Discussion of train names

[John Santos]

And the train which captured the imagination, for sure, but with the most misleading names ever assigned a train - it didn't get within cooee of the Orient, never leaving Europe, and initially disgorging its passengers to make the last leg into present day Istanbul by boat from Romania. Istanbul is - to be sure a city in Europe *and* Asia - but the railway station was absolutely in Europe and a long way away from the Orient.

Bit like us in Oz calling the Sydney-Perth train the Scandanavian rather than the Indian Pacific.

/pedant mode off.

/pedant mode on
I would disagree. "The Orient" is Asia, and Asia begins at the Bosporus, about a block from the train tracks. I don't know where the station was 100 years ago, but I doubt it was more than a walking distance from the ferry terminal. According to Wikipedia, one of the tunnels and one of the three bridges have railroad tracks now, but that is relatively recent. When you are coming from Paris, a few blocks is NOT "a long way."
/pedant mode off

 

[railiner]

And the train which captured the imagination, for sure, but with the most misleading names ever assigned a train - it didn't get within cooee of the Orient, never leaving Europe, and initially disgorging its passengers to make the last leg into present day Istanbul by boat from Romania. Istanbul is - to be sure a city in Europe *and* Asia - but the railway station was absolutely in Europe and a long way away from the Orient.

Bit like us in Oz calling the Sydney-Perth train the Scandanavian rather than the Indian Pacific.

/pedant mode off.

I think that the name was more or less like the way the GN called its one time premier train, "The Oriental Limited"...had more to do with aspirations of connections to that destination than actually reaching it...
Like some roads having "Pacific" in their names...Missouri Pacific, Texas and Pacific, Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, Saint Louis-San Francisco...etc.

 

[MARC Rider]

I think that the name was more or less like the way the GN called its one time premier train, "The Oriental Limited"...had more to do with aspirations of connections to that destination than actually reaching it...
Like some roads having "Pacific" in their names...Missouri Pacific, Texas and Pacific, Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, Saint Louis-San Francisco...etc.

Heck, the Broadway Limited never got any closer to Broadway than 7th. Ave. and 33rd. St. At least the 20th Century Limited ran during the 20th Century.

 

[jis]

Heck, the Broadway Limited never got any closer to Broadway than 7th. Ave. and 33rd. St. At least the 20th Century Limited ran during the 20th Century.

But then the Broadway Limited name has nothing to do with that street name in New York City

According to all documentation I have come across, it has to do with the broad rail right of way of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

 

[railiner]

But then the Broadway Limited name has nothing to do with that street name in New York City

According to all documentation I have come across, it has to do with the broad rail right of way of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

I agree. It was named for the 4 track "broad way" mainline across eastern Pennsylvania. But as for Broadway in NYC...well...it does cross below Broadway going to and from Sunnyside...

 

[Palmland]

I like trains being named for significant events. The Exposition Flyer (CZ predecessor) was named for the “Golden Gate International Exposition opened on Treasure Islandin San Francisco Bay. In response, the CB&Q, D&RGW and WP decided to operate a train that could take passengers to the event.[1] Service on the Exposition Flyer began on June 10, 1939.”

My favorite was the all Pullman Panama Limited that was one of my best train rides- “The Panama Limited was a passenger train operated from 1911 to 1971 between Chicago, Illinois, and New Orleans, Louisiana. The flagship train of the Illinois Central Railroad, it took its name from the Panama Canal, which in 1911 was three years from completion.”

And there is the not so famous New York World’s Fair Special the NYC ran the from Chicago the summer of 1964. In addition to one sleeper and sleeper lounge it had ‘New Meal-A-Mat Car’.

 

[AustinTx22Pax]

I boarded the Sunset Ltd late yesterday in El Paso. This train's name appears logical to me.

 

[jis]

Indian Railways named a whole class of daytime fast trains Shatabdi (Centenary) Express commemorating the birth centenary of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India.

Additionally Indian Railways has a class of overnight fast Sleeper trains connecting each State Capital to the National Capital named Rajdhani (Capital) Express.

The individual trains are differentiated by prefixing its destination away from the hub to the generic name e. g. Bhopal Shatabdi Express or Kolkata Rajdhani Express.

 

[MARC Rider]

I agree. It was named for the 4 track "broad way" mainline across eastern Pennsylvania. But as for Broadway in NYC...well...it does cross below Broadway going to and from Sunnyside...

Yeah, I knew that, but I was being funny.

By the way, the current mainline track across PA under the stewardship of Norfolk Southern is only 2 tracks. Even in the eastern part of the state, between Atglen and Harrisburg, it's only been two tracks, and it's been that way since the PRR built the Atglen and Suquehanna Branch for freight service.

 

[jis]

Yeah, I knew that, but I was being funny.

By the way, the current mainline track across PA under the stewardship of Norfolk Southern is only 2 tracks. Even in the eastern part of the state, between Atglen and Harrisburg, it's only been two tracks, and it's been that way since the PRR built the Atglen and Suquehanna Branch for freight service.

I had actually seen the specific mention of the six track ROWin NJ in a couple of references. But who knows about the veracity of the details of such?

