footplate

foot +‎ plate

footplate (plural footplates)

1. (rail transport) The metal plate which forms the base platform of a steam locomotive and supports the boiler and the engineer's cab, particularly in the United Kingdom.
2. The engineer's cab in any kind of train.
   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 845:

     Kit had fallen into conversation with a footplate man who was deadheading back out to Samarkand, where he lived with his wife and children.

3. (anatomy) The flat portion at the base of the stapes; pedicel.
   • 2008, Michael Valente, ‎Holly Hosford-Dunn, ‎Ross J. Roeser, Audiology Treatment (page 218)

     The footplate of the stapes develops and ossifies in conjunction with the otic capsule and thus takes its origin from the otic placode in the embryo.

4. The part of a roller skate that attaches to the boot.
5. (construction) A timber in a wood frame that distributes a concentrated load.
6. (auto parts) A platform on which the driver's foot rests but which, unlike a pedal, has no effect.

• footplateman