Yeah, the terminology here can get a bit confusing, with the overlap in concepts that model railroading often undertakes. My take on it, clumsy as it seems, is to assume that what's in the loco does considerably more than just receive the signal. The receiver aspect of it would be just one small part of the bigger whole, which is oriented toward RR operation. It's a distinction that can get lost in the shuffle, but so long as we all know what we're talking about, we should be able to understand how the concept is being used in context.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL