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Folklore: Railroad Nicknames
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Subject: Railroad Nicknames From: Robby Date: 26 Oct 00 - 07:56 AM The idea for this thread was suggested by Georgeward in a related thread pertaining to "The Delaware Lackawan". I'll start, but I won't steal his entry. In my hometown there was a railroad, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (DL&W). However, to the local folks it became known as the Delay, Linger & Wait, for not too flattering reasons. Anyone else have a favorite railroad with unusual nicknames using the official letter abbreviation of the road? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: The Walrus at work Date: 26 Oct 00 - 08:11 AM Robby, The old Great Western Railway became known to its fans as "God's Wonderful Railway" and using the rhythmn of the name rather than the initials, the old London, Chatham and Dover Railway became known, at one time, as the "Run em, Crash 'em and Roll Over" Walrus |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: sophocleese Date: 26 Oct 00 - 08:21 AM T,H and B, the Toronto, Hamilton and Brantford line was known as To Hell and Back. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Robby Date: 26 Oct 00 - 08:28 AM It appears this has the potential for some fun. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Mountain Dog Date: 26 Oct 00 - 09:05 AM The Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad, born in the old Gold Country of California, was known as the "Never Come, Never Go Railroad". |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: GUEST,Al Date: 26 Oct 00 - 09:31 AM "A Treasury of Railroad Folklore" by B.A. Botkin and Alvin F. Harlow (1953, Bonanza Books, New York, ISBN 0-517-168685) lists many of these names, which match the "reporting marks" of the railroads, some are: Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe: Ate Tamales and Spit Fire Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac: Rich Folks & Pedigrees New York, Susquehanna & Western: Now you Sit and Wait Lake Erie & Western: Leave Early and Walk Terre Haute & Peoria: Take Hold and Push Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic: Damned Small Salaries and Abuse New Orleans & Northeastern: No Omelettes, No Eggs |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: GUEST,Superdad Date: 26 Oct 00 - 09:55 AM The "Kingston & Pembroke" RR known as the K & P was also called the Kick & Push RR Just dropped by David aka superdad |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: jeffp Date: 26 Oct 00 - 10:28 AM The old Maryland & Pennsylvania RR was affectionately known as the Ma & Pa. jeffp |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: manitas_at_work Date: 26 Oct 00 - 11:50 AM The Somerset and Dorset was known as the Slow and Dirty. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Mrrzy Date: 26 Oct 00 - 11:59 AM The closest I come is knowing that the shuttle bus that goes to the SF subway (BART) from the Berkeley campus was called the Humphrey Go-Bart... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Barbara Date: 26 Oct 00 - 12:22 PM You know, Mrrzy, that they ran a contest to name those shuttles, and that was the name that won? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Metchosin Date: 26 Oct 00 - 01:02 PM On Vancouver Island, near where I live, there is a stretch of abandoned CN line that is called the Galloping Goose. It was named for the train that used to run on it years ago and is now a regional park used for hiking, cycling and horseback riding and I elieve is now part of the Great Canadian Trail. I'll see if I can find more information regarding the Galloping Goose, I seem to have forgotten most of what I read about the train itself. (Aged P syndrome creeping in) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Metchosin Date: 26 Oct 00 - 01:41 PM oops! that was not the picture to use, there are others, anyone know how I can delete the link? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Robby Date: 26 Oct 00 - 02:29 PM I don't know how to delete links, so I can't help on that. Interesting picture though. Looks more like a tractor with a semi on rails than a train. Keep trying. Now yu've got me curious. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Metchosin Date: 26 Oct 00 - 03:00 PM Apparently it gave quite a weird ride, if I can remember what I read correctly, as it was a narrow guage train and they had to put it on some other wheels in order to ge it to run on the standard CN rail lines. Re: deleting links, I'll go PM Pene Azul There is another picture of it here |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Robby Date: 26 Oct 00 - 03:58 PM Now I see why the first drawing looked like a tractor pulling a semi. This one looks like a school bus on railroad tracks. If an over-the-road tractor pulls a semi-trailer, what does a whole trailer look like? