Railroad nicknames

The initials used to identify railroad and railway lines have often been used for humorous, disparaging or slanderous names. In a related category, portmanteaus, such as Amtrak, have also been lampooned.

This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Railroad	Locale	Common abbreviation(s)	Nickname(s)
Amtrak	United States	AMTK	Amcrash[1][2][3][4] Amtrash[2][3][4] Slamtrak[5] Ramtrak
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad	Eastern and Midwestern United States	B&O	Beefsteak and Onions[2][3] Best and Only Beets and Onions Body Odor
BNSF Railway	Western United States	BNSF	Buy Now, Sell Fast[2] Bye Now, Santa Fe[3] Big New Santa Fe[3] Been Nothing Since Frisco[3] Buy Norfolk Southern First[3] Better Not Send Freight[2] Bigger Name Same Fine Railroad[4]
Boston and Maine Railroad	Northeastern United States	B&M	Busted and Mangled[3][4] Busted & Mined[4] Broken & Maimed[4] Bankrupt & Moribund[4]
Buffalo and South Western Railroad	Northeast United States	B&SW	Brandy and Soda Water[6]
Burlington Northern Railroad	Northwestern United States	BN	Big Nothing[2][3][4]
Canadian National Railway	Canada, Midwestern United States	CN, CNR, CNRy	Certainly No Rush[4] Crash National[4]
Canadian Pacific Railway	Canada, Midwestern United States	CP	Can't Please[4] Chinese Pacific[4] Sleepy Rail CP Fail
Chicago and North Western Railway	Midwest United States	C&NW, C&NWRR	Cheap and Nothing Wasted[2][3][4] Cheap & No Wages[4] Can't and Never Will[2][3][4] Can't and Never Will Run Right[4] Cardboard & No Wheels[4] Carrier to No Where[4] Chicago & No Where[4] Chicago & Norweigians[4]
Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad	Midwestern United States	CBQ, CB&Q	Cheapest, Best & Quickest[4] Crash, Bang & Quake[4] Cuss The Boss & Quit[4] The Q[4]
Chicago Great Western Railroad	Midwest United States	CGW	Great Weedy[2][3][4]
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad	Midwestern United States, Northwestern United States	MILW, CMStP&P, CMSPP	The Milwaukee Road[4] Christ, Mary, St. Paul and St. Peter[4] C'mon Stop Praying and Push[4] Cheapest, Meanest & Slowest to Pay[4]
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad	Midwestern United States	CRI&P, RI, ROCK	The Rock[4] Rockin Eye[4] Pet Rock[4] Rotten Island[4] Wreck Island[4] Cri N Pee[4]
Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad	Ohio	CH&D	Charge High and Damn Rough Ride[7]
Copper River and Northwestern Railway	Alaska, United States	CR&NW	Can't Run and Never Will[3]
CSX Transportation	Eastern United States	CSX CSXT	Chicken Shit eXpress[2] Conrail's Southern Xtension[4] Crash Spill eXplode Chessie's Still Xperimenting[2][4] Crash Smash eXplode[4] Crash Smash eXpress Chemical Spill eXperts[8]
Delaware and Northern Railroad	Northeastern United States / New York	D&N	Damn Nuisance
Delaware and Hudson Railway	New York, Pennsylvania	D&H	Delay and Hesitate[2][3][4]
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western	Hoboken to Buffalo	DL&W	Delay, Linger and Wait[3][4]
Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway	Midwestern United States	EJ&E	Egypt, Jerusalem & Elsewhere[2][3][4] Easy Jobs for Everyone[2][3][4]
Erie Lackawanna Railway	Eastern United States	EL	Erie Lack-o-Money[2]
Gateway Western Railway	Missouri and Illinois	GWWR	Great Wobbly Wobbly[4]
Green Bay and Western Railroad	Wisconsin	GB&W	Grab Bags and Walk[9]
Guilford Rail System	Northeastern United States	GRS	Guilford Fail System[10] The Big G[11]
Halifax and Southwestern Railway	Southern Nova Scotia	H&SW	Hellish, Slow and Wobbly[12]
Hoosac Tunnel and Wilmington Railroad	Northeastern United States	HT&W	Hoot Toot and Whistle[13]
Illinois Central Railroad	Midwestern United States	IC, ICRR	I Can't Run Railroads[4]
Illinois Central Gulf Railroad	Midwestern United States	ICG	I Can't Go[4]
Kansas City Southern Railroad	Midwestern and Southern United States	KCS	The Haywire[3][4]
Kingston and Pembroke Railway	Eastern Ontario	K&P	Kick and Push[14]
London and Port Stanley Railway	Ontario, Canada	L&PS	Liver and Pork Steak[2]
Louisville and Nashville Railroad	Southern United States	L&N	Long and Narrow[2][3][4] The Old Reliable[3]
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority	New England	MBTA	Mucho Bad Transit Attitude[15]
Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway	Midwest	M&StL	Misery and Short Life[16]
Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad	Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas	MKT	the Katy[17]
Missouri Pacific Railroad	Western United States	MP	The Mop[2][3][4] MoPac[3]
Montana Rail Link	Western United States	MRL	Milwaukee Road Lives[4] Monkeys Running Loose[3][4]
Norfolk Southern Railway	Eastern United States	NS	The Thoroughbred[4] New Southern[3][4] Nomore Steam[2][4] No Service[4] Nazi Southern[2]
New York, Ontario and Western Railway	New England, United States	O&W	Old and Weary[2][3][4] the Old Woman[2][3][4]
New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway	Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York	NYS&W	Now You Sit and Wait[3][4] The Susie Q[18]
Pacific Great Eastern Railway	British Columbia	PGE	Prince George Eventually[4] Please Go Easy[4] Province's Greatest Expense[4] Past God's Endurance[4]
Penn Central	Eastern US	PC	Penniless Central[8] Penn Centless[8]
Pennsylvania Railroad	Eastern and Midwestern US	PRR	Pennsy Pussie Rail Road[19] The Big Red Subway[20]
Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad	Bucks and Montgomery County PA	PN	Peener
Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad	Midwestern United States	PFW&C	Paddy Finnigan's Wife and Children[6]
Pontiac Pacific Junction Railway	Quebec, Canada	PP&J	Push, Pull and Jerk[21]
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac	Virginia, United States	RF&P	Rich Folks and Pedigrees[2][3][4] Run Fast and Push[2][3][4]
St. Louis-San Francisco Railway	Midwestern and Southern United States	SLSF	The Frisco[3][6]
Seaboard System Railroad	Eastern United States	SBD	Slowly Breaking Down[3][4]
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority	Eastern United States	SEPTA	Society for the Elimination of Public Transit Altogether[2][3][4] Septic Inepta
Southern Pacific Railroad	Southwest United States	SP	The Friendly Southern Pacific[22] Espee[3][4] Suffering Pathetic[2][3][4] Slow Poke[4] Soup[4]
Southern Pacific Santa Fe Railroad	Southwest United States (proposed)	SPSF	Shouldn't Paint So Fast[2][3][4]
Staten Island Rapid Transit	Eastern United States	SIRT	Shall I Run Today?[4]
Sumpter Valley Railway	Oregon, United States	SV	Stump Dodger[23][24] Polygamy Central[23]
Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway	Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada	TH&B	Tramps, Hobos & Bums[3][4] To Hell & Back[3][4]
Ulster and Delaware Railroad	Northeastern United States / New York	U&D	Up and Down
Union Pacific Railroad	Western United States	UP	Under Powered[3][4] Unlimited Parking[2][3][4] Uncle Pete[2][3][4] Union Pathetic[2][4] Utterly Pathetic[4] Onion Pacific[4] Ewe Pee[8] Unbelievable Pigs
Western Pacific Railroad	Western United States	WP	(The) Wobbly[2][3][4]
White Pass and Yukon Route	Alaska, Yukon and British Columbia	WP&YR	Wait Patiently, and You'll Ride[2][4]
Wisconsin Central	Wisconsin	WC	Whiskey Central[4] We Could Wreck[4] Wrecking Central[4]

