pH Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 BR saw the costs of 'steam' plates they'd sold off for very little escalate rapidly. In the 1960s/70s, when 'Peaks' were being named after regiments (commendable in itself, but in an apparently random manner), someone wrote to a railway mag complaining about this, and suggesting that this was being done, at least in part, with an eye on selling the plates off when the locos were withdrawn. As part of the letter, he suggested an appropriate name to be used on one loco -"'Royal Foolish Souvenirs". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted April 14, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 14, 2012 So you never got your head around - WR - GWR - GWR green - Castle class 7005 - Malvern Hills - Sir Edward Elgar - . Education is a wonderful thing. Yes, but why change the name of a loco that already a perfectly adequate name from an historic sequence of 50? At the time there were plently of unnamed suitable locos that ran on the Western Region. Kevin Martin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted April 14, 2012 Author Share Posted April 14, 2012 That caused alot of aggro, that green 50....... I also particularly like the ones named after VCs, there was a 31, 2x47 and currently 2x66 I think. A good use of a nameplate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raffles Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 I remember "Industry Year 1986" being scoffed at many times. I kinda liked it and I was a fan of '639 anyway. Marvellous loco. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Isn't it named after the Charity...? Not a bad idea IMHO, although it was ironic seeing it and another 47 drag a NoL Eurostar up the ECML one evening about 10 years ago. The silliest old skool nameplate must have been "Peter Pan" on the perrenial carrier of daft names, 86259, with Hector and Vesta close runners up (we once started a petition to name one "Stagg Chilli"). As for some of the newer bunch, well..... Peter Pan? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 I'm not doubting the good intentions of the charity, if it is one - but more the suitability/heritage of names. It seems we are slowly turning full circle with some of the football club names on GBRf 66s - much more traditional. I used to like the RES 47s with 'RES' starting names.Can't beat the poineers/mountains on class 60s either.Although they went downhill with 'commercial'namings, fortunately we didn't see a "Calvert waste site - stinky hole " I think the mountains looked better on the class 44's. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kintbury jon Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Peter Pan? The AC electric that never wanted to grow up. It's still running though unlike some of his siblings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenceb Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 The AC electric that never wanted to grow up. It's still running though unlike some of his siblings. Must have worked then!Laurence Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 The Voyager named "Doctor Who" got it the wrong way round - it was a lot smaller inside than outside. But it always managed time travel quite effectively - we'd approach Birmingham 10 minutes early and leave it 10 minutes late. Somewhere I've a photo of the 47 named Robin Hood with "and his merry men" written in the dirt underneath, Ã la white van "clean me". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hale Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 ^^^ What about the 31 that got painted in Wessex Trains pink and was named "Gauge O Guild"? Did it keep stopping for a cuppa and a wee? Tim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Captain Sensible always seemed a strange name to me. I never understood what he had achieved to warrant the naming. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted April 14, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 14, 2012 Captain Sensible always seemed a strange name to me. I never understood what he had achieved to warrant the naming. Quite an accomplished trainspotter IIRC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 I wonder in the future if we will ever see a locomotive called "Motorhead" ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Quite an accomplished trainspotter IIRC I knew plenty of them, but they did not get their names on locomotives. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Captain Sensible always seemed a strange name to me. I never understood what he had achieved to warrant the naming. Adrian (Parcell) is a fan of punk rock, and hence the Captain, along with Joe Strummer and John Peel were commemorated by loco namings. Of course when it comes to music, that is very much down to personal preference, but having had the pleasure of giving Captain, Stu West and friends a tour of the NRM a few years ago, I'd say what an absolute gentleman he is. Incidentally, he writes music sitting overlooking the Teignmouth sea wall watching the passing traffic, and acquired his abiding affection for Class 50s there. He also founded his own record label, in the early nineties: 'Deltic Records.' Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 I'm not doubting the good intentions of the charity, if it [Victim Support] is one - but more the suitability/heritage of names. It seems we are slowly turning full circle with some of the football club names on GBRf 66s - much more traditional. At the risk of seeming to be suffering a sense of humour failure,Victim Support most certainly is a charity and one which does very useful work aiding the victims of crime: http://www.victimsupport.org.uk/ It could be argued that this is merely part of another - and rather honourable - railway tradition, that of supporting and publicising worthy causes, railway related or not. In my view, rather more worthy than any sports team. I mean, Somerset County Cricket Club would sound odd, wouldn't it? Adam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cary hill Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 I mean, Somerset County Cricket Club would sound odd, wouldn't it? Adam "Leicestershire County Cricket Club" didn't sound or seem odd to me when plying it's trade on the MML passing through Leicestershire regularly, and it seems infinitely preferable to travesties of names such as "La Farge Buddon Wood" or their other named locomotives "celebrating" the spreading of bits of Leicestershire all over the country. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pobrien Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 D836 "Powerful" ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted April 14, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 14, 2012 Naming of locos - or other vehicles - does have a proud and honorable heritage, and of course names came before numbers. Rocket and Velocipide etc were named long before Ian Allan started their ABCs! It could be said that the GWR did rather well with those C19 singles - Atalanta, Fire Queen etc - but then chose an odd theme in naming so many of their C20 locos after piles of masonry, specifically designed never to move at all. The LNER's nod to the Sport of Kings, on the other hand, made great sense if you understood the origin of Robert the Devil or Hermit, less so if you did not - vide Watling Street or Bachelor's Button. The Deltic follow-on seemed very sensible. [A student teacher in my school took the afternoon off to watch St Paddy win the Derby in 1960.] Aviation has long applied names to those things we trust for longer journeys. I think PanAm had a history of naming all its planes Clipper Somethingorother - how about Clipper Young America, one of its earliest 747s? And was it SAS that named its first 747 Huge Viking? In the later years of BR, there was an increasing need to publicise the industry, and naming locos after implausible people, places, events and concepts took off as a means of garnering media attention. The expression "it seemed a good idea at the time" probably covers some of those under review in this thread. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
60026to Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 I always thought that 'The Hundred of Hoo' was quite strange on 60042. I understand the Hoo bit (I think, Hoo Junction ?) but whats the Hundred bit all about ? As a young spotter I K B and The Commonwealth Spirit seemed a tad special as did the 47/7s from Scotland, although didn't see many of those in Wigan. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium petethemole Posted April 14, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 14, 2012 Hundreds are an ancient land division dating back to Saxon times. For hundreds see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_(county_subdivision) (yes it's wikipedia but sums it up reasonably well). For Hundred of Hoo try http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53792. Pete Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterbournecm Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 47510 Fair Rosamund was a limp name for a (limp) locomotive! Some of the "Shell" locos were a bit silly I thought (Strombidea etc....) I always favoured the regiments on the Peaks & Deltics, the Warship names were cool too - even Rodney!. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted April 14, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 14, 2012 47510 Fair Rosamund was a limp name for a (limp) locomotive! Some older GWR enthusiasts might disagree. Fair Rosamund was a favourite 2-4-0 tank which worked the Woodstock Branch for many years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted April 14, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 14, 2012 'Doreen Scanlon, Mum in a Million 1997' as carried by Wessex Electric 2417 - to this day there are those that still refer to the now denamed 442417 (to give it its Gatwick Express full fat number that it has now) as 'Doreen'. Somebody did suggest we name our Coastway 313's after female members of Southern staff in the same manner as GBRf do with their 73's. Never got past the racous laughter stage... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium petethemole Posted April 14, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 14, 2012 Following on from locos named after musicians, any examples of bands named after locos? Apart from Blyth Power! Pete Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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