Nicknames for British locomotive classes

[ikks]

Some to add:

Jubilees........Jubs, Jubes

Patriots........Pates, Pats

Brittanias.....Brits

Stanier 8F.....Eight Freights

Princesses......Prinnies(yuk!!)

Black Fives......Mickies

Princess Coronations...........Semis.

I know "semis" has been mentioned before but along with "mickies"for the fives, was the nickname given by the Brum fraternity at T amworth, who pronounced  it "Simmy on the moyne when first sighted"............Happy Days😊😊.

 

Mike

[Compound2632]

3 minutes ago, ikks said:

Princess Coronations...........Semis.

I know "semis" has been mentioned before but along with "mickies"for the fives, was the nickname given by the Brum fraternity at T amworth, who pronounced  it "Simmy on the moyne when first sighted"............Happy Days😊😊.

 

I though "semi" applied specifically to those de-streamlined engines that still had the sloping smokebox top?

 

Moving on from locos, according to my father, who frequented the field at Tamworth, there was one particular signal known as "clangers", the pulling off of which led to the eager anticipation of a semi.

[Phatbob]

20 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

 

I've also heard Class 31s referred to as "Peds" (short for pedestrian - same reason as "Brians".

 

 

They were called 'Brians' after the snail in "The Magic Roundabout" for self-evedent reasons.

[LMS2968]

50 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

I have heard Camel being used for the Stanier version. And that was from an ex BR fitter.

 

 

We often seem to forget that railwaymen, enthusiasts and historians/writers lived in different worlds. Half the nicknames from railwaymen would be unprintable.

 

 

Very few railwaymen called Jubilees or Patriots those names or shortened nicknames such as Jubs or Pats. It was always 5Xs. Likewise it was always Duchess or Princess, often 8P, sometimes Lizzies or Big Lizzies (6201 had the nickname Corky Liz for some reason), never any alternative such as Semi or Coro.

 

Never heard a railwayman call a 5MT a Black Five. Stanier Five yes. Certainly never Black Eight for an 8F.

 

Also it was quite common amongst railwaymen to still call the 08s - Jinties. They just thought of them as modern versions.

 

 

Jason

The Jubilees could be 5Xs or Red 'uns to distinguish them from the Black 'uns; this went all the way to 1967 by which time they'd been green longer than they'd ever been red! The Patriots were ALWAYS Baby Scots. The Coronations were referred to as Big Lizzies in Carlisle but simply Big 'uns at Crewe. 6201 was 'Corky Liz' because of the number of oiling points on her four sets of valve gear, all sealed by corks. Black Fives, besides Black 'uns, were more usually 'Fives' and 8Fs 'Eights'.

 

Enginemen referred to a loco by its number, not its name; it was the number which was on the shed arrangements board when they went to see what they were taking. Bob Essery recalled being told by an engineman in his early days as a cleaner when pointing to their engine's nameplate that it was just more weight to carry around. On the LMR the number would be the previous LMS number devoid of the 4 prefix. It was easier to say; for example, sixty-two thirty-three than four-six-two-three-three.

 

It should also be realised that the situation in the Works wasn't the same as what happened in the Running Department. For example, the Stanier Crabs, as previously mentioned, were known to enginemen as Crabs, same as the Horwich version. They did the same work with equal ability so to them, there was no real difference. But things were otherwise in the Shops: very few parts were interchangeable between the two classes, despite one having been developed from the other. To the Works they were very different machines and treated accordingly.

Edited December 11, 2022 by LMS2968

[TheSignalEngineer]

2 hours ago, Hibelroad said:

Mrs HR called the class 304 EMUs rattle traps, based on the quality of the ride.

They were known as Bouncy Castles in our office when haf of us commuted on them.

[rodent279]

3 minutes ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

They were known as Bouncy Castles in our office when haf of us commuted on them.

Dinosaurs to some of us!

[Chris116]

In the early days of HSTs before they were re-engined I often heard them referred to as "Zings" due to the sound when they past you.

[TheSignalEngineer]

17 hours ago, Mike_Walker said:

The only time I had the misfortune to ride a 31 from Chester to Manchester it was the roughest ride I've ever experienced.  The driver said they had square wheels and no springs.

I had one to check signal sighting and aws operation between Rugy and Nuneaton. 'Sister Dora' from the Bescot Engineers fleet at the time. did two round trips standing behind the driver  at 60mph. Couldn't stand up when I got off at Rugby and tried to walk back to the PSB. It was like a vibration massage machine on steriods.

[Steamport Southport]

15 minutes ago, Chris116 said:

In the early days of HSTs before they were re-engined I often heard them referred to as "Zings" due to the sound when they past you.

 

Odd one for the HSTs that I never understood was Trams. Well before the modern type of tram came into existence.

 

 

[TheSignalEngineer]

1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said:

Certainly never Black Eight for an 8F.

Spotters up our end referred to them as 'Consols' from the Consolidation (2-8-0) wheelbase.

 

1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said:

Scot Rail Duffs were McDuffs!

We sometimes referred to the Royal Train 47s as 'The Plum Duffs'

[Compound2632]

16 minutes ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

'Sister Dora' from the Bescot Engineers fleet at the time.

 

Was that name officially bestowed? Good if it was!

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Dora.

[Steamport Southport]

5 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Was that name officially bestowed? Good if it was!

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Dora.

 

It had proper plates. None of that handpainted stuff that others got.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dwbphotos/18796158612

[geoffers]

Have heard Collett 0-6-0s referred to as "Baby Castles" in the long distant past. Can't remember when or where though. Midland 0-6-0's on the S&DJR was known as "Scotties" (pre-"Bulldog" days).