 

[BlackDiamond]

Well, yeah, back in the day, almost every train running up and down the NEC, except for the commuter runs and a few locals had names. I was a little miffed when they started calling them all either "Northeast Direct" or "Metroliner" (Now "Northeast Regional" and Acela"). But then I realized, I I really didn't care whether I was riding the "Senator" or "Morning Congressional" or "Patriot" or whatever when I was taking a ride to New York. All of these trains are really interchangeable; you pick the one you want to ride based in its schedule. They're all "Northeast Regional," which is basically 6 Amfleet I coaches, a cafe car, and a business class car. The only difference is the schedule, so it makes sense to give the service the one name rather than naming individual trains.

There may have been a time in the PRR days of yore when the names made sense -- the Congressionals offered more deluxe service than most of the other NEC trains, and the "Senator" was a through train from Washington to Boston, when most of the other trains just ran between Washington and New York, but these distinctions don't really hold anymore.

Back in the day say before WW2 there were named trains which were usually faster making fewer stops and more luxurious, and trains with just numbers which were more basic and made more stops. Postwar as trains were removed, the numbered trains went first and name trains tended to be the ones remaining, although in many cases they were downgraded sometimes to coaches only despite carrying the name of a once glamorous train. This is probably why it seemed just about every train was named when Amtrak took over. I think it made sense for them to eliminate the names for the NEC regionals and Acelas as there is nothing to distinguish them. It would seem silly to have a train of 8 amfleet 1 coaches and a cafe be called "the afternoon Congressional" or "the merchant's limited" when it is no different from any other train on the route.

 

[ehbowen]

/pedant mode on
I would disagree. "The Orient" is Asia, and Asia begins at the Bosporus, about a block from the train tracks. I don't know where the station was 100 years ago, but I doubt it was more than a walking distance from the ferry terminal. According to Wikipedia, one of the tunnels and one of the three bridges have railroad tracks now, but that is relatively recent. When you are coming from Paris, a few blocks is NOT "a long way."
/pedant mode off

Yes, you're correct. Asia is subdivided (to British and related audiences) as the "Near East", "Middle East", and "Far East." While it's the Far East which immediately springs to mind when "Oriental" is mentioned, all three subdivisions are quite properly referred to as "the Orient". And back in the day, once you crossed the Bosporus, you could immediately embark on trains to Aleppo and Teheran.

 

[fdaley]

It would seem silly to have a train of 8 amfleet 1 coaches and a cafe be called "the afternoon Congressional" or "the merchant's limited" when it is no different from any other train on the route.

It seems funny now, but the names for corridor trains were evocative and added a bit of personality even though the service had been entirely standardized by the 1980s. I remember in the late '80s we had a friend from college who'd moved to Philadelphia and was taking the train up to Mass. to visit. I don't think she had ridden anything more than a commuter run before, and she was all excited about the trip. "I'm coming up on the Benjamin Franklin, and then on Tuesday I'm taking the Merchants Limited back home." I didn't want to spoil it for her by saying the trains were basically identical.

And in the Hudson Valley, Amtrak's named trains like the Hudson Highlander, Storm King, Electric City Express and Rip Van Winkle gave a nod to local history and attractions, even if the service was just a mixture of Turboliners and Amfleet consists. By comparison, "Empire Service" seems kind of dull.

 

[Northwestern]

I think that the name was more or less like the way the GN called its one time premier train, "The Oriental Limited"...had more to do with aspirations of connections to that destination than actually reaching it...
Like some roads having "Pacific" in their names...Missouri Pacific, Texas and Pacific, Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, Saint Louis-San Francisco...etc.

I believe the "Oriental Limited" got its name due to the train's connection with the steamships, destined for the Orient, at the Seattle shipping docks. There was a brief revival of the "Oriental Limited" in 1946, but the name soon changed to the name, "Western Star".

https://is.gd/kTZ6bi
Another interesting name, the "Buffalo Bill", of the Colorado and Southern Railforad, which ran from Denver to Cody, WY. I wish that train would make a return.

 

[jpakala]

Speaking of train names, I always liked seeing the secondary trains to such famous trains as the Sunset Limited and North Coast Limited and Empire Builder whose secondary trains were, respectively, The Argonaut and The Mainstreeter and The Western Star as I recall.

 

[railiner]

Speaking of train names, I always liked seeing the secondary trains to such famous trains as the Sunset Limited and North Coast Limited and Empire Builder whose secondary trains were, respectively, The Argonaut and The Mainstreeter and The Western Star as I recall.

In some cases, the "secondary trains" had minor variations in their routing from the more famous sibling. On some roads, holders of free travel passes, as well as discounted revenue tickets were excluded from the top train.

 

[railiner]

Discussion of train names should include those that were never operated....such as the C&O "Chessie" domeliner, or the Rock Island/Southern Pacific "Golden Rocket"...they were proposed, and some equipment purchased for them, but they were "stillborn". Their equipment was distributed to other existing trains.

 

[Willbridge]

In the group of names that are or were geographic should go the Taurus Express, from Istanbul to Baghdad, connecting to Basra. Much of this was on the "Berlin to Baghdad Railway" and it was included in the Summer 1971 Ausland Kursbuch of the DB.

