Local folk monikers for lines (was Fenny Compton - Kineton - [Stratford-u-Avon] - still open? )

[nat67]

When travelling over that section of road, I have extreme difficulty identifying said bridge -- it has no distinctive railway-bridge appearance.

Same, on google maps it looks easy from a birds eye view. But travelling down to Didcot Parkway I haven't defined it yet.

 

[JBuchananGB]

Wasn't the Waterloo and City line knowned as "The Drain" ??!

Certainly was, may still be by some people.

 

[JBuchananGB]

Until closed by Beeching, Eridge to Polegate wa the Cuckoo Line, named after the spring “Cuckoo” market held at Heathfield.

 

[Calthrop]

Until closed by Beeching, Eridge to Polegate wa the Cuckoo Line, named after the spring "Cuckoo" market held at Heathfield.

(My bolding) -- at which there's a ceremony wherein the Old Woman lets a cuckoo out of her basket, after which it is reckoned to be officially Spring. With "cuckoos being difficult" in various ways nowadays, a pigeon is now substituted.

 

[Springs Branch]

In the mid-1970s the section between Fazakerley and Rainford was known locally as Bomb Alley on account of the number of stone-throwing scallies lurking along there.

At its worst, BR's chippies had custom-shaped plywood cut-outs to fit the window frames of Cravens Class 105 DMUs used on the line, and it was not unusual to see trains in service between Liverpool Exchange & Bolton with one or more patched-up wooden windows. Presumably the suppliers couldn't keep up with the demand for replacement glass.

 

[Steptoe]

I believe there are a few 'Crab and Winkle' lines around but the one I'm familiar with is the one that used to run from Kelvedon to Tollesbury (originally to the pier, this presumably giving rise to the nickname) It's long been closed with few remains but the very solid bridge at Tolleshunt Knights will endure past eternity!

 

[Mag_seven]

The line linking Dr Days Jn and North Somerset Jn in Bristol is known locally as the Rhubarb Loop, named after a pub called "The Rhubarb Tavern" nearby.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Late Never Early (pre 1948 , LNER)

 

[krus_aragon]

Y Lein Fach (literally The Small Line) - Vale of Rheidol (colloquial)
Historically: Slow and Easy Railway (South Eastern Railway); Land 'em Smash 'em and Over (London Chatham & Dover); Slow Dirty Jerky Railway (Somerset and Dorset Joint)

I believe that the Ffestiniog was also known as "y lein fain" (or "fein"): literally the narrow line. These labels were probably applied to other narrow gauge lines as well.

Edit: And I foolishly forgot to mention the Anglesey Central Branch is known to all locals (and the Welsh Wikipedia) as "Lein Amlwch".

 

[Calthrop]

I believe there are a few 'Crab and Winkle' lines around but the one I'm familiar with is the one that used to run from Kelvedon to Tollesbury (originally to the pier, this presumably giving rise to the nickname) It's long been closed with few remains but the very solid bridge at Tolleshunt Knights will endure past eternity!

One of the nicknames bestowed on my greatly-loved Midland & Great Northern Joint, was the "Crab and Winkle" -- with the system's serving seaside places at its eastern extremity, this makes some sense -- as with the K & T as above.

I believe that the Ffestiniog was also known as "y lein fain" (or "fein"): literally the narrow line. These labels were probably applied to other narrow gauge lines as well.

I know only a few random words and expressions in Welsh; but re the "Small Line" matter, I have seen it stated that the Ffestiniog's neighbours call it the "Lein Bach", as opposed to "Lein Fach" in Rheidol country -- "bach" and "fach" being masculine and feminine forms respectively, of the adjective meaning "small" -- question raised, what is the correct gender of "lein"? (It should be added that I read of the foregoing, in the Ffestiniog Railway Magazine long ago: that publication's editors then, were highly creative sorts who -- it's suspected -- sometimes let their imaginations run away with them.) I have no idea of how the adjective "fain / fein" mutates according to gender, so can't speculate there.

