What is the best unofficial name for a railway line?

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Was the Australian train called "The Ghan" anything to do with Afghans working on the railway there?

 

[Gloster]

Was the Australian train called "The Ghan" anything to do with Afghans working on the railway there?

According to Wikipedia, that infallible source, it is most likely drawn from the Afghan camel drivers who immigrated to Australia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century to help open up the country. I have heard variations on this, such as the name comes directly from the camel drivers who supported the construction of the various bits of the line at the extremities.

 

[yorksrob]

A personal favourite, "The Marshlink" brings back memories of thumper days, complete with its own NSE route badge.

Even though it's more of an extension of the East Coastway nowadays (as opposed to a link to it) it will always be the Marshlink to me.

 

[Taunton]

When I worked in Shepherds Bush, the Hammersmith and City -- H & C -- Line was known as the Hot and Cold Line.

Common for organisations with initials H&C. The Hutchings & Cornelius buses in Somerset were the same, aided by being just written H&C on their sides.

 

[daodao]

Come to think of it, the ex-Midland & Great Western line from Claremorris to Collooney in the North West of Ireland was also known as the 'Burma Road'.

I have already mentioned this line in post 37, but it was never run by the Midland & Great Western Railway.

The Slow & Dirty, alias the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway.

The Knotty, alias the North Staffordshire Railway.

The Burma Road, alias the Waterford Limerick & Western Railway line from Limerick to Collooney Junction, later part of the Great Southern & Western Railway - so called apparently because of the large number of level crossings.

The Premier line (for good reason), alias the London & North Western Railway.

You are correct in that the term the "Burma Road" generally referred to the section of the line north of Claremorris, now mothballed. The line between Athenry and Claremorris via Tuam might eventually re-open, possibly partly to carry freight from County Mayo to a re-opened freight facility at Foynes, but there is talk of turning the line north of Claremorris into a "greenway".

 

[D6130]

I have already mentioned this line in post 37, but it was never run by the Midland & Great Western Railway.

Sorry....seem to have missed that post. Meant to say "Great Southern & Western Railway"....should have checked with my 1916 copy of the Railway Clearing House map of Ireland.

 

[Calthrop]

Re Claremorris to Collooney:

I have already mentioned this line in post 37, but it was never run by the Midland & Great Western Railway.

Sorry....seem to have missed that post. Meant to say "Great Southern & Western Railway"....should have checked with my 1916 copy of the Railway Clearing House map of Ireland.

The extremity of a long GS&WR "tentacle" running deep into M&GWR territory -- seems crazy; but there were no small number of comparable oddities this side of the Irish Sea, in -- general -- "pre-Grouping" days. For instance: in what halfway-sane circumstances would one have expected there to be lines owned by the London & North Western, and Midland, Railways: way out in South / West Wales, reached from their parent systems only via running powers?

 

[Spekejunction]

Surprised ‘The Drain‘..hasn’t got a mention..
(Waterloo and City Line )

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Even though it has been very many years since the film was made, the "Titfield Thunderbolt" has always stayed in my memory. It was filmed on the line of the Bristol and North Somerset Railway.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Don't think it's been mentioned yet, might have missed it... but an old nickname for a line that has always intrigued me is (if I'm recalling it correctly) "Castleman's Corkscrew" which was somewhere around the south coast, New Forest area.

 

[Gloster]

Don't think it's been mentioned yet, might have missed it... but an old nickname for a line that has always intrigued me is (if I'm recalling it correctly) "Castleman's Corkscrew" which was somewhere around the south coast, New Forest area.

Castleman’s Corkscrew was the original line from Southampton, via Totton, Brockenhurst, Ringwood, Wimborne, Hamworthy and Wareham to Dorchester; the section from Brockenhurst to Hamworthy is closed. If you look at the map you will see that this route twists about a bit. Castleman was a Wimborne solicitor who did more than anyone to push the line through.

 

[snowball]

Surprised ‘The Drain‘..hasn’t got a mention..
(Waterloo and City Line )

Your post is the fourth time it's been mentioned in this thread.

Trivia threads like this are usually very repetitive, both within the thread and in relation to similar recent threads.

