- 0F
- 1F
- 2F
- 3F
- 4F
- 5F
- 6F
- 7F
- 8F
- 9F
- 0P
- 1P
- 2P
- 3P
- 4P
- 5P
- 6P
- 7P
- 8P
- 9P
- 0MT
- 1MT
- 2MT
- 3MT
- 4MT
- 5MT
- 6MT
- 7MT
- 8MT
- 9MT
- The British Railways system of classifying steam locomotives by power using a number from 0, least powerful, to 9, most powerful, followed by either F for freight, P for Passenger or MT for Mixed Traffic.
- 32xx
- A GWR 2251 Class 0-6-0 engine
- 36xx
- A GWR 5700 Class 0-6-0PT engine
- 55xx
- A GWR 4575 Class 2-6-2T engine
- 56xx
- A GWR 5600 Class 0-6-2T engine
- 57xx
- A GWR 5700 Class 0-6-0PT engine
- 74xx
- A GWR 7400 Class 0-6-0PT engine
- A.J.Hill
- Alfred John Hill, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Eastern Railway 1912-1922
- Armstrong
- Joseph Armstrong, Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent of the Great Western Railway 1864-1877
- ARPS
- Association of Railway Preservation Societies
- ATC
- Automatic Train Control, a form of limited cab signalling developed by the GWR in 1906, superseded by BR's Automatic Warning System
- Atlantic
- Locomotive with a 4-4-0 wheel configuration
- Austin
- John Austin GRA, renowned Bridgnorth-based member of The Guild of Railway Artists
- AWS
- Automatic Warning System, a form of limited cab signalling introduced in 1956
- B&MR
- Brecon & Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway
- Barry
- Woodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation.
- Beames
- Hewitt Pearson Montague Beames, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London and North Western Railway 1920-1922.
- Billinton
- Lawson Billinton, Locomotive Engineer of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway 1912-1923
- Blue Star
- An electro-magnetic form of multiple working equipment widely used by BR in first generation diesel locomotives and multiple units whereby multiple like-coded vehicles are capable of running under the control of one driver. A blue star coupling code is normally indicated on the front of the vehicle.
- BoT
- Board of Trade
- B.R.
- BR
- British Rail or British Railways
- B.R.C.W
- BRC&W
- BRCW
- Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company
- BRC
- Buckinghamshire Railway Centre
- BRUTE
- British Railways Utility Trolley Equipment, a wire caged trolley with a low floor developed by BR to replace existing luggage trucks and mail bag trolleys.
- BSC
- British Steel Corporation, or British Sugar Corporation
- Bulleid
- Oliver Vaughan Snell Bulleid, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Southern Railway 1937-1948
- C&W
- Carriage & Wagon
- CBS
- Community Benefit Society, a charitable body
- CBILS
- Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, a government backed loan scheme
- CFPS
- Class 40 Preservation Society
- Ch
- Chain. 22 yards or 1/80th of a mile
- chain
- chains
- As a unit of measurement, 22 yards or 1/80th of a mile
- Churchward
- George Jackson Churchward, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1902-1922
- Clark
- T. F. Clark, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Metropolitan Railway
- CME
- Chief Mechanical Engineer
- CNC
- Computer Numerical Control. A computer converts the design produced by Computer Aided Design software into numbers which are used to control the movement of the cutter.
- Collett
- Charles Benjamin Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1922-1941
- Composite
- Carriage having more than one class of seating, ie First and Third or latterly First and Standard.
- Conflat
- GWR telegraphic code signifying a flat wagon for containers
- DCMS
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport
- Dean
- William Dean, Chief Locomotive Engineer of the Great Western Railway 1977-1902
- Departmental
- Rolling stock used for the railway’s own functions (engineering etc.) rather than for general passenger or goods traffic.
- DMBS
- Driving Motor Brake Second
- DMCL
- Driving Motor Composite with lavatory
- DMU
- Diesel Multiple Unit
- Down
- In reference to the direction of travel means away from the major terminus (i.e. towards Bridgnorth on the present day SVR)
- Drummond
- Dugald Drummond, Locomotive Engineer, later Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London & South Western Railway 1895-1905
- DTCL
- Driving Trailer Composite with lavatory
- Dukedog
- A GWR 9000 Class 4-4-0 engine, rebuilt using earlier 3300 Class 'Bulldog' frame and 3252 Class 'Duke' boiler.