 

[krus_aragon]

I know only a few random words and expressions in Welsh; but re the "Small Line" matter, I have seen it stated that the Ffestiniog's neighbours call it the "Lein Bach", as opposed to "Lein Fach" in Rheidol country -- "bach" and "fach" being masculine and feminine forms respectively, of the adjective meaning "small" -- question raised, what is the correct gender of "lein"? (It should be added that I read of the foregoing, in the Ffestiniog Railway Magazine long ago: that publication's editors then, were highly creative sorts who -- it's suspected -- sometimes let their imaginations run away with them.) I have no idea of how the adjective "fain / fein" mutates according to gender, so can't speculate there.

"fain / fein" is a feminine mutation of "main" (narrow), so the usage "lein fain" indicates that "lein" is a feminine noun. I looked in the University of Wales Dictionary, which lists "lein" as feminine. It also notes the phrase "lein fach (bach)" <sic> as a term for a narrow gauge railway, so it seems they acknowledge that it's sometimes treated as a male noun.

That isn't too unusual: the Welsh for table / board is regarded as male in northern dialects ("y bwrdd") and feminine in the south ("y ford"). Note the feminine mutation from 'b' to 'f' in the latter.

 

[Bedpan]

The Harpenden to Hemel Hempstead branch was the Nicky or Nickey Line. Nobody seems to know the correct spelling of the two, or why it was called The Nick(e)y Line, although theories have been put forward ranging from the fact that Harpenden Station is in the parish of St Nicholas to being something to do with the knickerbockers worn navvies who constructed it. There is also the thought that the steep climb out of Harpenden was considered to be akin to the Lickey Incline, and that Nicholas Brakespeare had connections with Hemel. But there is something quite satisfyjng about a line having a silly name, and nobody knowing exactly how it came about.

 

[Calthrop]

"fain / fein" is a feminine mutation of "main" (narrow), so the usage "lein fain" indicates that "lein" is a feminine noun. I looked in the University of Wales Dictionary, which lists "lein" as feminine. It also notes the phrase "lein fach (bach)" <sic> as a term for a narrow gauge railway, so it seems they acknowledge that it's sometimes treated as a male noun.

That isn't too unusual: the Welsh for table / board is regarded as male in northern dialects ("y bwrdd") and feminine in the south ("y ford"). Note the feminine mutation from 'b' to 'f' in the latter.

So the "Magazine" chaps weren't "just running their mouths". I've gathered from various sources that there are appreciable differences between northern Welsh, and that spoken further south.

Welsh words and their mutating: in those non-English languages more often learnt by English-speakers, in which words (particularly nouns and adjectives) change their form according to gender and / or their function in the sentence -- French to some extent, and Latin, German, Russian -- the changes are to the words' endings; in Welsh (and, I understand, the other Celtic tongues), they occur at the beginnings of the words -- rather disconcerting for "Saxons" !

The Harpenden to Hemel Hempstead branch was the Nicky or Nickey Line. Nobody seems to know the correct spelling of the two, or why it was called The Nick(e)y Line, although theories have been put forward ranging from the fact that Harpenden Station is in the parish of St Nicholas to being something to do with the knickerbockers worn navvies who constructed it. There is also the thought that the steep climb out of Harpenden was considered to be akin to the Lickey Incline, and that Nicholas Brakespeare had connections with Hemel. But there is something quite satisfying about a line having a silly name, and nobody knowing exactly how it came about.

My bolding -- those sorts of names for lines, are the best kind ! Another in that category: the Totnes -- Ashburton branch has been locally called, pretty much since its opening, "Bulliver" -- no-one seems to know why.

 

[krus_aragon]

So the "Magazine" chaps weren't "just running their mouths". I've gathered from various sources that there are appreciable differences between northern Welsh, and that spoken further south.

It's not dissimilar to the differences between the English spoken in Newcastle and Southampton. The key difference is that Welsh doesn't have the equivalent of the Queen's English to be a default dialect.

 

[BucksBones]

The Aylesbury-Cheddington LNWR branch line (the world’s first branch line, don’t you know!!) was known as the Plum Line due the vast amount of plums (well, Aylesbury Prunes technically) that were conveyed on the line. 15 tons a day at its peak, apparently.

 

[Calthrop]

A possible --not very brilliant -- pun there: per the map, course of Aylesbury -- Cheddington branch looks relatively straight: cueing potential "plumb-line" references?

 

[BucksBones]

A possible --not very brilliant -- pun there: per the map, course of Aylesbury -- Cheddington branch looks relatively straight: cueing potential "plumb-line" references?

