What does your Forum User Name mean?

[Shanghai]

Hello, I'm Shanghai. My name comes from a nickname I had from my company associates. I worked in the international division of my company for 20 years, in which 15 years my family and I lived overseas. We lived in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Paris and Amsterdam. My name came from late night telephone calls (for me) with headquarters in New Jersey. Most of the time, I was 13 hours ahead of NJ time, so when we had conference calls, it was late at night, my time. On one occasion, I was in a hotel in Shanghai, China. This was back when China was still China and it was very difficult to originate an international telephone call in China. The call I was on was about 1:00am my time and was a very important call. Midway through the call, someone started snoring on the phone which was quite disruptive to the others on the call. Of course, it was assumed that it was me who was snoring, but before I could tell the others that it was not me snoring, my end of the call dropped. I tried to get reconnected (through the hotel operator who barely spoke English) and could not get connected. From that time on, my nickname became Shanghai and has stuck with me ever since.

I have retired and moved back to New Jersey. When we lived in Europe, I would take trains rather than flying. When we moved back to the US, I started traveling via Amtrak and continue to do so. I have only been on an airplane four times since 2001 and only due to funerals that required me to be at a place quickly. I find travel on Amtrak both enjoyable and relaxing.

 

[MrFSS]

Hello, I'm Shanghai. My name comes from a nickname I had from my company associates. I worked in the international division of my company for 20 years, in which 15 years my family and I lived overseas. We lived in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Paris and Amsterdam. My name came from late night telephone calls (for me) with headquarters in New Jersey. Most of the time, I was 13 hours ahead of NJ time, so when we had conference calls, it was late at night, my time. On one occasion, I was in a hotel in Shanghai, China. This was back when China was still China and it was very difficult to originate an international telephone call in China. The call I was on was about 1:00am my time and was a very important call. Midway through the call, someone started snoring on the phone which was quite disruptive to the others on the call. Of course, it was assumed that it was me who was snoring, but before I could tell the others that it was not me snoring, my end of the call dropped. I tried to get reconnected (through the hotel operator who barely spoke English) and could not get connected. From that time on, my nickname became Shanghai and has stuck with me ever since.
I have retired and moved back to New Jersey. When we lived in Europe, I would take trains rather than flying. When we moved back to the US, I started traveling via Amtrak and continue to do so. I have only been on an airplane four times since 2001 and only due to funerals that required me to be at a place quickly. I find travel on Amtrak both enjoyable and relaxing.

Welcome - glad you are here with us on the forum.

 

[Save Our Trains Michigan]

The name that i use comes from 1 of the 2 Amtrak support groups i am in charge of.

 

[majolie]

Hi. Ma Jolie is Fench for "my pretty one" - it was a pet name Picasso had for one of his lovers and he pasted the words into one of his collage paintings. My now-husband and I saw this while visiting an exhibition when we were still dating, and because of the similarity to my real name - Julie - he began to call me that. Well - I guess he thought I was pretty, too? Anyway, he even had it engraved inside my wedding band. He does not call me it much any more - I guess 16 years of marriage does that - though he still regularly tells me how beautiful I am, so I can't really complain!

 

[MrFSS]

Hi. Ma Jolie is Fench for "my pretty one" - it was a pet name Picasso had for one of his lovers and he pasted the words into one of his collage paintings. My now-husband and I saw this while visiting an exhibition when we were still dating, and because of the similarity to my real name - Julie - he began to call me that. Well - I guess he thought I was pretty, too? Anyway, he even had it engraved inside my wedding band. He does not call me it much any more - I guess 16 years of marriage does that - though he still regularly tells me how beautiful I am, so I can't really complain!

Welcome!

 

[GG-1]

Hi. Ma Jolie is Fench for "my pretty one" - it was a pet name Picasso had for one of his lovers and he pasted the words into one of his collage paintings. My now-husband and I saw this while visiting an exhibition when we were still dating, and because of the similarity to my real name - Julie - he began to call me that. Well - I guess he thought I was pretty, too? Anyway, he even had it engraved inside my wedding band. He does not call me it much any more - I guess 16 years of marriage does that - though he still regularly tells me how beautiful I am, so I can't really complain!

Welcome to the group, and Shall I add "Lucky One" also

 

[majolie]

Thank you both for the welcome - and yes I am pretty lucky, at least I've felt that way lately!!! Going on my first trip in a week! I've posted some questions in a new topic on the forum and will be grateful for any advice I can get!

 

[Ham Radio]

My screen name is Ham Radio, a nickname for amateur radio, which is my chief hobby.

For hams out there, I carry the Extra class license, and am a ARRL Volunteer Examiner and ARRL Registered Instructor (7 3's).

I am employed by the Union Pacific RR in Los Angeles as a trainman, RCL qualified. Currently holding a local road switcher.

