Rail enthusiast lingo

[D6130]

I seem to remember 57601 being referred to as Purple Ronnie,no idea why. Subsequently other 57s became Ronnies! Again no idea why!

Probably because it was painted purple after its initial conversion. Don't know where the 'Ronnie' bit came from though.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Probably because it was painted purple after its initial conversion. Don't know where the 'Ronnie' bit came from though.

There was a popular cartoon character at the time named Purple Ronnie.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Cheers,just googled him. Don't remember it though.

 

[Inversnecky]

Why were Class 40s given the name of "Empress"?

 

[D1537]

Why were Class 40s given the name of "Empress"?

I have never heard of that being a nickname for the class as a whole.

Three, of course (40010, 40032 and 40033) had "Empress" names as, like all the 25 named 40s, they were named after famous ocean going liners. Empress of Britain, Empress of Canada and Empress of England were all ocean liners owned by the Canadian Steamships Company.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Three of them were named after ships with the Empress name Empress of England,Canada and Britain. Never heard of the class being referred to as Empresses though.

You beat me to it!!

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I can’t bear this sort of talk but these are the phrases and definitions I’ve learned since joining the forum:


to bash - to go back and forth on trains for no purpose other than to ride them, not to make a journey

to bail - to make a random decision to alight a train, without it having been planned to do so

winner - a train that an enthusiast has not travelled on before, or one they have not seen before

dud - antonym of winner, see above

stalker - the one train that an enthusiast constantly sees, e.g. 444013 always seems to turn up when I take SWR from Woking

loophole - a mistake or error in the ticketing restrictions or booking websites that allow one to conveniently make a journey for a much cheaper price or along a more complex route than is technically valid - but according to the conditions of travel, tickets bought using a loophole are legal for you to use

to score - to travel on a winner, see above

to be gripped - to have your ticket marked, stamped or scribbled on by railway personnel so that it cannot be sneakily reused

to clear - to have been on, or to have seen, (depending on whether you record sightings or haulages) all trains within a class, e.g. clearing 450s would be to travel on all 127 of them

to flag - to purposely miss a train, e.g. a spotter might flag a unit he has already been on (a dud) so that he can catch the next train which he might not have been on (a winner)

 

[D1537]

Another couple of nicknames not yet mentioned - Peaks known as Waggons, 40s known as Buckets.

The "Wagon" nickname for 45s and 46s originated from Class 52 bashers in the 1970s, and was happily taken up by those who followed 40s, 47s and 50s (amongst others), as they were of course an occupational hazard.

Someone has already mentioned "Ped" (pedestrian) for 31s, but if we're going down the derogatory names list you can add "Nose Ped" (37) and "Southern Ped" (33).

 

[Richard Scott]

Someone has already mentioned "Ped" (pedestrian) for 31s, but if we're going down the derogatory names list you can add "Nose Ped" (37) and "Southern Ped" (33).

Slightly off topic but whilst 31 certainly deserved the name other two didn't! Speaking to someone who used to work in management and some of his remit was part of Cardiff - Portsmouth route and he said if a 33 was allocated all was good, a 37 would just about keep time but if a 31 turned up timetable went out of the window!

 

[GLC]

Skoda, referring to Class 90s baffled me for a while. Took a while on google to figure out the origins of that one

 

[Merle Haggard]

Skoda, referring to Class 90s baffled me for a while. Took a while on google to figure out the origins of that one

'Skoda' for Cl 90s appeared in control logs in my neck of the woods together with 'Lada' for DVT. Usually in the context of yet another failure affecting our trains, so presumably it was just on the basis of the well known low quality design and build of East European cars.

 

[Mag_seven]

Why were Class 40s given the name of "Empress"?

Were they - I've never heard of that term being used by enthusiasts before. Class 40s were always known as "whistlers" amongst the enthusiast community.

 

[Master Cutler]

Tractor- Class 37, engine noise
Grid - Class 56, referring to the panels on the front of the BREL-built locos
Zombie - Class 57, referring to their rebuild (I wonder if this one can apply to 69's, too?)
Tug - Class 60
Shed - Class 66 ("Rat" could probably apply here, too!)
Skip- Class 67 (turn it upside down!)
Cat - Class 68, referring to the purring noise of the CATerpillar engine
F***ugly- Class 70, self explanatory!

I've heard the 70s called Ugly Bettys after the TV series of that name.

 

[Richard Scott]

Not sure if appeared upthread but seen 60 nickname of Tugs, when they first came out sure heard them referred to as Donughts because you could see right through them?

 

[xotGD]

Not sure if appeared upthread but seen 60 nickname of Tugs, when they first came out sure heard them referred to as Donughts because you could see right through them?

Yes, I remember doughnut as a 60 nickname.

 

[blue87]

Wasn't electric locomotives referred to as coat hangers by some diesel fans?

 

[Richard Scott]

Wasn't electric locomotives referred to as coat hangers by some diesel fans?