- ECS
- Empty Coaching Stock
- EE
- E.E.
- English Electric
- ELR
- Engineer's Line Reference, East Lancashire Railway
- E.M.D.
- Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc., an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives.
- ETH
- Electric Train Heating
- ETT
- Electric Train Token
- EWS
- English, Welsh & Scottish Railway, a rail freight company
- F.P.L
- FPL
- Facing Point Lock, equipment that physically locks points so that they cannot move.
- Fairburn
- Charles Edward Fairburn, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1944-1945
- FE
- Footplate Experience
- Fowler
- Henry Fowler, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Midland Railway 1909-1923, and of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1923-1933
- GBRf
- GB Railfreight, a main line rail freight operating company.
- GCR
- Great Central Railway
- GER
- Great Eastern Railway
- GNR
- Great Northern Railway
- GNS
- GNSR
- Great North of Scotland Railway
- GPO
- General Post Office
- GRC&W
- GRCW
- Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company
- Gresley
- Sir Nigel Gresley, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London & North Eastern Railway 1923-1941
- GUV
- General Utility Van, formerly used to transport mail and parcels
- GWR
- Great Western Railway
- GWS
- Great Western Society
- GWSR
- Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (Commonly known as the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway)
- Hawksworth
- Frederick Hawksworth, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1941-1948
- HLF
- Heritage Lottery Fund (National Lottery Heritage Fund from 2019)
- Holden
- Stephen Dewar Holden, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Eastern Railway 1908-1912
- Hot box
- A situation that occurs when an axle bearing overheats, causing damage to the axle box and the axle itself.
- Instanter
- A type of three link chain coupling with a special triangular-shaped middle link which provides sufficient slack for coupling, but when rotated through 90 degrees shortens the length of the chain, reducing the slack without the need to wind a screw.
- Internal User
- Rolling stock used for the railway’s internal purposes (stores etc.) at one fixed location.
- Ivatt
- Henry George Ivatt, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1946-1948. CME of BR (London Midland Region) 1948-1951
- Johnson
- Samuel Waite Johnson, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Midland Railway 1873-1903
- LBSCR
- LB&SCR
- London Brighton & South Coast Railway
- LCGB
- Locomotive Club of Great Britain
- lever lead
- lever leads
- The (usually brass) information panel on a point or signal lever informing the signalman which other levers need to be pulled to release that lever
- LIP
- L.I.P.
- Locomotive Inspection Point
- LMS
- London Midland & Scottish Railway
- LNER
- London & North Eastern Railway
- LNWR
- London & North Western Railway
- Loriot
- GWR telegraphic code signifying a machine truck
- L.P.O.
- Lost Property Office
- LRO
- Light Railway Order
- LSWR
- London & South Western Railway
- Macaw
- GWR telegraphic code signifying a timber truck
- Maunsell
- Richard Maunsell, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway from 1913-1923, and of the Southern Railway 1923-1937.
- McIntosh
- John Farquharson McIntosh, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Caledonian Railway 1895-1914
- Mica
- GWR telegraphic code signifying a meat van
- Mink
- GWR telegraphic code signifying a covered goods van
- Mogo
- GWR telegraphic code signifying a covered motor car wagon
- Mogul
- Locomotive with a 2-6-0 wheel configuration
- MOSI
- Museum Of Science & Industry
- MPD
- Motive Power Depot
- MR
- Midland Railway
- MSC
- Manpower Services Commission or Manchester Ship Canal
- M&SWJR
- Midland & South West Junction Railway
- NBI
- Notice Board Issue. The SVR's on-line method of circulating information to working members.
- NCB
- National Coal Board
- NER
- North Eastern Railway
- NHMF
- Trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund – see HLF
- NR
- Network Rail
- NRM
- National Railway Museum
- ORR
- Office of Rail and Road, formerly Office of Rail Regulation, the independent safety and economic regulator for Britain's railways which includes HM Railway Inspectorate
- OTMR
- On-Train Monitoring Recorder, a device similar in principle to the flight data recorder found on aircraft
- OW&W
- OWW
- Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
- P.W.
