Railroad Nicknames
morgul
Reply to: mor...@worldnet.att.net (morgul)
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<H1>Railroad Nicknames</H1>
Paul Veltman, <A HREF="mailto:vel...@netcom.com">vel...@netcom.com</A><BR>
Dec 30, 1996
<P>
What seems like a couple of years ago, a thread started on Usenet
documenting some 'unofficial' nicknames of railroads. It grew and
grew, mostly by passing it around the Railroad List. While this
list is mostly informal nicknames, a few 'official' nicknames and
slogans were added. This list is the product of contributions by
many list readers, and a list of those who wanted to be identified
as contributors are listed at the end. A few people didn't sign
their names, so attribution was impossible. A couple of people
sent in suggestions that used inappropriate language, and so they
were not included. We want you to be able to show this list to
your kids.
<P>
This list is for your enjoyment. It's my attempt at humor, so any
Railroad CEOs who take offense, please accept my appologies.
<P>
Again, I want to thank everyone for their contributions. I will be
happy to accept more nicknames.
<P>
* Official Nicknames and Slogans
<PRE>
- A -
Amtrak
Animaltrak
Anthrax
AmWreck
AmTrash
AmCrash
Apalachicola Northern
*Port St. Joe Route
Arkansas & Louisiana Missouri
*Personalized Transportation
Ashley, Drew & Northern
*Serving Southern Forests
Atcheson, Topeka & Santa Fe
All Tramps Sent Free
Ate Tamales and Spat Fire
Shouldn't Paint So Fast (SPSF after aborted merger)
Uncle John
Atlanta & St. Andrews Bay Railway
*The Bay Line
Atlantic & West Point Railroad
*Old Reliable
Atlantic Coast Line
Always Cries Loudly
- B -
Baltimore Chesapeake & Atlantic
Black Cinders and Ashes
Bangor & Aroostook
*Serving Northern Maine
The Beaver, Mead & Englewood (OK)
Butter, Milk & Eggs
*Note that Mead and Englewood are both in Kansas. The railroad
never made it to either place and was situated entirely in
Oklahoma.
Bridgton and Saco River
Busted and Still Running
Baltimore & Ohio
The Bum's Own.
Beefsteak & Onions
Backward & Obsolete
Black Mesa & Lake Powell
Big Mess and Lots of Problems
Boston and Maine
Busted and Mangled
Bankrupt and Moribund
Broken and Maimed
*Minuteman Service
Buffalo Southern
Buffalo's Sorry Old Railroad
Buffalo Union Carolina
Busted Until Christmas
Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg
Bums, Robbers & Pickpockets
Burlington Northern
Big Nothing
Bought Nothing
Bound Nowhere
Bad News
Frisco Northern
Better than Nothing
BNSF
Bye Now Santa Fe
But No Santa Fe
Bad News Santa Fe
Bought New Santa Fe
Bigger Name Same Fine Railroad
Big New Santa Fe
Buy Norfolk Southern First
- C -
Canadian National Railroad
Certainly No Rush
Canadian Pacific Railroad
Chinese Pacific
Sleepy Rail
Carolina & Northwestern
Can't and Never Will
Cedar Rapids & Iowa City Railway
*The Crandic Route
Central of Georgia
*The Center Road
Chesapeake & Ohio
* George Washington's Railroad
Cheapskate and Ohio
*Chessie
Cheesy
*C&O for Progress
Chesapeake & Western
Crooked & Weedy
Chicago & North Western (C&NW)
Cheap and Nothing Wasted
Can't And Never Will Run Right
Carrier to No Where
Cardboard and No Wheels
Corroded Nuts Washers
Chicago Aurora & Elgin
*The Roaring Elgin
Chicago Burlington & Quincy
*Burlington
Cheapest, Best & Quickest
Chicago Milwaukee St. Paul & Pacific
*Milwaukee Road
C'Mon Stop Praying and Push
Christ, Mary, St.Paul& Peter
Cheapest, Meanest & Slowest to Pay
Chicago Rock Island & Pacific
*Rock Island
Baby Railroad
Wreck Island
Rotten Island
The Rock
The Cri N Pee
Pet Rock
Rockin Eye
Chicago Great Western (CGW)
Chicago Great Weedy
Cinders Grass and Weeds
Chicago North Western
*Route of the "400" Streamliner Fleet
*Employee Owned
Employee Stoned
Chicago & Norweigens
Cheap & No Wages
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha (CMO)
*The Omaha Line
(CMO was owned by C&NW)
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis
*The BIG Four
(Absorbed by New York Central in 1922)
Colorado and Southern
Crooked and Slow
Cough & Snort
Columbia Newberry & Laurens Railroad
Crooked, Noisy, and Late
Conrail
The Constipated Railroad Company
Con Job
Connedrail
Clownrail
Coeur d'Alene Railway & Navigation Co.