Yes that’s very true, it was as straight as a die. Here’s a nice picture of the baskets of fruit at Cheddington station ready to be loaded.

 

[ejstubbs]

I remember in the 1980s when Midland City Line services started running Bedford to St Pancras and on to Moorgate, it quickly became known as the Bedpan Line.

 

[Mojo]

The Greenford branch line is still often locally referred to as the “Push and pull.”

 

[Nicholas43]

The Cholsey and Wallingford was 'The Bunk' I believe, no idea why.

According to Karau and Turner's book, a Mrs Harold Gale reported that "Around 1900, the loco did a 'bunk'. It left Cholsey station without its coaches. Harold and Len Gale, returning from football in Reading, had uncoupled the loco while it waited in the bay platform." I can believe that Harold and Len told this story, but not that they actually did it. Surely the crew would have been in big trouble if they failed to notice, let alone do a brake test, before departing?
The Abingdon branch-line train was also known as "the Bunk". Local opinion is that this had something to do with the bunker of the usual tank locomotives. I don't think I believe that either, given that pretty well every GWR branch used tank engines. I wonder if the Abingdon name was copied from Wallingford?
I'd be enthralled if forum member(s) can elucidate / confirm / refute any of the above.

 

[Calthrop]

According to Karau and Turner's book, a Mrs Harold Gale reported that "Around 1900, the loco did a 'bunk'. It left Cholsey station without its coaches. Harold and Len Gale, returning from football in Reading, had uncoupled the loco while it waited in the bay platform." I can believe that Harold and Len told this story, but not that they actually did it. Surely the crew would have been in big trouble if they failed to notice, let alone do a brake test, before departing?
The Abingdon branch-line train was also known as "the Bunk". Local opinion is that this had something to do with the bunker of the usual tank locomotives. I don't think I believe that either, given that pretty well every GWR branch used tank engines. I wonder if the Abingdon name was copied from Wallingford?
I'd be enthralled if forum member(s) can elucidate / confirm / refute any of the above.

Really no worthwhile thoughts re "Bunk": have to wonder, maybe just "local poet gets inspired" -- perhaps while musing vaguely on tank loco's coal-bunker -- and his random whimsy happens to catch on in the area.

However, something perhaps slightly parallel: and again -- to my knowledge "as far as" -- in general Great Western territory (maybe further afield in Britain too?). The Marlow branch train was locally known as the "Marlow Donkey"; that on the Kemble -- Tetbury branch, likewise the "Tetbury Donkey". Possibility -- poetic conceits and figures of speech -- equating of flesh-and-blood donkeys (lovable and reliable, but slow and sometimes cantankerous "I'll do it my way" beasts of burden), with branch-line locos / trains? Also: in days when steam traction was the norm, a "donkey engine" was a widespread term for a small -- possibly stationary / portable -- steam engine, for small-scale power application. Sometimes, I understand, expression employed to refer to very small and light actual steam rail locomotives. Transferable up-scale perhaps, in a metaphorical way, to more-substantial but still small and light, "real-railway" locos?

And maybe adding a little bit into the general mix -- a much-loved folk motif, usually told about the lightest and most flimsy of narrow-gauge lines or steam tramways. The train, or steam tram, is waiting at a roadside halt; a local farmer shows up, road-travelling and donkey-(flesh-and-blood-kind)-powered. Train crew ask, "hey, Fred, aren't you travelling with us today? Is there anything wrong?" Fred replies, "No -- it's just that I'm in a hurry today; I can't be bothered with you lot". His donkey will get him into town, sooner than the train would.

 

[talltim]

There's the Clockwork Orange, of course.

 

[xotGD]

The former line from South Shields to Marsden and Whitburn Colliery was known as 'The Marsden Rattler".

This Web page provides lots of good gen, together with a phot of a totally hellfire looking railtour from 1968...

http://www.marsdenbannergroup.btck.co.uk/MarsdenRattler

 

[Poolie]

The Stanmore Rattler or Banana Express ! Excellent book on the Harrow and Stanmore Railway by Peter G Scott

 

[tsr]

The Horsham-Dorking route has been known as the “Back Road” for many years, possibly even pre-dating its relegation to its current “secondary” status. The official name is the “Portsmouth Lines”, but “the Mole Valley Line” is occasionally used.