This year in church, I have to pick a patron saint for myself. Naturally, my dedicated presence to the basement dictated what I want my patron saint to be. All I need is the name of the saint. Anybody know if there even is a patron saint of Railroads, or Model Railroading (I think this title goes to John Armstrong, Patron Saint of Model Railroading 
). TIA
Saint Barbara comes to mind. The railways/roads were found via military engineers, and explosives were used in abundance to derive the rights of way.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Barbara
-Crandell
St Judas Thaddeus, the patron saint of lost causes.
It may be a little bit of a stretch, but you might consider St. Philip. Historically, the Church used to invoke his name in the blessing of all sorts of vehicles, since he was associated with the conversion of a certain Ethiopian eunuch, who gave Philip a ride in the chariot he was driving. Since standard gauge is associated with the distance between wheels of the Roman chariot (I may be wrong on this) it would seem that there is a least a somewhat loose connection between Philip, chariots, and standard gauge track! You might just consider him anyway as a terrific example of sharing the faith wherever and with whomever you find yourself. Good luck and have fun with this!
Blessings…
You could select Murphy, If your model isn’t prototype, blame Murphy.
If you glue your fingers together, blame Murphy
Any time something goes wrong, blame Murphy!
Murphy seems more like a demon than a saint…[swg]
Crandell,
When I was in the Army I was inducted into the Honorable Order of St Barbara by the Field Artillery School, (I was an Infantryman for most of my career) and I never thought of St Barbara being railroad related. The big framed certificate I have from the Field Artillery School welcomes me into the traditional brotherhood of Stonehurlers, Archers, Catapulters, Rocketeers, and Gunners. So I associate St Barbara throwing of large projectiles at an enemy.
A google search brought up this site:
http://www.luckymojo.com/patronsaints.html
and I can find no Patron Saint for Railroaders, however, St Joseph is the patron saint of engineers, the kind that design and build the railroad, not the ones who drive locomotives. Perhaps St joseph would be a better fit for railroaders?
Jeff
Tom, St. Barbara is the patron saint for both branches of the armed forces, and the term “military engineer” means that branch of civil engineering that specializes in applications to the military effort.
In the case of Maj Rogers, after whom the Rogers Pass is named in the Canadian Rockies on the CPR right of way, he was an American Military Engineer hired to do the locating, so his patron saint would seem to me to be the appropriate one. I am not familiar with St. Joseph, but it must be the civilian sector that would pertain, and you could make a case for his suitability.
-Crandell
for all the whiners in this hobby it could be St. Francis of a sissy.
grizlump
Saint Caseyjones of Altoona
Actually, despite your somewhat Paleolithic attempt at humor, that might not be a bad idea. St. Francis admonished his followers to “Go out into the world”–which meant travel. Trains travel. And the Franciscans established the chain of missions on the Pacific coast that became both the El Camino Real and the eventual Coast Route of the Southern Pacific “Daylight” trains.
Nosir, St. Francis isn’t a bad idea at all, come to think of it. As a Franciscan myself, I"m all for it.
Tom
Saint William K Walthers?
Saint Christopher, the Patron Saint of Travelers and Transport Providers.
Nick
How about Saint Thomas, Patron Saint of all tank engines [:o)]
Very Odd. There is NO listing for any railroad term, except for a few very obscure references.
I would think St. Christopher would be a good choice.
3,089 topics / 6,446 saints, beati and venerables
ok, i know this is not a religious forum but didn’t the Vatican hold a fair and impartial investigation back around 1969 and take St Christopher out of service?
grizlump (heathen Lutheran)
Saint Arlo of New Orleans.
Yes, it’s true. Saint Christopher was decommissioned by the Vatican. Many people still have “Mr. Christopher” on their dashboards, though!
If you’re of the Anglican persuasion, Harriet Tubman is considered a saint… Of course, she was the conductor of the Underground Railroad, and was a native of my home county.
Lee
I would think the church would prefer that you choose a patron saint who has some deeper meaning to you than a connection with toy trains.
That shows why I must pick St. Allen, Patron Saint of Model Railroading, St. Walthers, Patron Saint of Model Railroad Retail, or St. Armstrong, Patron Saint of Track Planning.