lengthman

1. (nautical, rail transport, road transport, chiefly historical) A man responsible for the care and maintenance of a length of canal, railway, or road.Examples: "Plans have already been prepared for signalboxes, lengthmen's huts, and first aid rooms. […] Lengthmen's huts are to be built in brick."; "A derailment which occurred on April 18 last between Laindon and Pitsea on the London Tilbury & Southend Line was caused by a lengthman who in a moment of aberration clipped a set of spring catch points in the derailing position, concludes Col. J. R. H. Robertson in his report […]"; "I started working on the canal when I was only 14. I was a lengths man on the Shrewsbury, the canal. It was my job to cut hedges and to keep the toe path^([sic – meaning towpath]) clear."historical