Pet hate idioms used by railway enthusiasts

[Barclay]

14 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

No a Bus Park .......if you came from Braintree.

So true ! - sadly no more as the bus park is now under the construction site for an inappropriately large cheap hotel that I can't imagine anyone will want to stay at.

 

As to 'road station' ? It's not just buses that use roads, whereas I believe only trains use railways which is why until recently no-one used the hideous term 'Train Station'.

[JeremyC]

15 minutes ago, Wickham Green too said:

Another one that narks me is any reference to the Forth Rail ( or railway ) Bridge ...................... no, it was called the Forth Bridge long before the two tarmac interlopers came along. ( I just hope they don't build another one ....... that'd be the fourth Forth crossing ! ) 

Correct!

I live in Queensferry and

The Forth Bridge is the railway bridge.

The Forth Road Bridge is the old road bridge.

The Queensferry Crossing is the new road bridge.

 

Shortly after opening of the latter we had gales and the BBC traffic reports announced that due to high winds the Forth Road Bridge was closed to high sided vehicles; cue much moaning about "they said the new bridge wouldn't close during gales", but the BBC were correct in their report as it was the original road bridge that was affected.

Edited June 11, 2021 by JeremyC

[Compound2632]

40 minutes ago, JeremyC said:

Shortly after opening of the latter we had gales and the BBC traffic reports announced that due to high winds the Forth Road Bridge was closed to high sided vehicles; cue much moaning about "they said the new bridge wouldn't close during gales", but the BBC were correct in their report as it was the original road bridge that was affected.

 

Responsible journalism would be "The Forth Road Bridge is closed but the Queensferry Crossing remains open"

[smiths park]

I sure someone will have picked this up but on my model they are crossings not frogs and the whole unit is a Switch and Crossing not a point. Catenary is the wire that carries the droppers that support the contact wire, not the whole system which is called the OHLE. The signal is at yellow not amber, it's a conductor rail not a third rail and my models are either 4mm running on OO (actually HO)gauge track not OO scale. But what you call them on your model railway is fine with me.

[Zomboid]

1 hour ago, JeremyC said:

Correct!

I live in Queensferry and

The Forth Bridge is the railway bridge.

The Forth Road Bridge is the old road bridge.

The Queensferry Crossing is the new road bridge.

 

Shortly after opening of the latter we had gales and the BBC traffic reports announced that due to high winds the Forth Road Bridge was closed to high sided vehicles; cue much moaning about "they said the new bridge wouldn't close during gales", but the BBC were correct in their report as it was the original road bridge that was affected.

The "Forth Bridge" achieved that name when it was the only one. Now that there are two more nearby, adding "rail" or "railway" as a clarifier seems pretty useful. At worst it's harmless.

 

Nobody I know calls the southbound Dartford crossing the "Queen Elizabeth II Bridge"; it's the Dartford Bridge.

[Dagworth]

1 hour ago, Wickham Green too said:

Another one that narks me is any reference to the Forth Rail ( or railway ) Bridge ...................... no, it was called the Forth Bridge long before the two tarmac interlopers came along. ( I just hope they don't build another one ....... that'd be the fourth Forth crossing ! ) 

I think it was Billy Connolly that said it didn’t even need the Forth in its name, simply being The Bridge. 
 

And if there were two more the last would be the fifth over the Firth of Forth 

 

Andi

Edited June 11, 2021 by Dagworth

[Wickham Green too]

Ah ........... is that what that TV series was about ? - maybe I should track it down on I-Player !!?!

[Steamport Southport]

I'll just leave this here.

 

 

Even those in Houston can get it right.

[Compound2632]

Well, I suppose it would be the forth rail bridge if the line was electrified using the London Underground DC system.

[Nick C]

7 hours ago, Ken.W said:

 

And quite right too!

The railway's always used orange for high-viz since such stuff was invented. Consequently drivers are well conditioned to spotting and reacting quickly to a certain shade of orange. It's even been known, on occasion, to sound the horn at a Portastore tool vault parked on the lineside!

 

The yellow / green dayglow types may work well on tarmac roads, on the railway however ...

I remember an incident some time ago when I was cautioned through an area where the Police were searching the lineside. They were wearing their normal high-viz instead of railway orange ones and, against the railway / lineside environment, they were more like camouflage than high-viz!

UK motorsport switched over to orange hi-vis a few years ago, for what I suspect was the same reason as the railway in the first place - to avoid any risk of confusion with yellow flags.

[Reorte]

13 minutes ago, Nick C said:

UK motorsport switched over to orange hi-vis a few years ago, for what I suspect was the same reason as the railway in the first place - to avoid any risk of confusion with yellow flags.

 

Yellow flags? Why would they get confused with irises?

[Michael Hodgson]

44 minutes ago, Dagworth said:

I think it was Billy Connolly that said it didn’t even need the Forth in its name, simply being The Bridge. 
 

And if there were two more the last would be the fifth over the Firth of Forth 

 

Andi

Eric Morecambe said East Fife 4 Forfar 5

[Oldddudders]

1 hour ago, smiths park said:

Catenary is the wire that carries the droppers that support the contact wire, not the whole system which is called the OHLE. 

