Whats is ur favorite Railroad Quote Good or Bad

[Anonymous]

I once saw a quote attributed to a motor man on a MBTA train.
"The bad news is that we're out of gas, the good news is we arn't in a plane."

[jcavinato]

When working for the C&O/B&O many years ago, someone actually said to me with a serious look and tone of voice, "But, look son, we might not make money on these moves, but we make it up in their volume."

[Anonymous]

"it learned me never to kick a skunk."
commodore vanderbilt upon buying
150,000 shares of erie rr stock from
jay gould.

[daveklepper]

When told about a problem at North White and White Plains stations when electrification was extended to Brewster and almost all trains were then the shiny stainless-with-blue-stripe electrics, where now local passengers were boarding the expresses to Grand Central and being told by the conductor they would have to pay for extending their Fordham or Mt. Vernon tickets or whatever to Manhattan and then also buy a return ticket from 125th Street back to their destination, and that perhaps I ought to have a $5000 consulting job to do an adequate job on electronic signage and intelligible public address, the Metro North manager replied:

"We expect our passengers to read our timetables."

I thought of answering: "But your trains don't always run on time."

But I kept quiet. Actually the trains usually did and do run on time. The problem is the Grand Central express, 1st stop 125th, leaves usually about two or three minutes before the local. I hope the situation has been corrected, and I have not been there for about eight and a half years. Anybody know what kind of signage and PA those two White Plains stations have?

One thing Metro North did do. They decided it was better public relations for the conductor to issue a special form that would get the passenger to his destination without two extra fares.

[PNWRMNM]

Up hill slow
Down hill fast
Tonnage first
Safety last

Carved on the wall in an SP yard building in Oakland CA early 1970's.

[Anonymous]

On a witness stand during a railroad lawsuit...So you are a Switchman? A: yes. Q: You saw the two trains collide? A: Yes. Q: What was your first impression on seeing this event? A: That's a helluva way to run a railrod!

[Kozzie]

I reckon the motto for Northern Pacific is very descriptive and quite catchy:

"Main Street of the North West"

I think that's hard to beat....

Dave

[Anonymous]

SP-SF...Shouldn't of Painted So Fast.
Mitch

[Anonymous]

And what might be the funniest incongruities?

To me, putting speed lettering on a Rio Grande narrow gauge Mikado takes the cake.

Old Timer

[Anonymous]

And I like the "Southern Gives the Green Light to Irritations".

The Central of Georgia was "The (F)Right Way".

Burlington was "Everywhere Worst".

Old Timer

[Anonymous]

"I sought trains...I found passengers." - Thoreau

[Junctionfan]

I love your PRR one RancOr[(-D]

[Anonymous]

Following Old Timer's Ohio Narrow Guage BZ&C, came the Bellaire, Zanesville and Cincinnati - later the Ohio River and Western, known locally as the Old Rough and Wobbly, or the Old Rusted and Wrecked.

B&O - Bolder and Older
C&O - Colder and Older
PRR - Please Re-Lay the Rails or Proud to Run a Railroad

Let's not forget the early graffiti age of Herbie. After the sombrero wearing sleeping hobo showed up chalked onto dozens of cars, he was turned into a safety PR campaign - Help Every Railroader Become Injury Exempt. I have an HO 40' reefer with that little gem.

[MP57313]

"Ship and Travel Santa Fe" along the top girders of a truss bridge in the median of I-5 north of Oceanside, CA.
Later partially painted out after A-Day to read "Ship Santa Fe".
The paint and paint-out has faded but can still be seen today.

[Anonymous]

Espeefoamer -

Another quote of "The Public Be Damned" out of context.

Back in the 1880s or so Vanderbilt was told by a reporter that he should put on a passenger train between two points lost to memory "because the public demands it".

His reply was "The public be damned. If the public wants a passenger train let the public pay for it."

This was not an unreasonable stance for Vanderbilt to take, but every time somebody not responsible for anything doesn't like something a railroad, or any other corporation for that matter, does, he quotes the first four words of Vanderbilt's reply.

I just wi***he next guy that uses that quote would get it right.

And, 90 or so years later, Vanderbilt got his wish. After 1971 the public did pay for it.

Old Timer

[espeefoamer]

NYC " The public be damned"

[Anonymous]

CB&Q: "Everywhere West"
ATSF: "The Chief Way"

Watching freights got a lot less fun when they stopped putting slogans on the box cars.

[Junctionfan]

Route Rock "take our route or we will rock you"

[adrianspeeder]

Lehigh Valley - Route of the black diamond.

How about

Safety first (except after money and/or convenience)

Adrianspeeder

[MP57313]

"Route Freight Up Here. Keep Our Highways Clear". Accompanies an image of trailers on a flatcar, on a UP bridge over a city street in North Long Beach, CA

[locomutt]

Although it's not actually a slogan;but,do you remember the good old
"PC"[?] the logo: "Looked like two worms making love".[:)]

[rob_l]

A classic historical quote:

"Charge whatever the traffic will bear." - C. P. Huntington

Really appalling quote:

"There has never been any service in the rail industry." - NS senior manager quoted in a magazine about 5 years ago. (Many transportation managers from the good-service roads of the 70s, 60s and before must have rolled over in their graves at that one.) This guy should have said there was never any service on the N&W (after steam days, anyway).

Good slogan: Dependable transportation
Weak slogan: We can handle it (too passive, the customer has to have the idea)
Bad slogan: We will deliver (almost admitting incompetence)
Brainless slogan: Building America (now they're claiming the Nation needs them)

(The above traces the evolution of the UP from a really good-service road into a why-try-to-give-service-when-we-can-cut-the-operating-cost-some-more road.)

Another good slogan: Everywhere west

How about this Conductor's Delay Report:

The wind was high, the steam was low.
The train was heavy and hard to tow.
The coal was dirty and full of slate,
And that's why we was runnin' late.

Or a modernized version:

The wind was high, the amps were low.
The train was heavy and hard to tow.
In many sidings you made us wait,
And that's why we was runnin' late.

Best regards,

Rob L.

[Anonymous]

I just love the "upon the road of anthricite" Poems

[locomutt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by eastside

What I wouldn't be surprised to see in the near future: "Intel on Board," on both rolling stock and locos. [:)]

With the "Intel on Board" slogan,will that be Pentium III or IV [?][:D]

[Junctionfan]

Rollingstock with computers-great.......more systems to defrag and check for virus and trojans.

[eastside]

What I wouldn't be surprised to see in the near future: "Intel on Board," on both rolling stock and locos. [:)]

[Anonymous]

Seen on a "modified" UP locomotive--

"We will deliver - eventually"

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cherokee woman

How about C&O's slogan: "Sleep like a kitten"?

One of my favorites!

[cherokee woman]

How about C&O's slogan: "Sleep like a kitten"?