- H-Spoke Wheel
- A railway wheel in which the shape of the spokes resembles a letter ‘H’ in cross-section. On the LNWR these were made of cast iron (rather than cast steel) and used extensively on goods engines which travelled at slow speed. Other railways adopted similar wheels, including the NLR and the GWR.
- HO Gauge
- See Model Gauges
 .
- Home Signal
- A signal capable of displaying the indication “On” (danger), or “Off” (clear), generally in the rear of a station or signal box. A home signal may be cautiously passed when at danger when permitted by a calling-on signal. The arms of home (and starter) signals were (and still are) red with a white band on the front, and white with a black band on the rear; they show a red light at “on” (danger).
- Hopper wagon
- Mineral wagon with a hopper-shaped interior and fitted with bottom discharge doors only. Such a vehicle could only discharge its load at certain specific locations, usually a port or iron/steel works.
- Horn Blocks
- Inverted U-shaped blocks which are attached to cut outs in the side of a frame, and into which axle-boxes fit are free to slide up and down.
- Horn Cheeks
- The sliding surfaces of horn blocks.
- Horn Guides
- See Horn Plates.
- Horn Plates
- The thick plates bolted to the solebars of a carriage or wagon which guide or restrain the axle boxes, permitting vertical movement. Often called a “W” iron on a goods wagon.
- Horn Stay
- A removable stay which closes the gap at the bottom of a horn block between the horn cheeks.
- Horse
- It is hard nowadays to appreciate the ubiquity and importance of horses before WW1. They were the prime movers for all forms of road transport, ranging from gentlemen’s carriages to farm carts. Large numbers existed for individual riding, hunting, racing and breeding. The railways themselves owned many thousands used for cartage, and also for omnibuses and shunting rail wagons. In 1910 the LNWR owned nearly 6,000 horses, or roughly twice the number of locomotives. They typically cost around £60 to buy and had a working life of some 5-6 years before being sold on for less-demanding duties for around £20. Horses were constantly being bought, sold and transferred from one location to another, which usually involved a rail journey in a horsebox. Draught horses were of course increasingly superseded by motor vehicles, and disappeared from the roads by the mid-1950s, although the last shunting horse survived until 1967.
- Horse and Carriage (H&C)
- A timetabled train which originally conveyed horses, carriages and their attendants, although in later years this broadened to include most forms of NPCS, and also empty stock. The “Horse and Carriage” train was still so called into the 1960s
- Horsebox
- Small vehicle, normally NPCS rated, fitted out with stalls for the conveyance of horses (commonly three per horsebox), and with additional compartments for fodder/tack and groom(s). The LNWR owned over 700 vehicles. Before 1914 horse and carriage traffic was so important that, except for the main expresses, arrangements could be made for horse boxes and carriage trucks to be attached to a passenger train at any station at which the train called.
- Hot Box
- An overheated axle box. Usually the result of insufficient lubrication, or excessive speed.
- H.R.A.
- Heritage Railway Association (previously Association of Independent Railway Preservation Societies)
- Hughes, George (1865—1945)
- Chief Mechanical Engineer from 1904 to 1921 for the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway , also for the London North Western Railway from 1921–1922 and the London, Midland & Scottish Railway from 1923 to 1925.
- Hunting train
- A train run to convey horsemen, horses and attendants, to hunts; they were not special trains, as the days and places of meets were pre-arranged.
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