The following are some nicknames, both flattering and less so, of some railroads. The names come from a list from Christopher D. Coleman's Webville & Hypertext, and for consideration of the sensitivities of some of the diehard fans (y'all know who you are ), I'll keep out the really bad ones. </font> American Locomotive Company- Always Leaking Coolant & Oil</font> EMD- Every Model Different</font> Amtrak- AmCrash, AmWreck, Amthrax, Amcrap, Slamtrak</font> Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe- After Tonnage Safety First, Ate Tamales & Spat Fire, All Tramps Sent Free, Ashcan, Toilet Bowl & Sani-Flush, Scuzzy Fe</font> Atlantic Coast Line- Another Crushed Load</font> Baltimore & Ohio- Bad Order, Backwards & Obsolete, Best & Only, Beans & Onions</font> Boston & Maine- Bashed & Maimed, Busted & Mangled</font> Burlington Northren- Big Nothing, Bad News, Blody Nose, Bound Nowhere</font> BNSF- Bad News Santa Fe, Been Nothing Since Frisco , BeaNSnifF, Buy Norfolk Southern Fast, Big New Santa Fe</font> CSX- Crash & Smash Express, Chicken-Stuff Express, Chemical Spill Experts</font> CN- Cannot Rush, Crash National, Cost Nothing</font> CP- Canuck Pacific, Canadian Pathetic, Cheapie Rail</font> Chicago Great Western- Great Weedy, Can't get worse, Cinders Grass & Weeds</font> Chicago & North Western- Can't & Never Will, Cheap & No Wages, Carrier to Nowhere, Employee Stoned</font> Chicago, Burlington & Quincy- Cheap, Broken & Quarantined</font> Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific- C'mon, Stop Praying & Push, Christ, Mary, St. Paul & Peter</font> Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific- Rotten Island, Rusty Iron,</font> Colorado & Southern- Crooked & Slow</font> Denver & Rio Grande western- Dangerous & Rapidly Getting Worse, Real Grimy/Grungy</font> Conrail- ConJob, CrapRail, Clownrail</font> Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern- Dogmeat Express, Derailments Most Everyday</font> Erie Lackawanna- Erie Lackawampum, Erie Lackatraffic, Weary Erie</font> Ft. Smith & Western- Footsore & Weary</font> Guilford- Greedy Rail Scrappers, Goofy</font> Illinois Central- Ignorant Corporation, Ill Cent Louisville & Nashville- Ellen N, Late & Never</font> Missouri Pacific- Miserable Pathetic</font> Missouri-Kansas-Texas- Penn Central West, Muddy Kinky Track</font> New Jersey Transit- Jersey Rancid, Jersey Trainset</font> Norfolk Southern- Nazi Southern, No Service, No Steam</font> Penn Central- Penniless Central, athetic Condition, Pile o' Crap</font> Southern Pacific- Espee, Slow Poke, SUffering Pathetic</font> Union Pacific- Borg, Unlimited Parking, Ugly Pileup, Uncle Pete, UNable to Perform, We will NEVER Deliver</font> Western Pacific- Wobbly</font> Western Maryland- Wild Mary</font> Wisconsin Central- Wrecking Crew, WoodChip Line, Whiskey Central</font> And before the flamethrowers get aimed at me & let loose, I'm gonna shut up now [ 14. September 2002, 09:21: Message edited by: friscobob ]
Amtrak- AmScam, AmShack, AmTrash, Halftrak. BN- Around here was definitely known as BAD NEWS. (Or the BN Hiking & Biking Trail Company.) BNSF- By the employees locally, the more anatomically correct BuNSnifF. Says a lot about morale. Believe I once heard the M&St.L referred to as Mean, Slow and Late. BoxcabE50
Besides the nice nickname "the Louie" for the M&StL, I've found a couple others: Maimd & Still Limping Misery and Short Life Midnight and So Late BNSF has so many nicknames, I could only post a few here. Same for UP, NS & CSX.