I've heard of that for the DB 201/2/4 classes (ex DR 110 etc.).

 

[Inversnecky]

Were they - I've never heard of that term being used by enthusiasts before. Class 40s were always known as "whistlers" amongst the enthusiast community.

I just got it from the Wikipedia page I think. It likely extrapolates from the 40s with a name containing Empress.

British Rail Class 40 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Merle Haggard]

This has me wondering whether in other countries -- admittedly most of them with fewer railway enthusiasts, juvenile or adult, than Britain -- loco shed staff tended to be more laid-back about letting interested "lay persons" of any age, call in and look around? As I understand things, other parts of the world -- notably continental Europe -- have long regarded Britain and its society as tending to be fussily and neurotically safety-obsessed; the "nanny state" is not a particularly new concept. The attitude elsewhere than in Britain is apt perhaps to consider people, including young ones, as responsible for seeing to their own safety.

That's the impression I have formed from talking to more adventurous enthusiasts. After steam finished here, they travelled further and further to see steam. One colleague who visited India said that taxi drivers were prepared to wait outside (unpaid) while he visited sheds.
However, being circumspect to protect the er ... guilty I worked with a young railwayman who was an avid 'spotter, not only of railway stock but also aeroplanes, and he found out the hard way that, in some countries even in Western Europe (the one run recently by generals being a case in point) that, whatever their attitude towards an interest in trains (and these do have a military, or at least defence importance) great exception is taken to recording details of military aircraft, and serious consequences follow. As an aside, I understand that a film was made about the adventures of him and his friends, and, if so, I find it remarkable that I could watch a film with an actor playing the part of someone I knew personally.

 

[Strathclyder]

Not sure if appeared upthread but seen 60 nickname of Tugs, when they first came out sure heard them referred to as Donughts because you could see right through them?

Yes, I remember doughnut as a 60 nickname.

Politician is another 60 nickname I've seen being used, I think you can guess why lol

Doesn't roll off the tongue quite as well as Tug though.

 

[hexagon789]

I just got it from the Wikipedia page I think. It likely extrapolates from the 40s with a name containing Empress.

British Rail Class 40 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I've never heard Empress or the other option listed used, not to say they aren't/weren't but it's always been 'Whistler' to me.

 

[Calthrop]

That's the impression I have formed from talking to more adventurous enthusiasts. After steam finished here, they travelled further and further to see steam. One colleague who visited India said that taxi drivers were prepared to wait outside (unpaid) while he visited sheds.
However, being circumspect to protect the er ... guilty I worked with a young railwayman who was an avid 'spotter, not only of railway stock but also aeroplanes, and he found out the hard way that, in some countries even in Western Europe (the one run recently by generals being a case in point) that, whatever their attitude towards an interest in trains (and these do have a military, or at least defence importance) great exception is taken to recording details of military aircraft, and serious consequences follow. As an aside, I understand that a film was made about the adventures of him and his friends, and, if so, I find it remarkable that I could watch a film with an actor playing the part of someone I knew personally.

I'm perhaps biased by having essentially no interest in aeroplanes; but cannot help feeling that plane-spotters strongly interested in specifically military aircraft, and actively pursuing that interest "in the field", are "asking for it". Granted, railways have -- as you mention -- defence-related aspects (Communist Europe's notorious great sensitivity about rail photography took that matter to grotesque lengths, but the basic idea behind it was not irrational); but I have to figure that military aircraft are "a whole 'nother thing".

A relative of someone whom I used to know, is an impassioned plane-spotter. Some years ago, he went to India with the principal objective of seeing as much and in as much detail, as possible, of military aircraft there. He was quickly apprehended, and spent some days in custody: intervention at a high level finally resulted in his being freed (and expelled from the country, with no chance of returning); from what I gather, he would otherwise have faced many years in prison -- perhaps something even worse. While I can try to empathise -- imagining myself in the position of longing to visit some paranoid hell-state which happened to be the last country on earth with regular and plentiful routine daily steam rail working -- basically my sentiments are that he was rash; and as things worked out, very lucky.

 

[XAM2175]

I just got it from the Wikipedia page I think. It likely extrapolates from the 40s with a name containing Empress.

British Rail Class 40 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I've never heard Empress or the other option listed used, not to say they aren't/weren't but it's always been 'Whistler' to me.

The claim was added by an anonymous editor on 14 November last year based on the book "Platform Souls - The Trainspotter as 20th-Century Hero" by Nicholas Whittaker. I can't be bothered trying to find the exact passage in the non-OCR'd preview images but in fairness it is more of a foundation than most of the of the dubious nicknames that crop up.

 

[Inversnecky]

I'm perhaps biased by having essentially no interest in aeroplanes; but cannot help feeling that plane-spotters strongly interested in specifically military aircraft, and actively pursuing that interest "in the field", are "asking for it". Granted, railways have -- as you mention -- defence-related aspects (Communist Europe's notorious great sensitivity about rail photography took that matter to grotesque lengths, but the basic idea behind it was not irrational); but I have to figure that military aircraft are "a whole 'nother thing".

