headcode

plural headcodes

1. UKrail transportA code used to distinguish classes of train for the benefit of signalmen, formerly by using white oil lamps (or white discs) placed on brackets on the front of the locomotive. The various lamp positions defined the class of train.

   Another appendix elucidates the S.E.C.R. headcode system.

   1961 July, “New reading on railways: The Locomotives of the South Eastern & Chatham Railway, by D. L. Bradley”, in Trains Illustrated, page vii

   1 more example

   Gaining a new headcode, it is then rebranded as the 2103 Carmarthen-Fishguard Harbour - a place I'd never visited by rail.

   2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 59