Large Scale Central

Choosing a name for your railroad

General Discussion
#21

Naming a RR is a tough thing to do. You want something fun, perhaps factual but certainly commanding. Personally I like whimsical names or names derived from twisting the owners names, the financiers names or the location. History shows us there were many RR’s were named for the towns/cities they served. RR’s in England have interesting names.
Here is my backstory. I struggled with names for mine and took ideas from when it was under construction and the fact that I had plenty of 3 things thusly the Rock Root and Dog Poop was born. The Dog was a bit strong so it was relaxed to PUP. I like names that cna be reduced to string of somewhat connected letters like The Rock Root and Pup Poop Rail Road. The RRPPRR is a barely making it tourist line that runs antique geared locos for tourist trains and occasionally freight. Coal was discovered so a shaft mine and processing plant was constructed. Along with the coal a vein of virgin pure Cape Cod sand was found so covered hoppers were constructed and a processing packaging plant was also built. The CCSSSCC was founded which stands for The Cape Cod Souvenir Sand Supply and Coal Company. On occasion the steamers from the museum are called on to haul a coal string to the interchange but this was found to be too expensive and the owners feared damage to the steam relics so a 2 diesels were leased from the CCC the Cape Cod Central which is a real life RR here on the Cape.

You can’t go wrong with Naming for location, destination or product hauled. Or how about the JRRRJ Which is the Joe Rusz Rail Road Junction.

#22

Harping back to your years and the racing world, with western flair Bonneville & Nowhere. The B&N You’ve been there and know.

#23

Well most folks probably think that my railroad name is more cutesy than anything but there is some logic to it, to me anyway. The Buffalo Creek and Gauley was always one of my favorite railroads http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Creek_%26_Gauley_Railroad so when I was looking for a name I tried to come up with a variation of it. Raccoons are as thick as cats in my neck of the woods so I substituted that for Buffalo. One stretch of the line passes through a narrow rock lined valley or gully to some, so that finished it off. Most folks don’t get the connection but that’s where the Raccoon Creek and Gully comes from. When complete there will also be a Raccoon Creek which the line will cross several times on it’s way to the Ohio River and there are a couple of Raccoon Creeks here in the state of Ohio and one of them actually flows into the Ohio River.

#24

When I was first planning my outdoor line it was supposed to run from the hill on the North side of our house and terminate somewhere near the South lot line. The plan was for a tourist line, so the North Slope and Southern Scenic RR was so named. As it turned out nothing ever got built in the proposed North Slope location and when I began building a narrow gauge line I thought the NS&SSRR initials were a bit much, even when shortened to North Slope Southern (NSS).

I live what is locally known as in the Candlewood Valley, and the name Candlewood Valley Scenic Railway seemed to have a nice ring.

Place names are borrowed from towns surrounding the East Broad Top, but not stations on that railroad, like Kistler, Tyrone, Willow Hill and Honey Grove. Other places were name by the geography like Wall, Pine Summit and Deep Cut. And thanks to a rather large (by 1:20 standards) garden statue of a Native American warrior, Indian Hill got it’s name. We have a town near us named Northville which seemed fitting for the northern terminus.

But for you, might I suggest The Bah-Tav-Ya and Check-It-To-Waga ?

#25

Jon- Check-It-To-Waga? It’s “Cheekto-Vegas,” or “Cheekto-Nowhere,” or “Cheekto-Boogie,” or something like that. BTW- Some of us still live in the “Land of the Pink Flamingoes!”… and that’s “Downtown Cheektowaga” to you, mister!!! Which has me thinkin’, Joe. You need a logo for your new line and I’m thinkin’ a pink flamingo fits right in. You’ll score all kinds of points with poni Rusz, as well. BTW- if you name it the “Humboldt and Fillmore,” make sure there’s a lot of railroad police around!!! Have you been back there, lately? I’d post some pictures but last time I was there my camera was stolen!!!

My RR, The Iron Island, is as you know a real place not far from Humboldt and Fillmore. Maybe we could interchange freight cars!??!!

-Kevin.