A relative of someone whom I used to know, is an impassioned plane-spotter. Some years ago, he went to India with the principal objective of seeing as much and in as much detail, as possible, of military aircraft there. He was quickly apprehended, and spent some days in custody: intervention at a high level finally resulted in his being freed (and expelled from the country, with no chance of returning); from what I gather, he would otherwise have faced many years in prison -- perhaps something even worse. While I can try to empathise -- imagining myself in the position of longing to visit some paranoid hell-state which happened to be the last country on earth with regular and plentiful routine daily steam rail working -- basically my sentiments are that he was rash; and as things worked out, very lucky.

Was the case mentioned in Greece, by any chance? I remember that in the news.

A friend of mine, think he was an archaeologist, was in Romania looking for old Roman hill forts in the Ceausescu days, and was taking photos of one near the Soviet border, and noticed that there was a gun emplacement in it pointing toward the Soviet Union.

He saw a vehicle fast approaching and buried his film in the ground, knowing now he'd uncovered a sensitive site, and was able to make a getaway.

Sorry for going OT, but thought the story might be of interest!

 

[Calthrop]

Was the case mentioned in Greece, by any chance? I remember that in the news.

A friend of mine, think he was an archaeologist, was in Romania looking for old Roman hill forts in the Ceausescu days, and was taking photos of one near the Soviet border, and noticed that there was a gun emplacement in it pointing toward the Soviet Union.

He saw a vehicle fast approaching and buried his film in the ground, knowing now he'd uncovered a sensitive site, and was able to make a getaway.

Sorry for going OT, but thought the story might be of interest!

(My bolding) -- unless I misunderstand here; no, re the "chap I knew at one remove": as per my post, India was the objective of his mission, and where he got into trouble on it.

I cannot but feel -- as posted -- that one gets curious about overtly military stuff, at one's peril !

 

[sprinterguy]

The claim was added by an anonymous editor on 14 November last year based on the book "Platform Souls - The Trainspotter as 20th-Century Hero" by Nicholas Whittaker. I can't be bothered trying to find the exact passage in the non-OCR'd preview images but in fairness it is more of a foundation than most of the of the dubious nicknames that crop up.

I've just quickly scanned through my copy and can find no reference to class 40s as "Empresses": 40s are referred to as "Whistlers" or "Tat" in the text, which is corroborated by the glossary of railway nicknames at the back of the book. Mine is the revised 2015 edition though, the original text may have been different.

 

[hexagon789]

The claim was added by an anonymous editor on 14 November last year based on the book "Platform Souls - The Trainspotter as 20th-Century Hero" by Nicholas Whittaker. I can't be bothered trying to find the exact passage in the non-OCR'd preview images but in fairness it is more of a foundation than most of the of the dubious nicknames that crop up.

That's fair enough, I didn't see a source for it so automatically assumed it was a typical Wikipedia 'addition'

 

[XAM2175]

I've just quickly scanned through my copy and can find no reference to class 40s as "Empresses": 40s are referred to as "Whistlers" or "Tat" in the text, which is corroborated by the glossary of railway nicknames at the back of the book. Mine is the revised 2015 edition though, the original text may have been different.

The addition specifically cited the 2015 revision on Google Books (that is to say, it cited the preview as though it was a webpage), so my scepticism has returned. I actually went to take it out myself but I see that somebody else already has

That's fair enough, I didn't see a source for it so automatically assumed it was a typical Wikipedia 'addition'

It was in the lead para. In full disclosure I do loathe most of the nicknames in circulation so I've absolutely no willingness to give quarter to people trying to introduce new ones of their own, hah.

 

[Strathclyder]

It was in the lead para. In full disclosure I do loathe most of the nicknames in circulation so I've absolutely no willingness to give quarter to people trying to introduce new ones of their own, hah.

Speaking as someone who regularly uses some well-established nicknames (Clayton, Grid, Tractor, Chopper, Whistler, Tug etc) when referring to specific classes, I have no real issue with the bolded part. If it works for them, fair dos. If a certain nickname catches on (unlikely, but stranger things can/have happened), I'd be overall 'meh' about it. Even with the less than complementary nicknames, it's for the most part harmless in the grand scheme of things and all part of what makes our collectively shared hobby so interesting; at least I think so.

With that said however, I do know how contentious this topic and the debates surrounding it can get (mainly from a quick skim of some threads on this fourm!), so I'll say no more. I've likely already copped it for taking a netural stance lol

 

[hexagon789]

It was in the lead para. In full disclosure I do loathe most of the nicknames in circulation so I've absolutely no willingness to give quarter to people trying to introduce new ones of their own, hah.

I didn't see a citation link, I was looking at the data profile rather than lead paragraph.

I don't know about 'loathe' but some are definitely less than complementary!