Owned by Northern Pacific
Chippy Line
In reference to the numerous houses of ill repute on the line.
Columbus & Greenville
*The Delta Route
CSX
Crashed, Smashed & eXploded
Chemical Spill eXperts
Crystal River & San Juan
Can't Run & Seldom Jumps
- D -
Dakota Minnesota & Eastern
Desolate, Miserly, and Emancipated
Derails Most Everytime
Dummy
Dog Meat Express
Dakota Southern Railway
Darn Slow Railroad
The Davenport Rock Island & Northwestern Railway
Dri Line
Dig Right In and Never Weaken
Delaware & Hudson
*The Bridge Line
Delaware Lackawanna & Western
*The Road of Anthracite
Delay Linger and Wait
Lack - O - Money
Morris & Essex Division
Methodist & Episcopal
The origin of this nickname was in the fact that they had a staunch
stand against Sunday operations.
Denver Northwestern & Pacific
*The Moffat Road
Denver & Rio Grande Western
*Scenic Line of the World
*Main Line Through the Rockies
*Through the Rockies, Not Around Them
*The Action Road
Dangerous and Rapidly Getting Worse
Dirty and Ragged and Greasy
Detroit, Toledo & Ironton
Darn Tired and Independent
Detroit & Macinaw
*Mackinac Mac
Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic
Damn Slow Service & Abuse
Damned Small Salaries & Abuse
- E -
Edmonton Dunvegan & British Columbia
Ever Dangerous and Badly Constructed
Elgin Joliet & Eastern
Egypt, Jerusalem and Elsewhere
The "J"
The East Tennessee & Western Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC)
Tweetsie
Eat 'Taters and Wear No Clothes
Exquisite Trains and What Nice Conductors
Eat Taters and What Nice Clothes
Erie Lackawanna
*The Friendly Service Route
Erie Lackatraffic
Weary Lack-a-money
Leery Erie
Erie Lackawampum
Eureka Southern
*The Eel River Route
- F -
Florida East Coast
*Going Places in Florida
The Frankfort & Kokomo line
The rabbit track line, because of the side-to-side jogs the rails
took.
Fort Dodge, Des Moines & Southern
*The Fort Dodge Line
Fort Smith and Western
Footsore and Weary
Fort Worth & Denver City RR (TX)
Flat Wheels & Dirty Coaches
Fox River Valley RR
The Fever
- G -
Georgia and Florida
God Forgot
God Fosaken
Grand Trunk Western
Good Track
Grand Junk
Great Northern
Great Nothing
Goes Nowhere
Great Western Railway
Great Way Round
God's Wonderful Railway
Go When Ready.