 

[BlackDiamond]

Not many named trains in the UK anymore, where trains don't even have numbers (at least none for public consumption) but identified by time e.g. the 9:50 Euston to Glasgow. I do recall back in the 1970s riding on two "named trains" the first being the "Flying Scotsman" which was the 10:00 AM departure from Kings Cross to Edinburgh and was only distinguished from it's unnamed counterparts by basically running express, it did make a stop at Newcastle which may have been unscheduled as they had to change locomotives due to an issue with the trains motive power. Note that this was done in 15 minutes, I wonder how long Amtrak would take under similar circumstances .

The other occasion in 1971 was the Brighton Belle which ran nonstop from Victoria to Brighton using a special set of EMU Pullman cars lettered for the train. Sadly that train was withdrawn soon after as were most BR Pullman services.

 

[jis]

In the group of names that are or were geographic should go the Taurus Express, from Istanbul to Baghdad, connecting to Basra. Much of this was on the "Berlin to Baghdad Railway" and it was included in the Summer 1971 Ausland Kursbuch of the DB.

Geographic names abound(ed) on Indian Railways. The two older trains with geographic names were:

Frontier Mail - Bombay to Peshawar, later curtailed to Amritsar, but still running the Northwest Frontier of the country. Now it is called Golden Temple Express after the Temple in Amritsar that is holiest of holy places for the Sikhs.

Howrah-Delhi-Kalka Mail (or Kalka Mail as used colloquially) which provided transit for the officials of the British Raj from the Capital of India then in Calcutta to the Summer Capital in Simla reached from Kalka by the Narrow Gauge Kalka-Simla line. It is now called the Netaji Express, Netaji referring to Subhas Chandra Bose, a freedom fighter who collaborated with the Japanese and tried to capture India with their help, unsuccessfully of course.

Then there were the various trains like Madras Mail, Punjab Mail, Ahmedabad Mail, Assam Mail, Darjeeling Mail and Bombay Mail (two of them - via Nagpur and via Allahabad), and the Upper India Express which followed the longest possible route at the slowest possible speed between Sealdah (Calcutta) and Delhi Jn.

In my old stomping ground in the back desert of Rajasthan there were the Meter Gauge Jodhpur and Bikaner Mails connecting those cities to Delhi, run by the respective (Jodhpur and Bikaner) State Railways before they became part of Northern Railway.

There were dozens others such, too numerous to list.

 

[BlackDiamond]

Frontier Mail - Bombay to Peshawar, later curtailed to Amritsar, but still running the Northwest Frontier of the country. Now it is called Golden Temple Express after the Temple in Amritsar that is holiest of holy places for the Sikhs.

Do they still run the twice a week Samjhota Express that used to run in theory between Lahore and Delhi but in practice required a change of trains at the Indian border town of Attari?

 

[jis]

Do they still run the twice a week Samjhota Express that used to run in theory between Lahore and Delhi but in practice required a change of trains at the Indian border town of Attari?

I don't know if any of the cross border service to Pakistan has restarted to Pakistan. All the suspended services to Bangladesh have restarted and an additional cross border service between New Jalpaiguri (Darjeeling) and Dhaka Cantonment has been added recently. All the trains connecting India to Bangladesh are named using various words related to the idea of friendship

Kolkata (Chitpur)- Dhaka Cantonment - Maitryee Express (Friendship)
Kolkata (Chitpur)- Khulna - Bandhan Express (Binding)
New Jalpaiguri (Darjeeling) - Dhaka Cantonment -Mitali Express (Friends)

Incidentally Kolkata (Chitpur) and Dhaka Cantonment are both equipped with full C&I facilities, eliminating the corresponding country's border inspections at the border. Only loco and staff change at the border.

 

[Northwestern]

This is minor, but some train names aren’t the best for marketing.

For example, the names “Silver Meteor” and “Silver Star” don’t indicate Florida at all. Yes, those are famous names to railfans, but wouldn’t some other names be better, such as the “Florida Special”?

The worst train name of all time has to be the “Spirit of St. Louis”, named after an airplane, its competitor.

Or, the reverse. How about an airline calling itself "Northern Pacific".

BNSF sues airline over use of ‘Northern Pacific’ - Trains

 

[railiner]

Or, the reverse. How about an airline calling itself "Northern Pacific".

BNSF sues airline over use of ‘Northern Pacific’ - Trains

Seriously, BNSF?

What in the world could prompt them to give a hoot about some start up airline using a name long defunct (over a half-century) by one of their predecessor companies? Do they worry that anyone could possibly think they were somehow related?

I guess their in-house attorney's don't have enough to do these days...

 

[jis]

Seriously, BNSF?

What in the world could prompt them to give a hoot about some start up airline using a name long defunct (over a half-century) by one of their predecessor companies? Do they worry that anyone could possibly think they were somehow related?

I guess their in-house attorney's don't have enough to do these days...

I would be surprised if they win. They have not used that moniker on anything for ages. You cannot just randomly place a hold on a phrase that you have not used and are unlikely to use for a long time.