I heard that BNSF meant "Bad News starts fast" And no, The ATSF lives on - you can't keep a good man down. It's still the best run railway business in the land.

A few years ago, a similar fun thread on the subject of railroad nicknames ran

on another website. I liked it so much that I saved it on the hard disk. My

personal favorites:

SP = Suffering & Pathetic
UP = "You can't spell stUPid without UP"

or the grand prize winner:
SPSF (aborted SP-ATSF merger) = "Shouldn't Paint So Fast"

Nearly every road had some sort of local moniker, or smart-alec description.

A compilation of which follows below - perhaps we could come up with a few new

ones not mentioned.

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D&RGW (Denver & Rio Grande Western) = "Dangerous & Rapidly Getting Worse"
M&P (Maryland & Pennsyvania) = "Ma & Pa"
NYO&W (New York, Ontario & Western) = "Old Woman"
HE&WT (Houston East & West Texas) = "Hell Either Way Taken"
GM (General Motors) = "Greasy Mess"
PO&N (Pontiac, Oxford & Northern) = "Pants, Overalls & Necktie."
(Caseville branch of GTW)
C&NW (Chicago & Northwestern) = "The Cheap & Nothin' Wasted" or
"Can't & Never Will"
CK&S (Chicago, Kalamazoo & Saginaw) = "Cuss, kick, and Swear"
GTW (Grand Trunk) = "Grunt and Tug Wildly"
PM (Pere Marquette) = "Poorly Managed"
AL&TB (Amboy, Lansing, and Traverse Bay) = "Always late, and terribly bumpy"
CJ&M (Cincinnati, Jackson & Mackinaw) = "Con job, and misguided"
LE&W (Lake Erie and Western) = "LEAVE EARLY AND WALK"
DT&I (Detroit, Toledo & Ironton) = "Drunks, Thieves & Idiots"
GWR (Great Western Railway) (in England) = "Great Way Round", or
"Greasy, Wet and Rusty" or "God's Wonderful Railway"
L&NE (Lehigh & New England) = "Late and Never Early"
LC&D (London Chatham and Dover) = "Land 'em, Cheat 'em and Turn over"
PRR (Pensylvania) = "Perfect Railroad"
B&O (Baltimore & Ohio) = "Broken and Obselete" or "Beef & Onions"
C&O (Chessapeak & Ohio) = "Cornbread & Onions"
RF&P (Richmond, Fredrickburg & Potomic) = "Rich Folks & Pedigrees "
NYC (New York Central) = "Not Your Choice"
GN (Great Northern) = "Great Nothing"
N&W (Norfolk & Western = "No Work"
NS (Norfolk Southern) (new) = "Nazi Southern" or "Nothing Special"
D&H (Delaware & Hudson) = "Dangerous and Hazardous"
L&N (Louisville & Nashville = "Limp Noodle"
PGE (Pacific Great Eastern) = "Province's Greatest Expense" or
"Prince George Eventually" or "Please Go Easy" or
"Puff, Grunt, and Expire"
ED&BC (Edmonton Dunvegan & British Columbia) = "Ever Dangerous and Badly

Constructed"
WP (Western Pacific) = "Wobbly"
SP (Southern Pacific) = "Suffering and Pathetic" or "Salt & Pepper"
BNSF (Burlington Norther Santa Fe) = "But Nobody Said Furlough" or
"Big New Santa Fe" or "Better Not Start a Family" or
"Bad News starts fast"
UP (Union Pacific) = "Uncle Pete" or "Unclean Power" or "Utterly Pathetic" or
"You can't spell stUPid without UP"
SPSF (aborted SP & ATSF merger) = "Shouldn't Paint So Fast"
AT&SF (Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe) = "Ate Tamales & Spit Fire"
C&G (Columbus & Greenfield) = "Cornbread & Grits"
BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) = "Bay Area Rancid Tamale"
(by the famous S.F. columnist, Herb Caen)

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But railroads aren't the only victims - if you will. We've all heard the FORD refered to as "Found on road dead". But if you must walk back, it becomes DROF "Driver returns on foot"


Ya I know; ain't it great to be so easily entertained!

You get that way when you get close to retirement. Oooops - My boss just hates it when I use "that 'R' word"; but then I keep dropping the R-bomb whenever they ask to do something I'd rather not. I guess I should be nicer, but I am now so easily distracted from those supposedly weightier railroading matters - but still, it is good to have fun now and then.

OPB