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Jon Freeman Date: 26 Oct 00 - 04:50 PM Metchosin, you are perfectly OK with the link you have provided and in fact asks people who use their picture (permission required) to link to their site. What the site does not want is a link to the graphic itself. Jon. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Metchosin Date: 26 Oct 00 - 04:57 PM Thanks Jon, I got worried there for a minute, serves me right for scanning articles quickly. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 26 Oct 00 - 05:02 PM Robby, the alternative to a semi-trailer is a road trailer. It has all its weight on its own wheels, with only a "wagon tongue" to the tractor, whereas a semi-trailer rests part of its weight on the tractor. Dave Oesterreich |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: ddw Date: 26 Oct 00 - 11:14 PM And then there's a small trailer linked behind a semi that's called a "pup" trailer. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: BlueJay Date: 27 Oct 00 - 03:20 AM Galloping Geese were used extensively here in Colorado on the Rio Grande Southern line, probably in the 1920's and 1930's. They were indeed truck chassis fitted with railroad wheels, and were apparantly quite well suited for some of the narrow gauge, high twisted mountain lines existing at that time. I don't think they hauled more than one or two cars, but were able to transport mail, passengers and provisions to a lot of mining camps in the high Rockies. There is a whole chapter about the Galloping Goose in a great book called "Silver San Juan", which chronicles the early mining and railroad history of the San Juan Mountains, in the southwest Colorado Rockies. I don't know if it is still in print, but it was a massive book with lots and lots of cool photos. It sold for 50 dollars back in the late 1970's, when I first saw it in the gift shop at Denver's Union Depot. I was working in the depot, ("switching out", or moving passsenger cars from one track to another), at the time. I know this is thread creep, not quite the original question. Sorry. But regarding nicknames, I am known on the Mudcat as "Blueay", because that is the nickname I wound up with for seventeen years of working on the Burlington Northern, aka Big Nothing. BN was largely made up of the former Chicago, Burlington and Quincy,(Cock Bite Queer), and the Great Northern, (Jennie), railroads. For some reason, The Denver and Rio Grande Western, now part of the Southern Pacific, never acquired a nickname that I heard, other than a shortening to "The Grand", maybe because it was such a Colorado institution. Likewise, the Colorado and Southern never really got a nickname that stuck, but it's employees did: Mud Ducks. A major flood wiped out their railroad yard in about 1965, (along with major portions of Denver), and these railroaders had to slog through the mud to for the next few months in order to keep their trains running. They eventually wore the Mud Duck label with pride, had t-shirts and hats and the whole bit. It's all been changed by mergers now, but I am sure the Mud Ducks are still there. Forgive my rambling and getting off topic, but this thread touched a nerve. I no longer work for the railroad, but I am quite proud of my railroad history, and fond of my memories. ("Engine 6218, where are you"? "We're all f***ed up over here". "What track are you on"? pause... "We're not THAT f***ed up"! Thanks, BlueJay |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Robby Date: 27 Oct 00 - 07:13 AM DaveO, I was actually thinking of the meaning of "semi" as half, and, with that thought, just how big would whole trailer be. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Snuffy Date: 27 Oct 00 - 08:53 AM The Great Western was also known as the "Great Way Round", and the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway was the "Muddle & Get Nowhere" Wassail! V |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: GUEST,John Leeder Date: 27 Oct 00 - 11:05 AM The Pacific Great Eastern, from North Vancouver to Prince George, had many nicknames based on "P.G.E.". The one I recall is "Prince George Eventally". Its name is now the imaginative "British Columbia Railway". |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Jim Dixon Date: 27 Oct 00 - 11:21 AM Robby: My understanding - and this is actually an assumption - is that a "whole" trailer would be one whose weight rests entirely on its own wheels, while a semi-trailer's weight rests partly on its own wheels and partly on the truck that pulls it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Jim Dixon Date: 27 Oct 00 - 12:12 PM Since many of the nicknames mentioned above refer to the alleged slowness of trains, I thought this would be as good a place as any to insert a couple of slow-train jokes: (1). I was riding on a train that came to a dead stop in the middle of nowhere. I asked the conductor what was wrong. He said, "There's a cow on the tracks." After fifteen minutes, the train started up again. A half-hour later, it stopped again. I asked the conductor what was wrong this time. He said, "We caught