This topic is from another post by Doug that I thought deserved its own space:
"…Have any of you have a slogan and name for ‘your’ railroad. My son and I have yet to name our pike: I’d be open to any clever suggestions or would like to hear about your road.
Doug Murphy
Doug,
Mine is the Belen Sub, a real name. Sorry can’t help in the creative area.
Tell us what industries your pike serves or the name of your mother-in-law and i’ll suggest a name.
Good questions, Dave. Industries or geography can help with a name - though with me they might not clarify. I haven’t any industries or stations yet (no accessories to speak of) There’s two long sidings.A few bridges. A broken gateman. A farm. A lake. An airport. Roads. We run roughly three trains: a 248 mixed train: 2 passenger and a few pre-war freight cars; the Ballyhoo circus train; and an MPC-era FA-led misc. freight.
Mine is the E.L.M. Ry., a division of the CB&Q. The E.L.M. is the initials of my three grandaughters and the CB&Q because I’ve been collecting CB&Q freight cars and thus the majority of my rolling stock is such.
Mine is the Opelika & Oneonta ( O&O ) or “The Round and Round Route!” I got the idea for the reporting marks and slogan from a tiny, cigar box railroad I saw years ago. It featured a silver dollar surrounded by a code 40 rail soldered to circuit board ties. An N scale docksider went around using the coin for the inside rail. It was lettered O & O for the “Round and Round RR”.
I have several other slogans for my railroad such as:
“Wherever you go, there you are”
“We’ll give you the run-around!”
“You can’t get there from here!”
To me, developing your own roadname is part of the fun of the hobby. I’ve noticed it is far more common in HO or N than in O. I guess most folks cringe at the thought of repainting some valuable piece of prewar (or expensive modern) rolling stock and hurt its value. Still, you can name your railroad, then run what you like and say it’s leased equipment or it has running rights on your road.
I am planning to reletter an MTH NYC docksider with the O & O reporting marks along with a K-Line caboose. Who knows? One day I might have O & O Hudsons, Turbines and maybe even F-3s! [:D]
That’s funny! Real railroaders often had equally colorful terms for their railroads. I can’t recall them all, but WM was the Wild Mary and some other ones alluded to slow, sporadic service or lack of money (Lackawanna). Maybe some other forumites can think of some. It’ll come to me but I’m in a fog at the moment, and my fog lights are not on.
Mine layout is named the: Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash. As a kid I rode the National Limited from Baltimore, Md, to Cincinnati, Ohio. We then boarded the NYC James Whitcomb Riley and headed for Lafayette, Indiana on the banks of the Wabash River.
Some day when we have a post about train wrecks, I’ll tell you about the wreck of the National LImited in 1956.
my first NYC apartment pike was the Riverside & Ridiculous RailRoad (the R&R RR). so named because we lived near Riverside Drive and the whole concept of an O (O-27, really) pike in a Manhattan apt. was ridiculous. the second version in a different apt. in the same building had the same name.
the current layout, in FL, is the Brewer Avenue & Pacific, so named because we live on Brewer Avenue (a street most people in this town cannot find) and because i have significant roots in the Pacific Northwest. the slogan? Serving Central Florida and the Far West.
My old european style prewar 0 gauge railroad was the ironbrigde& clearwater RR. Called so because of a home made iron bridge in it with a span of 1m across what imaginable would be an unpolluted river. My new american based layout… I don’t know yet, something like IJ&F (It just fits) or R&B (rediculous big) I’ll find one when I start building it…