Goods Wagon
Gee Whiz
Gas Works Railway
Gone With Regret
Green Bay & Western
*Green Bay Route
Go Broke & Worthless
Grab your Bags and Walk
Guilford
Goofy
Gulf, Mobile & Ohio
Grease, Mud & Oil
Gummo
*The Rebel Route
*The Alton Route
Gulf, Texas and Western
"Get a Ticket and Wait"
"Get a Ticket and Walk"
- H -
Hampton and Branchville
Humped and Boggy
Hoosac Tunnel and Wilmington
Hoot Toot and Whistle
Halibut Tuna and Whale
Hog Tied and Weary
Houston, East & West Texas
Hell Either Way you Take it
Houston & Texas Central
Hoboes & Tin Cans
Hell On Texas Contractors
(builders had trouble collecting from the H&TC)
- I -
Illinois Central Railroad (ICRR)
I Can't Run Railroads
*The Green Diamond Route
*Main Line of Mid-America
Illinois Central Gulf
I Can't Go
Illinois Terminal
*The Road of Personalized Service
International Great Northern
Irishmen Going North
- J -
Jacksonville Beach and Pablo
Jump Boys and Push
- K -
Kansas City Southern (KCS)
Haywire
Kansas City, Clinton & Springfield
The Leaky Roof Line
Keokuk Junction Railway
Klunk & Junk
Kingston & Pembroke (Canada)
Kick & Push
- L -
Lake Erie & Northern
Late Every Night
Lake Erie & Western
Leave Early & Walk
Leave 'er & Walk
Lehigh & Hudson River
Lean & Hungry
Lehigh Valley
*The Route of the Black Diamond
Leavenworth, Kansas & Western
Leave Kansas & Walk
Ligioner Valley RR (PA)
*The Pride of the Valley
London & Port Stanley
Late & Poor Service
London, Midland & Scottish Railway
'ell of a mess
London & North Eastern Railway
Late & Never Early
Long Island RR
*The Route of the Dashing Commuter
Wrong Island
Louisville & Nashville (L&N)
*The Old Reliable
Loud & Noisy
Long & Nasty
Loose Nuts
- M -
Macon, Dublin & Savannah
Mud, Dirt & Sand
Maine Central
*The Mighty Maine Central
*The Pine Tree Route
MARC (A Wash D.C. Commuter Line)
Mediocre & Rarely Consistent
Marshall & East Texas RR
Misery & Eternal Torment
Maryland and Pennsylvania
Ma and Pa
M&StL (Minneapolis & St. Loius)
Miserable & Still Limping
Misery & Short Life
The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company
Tom Moore Eats Rats and Likes Corn
Mississippi River & Bonne Terre
Muddy Rails & Broken Track
Missouri & Illinois
Mike & Ike
Missouri, Kansas, Texas
*KATY
Penn Central - Western Division
Missouri & North Arkansas
May Never Arrive
Missouri Pacific
Misery Pacific
*Route of the Eagles
Miserable Pacific
The MOP
MoPac
Monon
*Hoosier Line
Montana Rail Link
Monkeys Running Loose
Montreal & Southern Counties
Montrial Sauteux (Montreal Jumpy or Bouncy)
Montreal & Sometimes Comes
Morristown and Erie
Morristown and Everywhere
Ben Central
Pacemaker Service
- N -
Nashville & Eastern (NERR)
Never Ever Runs Right
Nashville Chattanooga & St. Louis
*The Dixie Route
Nebkota Railway
Not Really Interested
Nevada County Narrow Gauge RR
Never Come Never Go
Nevada, California & Oregon
Narrow, Crooked & Ornery
Newburgh, Dutchess & Connecticut
Never Did & Couldn't
Newfoundland Railway
Newfie Bullet
New Hope & Ivyland Railroad Co.
No Hope & Poison Ivyland
New Orleans & Northeastern
No Omelets, No Eggs
New York Central
Not Yet, Cornelius!
The Road to The Future
New York Chicago & St. Louis
*The Nickel Plate Road
The builders of the Nickel Plate built it to compete with the Lake
Shore and Michigan Southern form Buffalo NY to Chicago and another
NYC subsidiary going to St Louis. They then sold it to the NYC at
a high price hence NICKEL PLATE (as if the tracks and equipment
were nickel plated and worth a lot)
New York & Lake Erie
Never Yet Left Early
New York Ontario & Western
Old & Weary
Old Woman
Now Young, Out and Working
Owen W.
