pilot beam

English

Noun

pilot beam (plural pilot beams)

1. (rail transport, US) a transverse beam at the end of a locomotive which carries the pilot or cowcatcher.
   • 1959, Steam's Finest Hour, edited by David P. Morgan, Kalmbach Publishing Co. (photo caption):

     To comply with restrictive clearances this T-1-a mounts pumps, headlight and bell on the pilot beam and carries a squared-off sandbox and a naked Coffin feedwater heater.

   • 1979, A History of the American Locomotive: Its Development 1830-1880‎^[1], by John H. White, Courier Corporation, →ISBN:

     Pilot beams, however, the foremost cross-brace of the frame, continued to be made of wood until almost 1900.

Anagrams

• impotable