Nicknames of the railway companies.

[nightstar.train]

I was looking at a book about the Glasgow and South Western Railway earlier and was reminded how people used to call it the "good and safe wee railway". So i was wondering if any other companies had nicknames, Only two I know are:

 

GSWR - Good and Safe Wee Railway

GWR - God's Wonderful Railway

 

Any others?

[ChrisN]

Somerset and Dorset                                 - Slow and Dirty

Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton- The Old Worse and Worse

GWR                                                               - Great Way Round

                                                                        - Grub, Water, Rest.

 

There must be others

[Andy Kirkham]

Stratford-on-Avon & Midland Junction - Slow, Mouldy and Jolting

 

and of course its supporters would assert that the Somerset & Dorset was Swift & Delightful

 

The Southampton & Dorchester was known as Castleman's Corkscrew after its promoter and its circuitous route.

 

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by Andy Kirkham

[melmerby]

Manchester Sheffield & Lincolnshire - Money Sunk & Lost.

When it became the Great Central - Gone Completely

[melmerby]

London, Chatham & Dover had a reputably poor safety record so - London, Smashem & Turnover

South, Eastern & Chatham - Slow Easy & Comfortable.

[melmerby]

Of course many US Railways/Railroads were actually known by a knickname.

e.g. The Nickel Plate Road which was the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad.

Soo Line which was the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad, so called as "Soo" being the phonetic spelling of Sault.

 

[jim.snowdon]

LC&DR - Late, Chilly and Draughty

LNER - Late & Never Early Railway

LB&SCR - Ladies Boots & Shoes Cleaned Regularly

L&SWR - Long, Slow & Windy

L&NWR - The Premier Line

 

[Steamport Southport]

LMS - 'ell of a mess

 

Mainly due to all the infighting during the early years particularly between the MR and LNWR. It was apt, it was a mess.

 

If you've never read them, the OS Nock - A History Of The LMS trilogy is well worth a go.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/bookseries/B0126V79L8/ref=dp_st_B00166NW6Q

 

[Nearholmer]

I'm sceptical about how many of these names were really commonly used, especially since they don't exactly trip off the tongue, which real nicknames almost always do.

 

I strongly suspect that some of them are either railway enthusiast confections, or originated in Punch, or similar satire, while the LNWR one has the ring of an hubristic publicity slogan, rather than a genuine nickname. As an instance, if you read the Evening Standard about twenty five years ago, you might have been gulled into believing that LU's Northern Line was nicknamed The Misery Line, but that was a journalistic stab, and if it passed into popular use it was only among relatively few people, for a relatively short period, and it can't be called a real nickname.

 

The LB&SCR was called (see above remarks) the Long Blighted and Slow Coach by somebody, at some stage, but seems to have been commonly referred to simply as The Brighton (sometimes with Railway or Company after).

 

Many local branch lines, or the trains that ran on them, did have commonly used nicknames, of course. 

[Steamport Southport]

Misery Railway was Mersey Railway (and later Mersey Rail) years before the Evening Standard apparently "coined" the phrase.

 

Certainly in use in the 1970s when the rolling stock was decrepit LMS units and was dark, damp and dismal. I personally loved it when it was still like that. Hated the new fangled trains (which are now ending their lives).  

 

Dockers Umbrella- Liverpool Overhead

[Andy Kirkham]

11 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

I'm sceptical about how many of these names were really commonly used, especially since they don't exactly trip off the tongue, which real nicknames almost always do.

 

When I lived in Glasgow, I noted that Glaswegians loved to assert that the Underground was known as the Clockwork Orange, but seldom actually referred to it as such in ordinary speech..

[Bucoops]

M&GN - Muddle & Go Nowhere

 

Not the company but the service nickname - GER's Jazz trains.

[Paul H Vigor]

LB&SCR - the Liver, Bacon & Sausage Company 

[pH]

27 minutes ago, Andy Kirkham said:

 

When I lived in Glasgow, I noted that Glaswegians loved to assert that the Underground was known as the Clockwork Orange, but seldom actually referred to it as such in ordinary speech..

It was the Subway.

[The Johnster]

The North Stafford Railway was generally known as the Knotty, for some reason.

[Steamport Southport]

1 hour ago, jim.snowdon said:

 

LNER - Late & Never Early Railway

 

 

 

My nan definitely used that one. So it must have been in popular use.

 

Was still using it well into the 1990s when getting the train. We had a choice to either go to Liverpool Central or Lime Street. If I was with my nan then it was always by the LMS rather than the Cheshire Lines/LNER, and they were referred to as those companies even though they hadn't existed for 40 odd years.

 

 

Jason

[Steamport Southport]

7 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

The North Stafford Railway was generally known as the Knotty, for some reason.

 

That's easy. Look at the crest. Apparently the two "pretzel" looking things are knots to symbolise Staffordshire.

 

 

Jason

Edited August 19, 2021 by Steamport Southport

[keefer]

I'm sure I've heard 'Misery Line' used for the LT&S, by the tabloid press in the '80/'90s. 

Overcrowded, late-running or cancelled trains which were mostly still the original Mk1 EMUs

[Chris M]

The guy in charge of transporting goods at Tangye Ltd in the 1940s referred to the local railway as the Lose 'em, Mix 'em and Smash 'em. I doubt this was widely used and I only know this because my Mom worked there at the time. It was light heartedly based on what happened to Tangye's machinery when it left the factory.

Edited August 20, 2021 by Chris M

[john new]

9 hours ago, melmerby said:

Manchester Sheffield & Lincolnshire - Money Sunk & Lost.

When it became the Great Central - Gone Completely

Muck, sludge and lightning.

[john new]

9 hours ago, ChrisN said:

Somerset and Dorset                                 - Slow and Dirty

Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton- The Old Worse and Worse

GWR                                                               - Great Way Round

                                                                        - Grub, Water, Rest.

 

There must be others

GWR - Gresley was right.

[iands]

9 hours ago, jim.snowdon said:

 

LNER - Late & Never Early Railway

An alternative for LNER, I suspect originated by LNER staff to "counter" the slanderous above quote, was "Let No Engine Rest". 

Edited August 20, 2021 by iands
Typo

[TheQ]

The Midland and South Western Junction railway.. had the following names..

The Milky way... there was a lot of milk traffic..

The Tiddly Dyke... there were even more drunk Soldiers.

The Piss and Vinegar..  The smell from the carriages after those soldiers, on a Saturday night.. with their fish and chip suppers and non gangway stock..

[Wickham Green too]

The Canterbury & Whitstable was allegedly known as the 'Crab & Winkle' ........... tho' Whitstable's more famous for its oysters !

 

The 'Knotty', of course used an interpretation of the Staffordshire Knot on its wagonry : http://www.igg.org.uk/rail/00-app2/lms/nsr.htm

[bike2steam]

8 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

That's easy. Look at the crest. Apparently the two "pretzel" looking things are knots to symbolise Staffordshire.

 

 

Jason

Yes, included in the county emblem with the words 'The Knot unites'.