#26

The Tuscarora Railroad was chartered as a subsidiary of the Tuscarora Valley Railroad to run an extension from the TVRR’s southern terminus at Blair’s Mills PA south to McConnelsburg, PA, passing through Neelyton and Burnt Cabins on the way. The East Broad Top RR had surveyed a largely parallel line extending from Shade Gap, PA, east to Neelyton, then turning south. This was their “Southern Extension.” Both railroads surveyed and graded the railroad, but when the South Penn RR vaporized, the EBT abandoned their southern extension dreams, building only as far as Neelyton. The TVRR laid about 1/4 mile of rail south of Blairs Mills and inexplicably stopped. In the 1920s, the EBT would purchase the TRR’s graded right of way from Blair’s Mills to McConnelsburg for $1,000 so they could run a short spur north from Neelyton to a ganister quarry about a mile north at what would be called Stanton.

When I “converted” to 1:20.3, proper EBT motive power was non-existent, but I had a few B’mann 1:20 locos on hand which–while couldn’t be built into EBT prototypes–made for nice-looking locos. I’ve always preferred the more rural traffic on the EBT’s Shade Gap branch to the coal trains that ran from Mt. Union to Robertsdale, so even if EBT locos were available, I’d still opt for doing the Shade Gap branch. So it seemed logical, then, to resurrect the Tuscarora RR under the premise that what was graded by both railroads was ultimately built upon and operated by a separate entity from both the EBT and TVRR. This way I could have creative freedom in what locos I ran, but concentrate on building EBT (and TVRR) rolling stock while also working to build a stable of EBT-prototype locomotives.

The original thought was that these TRR locos would be sold off once a suitable roster of EBT locos was built, but along the way, I’ve found I’ve had entirely too much fun writing the back-story for the TRR and its history over the years that it’s become something of its own entity that I will continue with.

Later,

K

#27

Ah, gang, you make my day. Gloomy morning (again!) makes Joe feel gloomy, so thanks for the insights and laughs. And yes, I am getting usable ideas, so thanks.

#28

Railroads weren’t just named after where they WERE… the principles often had dreams of grandure.

There were many little lines (later absorbed or abandoned) that had names of places they never got to, or even had any real chance of getting.

Jerkwater, Humbug & Pacific

Podunk, Big City & Western

Noplace Northern

Nicknames could be from sounding out their abbreviations (the “Homer” from Houndsville, Ohyeah, Mickeymouse & Rinkytink

Or from a prominent feature along the RR, “The Bignose Mountain Line”

Or their mascot, “Line of the Teddies”

Or their main freight, “The Pillowfluff Road”

Some real RRnames

http://www.hrtrains.com/rdname.html

If I had it to do over, I’d probably used WBT&S (yes, it was a real rr, the Waco, Beaumont, Trinity & Sabine) simply for their nickname, ‘Wobble, Bobble, Turnover & Stop’, just substituting local placenames

http://www.the-ashpit.com/mik/layout.html

#29

The first large scale train set I bought had the name Rio Grande Southern on the locomotive. At the time I didn’t know a thing about that particular RR but I did like that name. Eventually I learned a great deal more about the railroad, and since it was bankrupt about 90% of the time, having a limited hobby budget made it an easy pick.

When it came time to rebuild the layout I decided to model from Delores going to Durango, since it seemed everyone else that modeled that particular RR went the other direction, from Rico to Ridgeway. And the rest is history.

#30

Well, I tried to take a sort of prototype approach. Since my railroad is suppose to represent narrow gauge operations in the Black Hills of South Dakota, I tried to create a backstory. It is lengthy but I’ll shorten it to, the real narrow gauge railroads of: Deadwood Central and Black Hills & Ft Pierre. These two railroads combined into one larger system. That gave me a historical reference.

I then used the D&RGW as a basis for my naming. Name a city: In my railroad I replaced Denver with Deadwood. Name a location: I replaced Rio Grande with Black Hills. Name a geographical location: I kept the Western. Thus was born the Deadwood & Black Hills Western (D&BHW).

#31

I like what I’m seeing. You folks have put a lot of thought into this.

Ric and others who talked about names that are puns or plays on words: I’m saving those for some of my industries like Loos Tools, and Renzo’s Pianos.
Actually, at one time I was tempted to call my railroad the Lake Flaccid & Viagra Falls, which almost sounds like two actual places in New York State. Unfortunately, the super wouldn’t give it a PG rating, so that was that. :frowning:

#32

dieseldude . said:

Jon- Check-It-To-Waga? It’s “Cheekto-Vegas,” or “Cheekto-Nowhere,” or “Cheekto-Boogie,” or something like that. BTW- Some of us still live in the “Land of the Pink Flamingoes!”… and that’s “Downtown Cheektowaga” to you, mister!!!
-Kevin.

