Is there any significant difference between a rail-WAY vs. a rail-ROAD ?
Somebody told me one time,that after some railroads go into bankrupcty they reform as a railway.It may have something to due legally so ever little thing doesn’t have to be changed?Just a guess.
Yes, the…wait, I dont know… Good Question!!
I do know that some railroads,er railways, er whatever they are, used the classification Railway such as the D.M.I.R Ry Co., and some used railroad, like the Burlington Northern Railroad Co. I believe Mack is on to something though…
But that means BN couldnt have used RR!?
Im confused![%-)][%-)]
I know in the case of the “Indiana Rail Road”(3 words), it was a legal decision because “Indiana Railroad”(2 words) was still held by the old interurban line that ran through the state. I’m guessing in most cases Mack is right, it comes down to a legal matter over the naming rights and whether or not anyone else holds them.
Mike
The Yosemite Valley Railroad was reorganized as the Yosemite Valley Railway, for example. The word railway seems to have been more prevalent in Britain as an initial designation. Perhaps one of our English forum members would share his or her perspective.
Simple answer, when a RR goes through a bankrupcy or a reorganization it’s a way to change the name without really changing the name. You just from one to the other. Like from Western Pacific Railroad to Western Pacific Railway. It’s still Western Pacific but technicaly the name has changed. It has happened many many times in the past.
As others have said, it’s all in the econmics of reorganization. I’ve read a few times about lines that have gone the complete circuit , from railroad to railway and back to railroad.
I think we may be confusing cause and effect here. Outside the United States, the standard nomenclature was (and to a large extent still is) railway. Here in the USA railroad has been equally acceptable and, at the time the lines were founded, was probably used more often than railway.
However, the substitution of -way for -road is NOT something that developed out of the Staggers law. For example, when the Santa Fe was reorganize in, I think, 1894, it changed its name from Railroad to Railway. The trick is to signal that the same people are running the company, but under a different mode of incorporation. That’s why in the USA railroads have often become railways or even rail roads or transportation companies. And why in Britain and Canada the opposite has been known to happen.
Maybe 30 years ago the experts would have said that railroad and railway are both acceptable in the US, but railway is the preferred nomenclature in the other English-speaking countries. But now it’s so swapped around that there are no hard-and-fast rules as to how and why any paritcular railroad or rail service should be named. It can be interesting to find out HOW they were named, and whether the name is ancestral or more recent.
similarly I noticed that US Airlines reorganized as US Airways after bankrupcy
dd
You don’t think it has something to do with finances?
IF I hold a promissory note stating that Smalling Railroad Incorporated will pay me $50 million on January ,1 2008 but you go belly up in 2006 and manage to reorganize in 2007 as Smalling Railway Incorporated…where does that leave me? [:D]
YES, there is a considerable difference between a railroad and a railway, as you note there are still railways in the U.S. and have always been railways, I’m sure in some instances bankruptcy had some bearing in some cases, Legally and financially the terms are very important, try reading legal contracts on a merger for example, they probably go in to great detail to explain the difference, I’m not sure exactly how many railways there are in the U.S. does anyone know?? maybe in the U.S. it was easier to use RR on railway crossing signs. This topic has been discussed here and on MR forums before and I believe the question was finally answered.
More than adequately answered, so maybe it’s my problem I didn’t understand it.
It’s something like the difference between “admittance” and “admission” in the law. Traditionally, “admittance” got the ticket-holder into the lobby but s/he needed “admission” to get into the theater proper. But it very rarely matters nowadays.
MSN Encarta
Railroad:
-
track made of rails: a track consisting of steel rails usually fastened to wood or concrete ties, designed to carry a locomotive and its cars or anything similar.
-
rail system: a network of railroad lines, together with the trains, buildings, equipment, and staff needed to operate a rail transport system, or the organization or company that owns or runs this.
Railway:
- light rail system: a railroad system, especially one that uses lighter-weight equipment and operates in a limited area.
The American Heritage Dictionary Fourth Edition
Railroad:
NOUN: 1. A road composed of parallel steel rails supported by ties and providing a track for locomotive-drawn trains or other wheeled vehicles. 2. A system of railroad track, together with the land, stations, rolling stock, and other related property under one management.
Railway:
NOUN: 1. A railroad, especially one operated over a limited area: a commuter railway. 2. A track providing a runway for wheeled equipment.
So far the only difference I see from two dictionaries is that “railroads” run great distances where “railways” are limited in distance.
Compact Oxford English Dictionary
The definition here was interesting.
Railroad:
• noun N. Amer. a railway.
This came up here not long ago. When I looked up the two terms in my desk dictionary, it was kind of circular, as Jim also found. Language purists might differ, but I think that any more it’s sort of a po-tay-to / po-tah-to thing. The terms are pretty much interchangable in meaning.
I agree, with the understanding brokered above that use of the corporate terms must be precise in law or finance.
I have a compact O.E.D. too (Book-of-the-Month Club alumus, like me?). I like the way it defines “railroad” as North American in nature. Come to think of it, though, I think one old term for a traction company was street railway, not railroad. That’s probably why it can applies to light rail or a limited service, even today.
Any wireheads who know of a streetcar co. calling itself a street railroad, as opposed to railway?? I don’t think I’ve ever heard that term…
Not meaning to argue, but this was also because of their partnership with Brittish Airways which was to help strengthen both airlines since they were both faltering a bit at the time. Of course it didn’t work as they’d hoped.
Mike