The following pages are provided to guide people who are not familiar with steam locomotive terminology.  The list is by no means complete and will be added to in the future.  Contributions from readers will be welcome.

• Thermal Efficiency
• Power and Indicator Diagrams
• Power-to-Weight Ratio
• Specific Steam Consumption
• The Grate Limit and Boiler Efficiency
  
• Front End Limit
• Tractive Effort
• Adhesion
• Resistance
• Simple/Compound
• Motion
• Valves, Valve Gear etc
• Snifting, Drifting, Bypass and Herdner Valves
  
• Hammer Blow
• Combustion Air (still to be written)
• Superheating
• Steam Chest
• Clearance Volume
• Condensation/Wall Effects
• Triangular Losses
• Incomplete Expansion
• Exhausts
• Brakes
  

Anyone who is not familiar with the basic workings of the steam locomotive is recommended to read "How a Steam Locomotive Works" by Dominic Wells, published by Ian Allan in 2010.   Information about this excellent book can be found on Dominic's page of this website.