All this quibbling about "lashup", "consist", "manifest", and I don't know what other essentially slang terms put me in mind of the New York Central's Rules of the Operating Department that I had to memorize nearly 50 years ago. According to that 'little red book' (which I still have):
Clearly then, a mule with a lantern tied to it's tail is a train.
ChuckAllen, TX
cefinkjr All this quibbling about "lashup", "consist", "manifest", and I don't know what other essentially slang terms put me in mind of the New York Central's Rules of the Operating Department that I had to memorize nearly 50 years ago. According to that 'little red book' (which I still have): An engine is "A unit propelled by any form of energy ..." and A train is "An engine, ... with or without cars, displaying markers." Clearly then, a mule with a lantern tied to it's tail is a train.
I have also read older stories written by career railroaders were they refer to Diesel electric locomotives as "Motors";a term which railfans usually reserve only for electric motive power. I am under the impression that that particular slang term for locomotive has fallen out of favor in the industry...
"I Often Dream of Trains"-From the Album of the Same Name by Robyn Hitchcock
carnej1 cefinkjr All this quibbling about "lashup", "consist", "manifest", and I don't know what other essentially slang terms put me in mind of the New York Central's Rules of the Operating Department that I had to memorize nearly 50 years ago. According to that 'little red book' (which I still have): An engine is "A unit propelled by any form of energy ..." and A train is "An engine, ... with or without cars, displaying markers." Clearly then, a mule with a lantern tied to it's tail is a train. I have also read older stories written by career railroaders were they refer to Diesel electric locomotives as "Motors";a term which railfans usually reserve only for electric motive power. I am under the impression that that particular slang term for locomotive has fallen out of favor in the industry...
Johnny
"Motor" is still used by some I work with. I think it was more of a regional/specific railroad term, like "waycar" for caboose.
Off hand, two that come to mind where "motor" was popular were the CB&Q and CGW. On the CGW, their rule book (1954) used "motor" in train orders instead of "engine." Example: "Motor 97 run extra A to Z."
Jeff
I would guess that the use of the term "motor" on Burlington and CGW may have come from their use of motor cars on branches and some mainline locals. After all, CGW was EMC's first customer.
When the GG1 still roamed PRR / PC (east of Harrisburg, of course), they were always called motors and one did not politely refer to their operators as engineers; they were motormen, thank you very much. I don't recall NYC electric crews caring what they were called although, again, their charges were motors.
The word "motor" was adopted by railroad men to distinguish non-steam power from"locomotives" which meant steam. Lots of railroads. I don't recall this on the B&M, however, they simply said "diesel."
"Stay on board, I'll run this diesel over to the North Station throat, so you won't have to walk so far." After a trip on GP7 1567 or 1568 on the freight from Portsmouth, NH to Sommerville yard, around 2AM.
cefinkjrWhen the GG1 still roamed PRR / PC (east of Harrisburg, of course), they were always called motors and one did not politely refer to their operators as engineers; they were motormen, thank you very much.
On the other hand, when the Metroliners came in, the people who ran them were "engineers", definitely not 'motormen', according to Al Eelman, who certainly would know.
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