 

[GG-1]

My screen name is Ham Radio, a nickname for amateur radio, which is my chief hobby.For hams out there, I carry the Extra class license, and am a ARRL Volunteer Examiner and ARRL Registered Instructor (7 3's).

I am employed by the Union Pacific RR in Los Angeles as a trainman, RCL qualified. Currently holding a local road switcher.

Aloha

And welcome

 

[abqdave]

My user name is the airport code for Albuquerque (where I live) plus my first name. Maybe an airport code isn’t the best choice for a railroader group? In my defense it has become widely used beyond the airport. Our city website is cabq.gov and our transit system is ABQRide, for example.

I am looking forward to my first Amtrak trip in May to LA. I am trying for a car-free vacation. I am not a railroader or railfan, but have become interested recently as a result of trying to be green and reduce my carbon footprint.

My railroading experience includes growing up near a Boston & Main line (the one on the seacoast from Boston to Portsmouth, NH to Portland, ME). I saw the part of it north of the Merrimack River and a spur line to Amesbury, MA abandoned in the 1970s. The track now has largely been removed, and trees are filling in the bed. Also removed was a small wooden bridge and the steep hill that allowed it to go over the tracks. When I was a kid, we played near this bridge a lot. The slopes on the side of the hill leading to the bridge was where a friend and I first tried a cigarette, when I was 13 years old. As we were smoking, we heard someone clear his throat above us, and there was my friend’s dad watching us. Luckily, he didn’t tell my parents, but my friend got in trouble. I never smoked after that. So, another example of railroads being good for you?

Budd liners ran from Boston to Newburyport, MA (south of the river) when I was a kid, then service was discontinued, but now the MBTA commuter system runs trains regularly on the same track. I think Amtrak ran the system when it first restarted (as a contractor for the MBTA).

Fast forwarding to living in New Mexico 20 years later, NM started a commuter rail line in 2006. I have ridden it once. This year it is being expanded to Santa Fe (yippee!), I will use it more once that starts.

I really enjoy this forum and am starting to see why people are rainfans.

 

[MrFSS]

My user name is the airport code for Albuquerque (where I live) plus my first name. Maybe an airport code isn't the best choice for a railroader group? In my defense it has become widely used beyond the airport. Our city website is cabq.gov and our transit system is ABQRide, for example.
I am looking forward to my first Amtrak trip in May to LA. I am trying for a car-free vacation. I am not a railroader or railfan, but have become interested recently as a result of trying to be green and reduce my carbon footprint.

My railroading experience includes growing up near a Boston & Main line (the one on the seacoast from Boston to Portsmouth, NH to Portland, ME). I saw the part of it north of the Merrimack River and a spur line to Amesbury, MA abandoned in the 1970s. The track now has largely been removed, and trees are filling in the bed. Also removed was a small wooden bridge and the steep hill that allowed it to go over the tracks. When I was a kid, we played near this bridge a lot. The slopes on the side of the hill leading to the bridge was where a friend and I first tried a cigarette, when I was 13 years old. As we were smoking, we heard someone clear his throat above us, and there was my friend's dad watching us. Luckily, he didn't tell my parents, but my friend got in trouble. I never smoked after that. So, another example of railroads being good for you?

Budd liners ran from Boston to Newburyport, MA (south of the river) when I was a kid, then service was discontinued, but now the MBTA commuter system runs trains regularly on the same track. I think Amtrak ran the system when it first restarted (as a contractor for the MBTA).

Fast forwarding to living in New Mexico 20 years later, NM started a commuter rail line in 2006. I have ridden it once. This year it is being expanded to Santa Fe (yippee!), I will use it more once that starts.

I really enjoy this forum and am starting to see why people are rainfans.

Welcome, Dave - ABQ is a nice city. I have enjoyed my several visits there over the years.

 

[gswager]

That's true that ABQ is the airport code, so is the Amtrak!

Welcome!

- from the eastern NM

 

[GG-1]

Aloha and welcome

My only visit to your city is the long stop of the South West Chief and oh so long ago, my drive along route 66. These brief times cause me to want to come and spend more time there.

Enjoy the board and I am sure many can answer your questions

Eric

 

[SweetSue]

I just recently found your forum and started to read the comments. When I decided to sign up a week ago because I wanted some suggestions for our first Amtrak trip, I had to think of a name quickly. My first name is Sue of course, and when I was very young, my parents used to listen to albums by Jim Reeves. He sang a song about, "Sweet Sue" and my dad used to sing it to me.

I'm glad I found this forum. It has given me alot of information for our trip.

SS

 

[glow]

Hi, my name, glow, is a nickname of mine due to the fact that I am fascinated by things that glow in the dark - all started with lightning bugs and to this day I am still intrigued by things that glow.

 

[jackal]

Welcome, Sue and glow--glad to have you here!

