The San Francisco call., 1904-02-06
NicknqmiHg Railroads.
Nv FARI d. BERRY.


a-opyr.ght 1904 by Joseph b. Bowles)
Saints and Angels is the latest
nickname 10 be applied TO a railroad.
This glorifying pseuGonym has been
bestowed upon United States Senator
". A Clark's new Los Angeles, san
Pedro and salt Lake Railroad. now in
process Of construction. This road,
which is only half finished, is designed
TO connect salt Lake City-the home of
the "Saints'-with Los Angeles Cal,
the City Of the Angels" From the
earliest period in the history of rail-
roading there has been A stove COM
mittee"-i. q, the persons who sit
around the stove in railroad station
and emit theories. opinions and facts
anent the current topics of the day,
philosophical. political. religious, social
and railroad This stove committee"
Is responsible for most Of the nicknames
that the principal railroads in this
country bear to-day.
A quarter Of q century ago the pa
irons Of the Delaware, Lackawanna and
Western Railroad grumbled a great
deal about the dilatOry transportation
given them. These grumblers received
a hint from the stove committee
and for many years the letters d. L.
and W. painted on the company's cars,
were translated into Delay, Linger and
Wait" II is scarcely necessary to say
that conditions on this road have
changed so materially that the old
nickname has become obsolete. A
4
Indiana, Bloomington and Western.
Sufferers from ague were cured of their
malady when travelling on this road by
the familiar homeopathic principle of
''similia simiibus curantur" The
fsvorite joke about this road at one
time was that it need only to be taken
TO be shaken" and the people who did
not care 10 be shaken construed the
initials l. b. and W. into I'D Better
Walk"
The travelling public generally has an
aversion for long names for railroad
companies. The Connecticut man who
would waste vocal power on the New
York, New Haven and Hartford is a
rare bird Ask any person who dwells
within the region traversed by the lines
Of that company To designate il and he
dated" This term Of course applies to
the merger of numerous lines by the
act of consolidation passed by the Con-
necticut Legislature. In Pennsylvania
who ever hears Of the Pennsylva MIA
Railroad? 1t is the "Pennsy,'' and local
pride has given an unctuous melody to
the name. The Panhandle" is known
70 thousands where the Pittsburg. Gin
.af- nd I &C.
10 one. The nickname is derived from
the fact that the road crosses the
handle Of the pan which the shape OF
West Virginia suggests
The name Nickel Plate brings up
reconections Of William X. Vanderbilt
ard Calvin s. Brice. The iast-named
financial meteor conceived the idea Of
paralieling the Lake Shore and thus
bringing old Vanderbilt" TO terms
Mr. Vanderbilt had 20 buy the new road
as matter Of seIf-prOtection. and when
the question Of price came up Mr
Brice's figures were so high that Viii
liam II. exclaimed with characteristic
vehemence. why. your road must
be nickel plated" And tina Nickel
Plate" it has been ever since The
West Shore Railroad was purchased by
Mr. Vanderbilt under similar conditions.
and although he stor1ned and fumed
for two or three years against what he
said was pure blackmaf." he gave
new meaning 10 the company's initials
when he said Why. su-o.'' 10 Mr.. De-
pew's suggestion, 4 think that We shall
have 10 buy this road"
Take the Gould group of railroads.
What more significant nickname could
Mop" This is to-day the Wall street
name for that great system, and while
it is a natural abbreviation OF the mo.
p" which appears on many Of the
c0mpanys cars * is expressive OF the
determination Of jay Gould that he
purposed 10 mon uD ali the traffic in
the Southwest The term Cotton Belt
as applied TO Gould's ST Louis and
Southwestern IS far more familiar than
IS the corporate name Of the railroe d
itself There are doubtless hundreds Of
Spectators in Wall street who buv
katy shares who could not tell you
he FUN name Of the railroad in tre
stock of which they are speculating
This nickname IS but the natural COM
hination n the two last initials Of the
Missouri, Kansas and Texas.
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific there
was great deal Of complaint that the
movement of trains was slow and un-
certain. This led &c the reduction of
the cOmpany's corporate designation c.
r. J. e. ?. TO the popular expression
Cry and Push" A letter received by
the writer recently asked for a defini-
tion Of Big Four" This Vanderbilt
President NJ. z. ingalls,, is known Of
fcially as the Cleveland, Cincinnati,
Chicago and St. Louis. IT takes its
present short name because Of the con-
solidation several years ago Of four i'm
portant lines. as follows: Cincinnati.
Indianapolis. ST. Louis and Chicago;
Cleveland. Columbus. Cincinnati and
Indianapolis; Indianapolis and st.
Louis. and the Cincinnati, Sandusky
and Cleveland railroads.
why the Clover Leaf and the Maple