uk.railway FAQ |
Line |
Nickname |
Reason |
| Salisbury - Exeter | Mule / Donkey / Pack Rail | Clippity-clop (from all the jointed track)] |
| West of England | BR name | |
| Woerail | Initials... :-) | |
| West of Exeter (on SR): | Withered Arm | They looked like a withered arm on the map and later on they were withered by the W(ithering) Region as soon as they got their grubby mitts on it. |
| Settle - Carlisle | Long Drag | Because it is |
| Kelvedon - Tollesbury | Crab & Winkle | Fishery connotation ? |
| Reading - Westbury | Berks and Hants | Not a joke - basically this route is in Berkshire but either the same company promoted the route to Basingstoke, Hants or had plans for other lines. |
| Desert | Nick Lawford again: "I want to tell you a story. I have been told a very specific origin about the name desert for Reading - Taunton. One summer Saturday a long time ago - well long enough to be in steam days - when Up trains from Torbay changed locos at Newton Abbot, there was nothing more than a little 45xx tank to work forward to Paddington in place of the Castle / Hall or whatever. This was in the period when steam locos carried the large three digit train reporting number codes on the smoke box. The number of this particular train was the same as a psalm from the bible containing the approximate words "lone and dreary, faint and weary, through the desert we shall go". I do not know if the biblical reference is true. However, I have reason to believe this story is true - the person who told me would not admit it but possibly originated the desert name for the route. He was a big GWR steam fan, later much into Warships and Westerns and then into 50s. And he was religious and would occasionally break Sunday mornings bashing moves for a Sunday service." | |
| Maidenhead - Marlow | Marlow Donkey | Actually the name of a train, not the line. The name lives on in a pub opposite the station... or did the pub come first?? Now refers to the line |
| Waterloo-Bank | The Drain | They just needed a nickname because the City and South London had one (padded cells). |
| Wimbledon-Sutton | Wall of Death | Curves and banks. 1930s built with steeper than normal grades as electrically worked from new. |
| Euston Up Empty carriage line | The Rathole | But nothing to do with 25s although they did work ECS through there. |
| Ashford-Hastings | Marshlink / The marshes | Well it is, mainly :-) |
| Sheffield - York | Dearne Valley Line | Passes through it. |
| Leeds - Keigley - Skipton | Airedale Line | |
| Leeds - Bradford - Manchester | Caldervale Line | |
| Leeds - Wakefield - Sheffield | Hallam Line | |
| Bletchley - Bedford | Marston Vale Line | Passes through it. |
| Exeter - Barnstaple | Tarka Line | Named after Henry Williamson's novel Tarka the Otter; however, otters are nocturnal creatures, so you are unlikely to see one! |
| Plymouth - Gunnislake | Tamar Valley Line | Passes through it |
| Sheffield - Manchester | Hope Valley | Passes through it |
| Newcastle - Carlisle | Tyne Valley Line | Passes through it |
| Huddersfield - Sheffield | Penistone Line | |
| At Shields Junction there is a burrowing junction to allow trains from Paisley to head for the southbound WCML without crossing the busy lines from Glasgow Central. | Penistone Line | The Burma Road. |
Line |
Nickname |
Reason |
| Civil Engineers | Dutch | Looks like the Dutch railway livery. |
| London and South East Main Line | Jaffa Cake | Looks like a jaffa cake :-) |
Back to the Menu