Over the last year, South Western Railway have changed the terminology on their passenger information displays to refer to train lengths in terms of "carriages" in place of "coaches" (eg, this train is formed of 10 carriages). Have other operators done the same? Is there a consistent standard across the network for this? I have to say, "carriages" sounds an incredibly archaic term to me.
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Coaches or carriages?
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Lemmy99uk
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Internally, we often refer to them as ‘trucks’.
swt_passenger
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Cars?
Carriages for coaches by SWR was a completely unnecessary change, someone mentioned it way back. It doesn’t seem to be for any sort of national consistency AFAICT, just done because they can: and it’s an extra syllable if the PIS authors are paid by the part word...
Carriages for coaches by SWR was a completely unnecessary change, someone mentioned it way back. It doesn’t seem to be for any sort of national consistency AFAICT, just done because they can: and it’s an extra syllable if the PIS authors are paid by the part word...
Cars?
Carriages for coaches by SWR was a completely unnecessary change, someone mentioned it way back. It doesn’t seem to be for any sort of national consistency AFAICT, just done because they can: and it’s an extra syllable if the PIS authors are paid by the part word...
Cars is what I use.
The term is originally an Americanism, brought into use in the UK by Charles Tyson Yearkes (an American), one of the original financiers of the London Underground network.
That’s if the speaker at the talk I went to at the London Transport Museum depot is to be believed!
eMeS
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I remember asking about this quite a few years ago. When I was young, the wheeled things with buffers each end were "coaches", and carriages were the compartments across the coach with a door at each end. And the doors had leather strapped openable windows in them.
swt_passenger
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Yes that’s an explanation I’ve heard a few times before. Would take up less audio time and less space on a display, so I guess no one will want that...
Yes that’s an explanation I’ve heard a few times before. Would take up less audio time and less space on a display, so I guess no one will want that...
Stop car marks are pretty ubiquitous across the national network from what I’ve seen.
“Carriages” brings horse drawn vehicles to mind. “Coaches” often wear the National Express livery...
They also use stop car marks, to indicate to drivers where trains of a particular length should be stopped at platforms.
What exciting lives we must all lead, to be debating this point on a Friday night
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But what about ECS... Empty Coaching Stock?
Zamracene749
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Surely car is just an abbreviation of carriage? I was told the word coach is of Hungarian origin, from the town of Kocs (pronounced more like our coats) where someone pioneered a popular horse drawn cart with steel springs in the 1400s.
AlbertBeale
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They also use stop car marks, to indicate to drivers where trains of a particular length should be stopped at platforms.
What exciting lives we must all lead, to be debating this point on a Friday night
Given the number of pedants (etc) around, this sort of discussion is probably the height of excitement for some...
Western Lord
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This was debated in another thread somewhere. As I pointed out then, coaches are kept in a carriage shed or carriage sidings, while carriages are referred to as coaching stock.
AlbertBeale
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Nicely summed up - a very British compromise!
Once again English making as little sense as possible!
Jim Jehosofat
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Unless they're kept at Ilford Car Sheds.......
satisnek
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But I seem to remember that it was changed over some years back - don't know if this was London Midland or ATOS?
Journeyman
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Touché.
mange tout mange tout.
Crudités a la plat, Rodney!
WatcherZero
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Flammable, adj. Easily set on fire.
Inflammable, adj. Easily set on fire.
Inflammable, adj. Easily set on fire.
RealTrains07
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Sounds out of place down south considering we had years of phil and celia saying coaches.
The only other TOC that I know of that says carriages instead of coaches is LNR/WMR
Statto
Established Member
Merseyrail use carriages, & car for short, "this is a 3 car, 6 car service".
Bletchleyite
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It's LM who wanted it changed. I think the idea was that "coaches" was confusing and implied rail replacement. Though "this train is formed of one coach" would be accurate for the Marston Vale a lot of the time of late - the coach outside in the car park, that is.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
FWIW they've always done this, right back to day one.
Ah, that one comes from Latin inflammare rather than the more common use of 'in' as a negation. As with so many illogical things, it's perfectly logical in isolation.
Pullmans, of course, are always cars. As, I believe, are restaurant cars and sleeping cars, no doubt due to the influence of the Pullman Car Company.
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