[TheQ]

4 hours ago, 6990WitherslackHall said:

The club I go to had a working model of one which was made from a kit. Not sure where it is now. 

Roxley do the kit both in MSWJR and GWR versions..

 

[TheQ]

4 minutes ago, geoffers said:

Have heard Collett 0-6-0s referred to as "Baby Castles" in the long distant past. Can't remember when or where though. Midland 0-6-0's on the S&DJR was known as "Scotties" (pre-"Bulldog" days).

Seem to remember reading the Baby castle reference in an OS Nock book.

[Compound2632]

11 minutes ago, geoffers said:

Midland 0-6-0's on the S&DJR was known as "Scotties" (pre-"Bulldog" days).

 The Scotties and Bulldogs were distinct classes.

 

The Scotties, the first of which were built in 1878, were smaller than the Midland 0-6-0s, being tender versions of the Class A or 1102 Class 0-6-0Ts, for the first batches, and the 1377 Class 0-6-0Ts for the later batches. They were built by Neilson (hence the epithet) and Vulcan, who both also built the tank engines.

 

The Bulldogs were standard Midland 0-6-0s pretty much identical to Johnson's Class M as built in 1896 and 1902, and conforming to Class 3F when rebuilt with G7 Belpaire boilers.  

[Steamport Southport]

16 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Roxley do the kit both in MSWJR and GWR versions..

 

 

Roxey rather than Roxley.

 

Unfortunately the MSWJR version is unavailable in 4mm at the moment but is in 7mm.

 

https://www.roxeymouldings.co.uk/product/831/7l20-mswjr-2-6-0-galloping-alice/

 

The GWR version needs a tender. Easy to source from Brassmasters. 

 

https://www.roxeymouldings.co.uk/product/293/4l4-galloping-alice-mswjr-2-6-0-gwr-rebuild/

 

As much as I like the original version, it'll be the rebuild for me.

 

 

Jason

[brushman47544]

1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Odd one for the HSTs that I never understood was Trams. Well before the modern type of tram came into existence.

 

 

Trams: Fixed formation, standard length(s), same both ends, common with many trams old and new, and something that distinguished them from DMUs? Flying bananas was another term I heard when HST power cars were blue and yellow.

[Compound2632]

2 minutes ago, brushman47544 said:

Flying bananas was another term I heard when HST power cars were blue and yellow.

 

But the original flying bananas were the GWR AEC diesel railcars.

[pH]

6 hours ago, The Border Reiver said:

Stanier 5F 2-6-0 with taper boiler... Lobster

 

5 hours ago, LMS2968 said:

Only in the enthusiast world. To railwaymen they were simply Crabs, same as the Horwich version.

A friend heard a signalman refer to one as a Camel. 
 

(Sorry - I hadn’t seen Steamport Southport’s post when I wrote this.)

Edited December 11, 2022 by pH

[pH]

2 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

I though "semi" applied specifically to those de-streamlined engines that still had the sloping smokebox top?

I’ve asked these questions before, but haven’t had an answer.

 

- What were the other Princess Coronations called while there were still some with the sloping smokebox?

 

- What were all members of the class called once the last of the sloping smokeboxes was replaced?

 

I can’t answer the first question myself, as I wasn’t interested in trains at that time. 
 

As to the second question, I heard the whole class being referred to as ‘semis’ by the end.

[pH]

21 hours ago, Wheatley said:

ER 1980s (my bit of it anyway):

 

08: 350 or pilot

Or even (Scottish Region , or part of, 1960s)

 

08: “350 pilot”

[Steamport Southport]

29 minutes ago, pH said:

I’ve asked these questions before, but haven’t had an answer.

 

- What were the other Princess Coronations called while there were still some with the sloping smokebox?

 

- What were all members of the class called once the last of the sloping smokeboxes was replaced?

 

I can’t answer the first question myself, as I wasn’t interested in trains at that time. 
 

As to the second question, I heard the whole class being referred to as ‘semis’ by the end.

 

Duchesses, after the unstreamlined batch which were all named Duchess Of *******

 

Coronation referred to the streamlined ones.

 

Never heard them called Princess Coronations apart from in a few books or magazines. No Princess had been crowned since Victoria and prior to Elizabeth so seems a bit of a daft reference.  Queen Elizabeth (Queen Mother) was only a Duchess when George VI got the throne.

 

 

Jason

[The Johnster]

I've referenced the 31s as having very comfortable cabs and riding well, which is at odds with the post about Sister Dora.  I suspect that they have deteriorated a bit since the 70s; commonwealth-pattern bogies always rode well in my experience, so long as the coil springs were in good condition and up to the job, otherwise they bottom out alarmingly and give the swaying and rolling 'windjammer rounding the Horn' ride familiar from 47s.  The SWML between Severn Tunnel Jc and Cardiff is peppered with spots where the ballast has crumbled into clay in the wet, marshy, conditions, indicated by white lime stains where trains have compressed it and it has pumped white slurry out to the surface.  On a 47, one would brace oneself when encountering one of these pumping spots, as the loco would drop about nine inches into it and slam back upwards coming out of it, inevitably too much for the springs to cope with and a perceptible blow coming up through the floor, with a bang. 

 

This behaviour was unique to 47s, at least to that alarming degree, everything else rode these spots with a bit of a bang but not like the 47s.  This sort of treatment over years of service will affect a loco's ability to keep out draughts and make everything rattly and noisy as well.  But 25s were built like this from new, horrible little things; we might have forgiven them if they could pull anything, but they couldn't.

[RFS]

On the Southern the Bulleid Q1s were known as Charlies on account of their being numbered C1-C40 when built. 

And the Bulleid pacifics were Spamcans.