Best Locomotive Names?

[nathanmallard]

Hi all,
What does everyone think are the best names ever to be carried by a steam locomotive?
It has to be said, the LNER and subsequently BR:ER were the best at this, coming up with blinders like "Wolf of Badenoch", "Flying Fox", "Madge Wildfire", and my personal favourite, "Velocity", carried by a Peppercorn A2.

 

[SuperSpeedMaglev]

Flying Scotsman, Cock O' The North, North British, Great Northern.
Mallard, Seagull, Duchess Of Hamilton. Queen Mary.

Tornado, Blue Peter, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

 

[Kennilworth]

Hi

The LNER policy of naming locos after the best racehorses was inspired but obviously the best name was carried by LNER D49 No234 "Yorkshire". I also like many of the A1/D30 names such as "Hal 'o the Wynd", "Meg Merrilies", "Wandering Willie" and "Auld Reekie" many of which were named in connection with the novels of Sir Walter Scott.

Many of the former LMS Jubilees were also well named after countries and states in the Empire. They did more for my geographical knowledge than all of the geography lessons that I had at school. I'm sure that followers of other railways/regions of the UK will be able to chip in with names for GW & SR locos.

Regards

Brian

 

[jjanmarine3]

The Red Devil.

 

[nathanmallard]

Not keen on Seagull. Reminds me of the real ones, which are not pleasant birds!
The racehorse names are definitely the best, I forgot to mention the more light-hearted ones like Captain Cuttle and Pretty Polly . BR continued the practice of naming locomotives after racehorses with the Deltics but sadly did not continue it with the Class 91s.
I always thought the GWR's names were a bit staid and old-fashioned sounding, although I love the way "Earl of Mount Edgecombe" rolls off the tongue.
I have a model of Yorkshire, in it's later condition in BR black. I wish Hornby did an apple green version.

 

[MeowRailroad]

I like the way SD40-2R or SD45R looks when written out.

 

[nathanmallard]

Anything with the letter 'R' in it sounds cool...car manufacturers do it all the time!
In all seriousness, why don't American locomotives have names? Is it a cultural difference? Is it considered archaic? We still do it in Britain, in fact we probably name more locomotives and units now than we ever used to, pretty much everything is named nowadays from lowly Class 08s to Class 395 High Speed units. I passed a Class 66 yesterday named 'Chippy', I kid you not.

 

[MeowRailroad]

Since American railroads used train orders from early on, it might have been confusing for some, whereas in the UK signalling systems existed earlier. A common thing that American shortlines do is put a name in small lettering under the number on the cab side. Sometimes they are in memory of someone, and sometimes they are town names on the line, and sometimes they are just honoring someone who worked for that line.

Look to the right of where it says "GP39RN" on the cab side.

And this model says "City of West Chicago" on the cab side, above the flag decal and road number. There is another type of Metra locomotive that has randomly generated names, I believe it is on SAXRT.

 

[jordon412]

really liked how the Alaska Railroad named their first SD70MAC's (#4000-4016) after places along the railroad's route. One even had the name Spirit of North Pole! Yes, there is a North Pole, Alaska. I've seen it on TV, and it's decorated for Christmas year-round.
I also like Union Pacific's 4-8-8-4 'Big Boys', as they were certainly big.
Then you've got Norfolk & Western 4-8-4 #611, often called 'The Queen of Steam' and lettered Spirit of Roanoke on the side of her cab. She got the name 'The Queen of Steam' because she is the result of over 150 years of steam locomotive development.
You've also got Southern 2-8-2 #4501, nicknamed 'The Green Mikado', since she was painted in the paint scheme that the Southern's steam locomotives that hauled their passenger trains were, a combination of Sylvan Green, Dulux Gold, and Imitation Aluminum. She wore that paint scheme from the 1960's all the way up to the 1990's. Interestingly, the paint scheme was inspired from the paint scheme the Southern Railway in the U.K. wore.
Of course, you've got the Western and Atlantic's 4-4-0's the General, and the Texas, both involved in the legendary Great Locomotive Chase.

 

[jordon412]

In all seriousness, why don't American locomotives have names? Is it a cultural difference?

Originally they were named, but I believe as the number of locomotives a railway owned swelled as the railroads got bigger, the railroads decided that it would be easier to number them instead of giving the time and effort needed to come up with names for each locomotive. Remember, the railroads in America are much larger than those in the U.K. However, some crews gave some locomotives nicknames because of a certain feature. A good example is the Denver and Rio Grande Western's (D&RGW, aka Rio Grande) 3-foot gauge K-28 class 2-8-2. They were nicknamed Sports Model, as their slightly larger drive wheels allowed them to go faster than the other 3-foot gauge 2-8-2's on the Rio Grande's network of narrow gauge lines. There's also the Rio Grande's narrow gauge K-27 class 2-8-2, called mudhens, as they were known to 'waddle' along the tracks.

 

[AJ_Fox]

Well of course, I'm partial to the flying fox. It's a family thing. : )

Cheers

AJ

 

[SuperSpeedMaglev]

I must admit AJ, your name would be perfect for a LNER A4, A3,A2 or A1!

 

[nathanmallard]

'Flying Fox' was an A3, No.4475 I believe. There was an A4 named 'Silver Fox', however...