Has the Class 70 got a nickname yet?

[The Decapod]

With all their lumps and bumps - how about 'Warthog' ? Or has that name been taken for another class?

 

[Vulcan]

Please don't give them a nickname, and preferably stop using the nicknames for everything else, its stupid.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I have heard two different nicknames for them already...

 

[lm321412]

I'm not really keen on the nickname idea, but for yoursake and everybody elses' who cares about the nicknames here are a few I've heard...

"Duck", "Bull Dog" and "Land Rover"


I honestly do not know how they got some of the above nicknames for this loco...

 

[Vulcan]

I'm not really keen on the nickname idea, but for yoursake and everybody elses' who cares about the nicknames here are a few I've heard...

"Duck", "Bull Dog" and "Land Rover"


I honestly do not know how they got some of the above nicknames for this loco...

Ugly Duckling? Bulldog, theyre pretty ugly as well, and Land Rover, possibly because they can pull anything you put behind them?

I dunno, but I think it does nothing for the public image of railway enthusiasts when they are heard calling engines these nicknames. Class 70 will do, we all know what it is then.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Well, I don't often use nicknames myself but I can't really avoid them!

For the record the two I've heard for the 70s are "Plugs" and "Bettys".





Probably the best nickname I have ever heard was "Robby" for an MGR ( coal train... )

 

[tbtc]

Please don't give them a nickname, and preferably stop using the nicknames for everything else, its stupid.

^^What he said^^

Modern nicknames are generally useless, as they aren't "common" (e.g. everyone back in the day knew what a "Peak" was, but a "Skoda" means nothing to me)

The only decent one in the modern era was Dusty Bin for the 321s

 

[dk1]

Scud, Shed, Fred, Duff, Gronk there are loads

 

[asylumxl]

How about "seventies".

Now there's an idea

 

[truckman060473]

the magazines call them "Fuglies" - ugly with an F on the front for Freightliner

 

[ainsworth74]

How about "seventies".

Now that's a nickname I can support

 

[Big Chris]

see fugly for me means something other than ugly with the freightler F infront. My understanding of it is F**k Ugly. Needless to say that might well turn some heads if thats heard in company otehr than enthusiasts

 

[Greenback]

^^What he said^^

Modern nicknames are generally useless, as they aren't "common" (e.g. everyone back in the day knew what a "Peak" was, but a "Skoda" means nothing to me)

The only decent one in the modern era was Dusty Bin for the 321s

I agree 100%!

 

[The Decapod]

Despite asking the original question, I don't usually use nicknames either, but some of them are quite imaginitive. Do most of them originate from within the rail industry (like BR used to give fish codenames to freight wagons) or from enthusiasts, I wonder?

 

[Juniper Driver]

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18742

I don't think nicknames are too bad...check this thread.

 

[scotsman]

I think the nicknames arose from the days before different 'Classes' of locos. When locos were identified as a Type 1/2/3/4/5. So, they'd get nicknames based on what it looked like. Therefore, the only 'legit' name for a Class 70 is "lego brick"

 

[Juniper Driver]

Chunky.

 

[Vulcan]

The only names you'll hear me use that arn't their TOPS number are 'Warship', 'Western', 'Hymek' and 'Deltic'.

 

[EM2]

The only one I've heard for the 70s is 'Predator'.

 

[D6975]

I've heard 2 so far
Betties
and
Cylons - a reference to Battlestar Galactica apparently

Funny the way that some classes were almost exclusively referred to by their nicknames, whilst others by their class number or builder/type.

I don't think I ever heard 'there's a class 52 on.....'
While if there was a pair of 20s on a train....a whole multitude of different phrases could be heard ..bombs, choppers (the commonest 2), chubblies, wardrobes....

 

[Vulcan]

I've heard 2 so far
Betties
and
Cylons - a reference to Battlestar Galactica apparently

Funny the way that some classes were almost exclusively referred to by their nicknames, whilst others by their class number or builder/type.

I don't think I ever heard 'there's a class 52 on.....'
While if there was a pair of 20s on a train....a whole multitude of different phrases could be heard ..bombs, choppers (the commonest 2), chubblies, wardrobes....

Bombs?? Chubblies??? Do the enthusiasts that use these phrases WANT to be made fun of and called anoraks?? Its a class 20, or English Electric type 2.

 

[MCR247]

I agree, but people can call them what they want, and some people couldn't care less about what other people think. Good for them

 

[Oswyntail]

Bombs?? Chubblies??? Do the enthusiasts that use these phrases WANT to be made fun of and called anoraks?? Its a class 20, or English Electric type 2.

Erm, weren't they Type 1s? But otherwise, I agree - silly names are silly!
(EE Type 2s were the "Baby Deltics")

 

[Vulcan]

Erm, weren't they Type 1s? But otherwise, I agree - silly names are silly!
(EE Type 2s were the "Baby Deltics")

Dammit, you're right.

 

[The Decapod]

The only names you'll hear me use that arn't their TOPS number are 'Warship', 'Western', 'Hymek' and 'Deltic'.

So presumably we shouldn't call the original Volkswagen car a Beetle !!!

 

[Vulcan]

So presumably we shouldn't call the original Volkswagen car a Beetle !!!

But VW beetles don't have a TOPS number.

 

[exhaustEd]

They seem to be spreading their wings a bit more and the number of nicknames seems to be increasing, a few new ones i've heard have been 'tonkas', 'bricks' and 'weebles'.....

 

[Crossover]

Based on the exploits of a certain member of the clan, I think Banana and Bender is in order XD

 

[Toad]

Chain Breakers !!!

 

[ChrisCooper]

Nicknames aren't just an enthusiast thing, many come from inside the industry. It not just the railways that do it either, many planes have nicknames, the military often uses nicknames, reporting names and codenames. Most modern train types are named anyway, often with far more stupid and irelevant names than the nicknames given. Nicknames do have some purpose too, they are often shorter and easier to pronounce than the real name (many are one or two syllables, wheras saying "class X" is always going to be at least 3 syllables if not 4).