Sorry, newbie question here - I searched all over the internet and couldn’t find the answer to this question - why is Ry used for Railroad?
It’s not. RR is the abbreviation for railroad. Ry. is short for Railway.
It gets fun when some are Railroad’s (RR) while other companies use Railway (RY) as the end.
Even more fun is when you know the history of certain lines, and they changed from Railway to Railroad, depending on the era.
It used to be that “railway” meant that there were ties to Britain…such as financing or ownership. In Canada they are all called railways, thanks to British ties, and in the case of CNR-Ownership by the British Crown (a crown corporation)
Railway staff found that the use of Ry or Rly is simply easy to write instead of Railway. Just as Co. is easier than Company.
X,Y & Z Rly Co is easier than X,Y & Z Railway Company.
Simple.
David
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I cannot think of an example off of the top of my head, but there were some railroads that started out as XYZ Railway, but later changed their identity to XYZ Railroad.
The abbreviation “RY” would continue to be seen for a while after they had become known as a Railroad “RR”.
-Kevin
I’ve seen Rwy for Railway numerous times.
We have a Railway Avenue close by. It is flat and completely straight. We have no Railroads or Railways in town, and we never had. Did someone dream of one and actually go so far as to build a preliminary right of way in hopes of attracting one?
We do have a restaurant that was originally railroad-themed and has a locomotive and two dining cars. The cars and engine must have been trucked in. The restaurant is now a breakfast place.
The Norfolk & Western, for one, went bankrupt not so long after it was incorporated as the Norfolk & Western Railroad. When it was stood up again as a company, they changed it to ‘railway’.
Along those lines I wonder why the U.S. abbreviates Number as No. ?
Mose European abbreviations I’v seen use Nr.
There isn’t even a letter O in number. (I’m told it is from Latin numero) go figure.
Things to ponder — Ed
Hello Lord Graystoke, welcome to the MR forum. The last time I saw that name was in a comic book of Tarzan.
If you visit rrpicturesarchives.net and search by railroad, you’ll notice that the official reporting marks typically end in RR or RY, but not always, especially if its been around for a long time or is a big railroad. (BNSF is simply BNSF).
Other reporting marks have an X if the equipment is owned by a leasing company.
I believe the marks are the offical abbreviations for a Railroad or a Railway in the companies title, save for the few times a company may have changed its name for legal reasons.
Oftentimes you can double check that by comparing the offical reporting marks to the name of the railroad (or railway).
It’s indirectly Latin, English got it from the French “Numero”. BTW the plural is “Nos.” Although English is in the Germanic family of languages, the majority of our words come from Latin via the French (1066, Norman Conquest, and all that.)
BTW “railroad” vs. “railway” really had nothing to do with whether the company was funded by the British or not - many American rail lines in the 19th century (and many US companies in general) were built with British funding but were still railroads, while many American funded companies were railways. I grew up across the street from the Minneapolis Northfield and Southern Railway, which was built and funded in the early 20th century by Col. Marion Savage and his business interests right here in Minnesota.
Bottom line is, there’s not really any rhyme or reason for one or the other, except that you’ll often find an “AB&C Railroad” that eventually files for bankruptcy and reorganizes as the “AB&C Railway”…or vice versa.
It’s not as much age as it is how they registered the marks and how long the road name is.
Railroad or railway or company or lines generally has more to do with reorganizations and bankruptcies than anything else. Most railroads have been multiple “things” over the course of their history as they were merged, went through bankruptcy and reorganization or other events.
For example the Reading Railroad in the “modern era” wasn’t the Reading Railroad, it was the Reading Company. If you look at a Reading passenger car it has that name in the letter boards. That came about as the result of an anti-trust lawsuit.
Modern reporting marks are limited to 4 characters, older, pre-computer reporting marks could be much longer. NH (modern) vs. NYNH&HR (older). The majority of reporting marks don’t include “RR” or “RWY” or “RY”.
It’s actually equipment owned by someone other than a railroad.While you are correct it could be a leasing company (GATX), it could be an industry (DUPX), or it could be a government agency (DODX). Also a leasing company may own and have a long term lease cars to a railroad and the railroad puts their initials on the car. They are “leased” cars owned by a leasing company but operated by the rairlroad as their own.
Reporting marks are re
Ya, the reporting marks are the official “name” of the car. A shortline could buy a used Santa Fe boxcar with a huge Santa Fe herald and slogan etc. on it, and legally all they had to do is paint over the “ATSF” reporting marks and add their own. As long as the data (weight, length etc.) are correct and up to date, the other stuff is just decoration.
Plus, I think it’s often misunderstood that when a railroad buys or merges with another railroad, the new company inherits the reporting marks of the earlier railroads. BNSF owns the rights to the reporting marks from all the previous railroads that went into it, like BN, GN, NP, ATSF, etc. And it’s not like a copyright where they lose the ownership if they don’t use the reporting marks, like some people have claimed. As Dave says, reporting marks are registered with the appropriate agency or agencies.
Too bad it’s not Railway Road, because then it’d be Ry. Rd.!
Aaron
There is a interesting line near me that is now a Railroad, but in the early 1900’s was a Railway. They were not in any way affiliated with each other originally.
It’s interesting because when they started, the Railroad of the same name did not own or operate on any of the former Railway lines trackage, but they now do thanks to a NS cast-off line.
And what is more interesting for railfans, is the very Alco heavy roster.
The Western New York & Pennsylvania Railway was purchased/merged into the PRR in the early 1900’s, and the WNY&P Ry line through my hometown was removed by Conrail in the 1970’s. (PRR Chataqua Branch.)
The Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad started in the very early 2000’s on ex-Erie RR trackage, from Jamestown NY to Meadville Pa, then expanded east from Jamestown to Hornell NY, on ex-Erie RR trackage, and in the mid-2000’s (2008 I think?) acquired the ex-PRR (Originally WNY&P Ry) Buffalo line (Olean NY south to Driftwood PA) from NS.
Railway Avenue - Ry. Ave. off course. [:-^]
David
There is another abbreviation of RR besides Railroad. The US Post Office uses it. It is Rural Route (RR).
The abbreviation also goes in conjunction with RRTF. No Sir, This abbreviation is not Railroad Track Fiddler[(-D] It is Rural Road Transport Forum[;)]
https://www.onlineabbreviations.com/abbreviation/1177709
Speaking of Roads.
Why does one Drive on the Parkway, and Park in the Driveway? [:^)]
TF
Rural Route, not Rural Road. “RR2 Box 12” means “Rural Route 2, Box 12”. At least that’s what it meant when I was an RCA (Rural Carrier Alternate) long ago.
BTW Mr. Beasley - if you have a Railway Avenue near you, there probably was some type of railroad near the road at one time. It may have been temporary, like for some construction project, or existed long ago. It might have even been a pre-steam era one pulled by horses. There were ‘railways’ like that for 100s of years before the first steam engine came along.