New York Susquehana & Western
Now You Sit & Wait
Susie Q
Squeak
Suskie
Now You Suffer & Wait
Nittany & Bald Eagle
Never Been Early
Norfolk & Western
Nights & Weekends
Nickel Plate & Wabash
Narrow & Wobbly
Norfolk Southern
*The Thoroughbred
No Service
New Southern
Northern Alberta Railway
Never Any Rush
Northern Pacific
*Main Street of the Northwest
NorthWestern Pacific
No Where in Particular
Never Without Public Regard
- O -
Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain
Old and Late Coming
OR&W
Old Rusty (or Rickety) and Wobbly
- P -
Pacific Great Eastern
Province's Greatest Expense
Please Go Easy
Prince George, Eventually
Past God's Endurance
Pennsylvania Railroad
*The Standard Railway of the World
The Big Red Subway
Penn-Central
Pathetic Connection
Philadelphia, Bethlehem & New England
Poor Brakemen & No Engineers (Served Bethlehem Steel's Bethlehem
plant)
The Patapsco & Back River Rairaod (Serves Bethlehem Steel's Sparrow
Point Plant)
The Push, Bang and wReck RR
Piedmont & Northern
Po and Needy
Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis
*The Panhandle Route
(subsidiary of Pennsylvania RR)
*The Panhandle
Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago
*The Fort Wayne System
Pittsburgh & Lake Erie
Pissed off and Left Early
Pittsburgh Rochester & Buffalo
Pickpockets Robbers & Bums
Pittsburg & Shawmut
*The Shawmut Line
Providence & Worchester
The System Known for Service
- Q -
Quebec Railway, Light, Heat & Power
Chemin de fer do la Bonne Sainte-Anne
Quanah, Acme & Pacific
(QA&P was a Frisco subsidiary through West Texas)
Quit Arguing & Push
- R -
Reader RR (Arkansas)
*Possum-Trot Line
Richmond Fredricksburg & Potomac (RF&P)
The Doggie Railroad
*The Capital Cities Route
Rich Folks & Pedigrees
Run Fast & Push
Rockaway Valley Railroad (New Jersey)
Rock-a-bye Baby
Rutland
*The Green Mountain Gateway
- S -
St. Johnsbury & Lamoille County
St. Jesus and Late Coming
St. Lawrence & Hudson
Slowly Losing Hope
St. Louis Southwestern
*The Cotton Belt Route
*Route of the Blue Streak
St. Louis San Francisco
*The Frisco
Salt Lake, Garfield & Western
The Saltair Route
San Diego & Arizona
Slow, Dirty, and Aggravating
Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes
Slow Running and Rather Late
Seaboard System
Slowly Breaking Down
Slow Board System
Seaboard Air Line
Surely Always Late
SEPTA
Society for the Elimination of Passenger Trains Altogether
Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway
Serene & Delightful
Southern Railway
*Gives a Green Light to Innovation
*Serves the South
Shake Rattle & Roll
Southern Pacific
*The Friendly Railroad
*The Sunset Route
Sufferin' Pathetic
Suffering Pacific
Slow Poke
Espee
The Octopus
South Shore
South Snore
SOO Line
ZOO Line
Slow Old Obsolete
Special Olympics Operation
Sometimes Only Ordinary
Spokane, Portland & Seattle
Slow, Pokey & Seldom
St. Johnsbury & Lamoille County
Saint Jesus & Late Coming
St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico
Brownie
(St.L B&M was one of Missouri Pacific's Gulf Coast Lines)
Stanley, Merrill & Phillips (Wisc)
Slow Motion & Poverty
Stockton Terminal & Eastern
Slow, Tired & Easy
Sydney & Louisburg Railway
Slow & Lazy
- T -
Tallulah Falls Railway
Total Failure
Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia Railway
*The TAG Line
Texas & New Orleans
*The Hickory