- P.Way
- PW
- Permanent Way
- Pacific
- Locomotive with a 4-6-2 wheel configuration
- Prairie
- Locomotive with a 2-6-2 wheel configuration
- PRISM
- The Preservation of Industrial and Scientific Material (PRISM) Fund, a source of charitable funding.
- PTR
- Port Talbot Railway & Docks Company
- R&H
- Ruston
- Ruston and Hornsby Ltd. of Lincoln, engineer and locomotive manufacturer acquired by English Electric in 1966. Also, Ruston-Bucyrus Ltd established in 1930 and jointly owned by Ruston and Hornsby and Bucyrus-Erie (US)
- Railtrack
- private sector owner of the national railway system from 1994 until 2002, created as part of the privatisation of British Rail. Succeeded by Network Rail
- Raven
- Sir Vincent Litchfield Raven, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the North Eastern Railway 1910-1922
- RCE
- Regional Civil Engineer(ing)
- Rexine
- an early form of vinyl used by the LNER for wall coverings in teak coaches
- Richard Deeley
- Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Midland Railway 1904-1909
- Riddles
- Robert Arthur "Robin" Riddles, Member of the Railway Executive for Mechanical and Electrical Engineering responsible for the design of the British Rail Standard Class locomotives
- RNAD
- Royal Naval Armaments Depot
- S&DJR
- Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway, jointly operated by the London and South Western and Midland Railways (later Southern and London Midland and Scottish Railways)
- S&HR
- Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway
- S&T
- Signals & Telegraph
- Sambron
- Sambron SA, a French manufacturer of telehandler-type forklifts used by the SVR for coaling
- SE&CR
- SECR
- South Eastern and Chatham Railway
- Siphon
- GWR telegraphic code signifying a milk van
- SMS:Safety Management System
- Snake
- GWR telegraphic code signifying a passenger brake van
- SR
- Southern Railway
- Stanier
- William Stanier, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1932-1944
- Super D
- An LNWR 0-8-0 goods engine
- SVR
- Severn Valley Railway
- SVRA
- Severn Valley Railway Association
- SVRS
- Severn Valley Railway Society
- TBSL
- Trailer Brake Second with lavatory
- Telford Steam Railway
- TSR
- Telford Horsehay Steam Trust Limited, a Charitable heritage railway located at Horsehay, Telford with proposals for running heritage trains into the Ironbridge Gorge and onto the former GWR Severn Valley branch.
- TMD
- Traction Maintenance Depot, also referred to as Diesel Depot
- Toad
- GWR telegraphic code signifying a goods brake van, which became the standard design's nickname
- Toadfit
- Telegraphic code signifying a vacuum brake fitted brake van
- TOPS
- Total Operations Processing System, an American computer system adopted by BR from the late 1960s to number and manage rolling stock.
- TPO
- Travelling Post Office
- TSL
- Trailer Second with lavatory
- TUCC
- Transport Users Consultative Committee
- Type 1
- The British Railways classification for diesel locomotives of up to 1000 bhp
- Type 2
- The British Railways classification for diesel locomotives of 1001 bhp to 1499 bhp
- Type 3
- The British Railways classification for diesel locomotives of 1500 bhp to 1999 bhp
- Type 4
- The British Railways classification for diesel locomotives of 2000 bhp to 2999 bhp
- Type 5
- The British Railways classification for diesel locomotives of 3000 bhp or more
- UIC
- Union Internationale des Chemins de fer (International Union of Railways)
- Up
- In reference to the direction of travel means towards the major terminus (i.e. towards Kidderminster on the present day SVR)
- VSOE
- Venice Simplon Orient Express
- Wainwright
- Harry Smith Wainwright, Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway 1899-1913
- Warwell
- Telegraphic code signifying an ex War Department Well Trolley
- WCR
- West Coast Railways
- Webb
- Francis Webb, Locomotive Superintendant/Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London and North Western Railway 1871-1903
- Weltrol
- Telegraphic code signifying a Well Trolley
- Whale
- George Whale, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London and North Western Railway 1903-1909
- Worsdell
- Thomas William Worsdell, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Eastern Railway 1881-1885 and North Eastern Railway 1885-1890
- WLA
- Western Locomotive Association Ltd.
- WMSP
- West Midlands Safari Park