Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-03-18

Elk been issued to the effect
that unless an accident
| has occurred in the neighborhood of o large
city the road upon which the break up has
happened must be given in full in the dis
| patches. This move is a good one. because
there are as many nicknames to railroads as
| there are roads, and in many cases the nom de
plume does not indicate whether it is in the
west. south, east or north
| fact not generally known is that the rail-
roads Of the country have nicknames by which
| the high officials know them and that railroad
employees. those in the ranks. have entirely diff
ferent synonyms. close study of this cues
| ton reveals the information that the high Of
fcials nickname the roads for convenience
sake, while the trainmen do it to express some
phase Of personal experience thereon. II the
| latter's christening is good one it generally
| sticks, and as their experience has generally
been a vivid one an original and worthy nick
| name generally crops out.
ONE CHANCE.
To illustrate this point the Columbia, and
Port Deposit railroad running from Columbia,
Pa, to Port Deposit, Nd. can be aptly cited.
! The railroad men call this road the lone
Chance" 1t runs along the river shore almost
its entire length and is as crooked as any in the
country. Train dlspatchers at Columbia fire.
quenty find it difficult to secure seasoned train
men to work on this road, as the accidents aver
age almost one day. If not on account of road
| bed then the cars will be found at fault For
| this reason they have no doubt given it the
significant christening, as to go ont on the run
| over the road and come back alive the trainman
| has taken the advantage of the one chance in
| one hundred.
Newspaper readers will recall the great rail-
road coup in which Senator Brice was inter-
| ested some ten years back, by which the New
York. Chicago and st. Louis road was built and
the New York Central paralleled from New York
| city to Buffalo. The road was built in q day,
comparatively speaking and the buvinC of it by
| William II. Vanderbilt resulted in great prof.
for the selling syndicate and the christening of
the road, the name Of which has stuck to it to
| this day.
Vanderbilt was grumbling at the price he
had to pay and remarked, "Why, if the Internal
road was nickel plated it couldn't cost MORE"
and the road has been known the Nickel
Plate" ever since.
| An EVENING STAR reporter, with an inquir-
ing turn of mind. recently accosted prominent
railroad official in this city as to how MANY
railroad nicknames there were. He replied
Just as many as you have a mind to make. |
have heard the Pittsburg Fort Wayne and
/ Chicago road called Paddy Finnigan's Wife
and Children but where the name came from
is more than 1 can tell.
SOME WESTERN ROADS.
"Here are few of the roads with nicknames
that 1 now recall without referring to
books. The Minneapolis, st. Paul and Sault
| Ste Marie is called the 500 and is an abbre.
| Walton OF the pronunciation of the latter name.
The Big I our is taken from the consolidation
| of four big roads. the Cincinnati, Indianapolis
| st. Louis and Chicago. the Cleveland. Column
bus. Cincinnati and Indianapolis. the Indian
apolis and st. Louis, and the Cairo, Vincennes
and Chicago. This consolidation took place
MANY years ago, the nickname given, and it has
stuck TO 1t ever since. Many railroaders claim
that the words Big Four are taken from the
four big cities touched by the road. viz: Gin
cinuati, Chicago, st. Louis and INDIANAPOLIS,
! but think the right origin is the one have
given.
| 1.-The Chicago. ST. Paul and Kansas City road
| is called the Maple Leaf BY awing a line
! around the cities after which this road is named
| on q map il will be found to form a perfect leaf
| of the maple tree. The Pittsburg. Cincinnati
/ and st. Louis road is called the Pan Handle
| for the reason-a line drawn through
| these cities making good counterfeit OF the
| pan handle. The Clover Leaf is given to the
| Toledo. st. Louis and Kansas City road for the
| same cause. inasmuch it doesn't come near
resembling clover leaf under the same cir
cunistances Possibly the road gets its nom
de plume on account of the exceedingly fine
grass lanes through which it passes.
QUEEN AND CRESCENT.
"The euphonious anne 'Queen and Crescent
| is given to the Cincinnati. New Orleans and
Texas Pacific road. This nickname comes from
New Orleans. the crescent city. and Cincinnati,
! the queen city. An old railroader that worked
I on that road some years back told me that the
best part of it was the name. He said the train
| men called it the 'Chills and Fever road, as it
| took the best part of their salaries to buy quiz
| nine with which to keep of this demoralizing
| but fashionable malady. 1t certainly runs
through bad country for people whose hvers
| are likely to be troublesome.
':The Louisville. New Albany and Chicago
l ia rat cd no nm Tho 90 tbu}
| the main junction on the road is SO called The
| unique name 'Nypano' is given TO the New
! York, Pennsylvania and Ohio road and is simply
an abbreviation and consolidation of the first
letters of each state. This is the road, | think,
that the late Mr.. Vanderbilt threatened to use
j as club against the Pennsylvania road on 40
coun: of a belief that the latter road was in
, trudlng in his territory. compromise was
! effected between the two great railroad mag
mates, Vanderbilt and Roberts. and the re-
sources OF this road were never properly de-
veloped.
THE COTTON BELT.
''The st. Louis. Arkansas and Texas road is
called the Cotton Belt and, of course. derives
/ its name from the great produc. OF that region.
Among the trainmen it is nicknamed
/ the 'Stand-and-Deliver' line, no doubt
from the fact that Of late years many
| daring train robberies have occurred this
line 1t runs through q country sparsely settle d,
J which hiotuo TIC uiSu"dymtu every oppOf-
tunity to escape after their assault upon the
! train.
"'Blue Grass, q pretty name for a railroad.
is given to the Kentucky Central on account of
the exceptionally rich grass country through
! which it passes. Tom SCOTS great road. the
Southern Pacific. is called The Sunset have
never learned the origin OK this name, but, per-
haps. its connection with the Pacific, the home
Of the setting sun, brought about the christen-
| ing. The names given this road by the en-
/ plOyas and the N a sfinO ruhlih N n m
| GUS that 1t is useless to mention any of them.
| They represent personal experience in most
| cases and in reality have little in common with
| the history OF the road. The road WAS con-
| ceived several years before it's time, and, Of
| course. caused many heart burnings among in
| vestors, but the experiences of trainmen in the
dreadfuly wild country Of Texas, New Mexico
| and Arizona have furnished stories enough to