 

[gingertom]

According to Wikipedia, that infallible source, it is most likely drawn from the Afghan camel drivers who immigrated to Australia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century to help open up the country. I have heard variations on this, such as the name comes directly from the camel drivers who supported the construction of the various bits of the line at the extremities.

nothing to do with hump shunting then

 

[SargeNpton]

Not a line, but a marshalling yard...

At Margam part of the complex is known as the Knuckle Yard. The origin of this, as I understand it was based on the Quasimodo principal - in that after wagons were shunted over the Hump they rolled down the arm and end up at the Knuckle.

Happy to be corrected if thta is not the origin of the name.

 

[janahan]

Surprised noone has mentioned the "Varsity Line" Never officially called that as it is in fact seperate lines, and if I am correct direct services between oxford and Cambridge itself was quite rare (most required a change at either bletchley or bedford).

Also, probably not very common, but a few fellow commuters on my local line (the Reading/Windsor via Richmond line out of Waterloo) often refer it to the "Snobbery line(s)" due to the high number of affluent areas it passes through.

 

[RT4038]

Surprised noone has mentioned the "Varsity Line" Never officially called that as it is in fact seperate lines, and if I am correct direct services between oxford and Cambridge itself was quite rare (most required a change at either bletchley or bedford).

Until the coming of DMUs towards the end of the 50s through trains were rarely scheduled, and indeed the timetables were presented separately (Bletchley-Oxford, and Bletchley-Cambridge). Through passengers would have changed trains at Bletchley (never Bedford), and the connections were hit and miss anyway. Even in DMU days the through trains were limited to about 4 each way. I suspect the 'Varsity Line' moniker has only gained traction after closure.

 

[daodao]

Until the coming of DMUs towards the end of the 50s through trains were rarely scheduled, and indeed the timetables were presented separately (Bletchley-Oxford, and Bletchley-Cambridge). Through passengers would have changed trains at Bletchley (never Bedford), and the connections were hit and miss anyway. Even in DMU days the through trains were limited to about 4 each way. I suspect the 'Varsity Line' moniker has only gained traction after closure.

I have a reprint of the April 1910 Bradshaw guide. While the 2 timetables are shown separately on adjacent pages, 3 through trains per day each way (Mon-Sat) between Oxford and Cambridge are clearly shown in both tables. They generally ran as fast trains between Bedford and Oxford, but stopped at all stations east of Bedford (the service east of there was very sparse).

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Also, probably not very common, but a few fellow commuters on my local line (the Reading/Windsor via Richmond line out of Waterloo) often refer it to the "Snobbery line(s)" due to the high number of affluent areas it passes through.

That would be more appropriate for the Portsmouth Direct, what with the user group's demand for 2+2 seating...

Perhaps less so given the anti-social behaviour around Godalming, but then even the Windsor lines have a bit of that with Staines and Feltham.

 

[janahan]

Until the coming of DMUs towards the end of the 50s through trains were rarely scheduled, and indeed the timetables were presented separately (Bletchley-Oxford, and Bletchley-Cambridge). Through passengers would have changed trains at Bletchley (never Bedford), and the connections were hit and miss anyway. Even in DMU days the through trains were limited to about 4 each way. I suspect the 'Varsity Line' moniker has only gained traction after closure.

I remember reading about bletchley (I read that pre-flyover days trains had to cross the WCML so spliting the service there made operational sense), I thought it might have also had some changes at bedford at later times, thanks for clarifying that it never did.

That would be more appropriate for the Portsmouth Direct, what with the user group's demand for 2+2 seating...

Perhaps less so given the anti-social behaviour around Godalming, but then even the Windsor lines have a bit of that with Staines and Feltham.

Hey I live in Feltham!

To be fair, Feltham these days (especially over the last decade or so) has attracted a lot of tech professionals, party due to the presense of tech companies such as IBM, Cisco, and SAP, as well as easy commute to London, the Thames valley tech centres (reading) and the South West tech corridor (Camberley), which together with great schools (such as the award winning Reach Academy, and other schools), Feltham is seen as more desirable these days, with its aspiring working class, and very practical middle class. Having being raised in Harrow, and lived in other places such as Orpington, richmond, etc, I "temporarily" moved to feltham in 2009, and says since, as I found it actually not a bad place at all.