And then you have the "Hoot, Toot, and Whistle", i.e. the Hoosac Tunnel and Wilmington Railroad. The HT&W interchanged with the Boston & Maine at the East Portal of the Hoosac Tunnel. It proceeded north about 50 miles to Wilmington, Vermont, where it received many loads of hardwoods for shipment to major furniture manufacturers in eastern Massachusetts and Connecticut. The East Portal interchange siding is still in existance, where it is reserved for MOW equipment and the occasional bad-order car. [ 15. September 2002, 01:19: Message edited by: Hank Coolidge ]
well i got a couple t.p.&w.: two ponies and a wagon gm&o: greasy, muddy and oily. p&pu(peoria&pekin union railway)athetic and plain useless! bnsf: bigger now still f*****
Frisco Bob, Thanks. I'm trying to explain to the boss why I fell out of my chair in laughter. Anybody hiring? Here is a few from our local and beloved (and gone) Grand Trunk Western: The BAD track road Gone The Wrong way Grizzly, Twisted and Wrecked After a recent trip through central and southwestern Wisconsin you can add a few new ones to the CMSt.P&P: The Milwaukee Trail The ATV Road Mark Resistance is futile, you will wear Armour yellow and Harbor Mist grey--the Borg [ 19. September 2002, 20:10: Message edited by: cmstpmark ]
Got some more, all Texas-related: </font> Waco, Beaumont, Trinity & Sabine- Wobblety, Bobblety, Turnover & Stop</font> Houston & Texas Central- Hell on Texas Contractors (they were a wee bit late on payments) </font> Texas Midland- Texas Mudland</font> Paris & Mt. Pleasant- Paris & Unpleasant</font> Texas Northeastern- Trains Never Ever Run, Teener</font> Dallas, Garland & Northeastern- Digno</font> And my favorite BNSF nicknames: Big New Super Frisco Burlington Northern Screwed the Frisco
Here's a few more to add to the list: CSX-Crash, Smash and Explode East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia-Eat Turnips, Vegetables and Greens East Tennessee and Western North Carolina-Eat Taters and Wear No Clothes Houston East and West Texas-Hell Either Way you Take it Also of interest are the following railroad nicknames. The Bartlett Western Railroad in Texas was known as "The Road of the Apostles". It was said that on the 23 mile line between Bartlett and Florence, Texas there were four stations. These were St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John and copies of the gospels of each of the reverend authors were affixed to the walls of the waiting rooms at the appropriate station. This line was taken up as scrap during WWII. The other railroad of interest was the Jupiter and Lake Worth Railroad in Florida, known as the "Celestial Line." Its eight mile line ran through four stations-Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Juno. It too was lost to the war.
Here are a couple of more: GE Guaranteed Employment (from the mechanical department) BNSF Buy Norfolk Southern Fast NS Since this is a family board use your imagination when NS was trying to do away with the chemical toilets. Delaware Lackawanna and Western = Delay Linger and Wait Erie Lackawanna = Ever Late [ 19. September 2002, 23:30: Message edited by: ajy6b ]
How about - Dreary Lackawanna Leaky Valley Gonerail Nasty Southern (The Dark Side) Don't get me started...you know how I get.
How about UP-chuck! SPSF - Shouldn't Paint So Fast [ 20. September 2002, 20:56: Message edited by: espeeman ]
I was told that the nickname for the UP-SP merger woulda been: You People Start Packing (in reference to the SP employees)
Calling UP "The Borg" or "The Big Yellow Borg' I believe is in relation to how it absorbed other railroads under the UP banner instead of merging and renaming a la BNSF/CSX/NS. Back when they took over the MP and WP, they originally kept the identity of the MP seperate, but that didn't last long. Eventually, everything that didn't move was repainted and relabeled and the MP just became a part of UP. While it is probably a very understandable business decision, many employees of absorbed companies held loyalty to their former employer. One of the quotes that was used by these loyal employees as an unofficial company motto was: "We are the Big Yellow Borg, you WILL be assimilated!". These harsh feelings were brought to a boiling point during the meltdown in the late 1990's after taking over the SP. Another name I heard during this time was the (Utterly Pathetic), and written in grime after the slogan "We Will Deliver" was the word "..."eventually".
The "Borg" line is from the series "Star Trek: The Next Generation", in which one episode highlighted a race called the Borg, cyborgs who live in a collective, with no individuality. Their tag line was "Resistance is futile- you will be assimilated". Of course, the good guys won, but the battle against the Borg was very tough.
Could be because I don't know any good nicknames, except for the "Tarantula" for FWWR. Well, here's one I did on the spur-of-the-moment; Ft. Worth & Western- Flat Wheels and Wobbly South Orient- Sorry Overall, Slow & Old, Slow & Ornery, Sliced Onions
