• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Odd or appealing names of railway undertakings

Status
Not open for further replies.

341o2

Established Member
Joined
17 Oct 2011
Messages
1,899
The French Chemins de fer Touristiques et de Montagne existed 1973-2004, later becoming Société Anonyme d'Économie Mixte Locale du Chemin de Fer du Vivarais, which in turn went belly up in 2008.

Did it not run out of funds, but has reopened in 2013? Edit - have seen the posts re this.
 
Last edited:
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Calthrop

Established Member
Joined
6 Dec 2015
Messages
3,295
South Indian names are a considerable trial to me".

Nothing more than Indians being confronted with Machynlleth or Blaenau Ffestiniog.

In fact, I recently had cause to phone National Rail Enquiries -- per which outfit, if you want to actually speak to a human being about rail travel info, you're put through to someone in India. These folk are usually extremely competent in all ways. My journey was in Wales, actually involving Machynlleth (for some reason, often a major bugbear for non-Welsh-speakers). I apologised beforehand for the long, strange names -- thinking a considerable communicational battle, likely -- but the chap recognised the names concerned, with no trouble; and he pronounced them with perfect accuracy. I was impressed.
 

Wilts Wanderer

Established Member
Joined
21 Nov 2016
Messages
2,462
In fact, I recently had cause to phone National Rail Enquiries -- per which outfit, if you want to actually speak to a human being about rail travel info, you're put through to someone in India. These folk are usually extremely competent in all ways. My journey was in Wales, actually involving Machynlleth (for some reason, often a major bugbear for non-Welsh-speakers). I apologised beforehand for the long, strange names -- thinking a considerable communicational battle, likely -- but the chap recognised the names concerned, with no trouble; and he pronounced them with perfect accuracy. I was impressed.

Knowing Indian Railways, if you turn up at Delhi booking office they'd probably be able to sell you a through ticket to Machynlleth!
 

Calthrop

Established Member
Joined
6 Dec 2015
Messages
3,295
Knowing Indian Railways, if you turn up at Delhi booking office they'd probably be able to sell you a through ticket to Machynlleth!

Which rail journey would, I think, nowadays actually be feasible, though not quick or easy...

A pet fantasy of mine involves the film Fiddler On The Roof – at the end of which, things are going belly-up in various ways, where the main characters dwell; and many are seeking to get out, to places where life may be more tolerable. If I recall correctly, one middle-aged maiden lady in the Jewish community there, decides that she wants to go and live for the rest of her life in Jerusalem. I spin a scenario in which she goes to the tiny station of the protagonists’ village of Anatevka, and asks for a fourth-class single ticket from there to Jerusalem. The Russian booking clerk is initially pee’d-off at such an outlandish requirement, and curses her up and down as an irritating Jewish bitch; but then, conscientiously does his stuff and works the thing out with correct routeing and fare, and sells her the ticket accordingly.

In theory, there would have been times in history when such a rail journey throughout, from “somewhere in western Russia” to Jerusalem, would have been possible – maybe not both physically and politically, at the same time. At the actual period of FOTR – very early 20th century – I suspect (unfortunately for the fantasy) physically, not – some rail links in the Middle East would have been missing. Allowing of making one’s own way across the strait between Europe and Asia at Istanbul; at times in the early-ish 20th century, I gather it could have been done. Certainly not – politically speaking – since 1948, because of difficulties involving Israel and her neighbours.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top