Hey Kevin - Just tryin’ to spell phonetically the way the old Polish guys down at the fire hall used to say it in the 70’s when I was a volunteer at Harris Hill VFD in Clarance. BTW, I believe a hamburger in Cheektowaga cost A Dollar, Three Eighty at the time.

#33

Hah! What’s some smarmy WASP (or is it Teuton?) know about us Poles, who as we know are the “Salt of the Ert” and love to have our “Shot na beer.” Make that “Tree fingers, Tree Fedders.” And just so you know, out at Angola on the Lake, me and my buds always got in, despite the line, 'cause Ma Lerczak was a family friend. “Kom in, kom in,” she would say.

What’s more, at our wedding celebration in Olaffub, we were graced by the presence of the city’s two Polish sausage kings: Shelly and Wardinski. They (and all the other guests) gave us money.

#34

Jon- hamburgers were a buck tree eighty- down where da street car bends!!! You gotta work on your accent!! My favorite is “Hey Stella, we had two beef on weck and two Genny’s. What’s da damage?” I think I heard that at the Shooperhouse (I wish I knew how to spell "Shooperhouse. Shouperhaus? Shouperhause? StupidKevin? Whatever.) Sorry for hijacking this thread, Joe.

-Kevin.

#35

Joe Rusz said:

“Actually, at one time I was tempted to call my railroad the Lake Flaccid & Viagra Falls,”

Sounds like a personal problem Joe and this is a family forum… LOL
Actually that is a great name. At one end of the RR you could have a hot spring baths that promise a renewed vigor and vitality. Such a bath could really put your RR on the map and your profits would soar with a regular passenger service to it.

I think you are on the “right track” in coming up with a name.

#36

Todd Haskins said:

Joe Rusz said:

“Actually, at one time I was tempted to call my railroad the Lake Flaccid & Viagra Falls,”

Sounds like a personal problem Joe and this is a family forum… LOL
Actually that is a great name. At one end of the RR you could have a hot spring baths that promise a renewed vigor and vitality. Such a bath could really put your RR on the map and your profits would soar with a regular passenger service to it.

I think you are on the “right track” in coming up with a name.

Back in my HOn30 days the name of my line was Furnace Creek, Kettle & Union Pacific, not so bad …until you put the initials on a tender.

Funny thing is it really was an apt description of my venture in that hallowed (or is that hated) gauge.

#37

My former 25 year old HO layout was based on the Ann Arbor RR running from Toledo, Ohio to Frankfort/Elberta, Mi including a branch line to Saline, Mi. Back in 1964 only had 15 loco’s, easy to model. I had a couple of EMD’s I wanted to run, plus the rr needed more industries to justify the amount of operators I would have running the rr. So I decided to come up with my own name, at 1st it was going to be the Frankfort, Ann Arbor , & Toledo RR but I thought my car license plate wouldn’t be too appealing with FAT RR on it so I decided to go with Saline, Ann Arbor, & Yuma RR, SAY RR looked & sounded better
My outdoor rr is Montgomery & Cripple Creek RR, Montgomery being my wife’s maiden name & my father-in-law built a few structures for the rr… Cripple Creek was the 1st structure I bought even before track had been laid.

#38

Glad to see great minds think alike, which considering some of the things I’ve read here, is a frightening thought. Yes, Vic, I would’ve figured it out pretty quick. Speaking of such thinks, my wife and I saw a personalized California license plate that we were amazed, made it past the DMW word police. I’m reluctant to post it, 'cause if you know vulgarisms, it’s obvious. All’s I can guess is that the license folks in Sacramento don’t know much French, as the second word was “faux,” as in “faux pas.” Youse can probably guess the first word.

Kevin from Cheektowaga, I’m workin’ on that beer container name, which ain’t in the dictionary. But the place was called “Tommy’s Schooper (or whatever) House,” located on Niagara Street where the road kinda curves under the railroad overpass, which I believe is the one that leads to International Bridge, where the trains cross the Niagara River to get to Canada.

#39

:slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

Sure is fun to read all these pirouettes.

Personally I’d recommend something that would spell SNAFU.

:slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

#40

How 'bout the Florida, Union, Bluestone, Allegheny, and Richmond RR, otherwise know as the FUBAR RR.

:slight_smile: ;):slight_smile: