gateman

English

Etymology

From gate +‎ -man.

Noun

gateman (plural gatemen)

  1. A gatekeeper; a person who guards a gate.
    • 1951 January, “The Inner Circle and its Rolling Stock”, in Railway Magazine, page 59:
      The cars built before 1913 had clerestory roofs, after the American style, and also were provided with gates and end vestibule platforms requiring gatemen.
    • 1959 April, C. R. Clinker and R. A. Dane, “The Railways of Peterborough”, in Railway Magazine, page 230:
      The crossing caused serious congestion with long traffic hold-ups, and had been a bone of contention between the local authorities and the railway for over eighty years. It was controlled from Fletton Road Junction Signalbox (removed at the same time) and, until a wheel was installed in 1920, required two gatemen on each turn of duty.
    • 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 147:
      The carriages - or cars - had gated platforms at the end, where 'gatemen' stood and controlled the flow of passengers on and off the trains in the absence of automatic doors. […] When each gateman had secured his doors and gate, he rang a bell, then the conductor rang his bell as the signal for the driver to set off.

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