up with the cow again." (2). Everyone was complaining that the train was slow. The conductor got mad and said, "If you don't like it, you can get off and walk." An old lady answered, "I would, only my folks aren't expecting me till the train gets there." Apparently slow-train jokes and tall tales were an important part of our culture when people relied on trains for long-distance travel. There was even a best-selling joke book called "On a Slow Train Through Arkansaw [sic]: Funny Railroad Stories, Sayings of the Southern Darkies, All the Latest and Best Minstrel Jokes of The Day," by Thomas W. Jackson, originally published in 1903, and (I think) reprinted many times. I have a copy of a fairly recent reprint, which is probably where I learned the above. There is also a song in DT called "The Dummy Line" which incorporates some slow-train jokes. I have heard Michael Cooney sing it. There are more verses here. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: GUEST Date: 27 Oct 00 - 12:18 PM I rode Jersey Central's aptly named "North Jersey Coast" line for a number of years. Rob-o |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 27 Oct 00 - 06:06 PM ANd then there's always the "Long Island Snailroad"! Dave Oesterreich |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Harold W Date: 28 Oct 00 - 02:52 PM BlueJay, there is a nickname for the Denver & Rio Grande Western, "Dangerous & Rapidly Growing Worse." |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Rollo Date: 28 Oct 00 - 04:46 PM for we have only one big Railroad company in germany, there is no need to invent funny nicks. But the following happening describes our "Deutsche Bahn" perfectly... My mother was asking a clerk for a connection in a small country station. When she heard she had only ten minutes to get the express train when arriving in bremen, she protested: the train was normally five minutes late when arriving in bremen, that would leave her not enough time to reach the express. with disguise the clerk stated: "Madam, the train from hamburg to bremen comes hardly ever too late!" But he had to give in one minute later, for all the other waiting passengers overheard this and broke out in terrific laughter at once... But "Deutsche Bahn" has found a perfect strategy to avoid further delays... they have made every train category from suburb trains to long distance trains "Express" now, from "city express" to "Inter City Express".
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Art Thieme Date: 28 Oct 00 - 05:13 PM The Erie "or Eerie" Lackawanna called sometimes The Strange Absense of Desire Railroad.
art thieme |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Sourdough Date: 28 Oct 00 - 10:43 PM I remember one Mark Twain tale in which he suggested that the cow catcher be moved to the rear of the train since there was absolutely no chance they would ever catch up to a cow but a real danger that they might be overtaken by one. Sourdough |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Art Thieme Date: 29 Oct 00 - 10:41 PM Yes, the cows were boarding the trains from the rear platform and trampeling passengers. Luckily, it was so hot that day that the corn was popping on the stalk. Those cows thought it was snow, and they froze to death. Art Thieme |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Lonesome EJ Date: 29 Oct 00 - 11:20 PM Both my grandads and my Dad and his brothers worked for the L&N,but I never heard any nickname for it.The Hell and Grin? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Bert Date: 30 Oct 00 - 01:46 PM When I was a kid there was a train that ran between Marlow (Bucks, England) and Bourne End that was known affectionately as 'The Marlow Donkey' And the old British Rail logo of rails with arrows pointing each way was interpreted as "we don't know which way we're going" |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Robby Date: 30 Oct 00 - 02:10 PM I've thought about the "trailer" problem for the last few days, and will make one final attempt to explain (clarify) my original question, which was: "If an over-the-road tractor pulls a semi-trailer, what does a whole trailer look like?". Think of the question in terms of a George Carlinism: If a trucker pulls a semi ( or one-half of a trailer), would a whole trailer be twice as big? Kindda loses something in the translation, doesn't it? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Robby Date: 30 Oct 00 - 02:13 PM Art, I used to ride the old EL's Phoebe Snow and, until reading your post, had no idea that there was any nickname for that road. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: NH Dave Date: 30 Oct 00 - 03:37 PM Regarding slow trains, John Gould, a Maine humorist set down a tale of a man seeking the fastest hound dog in the state of Maine, in a small book of the same name. Being an admirer of those small editions of a Shakespeare play where the play takes up about 30% of the book and the annotations ABOUT the play take up the other 70%, he used a similar technique in this book.