 

[RidesOften]

RidesOften is nothing but a true statement On Board 4 days a week when not at home playing in the sand lolololol lol

Love Florda Trains



PS. Glad to be back in forum

By the way If you can't guess Fla is home

 

[Chessie Hokie]

Not much of a surprise here...the name combines two of my major passions, trains and college football.

Chessie represents one of my all time favorite railroads, the Chesapeake and Ohio...Chessie the railroad kitten was the advertising mascot of this road from 1933 on. In fact the 1972 amalgamation of the C&O with the Baltimore & Ohio (and later Western Maryland) was known as the Chessie System, which lasted until the 1986 merger with Seaboard System to form CSX. I have a Golden Retriever named Chessie (please don't tell her she is named after a cat!).

Hokie comes from my beloved Virginia Tech Hokies. I have season tickets to VT football games in Blacksburg. Yes, I live in Charlottesville, home of the University of Virginia, the Hokies' arch rival...but there are many Hokies living here and since we usually smack the Wahoos down in football each year it is pretty fun and life is good.

So what is a Hokie? It is anybody that is an alumnus, fan or friend of Virginia Tech. The origin of the word "Hokie" is as follows. It was coined by O. M. Stull (class of 1896), who used it in a spirit yell he wrote for a competition. Stull said that he made up the word as merely an attention-grabber.

Here's how that competition came to be held. Virginia Tech was founded in 1872 as a land-grant institution and was named Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. In 1896, the Virginia General Assembly officially changed the college's name to Virginia Polytechnic Institute, but students and citizens shortened it in popular usage to VPI. The original college cheer, which made reference to the original name of the institution, was no longer suitable. Thus, a contest was held to select a new spirit yell, and Stull won the $5 top prize for his cheer, now known as Old Hokie:

Hokie, Hokie, Hokie, Hi.

Tech, Tech, V.P.I.

Sola-Rex, Sola-Rah.

Poly-tech - Vir-gin-i-a.

Rae, Rah, V.P.I.

Team! Team! Team!

And that is how we became known as Hokies!

In the 1970's the General Assembly again changed the name of the institution to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. While VPI was an easy enough tag, VPI&SU was a mouthful, so people started referring to the school as Virginia Tech rather than VPI. Also, the team's nickname of the Fighting Gobblers was slowly replaced by the term Hokies. Okay, history class is now over...

 

[rogers55]

Mine is obvious. Except that I am no 55 any more.

That was when I got my first e-mail address.

 

[GG-1]

Mine is obvious. Except that I am no 55 any more.That was when I got my first e-mail address.

But Roger that was only a short time ago we all know how time flies when we are having fun.

Please give me a train to enjoy 2.5 months before I ride my next train.

Aloha

Eric

 

[Sealink]

In the UK many years ago, British Rail operated car ferries, and the brand name was Sealink.

I loved Sealink, and was a member of their Commodore Club (for younger travellers) and used to get vouchers for free travel on their boats. Happy Days!

Sealink are gone now, British Rail sold them to Sea Containers, who ran them as Sealink British Ferries for many years, but after a hostile takeover bid, Sealink are now Stena Line.

 

[J-1 3235]

J-1 3235 is the class and number of the last Boston & Maine Atlantic 4-4-2 to be retired. I have a model of it built by New England Rail Service, and it is truly beautiful.

Mike

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Way back when, when my money was not as tight as it is now, I gave someone I knew only over the internet a small gift in the form of a premium membership to a website. They felt obligated to return this with a gift. Money was tight for them, and at the time, many of my friends liked to draw themselves as animals. It wasn't quite my thing, but the person felt really obligated to return the spirit of my gift, and so, offered to design for me a so-called "fursona". I specified that the body be the same colour of brown as my '79 Mercedes 300SD (a kind of electro-metalic brown- god love the 70s) with hair the colour of the car I had just sold, a '95 Mercedes C220, which was hunter green.

She had several explanations as to why she drew me as a lion. I do like cats, to some degree- more than dogs, which I find too noisy. She said I'm imperious and lazy, the way male lions seem to be. I dunno. But she drew me as a lion. The body was brown, and the hair (mane) was green. Since I had never heard of any green maned lions before, I started using "Green Maned Lion" as my internet name, retiring "TrabantKid", which joined a long line of previous names, ("MartyVBuren", "Sen JCCalhoun", "I Love Ladas", and my first initial/last name) in permanent retirement. Its been a long time with this name, I might keep it now.

 

[GG-1]

Its been a long time with this name, I might keep it now.

Aloha

Interesting story, And I like your friend's art so I think the name fun.

Mahalo

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Actually, it was a different friend, believe it or not. If you're interested, PM me and I'll be happy to send you the link to the original. The site its on is not really AU appropriate in some respects (her art, however, is fine).