Names for your railroad

Naming my primary railroad was a no-brainer.  When it's a government-owned monopoly, do you really have a choice?

There are a few 'niche' railway companies in Japan, mostly doing things the National Railway Company was happy to avoid.  I actively model one, and have three waiting in the wings (non-operating background, pending future development.)

• The Tomikawa Valley Railway, a coal-hauler owned by the company that developed the collieries.  It built the entire Tomikawa Valley route, but the Imperial Government took over the easy part through more developed country, then drilled the tunnels that made it a through route.  The TTT was left with the dregs, the last few kilometers of 4% up to the mines from Tomikawa.  The end of the railroad module has been operating since 1980.
• The Kashimoto Forest Railway - based on the Kiso Forest Railway, named with my wife's maiden name.  Her family was active in the timber business in Shikoku.  The Kiso Rintetsu was an extensive network of 762mm gauge rails in some rather wild country.
• The Harukawa Electric Railway - based on the 762mm gauge Kurobe Railway, built to service the hydropower installations in the Kurobe Gorge, currently hauls a lot of passengers to the various hot springs along the route.
• The Nishikawa Electric Railway - based loosely on the Hakone Tozan Dentetsu, connecting several mountain resorts to the National Railway.

Tomikawa-san was the reason I requested assignment to Japan from Korea very early in my Air Force career.  Other names are family 'in' jokes (the two main stations along the Kashimoto Forest Railway are named for my son and daughter - Japanese-language nicknames.)  Fortunately, a lot of Japanese surnames can do double duty as place names.  Even more fortunately, those people are very unlikely to find out that their names have been pre-empted.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

Mine will be the PRF&W(Pine River Falls and Western).  My wife and I like pine trees and waterfalls so there it is.  I also plan on naming industries after people we know and those in our family.  The first one I have is Katie's Cafe and Wine House after my Wife.  Now all that is left is to start building things.

Mike

The name of my railroad is "Grain Belt".  It was going to be "Anchor Valley Central", but I wanted a name that sounded rural. 

Then come to find out that there really IS a "Grainbelt RR".  But it is spelled as one word and mine is two words. 

The main town is still Anchor Valley, and there will be three other towns on the layout (construction starts after the Christmas Holidays), one at each end of the route that are named Bedford Falls and Rock river, and one small township called Emerald.  

My layout is the fictitious town of Moose Bay, which came about just because I liked the name when it showed up in my head one day.  The two principle streets in town, Penny Lane and Saint Anne Street, are named after my wife and daughter, with a bit of homage to the Beatles thrown in for additional merriment.  Those two streets are also the names of the subway stations below them, so there's lots of signage to announce them.  The Scollay Square station is from the old "Charlie on the MTA" song, and it's also a now-defunct station in the Boston system.  A number of businesses in town are named in honor of some of my daughter's friends.

My San Joaquin & Sierra Nevada Railway did exist until it was absorbed into the SP system at the turn of 20th century. Orginally a narrow guage operation, no effort was wasted converting the profitable segements to standard guage with the remainder being abandoned. During their fight to fend off the SP, studies were done to standard guage and electrify the line to tap important feeders that were independent and also under wire. My pike represents a compromise with the SP, it electrified and standard guaged while remaining independent with the SP/SF as  important interchange partners. My main drag in Lockwood is named Lorraine Blvd. after my wife, she also has a steeple cab electric named for her!

Dave

My nod to friends and family include:

*  Carrie's Berrys.  An industry named after my wife, Carrie.

*  Colby Cut.  A rocky pass named after my godson, Colby.

*  Mosier Magnets.  An industry named after fellow firefighter, friend and modeler Al Mosier.

Sentinel Colliery Railway is the name of the small spur railway run by the Company by that name.  They lease equipment from several railways, and pay for servicing under contract.  The mine is near Seneca Falls, NW (No Where), a bit bigger than a village, with an important sub and an interchange between as many railroads as my loco roster can stand.  That would be eight railroads so far.   Wow, what a hub!  The local kids love seeing who can spot the unique engine that runs through Seneca Falls, or better yet, stops for some servicing.

I just made up the names.  I was fairly certain I wouldn't end up being original with Seneca Falls, and it turns out I am correct.  In fact, I expected that it would be up-state, and it is in NY if I am correct.

tomikawaTT wrote:

The Nishikawa Electric Railway - based loosely on the Hakone Tozan Dentetsu, connecting several mountain resorts to the National Railway.

I named a live steam model boat after my wife (now ex); she got mad, because the boat was cute but not exactly streamilined - it looks sort of like Kate and Bogie's African Queen.  I learned not to name stuff after real people; their reactions are hard to predict.

