uk.railway FAQ

Steam Engine Nicknames

WR & constituents' locos

Class	Nickname	Reason
M7	Motor tank	Push pull fitted
0298	Beattie Tank	Designer
N15	King Arthur	Names
LN	Lord Nelson	Names
LN	Nelson	Names
V	School	Names
H	Chatham Tank	SECR design
U	U-boat	Smooth footplate rides compared to the engines it replaced? Tapered boiler and plethora of boiler-top fittings? Painted black or slate-grey when new? Combination of colour & outline could have reminded some people of a submarine (prototype came out in 1918, when U-boats would have been much on the public mind)
D	Coppertop	Stonking great brass dome
N	Woolworth	Most were built from parts made at Woolwich Arsenal, also dirt cheap/simple government utility design
E1	Black Tank	Painted black in later LBSCR period (c.1905-1922)
E3/4/5/6	Radial	Has rear axle on radial
A1 / A1X	Terrier	Size (= small dog): Stroudley's
A1 / A1X	Rooter	Size (= little pig): Stroudley's
Q1	Austerity	Absolute basic design for wartime economy
	Charlie	Looked like right Charlies!
	Flying Dustbins
WC	Spam can	Air smoothing
WC	West Country	Names
BB	Spam can	Air smoothing
BB	Battle of Britain	Names
MN	Spam can	Air smoothing
	Merchant Navy	Names
	Flannel jacket	Cockney rhyming slang for name of first in class ("Channel Packet"). Used only at Nine Elms.
	Packet	First in class? naval connections (ie Packet steamers)? Used at Exmouth Jc
B1	Gladstone	Name of prototype
B1	Square cab	Um, er, well, you know...
T9	Greyhound	Seek lines and fast running.
4MT	Clodhoppers	?
unrebuilt Bulleid Pacifics	Flats	?

Class	Nickname	Reason
4P	Compound	Cylinder arrangement
4P	Crimson rambler	? well colour obviously played a big part :-)
2MT (41xxx)	Mickey Mouse	Shape of front end-on
5MT (42xxx)	Crab	Cylinders mounted high and at steep Angle, prominent outside valve motion allegedly reminded railwaymen of crab-like movement
5MT (42xxx)	Moguls	Wheel arrangement type (South-West Scotland)
4MT (43xxx)	Mickey Mouse	Shape of front end-on
5MT (44xxx)	Black 5	Colour, & original number began with "5")
6P (formerly 5XP)	Jubilee	Names
7P (formerly 6P)	Royal Scot	Names
8P (formerly 7P)	Princess Royal	Names
8P (formerly 7P)	Coronation	Names
3F (47xxx)	Jinty	Common name for a shunter in W Mids]
21 (L&Y)	Pug	Shape? possibly of Scottlish origin, where all tank engines were known as pugs
HR	Jones Goods	Designer
HR	Big Goods	They were
115 (MR)	Spinner	Single driving wheel prone to slipping
LNWR	Precedent	Name of first engine of class
G&SWR Whitehead	Baltic pug	Wheel arrangement type & Scottish name for a tank
??	Skye Bogies	Bogie engines which worked on the Skye line, perhaps?
??	Teutonics	Name of first of class?
??	Webb's Coal tanks	Tank version of "coal engine", a type which mainly worked on coal traffic?
HR 0-6-0	Barneys	?
HR	Scrap Tank	Built from bits found in Lochgorm

Class	Nickname	Reason
A4	Streak	Because that's all you saw
B1	Bongo's	So named after one of the class
D34	Glen	Names
D10	Director	Names
D11	Improved director	Because it was
C2	Klondyke	First example in year of Klondyke gold rush
C? (GCR)	Jersey Lilies	Jersey Lily was actress Lily Langtree, a noted beauty of the time (& mistress of the King). However, near the GCR works was a pub run by a very large lady, ironically known as the Jersey Lily. The Atlantics were very large for their day so…
J11	Pom Pom	Sounded like guns of that name
O4	Tinies	Size
S1	Wath Daisies	?
U1	!%$!	If you had to drive it...
L1 (GC)	Crab	The way they moved
L1	Cement mixers	They rode like one ie. very rough riders.
J69	Buckjumpers	Started off like a...

Class	Nickname	Reason
7P	Britannia	Names
9F	Spaceship	The big gap between the boiler and footplate had the effect of making the boiler look like one of the booster stages, used in the 60's NASA space project, on its side.

Class	Nickname	Reason
WD	Austerity	Cheap design during wartime scarcity of materials

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