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Rolling Stock Nickname Opinions.

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Up_Tilt_390

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Well, with the Class 700s now on test runs for Thameslink and maybe even entering service this Spring, I have heard that one unofficial nickname for this train is "Stormtroopers" because apparently they have an uncanny resemblance to the Star Wars antagonists of, you guessed it, the Stormtroopers.

Just when I thought the Class 460s being called "Darth Vaders" was bad enough because to me, they bare no resemblance whatsoever to Darth Vader, but these Class 700s only look vaguely like Stormtroopers if at all. This is all my opinion so don't try and scrutinise me in any way.

But what do you think of these nicknames? I mean I do think "nodding donkey" is an alright name for a Pacer cause it bounces around a lot and looks like it's nodding, and donkey just makes the name sound nice, but I'm not too fond of these nicknames for the late 460s and new 700s. Again, what do you think?
 
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450.emu

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Greater Anglia's Class 317's on the Stansted Express were nicknamed 'filthy and old' back in the day :roll:
 

sprinterguy

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I've got no problem with nicknames where they have been adopted and established over a period of years. However I think that the desperate grasping for a suitable nickname to slap on new stock as soon as it's introduced is utterly pointless.
 

DarloRich

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Misery guts! But I agree. Nicknames serve no purpose at all, given that there is a uniform, simple way of identifying a type of unit...

I've got no problem with nicknames where they have been adopted and established over a period of years. However I think that the desperate grasping for a suitable nickname to slap on new stock as soon as it's introduced is utterly pointless.

AND we then have to have an agreed nick name that must be used. Why shouldn't I call a class 123 a "Dave" or a class 124 a "Janice" if i like? ;)
 

racklam

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I still refer (in my head) to 158s as "Chesters" due to growing up in Crewe when they were the most common stock on the Crewe-Chester shuttle. I had a similar nickname for "Derbys", but can't remember if that was for a 153 or 156 now.
 

swt_passenger

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Didn't someone keep referring to 180s as 'Dellas' in posts here a couple of years ago? I think he gave up after a few months...
 

3141

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none: nicknames are a silly spotterish affectation

Got an idea you weren't feeling too good at 08.04 this morning, but I agree with you!

What gets me most is when stock was rarely if at all known by a nickname when it was around, but twenty years after it's gone some people who weren't there at the time start talking about "Scrapers" or "Brustids" as if to show how totally spotterfied they are.
 
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61653 HTAFC

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I think most of us will agree that nicknames are pretty much pointless, but when all is said and done where's the harm in referring to "Dogboxes" or "Nodding Donkeys"? Those of us that are enthusiasts already have to contend with being rejected by the opposite (or same!) sex as a result of our uncool hobby, we shouldn't have to deal with some of our fellow anoraks looking down their noses at us too! ;):lol:
 

tbtc

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I've got no problem with nicknames where they have been adopted and established over a period of years. However I think that the desperate grasping for a suitable nickname to slap on new stock as soon as it's introduced is utterly pointless.

Sounds reasonable.

You know what someone means by Peaks* and Deltics*, but most modern nicknames are either pointlessly derogatory ("lets give this class a name that make it sound a bit rubbish, but bears no relation to the class, so that people won't be able to differentiate it from other nicknames that people have given to classes that they think are rubbish") or wilfully obscure to the point of being contrary.

I can accept the idea of 321s being "Dusty Bins", because that could only relate to one class (even if it will be a bit obscure for younger enthusiasts!), but I'd love a day I could read this forum without wading through childish comments about "Vommiters" etc.

(* - did BR ever refer to their locomotives officially as these?)
 

Polarbear

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...and the "Peaks" tag originated when the class 44's first entered service & were named after well known hills/mountains in the UK.

I've no objection to nicknames for loco's etc, but they normally come about after some time in service due to particular characteristics, or where the manufacturer coins a trade name (such as the Deltics).
 

D6975

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...and the "Peaks" tag originated when the class 44's first entered service & were named after well known hills/mountains in the UK.

I've no objection to nicknames for loco's etc, but they normally come about after some time in service due to particular characteristics, or where the manufacturer coins a trade name (such as the Deltics).

Or where they worked - 110s were commonly called Calder Valley units.
 

6Gman

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Didn't someone keep referring to 180s as 'Dellas' in posts here a couple of years ago? I think he gave up after a few months...

I did see a reference to 180s as Dilettantes - which is quite clever.

(A dilettante is a dabbler, someone who follows the fine arts in a superficial way. The implication being that the 180s were effete and didn't work.)
 

randyrippley

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Sounds reasonable.

You know what someone means by Peaks* and Deltics*........

........* - did BR ever refer to their locomotives officially as these?


Ian Allen's list from 1964 refers to them as Peaks and Deltics. The only other types listed with a class name are the Warships (all three types), Westerns and Hymeks.
Nothing else is, not even the baby Deltics or baby Warships.
Makes me think that the Peak/Deltic/Warship/Western/Hymek were officially sanctioned names
 

Mikey C

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I'm sure in the early days a few people tried to call the 465s/466s Notworkers, but it never caught on as the trains generally did work!
 

Strathclyder

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Shortly after introduction, the Class 303s gained the 'Blue Trains' nickname, due to their striking 'Caledonian Blue' livery, which stuck out in a sea of BR Blue locos & MUs of the period. The livery itself didn't last that long (from 1960 to 1967/68), but the name stuck through the rest of their 42-year career and beyond withdrawal.
 
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BestWestern

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I've got no problem with nicknames where they have been adopted and established over a period of years. However I think that the desperate grasping for a suitable nickname to slap on new stock as soon as it's introduced is utterly pointless.

My father always insists that the Southern Railway's 'Nelson' EMUs of years ago, were never in fact called that when they were in service, and that it's a years later invention by spotters. It is, in fairness, a commonly accepted term for them, although there is more than one widespread explanation for it!

The same, he says, is also true of the famous Southdown 'Queen Mary' Leyland PD3s. He used to drive them, and is adament that crews simply called them "PDs" and the legendary name only came about years later!

I don't mind what seem to be the established, 'sensible' terms - Tractors, Grids, Duffs, and I always smile at the generic use of Kettles for anything which steams. Some of the recent inventions are plain silly, however.
 
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