My railroad is the Blackwater & Butte Creek Railroad.  Blackwater came from the Doobie Brothers song, and Butte Creek is a real stream in Oregon where my father and I often fished (the fishing was great, the catching was a little iffy).

I've really been struggling with this one for the past couple years. I've been thinking about a play on a name and going with The Stetsburg Sub. Or maybe The Stetsburg and Walish.
I don't know if I like them or not. Maybe I could call it Mayoville...(naw..)

Folks:

I've done this.  On my current RR, I'm trying to use the names in ways that sound authentic.  So far, all I have is Edwards Mill, named after our son.  I don't have too many buildings yet.

The two towns were named in a different way.  One was near the electrical panel, and the other was near the Johnson furnace, so they were named "Wattsburg" and ... "Johnson Furnace".

"The Malpaso & Saccara Railroad"

Pretty sure I misspelled the second word. The first is the name of a creek near where I grew up (and also the name of Clint Eastwood's prodution company) and the second comes from a town in Egypt where they discovered a small model of a bird that when blown up to human size,  could fly reasonably well. Scientists believe that it illustrates that the ancient Egyptians understood flight. Or they got lucky with a tiny wooden bird.

Basically I liked the words and how they sounded together. Malpaso is a bigger grity city (translated, the word means "Bad Step"), and Saccara will be a desert outpost styled city.

Mine has a ring to it Russell Rail, my town is Russellville fictious name but on my door to my train room there is a big R&R on it.

My railroad, the Rochester and Richmond, is actually named for a rail-trail bike path.  I had been trying to figure out a road name for a long time.   The railroad is set in the Appalachian coal region but I never figured out exactly where and I had never planned to follow a specific prototype.   

Back to the bike trail..... The former Grand Trunk branch ran from Pontiac MI through Rochester to Richmond MI.  This was abandoned about 10-12 years ago and converted to a trail.  A little over a year ago my wife and I rode from outside Rochester to Richmond and back with a group of friends.  This was a long trip for us (about 50 miles) and it was a hot day.  When I am riding the rail-trails I often think how things may have been different.  What if this branch had some additional industry and was sold off to a short line?  That maybe found a market for cross-town commuters.... that maybe was owned by a steam enthusiast who occasionally fired up a locomotive, sort of like the Ohio Central?  What would you call the railroad? 

OK, so maybe this is a heat and exercised induced fever dream, but the name "Rochester & Richmond" came out of it.  Like RRTrainman's, it also abbreviates to R&R which is what the railroad is - rest and relaxation.    

George V.

My Westport Terminal RR is named after the town. There was in Model Railroader Sep. 83 an article by John R. Decker "The yard at Westport". This article gripped me!

This article was the base for my first "Westport". But due to the growing business they had to build a new yard. 

And I made my own paint scheme.

Wolfgang

Many of you will recall my HO/N Scale Columbus & Hocking Valley and the HO Huron River RR.

However,there's been another name floating around in my thoughts and that is the Columbus Belt & Terminal a 14 mile industrial switching line located on the South Side of Columbus(Oh) set in 1990..

Here's the twist..

This switching line is a paper railroad own jointly by either NS/CSX or NS/CR .

IF I choose to do the CB&T for my N Scale railroad I will rotate locomotives between the owning roads.

Another thought is to paint and letter 2 locomotives  CB&T.

My layout is called Mt. Penelope and my fictional railway is the Mt. Penelope Rwy. Co. -- both named for my wife.

There is also a church named after my oldest son (just 'cause his name has biblical origins; he is a little more on the   side) and there is a hill named after my youngest son.

Although I'm a CN and CP modeler in HO scale, I do have a fictitious short line locomotive fleet.  The railway is called the LBSS&G (Lopsided, Backwards, Smeared, Smudged, and Gouged). The name is dedicated to the hazards that go with painting and detailing model railroad equipment.

All the locos in the LBSS&G fleet are ex-Pennsylvania units and are painted Brunswick Green. The roster is as follows:

1 Alco RSD-4

1 Alco RS-11 (with six wheel trucks)

1 BLW AS-616

1 Alco S-2

2 Alco  S-1s

2 BLW VO-1000s

2 BLW VO-660s

2 BLW S-8s

I struggled with a name for my railroad untill I moved into Essa Township I live in a valley so the Essa Valley Rail Road was born.The EVRR has a nice ring to it.

Ours is called the JUMIJO RR (pronounced Joo-mee-joe). I used the first two letters of each child's name to come up with that. JUlia, MIchael, and JOhn.

Jim

When I get to starting my road, it will be an industrial pike called "Nackers yard", which where most of the equipment will look as if it should have been dumped.

Dennis