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Meanings

nounaxle counter (plural axle counters)

plural axle counters

  1. rail transportA safety device fitted to railway track which counts the axles in a train as it passes over it. A check is carried out when the train passes the next axle counter to make sure the train is still complete.
    1 more example

    Twenty-seven axle counters have been installed on the 49-mile East Suffolk Line, to improve level crossing safety and reduce waiting times at user-worked crossings. The Lowestoft-Ipswich line has 28 user-worked crossing/footpath level crossings where the signaller must give permission for people to cross. [...] Signallers use the axle counters to authorise users to cross at the user-worked crossings.

    2020 June 17, “Network News: Signalling upgrade in East Suffolk”, in Rail, page 21
Cite this entry
APA

axle counter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/axle%20counter

MLA

“axle counter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/axle%20counter. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “axle counter,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/axle%20counter.

Source: axle counter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.