This gentleman was seeking a fast dog to catch hare that grazed on seaweed washed up in the Bay of Fundy, which has some of the fastest tides in the world. The hare are purpose-built for this task, being equipped with very large hind legs in order to beat the tide up the tidal bore.
After a number of humorous comments about his quest for the dog, he actually purchases it, intending to take it back home on the train with him. Unfortunately the Bangor and Witopitlock Railway only allows crated dogs in the baggage car; a point an officious conductor is quick to make to him.
The solution seems to be to tie the dog to the railing of the rear car of the train, to run along behind. A small wager developes about the dog's ability to keep up, and the two men make frequent trips to the rear of the train to check on things. The end up is, after several trips back, and the train actually picking up a bit of speed, they both go back to find the dog nowhere to be seen. As the conductor falls all over himself trying to claim the bet, the owner looks up, first one side of the train, and then the other, to discover the dog running along on three legs, wetting down a hotbox.*
* Hotbox is the railway name for an inadequately lubricated journal bearing - the bearing where the end of the wheel's axle runs - a real hazard in the old days when the oily waste packed therein could catch fire from friction and set the entire rail car on fire. Today with better roller nearings this is no longer a problem.
Dave |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Robby Date: 30 Oct 00 - 03:44 PM Dave, That's a real howler! *LOL* |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: GUEST,John Leeder Date: 30 Oct 00 - 06:16 PM At the risk of thread creep: Has anyone else noticed that Americans tend to use the term "railroad" and Canadians tend to use "railway"? What do the Brits use? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Snuffy Date: 30 Oct 00 - 08:45 PM We normally use railway, but when they first started (about 1830) they were called rail-ways, and had loco-motives.
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Robby Date: 31 Oct 00 - 07:45 AM Is that any indication of the mental state of the train's operators? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Robby Date: 31 Oct 00 - 11:52 AM BTW, and just out of curiousity, does anyone know if there were any nicknames for the Delaware & Hudson (D&H), the Lehigh Valley (LV) or the Reading (RDG)? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Art Thieme Date: 31 Oct 00 - 06:38 PM Robby, I doubt that the Erie Lackawanna (EL) was ever really called that. It was a joke that Utah Phillips told me once---a play on words. "The Strange Absense Of Desire" translates to "The Eerie Lack-of-want-to Railroad". Just a small witticism that gets diluted in cyberspace. I know it's a bad pun. That's why I love it. Utah too. The other reference to the "L" train referred to chicago's "L-evated train. That's what it's called in the city. Art Thieme |
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Subject: RE: BS: Railroad Nicknames From: Robby Date: 01 Nov 00 - 08:19 AM Art, I love puns and word games. I can't believe I missed the connection. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Railroad Nicknames From: GUEST,Tony Date: 18 Dec 10 - 02:59 AM In the very early days in England, railways were more often referred to as Rail Roads, which is probably how the title caught on in the USA. Also in England, the South Eastern & Chatham was known as the Slow, Easy & Comfortable, and the Manchester, Sheffield & Linconshire was known as the Mucky, Slow & Lazy. The London, Chatham & Dover is more usually quoted as being nicknamed The London, Smash'em & Turnover. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Railroad Nicknames From: Edthefolkie Date: 18 Dec 10 - 04:58 AM OK, as this thread has resurfaced, how about the UK's Great Eastern Railway - the "Swedey"? I always thought GWR stood for Great Way Round (because Brunel's original billiard table was not very direct). Incidentally I read somewhere that right up to the 1960s, the Western Region board of British Railways were known as the Broad Gauge Blokes. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Railroad Nicknames From: Dave MacKenzie Date: 18 Dec 10 - 05:21 AM Since privatisation, Merseyrail has been known as Mysery Rail. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Railroad Nicknames From: GUEST,DWR Date: 18 Dec 10 - 06:45 AM It's been gone a good while, but the Missouri and North Arkansas (M&NA) was affectionately?? known as the May Never Arrive. Currently there is an unrelated freight railroad doing business as the MNA |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Railroad Nicknames From: synbyn Date: 19 Dec 10 - 06:40 AM Arriva was appropriate in that it never quite got there... |
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