See also

• Rail terminology

References

1. "Bradley & Gore: Forget the Past; NARAL Test; Bush Scolded as Racist Lout". Media Research Center CyberAlert. 2000-07-14. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
2. "Other/Nicknames". Retrieved 2008-06-05.
3. "Railroad Nicknames Sorted by Railroad Name". Railway & Locomotive Historical Society. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
4. Coleman, Christopher D., compiler (2002-03-01). "Railroad Nicknames". Webville & Hypertext Railroad. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
5. "Railroad discussion site run by Amtrak employees".
6. "Nicknames on the Rail" (PDF). New York Times. 1890-12-21. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
7. "Railroads". Ohio History Central. Ohio Historical Society. 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
8. "W&H MAIN YARDS: Railroad Nicknames". spikesys.com. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
9. "Railroad Passes". greenbayroute.com. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
10. "Railroad Photographs of Guilford Rail System / Springfield Terminal". Massroads.com Transportation Images. 2007-05-12. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
11. "October on Guilford's West End". Railroad Explorer. 2 (3). Fall 2002.
12. Campbell, B.; Johnston, A.J.B. (1995). Tracks Across the Landscape: The S&L Commemorative History. University College of Cape Breton Press. p. 71. ISBN 9780920336649. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
13. "history". htandw.com. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
14. "Old Time Trains". trainweb.org. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
15. "Mucho Bad Transit Attitude". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on March 29, 2002. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
16. Charles W Grubb gandy dancer for the M&StL
17. "Katy Railroad Historical Society". katyrailroad.org. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
18. "Susie-Q History". susquehanna.railfan.net. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
19. Ron Kohlin. "Railroad Nicknames". kohlin.com. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
20. "Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, Inc - Railroad Nicknames Sorted by Railroad Name". rlhs.org. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
21. "qohistory". heritagepontiac.ca. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
22. "The Southern Pacific". american-rails.com. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
23. Potter, Miles (1976). Oregon's Golden Years. Caxton Press. ISBN 978-0870042546.
24. Culp, Edwin (1972). Stations West: The Story of The Oregon Railroads. Caxton Printers. ISBN 978-0870042195.