Railroad Acronyms

[Library Lady]

If you are a railroad fan, retired and looking for something to do, you might consider contacting the historical society for the railroad of your choice to see if they have any volunteer (or possibly paid) opportunities.

If you know how to care for and/or run a steam engine, kindly make inquires at UP Steam (based in Wyoming) so the UP doesn't start getting ideas about decommissioning and donating away the Big Boy again like they did the Challenger. I don't imagine they're really taking applications, but the talent pool has got to be shrinking. It would be so sad to lose that engine, too.

 

[USS ALASKA]

NH
New York, New Haven and Hartford
New Years, No Home and Hungry
Not Yet No How and Hopeless
Not Yet, No Help, and Helpless
Not Yet, No Hope, and Hopeless
New Year, No Hope and Hungry

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c5855bb77b9038456fbc380/1565133143208-7Q5ANWX8Z94SHI6KXFJL/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kDlC4IIWLjDzC4bDa6ZlD5x7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QPOohDIaIeljMHgDF5CVlOqpeNLcJ80NK65_fV7S1USfKK7j_M4Fsa3PEFCJMvXIeENMn7PMU7FGPg-9giCGiTkxC0aoRwwbnj8JuJQ_2MQ/NH_SystemMap.jpg

Started postbellum by the merger of a bunch of lines, some antebellum, and helped / pushed / forced by some guy named John Pierpont Morgan Sr., (like he did with the postbellum Southern Railroad).

List of New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad precursors - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (reporting mark NH), commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated principally in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to 1968. Founded by the merger of the New York and New Haven and Hartford and New Haven railroads, the company had near-total dominance of railroad traffic in Southern New England for the first half of the 20th century. Beginning in the 1890s and accelerating in 1903, New York banker J. P. Morgan sought to monopolize New England transportation by arranging the NH's acquisition of 50 companies, including other railroads and steamship lines, and building a network of electrified trolley lines that provided interurban transportation for all of southern New England. By 1912, the New Haven operated more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of track, with 120,000 employees, and practically monopolized traffic in a wide swath from Boston to New York City. This quest for monopoly angered Progressive Era reformers, alienated public opinion, raised the cost of acquiring other companies and increased the railroad's construction costs. The company's debt soared from $14 million in 1903 to $242 million in 1913, while the advent of automobiles, trucks and buses reduced its profits. Also in 1913, the federal government filed an antitrust lawsuit that forced the NH to divest its trolley systems. The line became bankrupt in 1935. It emerged from bankruptcy, albeit reduced in scope, in 1947, only to go bankrupt again in 1961. In 1969, its rail assets were merged with the Penn Central system, formed a year earlier by the merger of the New York Central Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad. Already a poorly conceived merger, Penn Central went bankrupt in 1970, becoming the largest U.S. bankruptcy until the Enron Corporation superseded it in 2001. The remnants of the system now comprise Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line, much of the northern leg of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, Connecticut's Shore Line East and Hartford Line, parts of the MBTA, and numerous freight operators such as CSX and the Providence and Worcester Railroad. The majority of the surviving system is now owned publicly by the states of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, with other surviving segments owned by freight railroads; many abandoned lines have been converted into rail trails.

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Allyn]

Erie Lackawanna - known as the Weary Erie for its speed (or lack thereof).

 

[USS ALASKA]

Erie Lackawanna - known as the Weary Erie for its speed (or lack thereof).

Erie Lackawanna

Railroad Acronyms | Railroads & Steam Locomotives

Here's some from across the pond; GWR - Great Way Round, and later on, God's Wonderful Railway. Somerset & Dorset - Slow and Dirty. London, Chatham and Dover - in it's early years, London, smash'em and over - guess what they were good at ! The railway I volunteered for in the 1970's when we...

civilwartalk.com

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[4thMichigan]

When I worked at Bell Helicopter, the owner of lot put the title up for sale. We said it would be bought by Mexico and renamed Taco Bell.

And the old joke at FedEx was metging with UPS and the new company would be named FedUp.

When I worked at Ford Motor Company's "Parts and Service Division", we had a nickname for the "SWIFT" semi-truck drivers.... "Sure Wished I'd've Finished Training". That was due to the number of accidents that we heard they were in, and I've driven by a few of them myself on the way to or from work.

 

[4thMichigan]

Does anyone have one for the "Toonerville Trolley.".

"Tin Toys"

 

[Library Lady]

When I worked at Ford Motor Company's "Parts and Service Division", we had a nickname for the "SWIFT" semi-truck drivers.... "Sure Wished I'd've Finished Training". That was due to the number of accidents that we heard they were in, and I've driven by a few of them myself on the way to or from work.

Well, hopefully, they weren't Found On Road Dead. Sorry, I just couldn't resist. I'd like to claim that a fellow member's attitude has rubbed off on me; but no, this is all on me.

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

Have you one for FEC.

Yep, Florida East Coast Railway.

 

[7th Texas Mounted Rifles]

SAF&N

San Antonio - Fredericksburg and Northern - operated 1913-1942.

Came to be when the San Antonio & Aransas Pass line bypassed Fredericksburg, TX (Hometown of Admiral Chester Nimitz) in 1887.

The 'Old Tunnel' became 'Old Tunnel State Park' in 1991 - and is an impressive roost for Mexican Free-Tailed Bats.

 

[G Low]

Yep, Florida East Coast Railway.

Daddy said Florida East Coast was on strike for thirty years. He said him and his pro union dad would visit the telegrapher and called him a scab. He said they had no windows in the depot only chicken wire. This was in Daytona in the late thirties early Forties.

 

[Old Soldier]

I am curious to know if these lines are used solely for freight, or are they available for passengers, or vice-versa? Thanks,
Lubliner.

Most of the remaining branch lines are passenger only. In my area, the last MINERAL railway, carrying limestone from the foot of the Pennines to the coast closed just recently. The whole of Durham was criss-crossed with rail carrying coal to Consett and Teesside (steel production) and the East Coast ports for shipping as well as limestone and iron ore. The North Eastern was renowned as a mineral shipping company. When those lines closed, any passenger services were removed too. Most closed in the 1980s - as the collieries closed.

 

[Georgian1950]

Daddy said Florida East Coast was on strike for thirty years. He said him and his pro union dad would visit the telegrapher and called him a scab. He said they had no windows in the depot only chicken wire. This was in Daytona in the late thirties early Forties.

Dates are way off. The strike started in 1963. While it lasted for years and was very bitter, it resulted in many operational changes such as reduced crew sizes operating the full length of the railroad rather than three crew districts. It has all been resolved now and I believe most employees are under union contract.