To us third-rail types, it is all called Electric String. 

[Reorte]

6 minutes ago, Michael Hodgson said:

Eric Morecambe said East Fife 4 Forfar 5

And it eventually happened in reality (in 2018), albeit after penalties...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44916496

[Dagworth]

1 minute ago, Oldddudders said:

To us third-rail types, it is all called Electric String. 

Fizzy Knitting is my favourite, from a well known OLE expert on Twitter. 
 

Andi

[billy_anorak59]

Consist.

 

Not easily replaced by anything that doesn't sound clunky in a sentence, but it just offends my ears in a 'from the get go' sort of way.

[keefer]

2 hours ago, Dagworth said:

 

And if there were two more the last would be the fifth over the Firth of Forth

You already have 5:

Forth Bridge

Forth Road Bridge

Kincardine Bridge

Clackmannanshire Bridge

Queensferry Crossing

 

 

 

 

Edited June 11, 2021 by keefer

[Oldddudders]

57 minutes ago, billy_anorak59 said:

Consist.

 

Not easily replaced by anything that doesn't sound clunky in a sentence, but it just offends my ears in a 'from the get go' sort of way.

In my Pre-TOPS era, the numbertakers used to ring up with a 'tally' for the freight that was just leaving. 

[Steven B]

15 hours ago, Wickham Green too said:

How about "This train terminates at XYZ." ...... yes, I know it does ( will do ) - it's the end of the line ! : I only need to know that it "terminates at" somewhere unexpected.

 

There are plenty of through stations where trains terminate - e.g. Leeds, York, Birmingham New Street...

 

 

Plenty more bridges cross the River Forth further west. The river was bridged by the railway at Alloa five years before Fowler & Baker's construction opened. Does that mean the Forth Bridge is the Second Forth Bridge?

 

 

Steven B.

[Steamport Southport]

16 minutes ago, Steven B said:

 

There are plenty of through stations where trains terminate - e.g. Leeds, York, Birmingham New Street...

 

 

Plenty more bridges cross the River Forth further west. The river was bridged by the railway at Alloa five years before Fowler & Baker's construction opened. Does that mean the Forth Bridge is the Second Forth Bridge?

 

 

Steven B.

 

Anyone who travels on Merseyrail will know the phrase

 

"The next station is XYZ where this train will terminate" and a very audible groan. Usually at a station in the middle of nowhere.

 

Meant that something was broke and you were getting off and getting a bus as there wasn't going to be any trains for a while. You could tell the people who weren't regulars as they were hanging about whilst the regulars were already out of the station and heading for the nearest bus stop.

 

I miss traveling by Miseryrail. It's nickname was very apt.   

[Reorte]

23 minutes ago, Steven B said:

Plenty more bridges cross the River Forth further west. The river was bridged by the railway at Alloa five years before Fowler & Baker's construction opened. Does that mean the Forth Bridge is the Second Forth Bridge?

 

Just remember that whilst there's a fourth Severn bridge (which appears to be disused) there's not a Forth-Severn bridge. Couldn't be clearer!

[Bomag]

10 hours ago, Ken.W said:

 

And quite right too!

The railway's always used orange for high-viz since such stuff was invented. Consequently drivers are well conditioned to spotting and reacting quickly to a certain shade of orange. It's even been known, on occasion, to sound the horn at a Portastore tool vault parked on the lineside!

 

The yellow / green dayglow types may work well on tarmac roads, on the railway however ...

I remember an incident some time ago when I was cautioned through an area where the Police were searching the lineside. They were wearing their normal high-viz instead of railway orange ones and, against the railway / lineside environment, they were more like camouflage than high-viz!

 

Yellow (and even yellow/green) has a higher luminance factor than orange and in most situations is more conspicuous, or visible from a greater distance. You will get situations where orange will have a better contrast with the background but most of the time its yellow. The benefit of orange is that it has a higher contrasts with signals .

 

Yellow also is impacted to a lower degree than orange from veiling luminance (glare). Finally Yellow/ Green (and to a lessor extent yellow) when florescent is much better in low light conditions when reduced diffuse illumination limits contrast but when retroreflective elements are not effective.    

[Steamport Southport]

51 minutes ago, Reorte said:

 

Just remember that whilst there's a fourth Severn bridge (which appears to be disused) there's not a Forth-Severn bridge. Couldn't be clearer!

 

I think there are a hell of a lot more bridges over the Severn than four!

 

This is the most important.

 

 

Photo Duncan Harris

[Wickham Green too]

Now that really does need to be in the "When a hermitage railway looks like a train set" thread : six immaculate wagons in pre-'36 liveries and a token one in post'36 - and all belonging to the same railway, too - let alone the loco that's out of period ! 

[Reorte]

1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

I think there are a hell of a lot more bridges over the Severn than four!

But one of them must be the fourth! Fourth one upstream looks to be disused, no idea which was the fourth to be built. Although the Second Severn Crossing is, of course, the first upstream and definitely not the second one to be built.

Edited June 11, 2021 by Reorte