Toledo Peoria & Western
Tip Up
Take Pity & Walk
Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo
To Hell & Back
Tramps Hobos & Bums
- U -
Ulster & Delaware
Up & Down
(The U&D was the successor to the Rondout & Oswego)
Useless & Dangerous
Union Pacific
*Overland Route
*Everywhere West
*We can Handle It
Uncle Pete
Unlimited Power
Under Powered
Upgraded Parts
Utah Railway
*Utah Coal Route
- W -
Wabash
*Follow the Flag
Wabash, Chester & Western
Wobble, Crooked & Wobble
Waco Beaumont Trinity & Sabine
Wobbly, Bobbly, Turnover & Stop
Washington & Waynesburg
Weak & Weary
Weatherford Mineral Wells & Northwestern
Watermelons, Mineral Water and Nowhere
Whiskey, Mineral Water and Nowhere
(Weatherford called itself "The Watermelon Capitol of
the World." and Mineral Wells was a spa for mineral baths in
the 20's and 30's)
Western Maryland
*The Fast Freight Line
Western Pacific
*The Feather River Route
*Route of the California Zephyr
The Wobbly
Wheeling & Lake Erie
Walk & Leave Early
Wheelie
Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington
Weak, Weary, and Feeble
Wisconsin Central
Wrecking Crew
Wood Chip Line
Whiskey Central
We Could Wreck
Wrightsville & Tennille (GA)
Wiggle & Twist
-Z-
Zittau-Oybin-Jonsdorfer-Eisenbahn (ZOJE) (Germany)
Zug Ohne jegliche Eile (train without any hurry)
Members of the Railroad List who generously contributed to this
list.
Joe Anderson
Mike Baynes
Eric Behr
Mark Bess
Phil Bostian
Bill Cannon
John Carr
Gordon Davids
Ted Davis
Sam Denn
Dave DeSpain
Michael Dettmers
Tim Diebert
John DuLong
Jeff Dobek
Dick Duda
Marc Dufour
Gary Fairbanks
Feldner
Jeff Ford
Bill Gillfill
Wil Graves
Don Haddock
Steve Hay
Derek Henderson
Marilyn Hernwall
Ken Herrell
Richard Hosker
Richard Hosking
Mike Jarvis
Mark Jackson
Leo Johansen
Bill Joyce
Steve Kay
Stephen Karlson
Ryan Krengel
Paul Kroeger
Tom Kynerd
Steve Llanso
Steve's Car Pool
Buddy
George LaPray
Colin R. Leech
Wes Leatherock
Johnny Lockstein
Brian Lunergan
Jack Mackinnon
Cy Martin
Bill McMillan
Darren McNeely
Bill Miller
Jim Mills
Jim Moore
Charlie Mutschler
Marty Myers
Charles Neyman
Fred Ochs
Art O'Toole
Bob Parrish
Mark Petersen
Pitz
Rail...@AOL.com
Ralph Reinhold
Drew Robinson
Richard Rogers
Dick Rush
Cliff Satterfield
Bob Schoenfeld
Mike Sheliga
Ken Skolyan
Glen Smith
Jonathan D.
Stevenson
Kevin Tam
Bob Thompson
Tom Tolstead
Tom Vondruska
Jim Venis
Randy Waibel
Randy Waibel's son
Kent Weekley
Paul Welch
Ken Yaremchuk
Malcom Yates
</PRE>
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jmic...@halcyon.com
And I always thought that the Spokane, Portland & Seattle, was the Small,
Poor and Stingy.
Michael Rauen
Former Great Northern, Burlington Northern, And now BNSF
TerrificTM
I thought CSX was for Chicken S**t Express
John Crawford
CN Rail or Canadian National Railroad is also refered to as "certainly
no rush".
--
John Crawford
CN 6060 Bissel west, clear signal, north track out
Bill726
My father worked for the DL&W and he would counter the "Delay Linger and
Wait " with " Dam Little Waiting"
Bill Dolan
Dean Tiegs
mor...@dont.spam.me.worldnet.att.net (morgul) wrote:
>'unofficial' nicknames of railroads.
Although it doesn't follow the usual pattern of using the same
initials, one of my favourites is "the Big Suitcase" for Grand Trunk.
What a great pun! Wish I'd thought of it.
Dean Tiegs, 53°33' N, 113°28' W, 668 m abov se levl