As for Staines, it is not that bad either these days, though I do have to admit Spelthorne Counciles attempt to rename it "Royal Staines" in 2010 did have the inevitable giggles and allegations of snobbery. (It was instead renamed Staines-upon-Thames in 2011, with almost similar giggles!)

 

[stut]

I refer to Crossrail as the Elizabethan Line

I call it Brenda.

 

[TST2022]

RHTT for redhill to Tonbridge

 

[Acey]

I don't know about anyone else but I used to call the Sittingbourne - Sheerness "The Banjo Line " work it out

 

[Calthrop]

Surprised noone has mentioned the "Varsity Line" Never officially called that as it is in fact seperate lines, and if I am correct direct services between oxford and Cambridge itself was quite rare (most required a change at either bletchley or bedford).

Until the coming of DMUs towards the end of the 50s through trains were rarely scheduled, and indeed the timetables were presented separately (Bletchley-Oxford, and Bletchley-Cambridge). Through passengers would have changed trains at Bletchley (never Bedford), and the connections were hit and miss anyway. Even in DMU days the through trains were limited to about 4 each way. I suspect the 'Varsity Line' moniker has only gained traction after closure.

I gather that at any rate in the later part of the Oxford -- Bletchley -- Cambridge line's life; at its Oxford end, it and its services were affectionately named the "Cantab Crawler". Heard of this, in reference to C.S. Lewis: who was a thoroughgoing Oxford guy, but held for the last decade of his life (1954 -- 1963) a professorship at Cambridge University. This involved much travel by him between Oxford and Cambridge, which he did by rail via Bletchley (I suppose, changing en route, or not, "depending"); he claimed to find the leisurely rail journey an excellent venue and opportunity for his personal prayer-life.

 

[Dr_Paul]

Also, probably not very common, but a few fellow commuters on my local line (the Reading/Windsor via Richmond line out of Waterloo) often refer it to the "Snobbery line(s)" due to the high number of affluent areas it passes through.

I've never heard it called that, and I've lived in this area for much my 67 years.

Perhaps less so given the anti-social behaviour around Godalming, but then even the Windsor lines have a bit of that with Staines and Feltham.

Godalming as a centre for yobbish behaviour seems so incongruous; can anyone explain it?

As for Staines, it is not that bad either these days, though I do have to admit Spelthorne Counciles attempt to rename it "Royal Staines" in 2010 did have the inevitable giggles and allegations of snobbery. (It was instead renamed Staines-upon-Thames in 2011, with almost similar giggles!)

Having Staines described as being in Surrey rather than in Middlesex is bad enough (same thing with Ashford), but this Staines-on-Thames nonsense is just ridiculous. Noting the frequency of flooding, Staines-in-Thames might be a better name.

 

[D6130]

Godalming as a centre for yobbish behaviour seems so incongruous; can anyone explain it?

Overspill from Farncombe perhaps?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Godalming as a centre for yobbish behaviour seems so incongruous; can anyone explain it?

My cousin attended a sixth-form there two decades ago, and even then she'd report on some of the "antics" that would go on on the trains (seat cushions and light bulbs being thrown out of windows for example). I've no idea why Godalming seems to get this worse than say Camberley, but it would seem to be a long-standing issue.

 

[AM9]

Overspill from Farncombe perhaps?

I used to travel down to Havant back in the dying days of the 4-COR/4-RES trains on the Portsmouth Direct, and it was interesting to see the contrast between Farncombe and Godalming, particularly when the dwellings on the hillside were in view (is that Frith Hill?).

 

[thenorthern]

Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway was the Clog and Knocker, not sure why and it seems and odd name.

 

[43066]

“The Scum” for the North Kent line. Makes perfect sense when you consider the areas it passes through!

 

[satisnek]

I'll always remember a one-time, now deceased regular in the King & Castle who insisted that the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway was known as the 'Old Wuss and Wusser' [with a northern 'u'].

Erm, well it was the Old Worse and Worse at the Oxford end...