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Best railroad slogans?

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Posted by Little Timmy on Thursday, February 13, 2020 8:26 PM

My own railroad, the Demons Hollow & Pacific , has the following slogan...

"If it's got paint on it... it ain't ours

 

Rust...... It's a good thing !

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Thursday, February 13, 2020 6:46 PM

Route of the Dashing Turtle.

.

-Kevin

,

Living the dream.

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Posted by fyrestreakstrains on Wednesday, February 12, 2020 7:29 PM

My personal favorite is the PRR's "Standard Railroad of the World" or "Fleet of Modernism" slogans. (Though the first is a bit ironic, due to the fact that the PRR used unique designs for almost every one of its steam locomotives.)

As for my Delaware & Thunder Creek Railroad, I use a couple slogans on boxcars and such. My favorites are "Route of the Rivers" and "Ship it Sleek Along the Creek".

 

Welcome to the Delaware & Thunder Creek, where we say "what the heck" to actual history.

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Posted by dti406 on Sunday, August 19, 2007 11:14 AM
 shawnee wrote:
 paul_r wrote:

My favorite slogan is for the Chattahoochee Industrial Railroad - "Better by a Dam Site"

 

Many years ago, my dad told me about the Spokane, Portland, and Seattle - "Slow Poke and Sloppy"

That just might be the best one!  Laugh [(-D]

So, does anyone know if the Nickel Plate Road name started out as a slogan rather than the railroad name?

Well, you made me go and dig.  According to the book "Nickle Plate Story", the term Nickle Plate Road was a nickname that came about in an editorial while Bellevue and Norwalk fought for the rights to be a division point on the railroad.

Nickle Plate High Speed Service was a slogan and it had an earlier slogan as the Meat Express Line.

 

Rick

 

Rule 1: This is my railroad.

Rule 2: I make the rules.

Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!

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Posted by traindaddy1 on Saturday, August 18, 2007 7:06 PM
LIRR - Long Island Railroad:  "The Route Of The Dashing Commuter"  or as he is known to us, "Dashing Dan"
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Posted by PASMITH on Saturday, August 18, 2007 6:38 PM
The unofficial slogan of the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast RR:


The "Overseas Railroad."


Peter Smith, Memphis
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Posted by shawnee on Saturday, August 18, 2007 5:13 PM
 paul_r wrote:

My favorite slogan is for the Chattahoochee Industrial Railroad - "Better by a Dam Site"

 

Many years ago, my dad told me about the Spokane, Portland, and Seattle - "Slow Poke and Sloppy"

That just might be the best one!  Laugh [(-D]

So, does anyone know if the Nickel Plate Road name started out as a slogan rather than the railroad name?

Shawnee
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Posted by snagletooth on Saturday, August 18, 2007 4:26 PM
 mlehman wrote:

There are two that I naturally favor...

"Mainline through the Rockies"

"Rio Grande - The Action Road" 

The first refers to geographic location, which always helps establish where your railroad goes. The second implies good service and transporation efficiency. Both ideas may help you with developing your own slogan.

I love Rio Grandes slam slogan "Through the Rockies, not around them"
Snagletooth
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Posted by Southwest Chief on Saturday, August 18, 2007 3:52 PM

"The celebrities' way is Santa Fe"

Matt from Anaheim, CA and Bayfield, CO
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Posted by steamage on Saturday, August 18, 2007 12:20 PM
The Southern Pacific unofficial slogan

Uphill Slow
Downhill Fast
Tonnage First
Safety Last

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Posted by selector on Saturday, August 18, 2007 10:42 AM

Freelanced Seneca Falls Rwy - "There's no slack in these lines."

Big Smile [:D]

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Posted by shawnee on Saturday, August 18, 2007 10:32 AM
 dti406 wrote:

The NKP's slogan was "Nickle Plate High Speed Service", that was emblazened on their bright red cabooses. 

The NKP also bought the Lake Erie and Western Railroad whose slogan to the people it served was Leave Early and Walk.

Rick

I don't know much about NKP, but wasn't the name Nickel Plate Road originally a slogan itself?  I recall reading about that somewhere.

Shawnee
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Posted by empty net on Friday, August 17, 2007 9:57 PM

My favorite from the late 1940s-early 1950s is "Canadain Pacific Spans the World" to indicate that an indivdual could board a Canadian Pacific liner in Europe, cross the Atlantic, board a CPR transcontinental train, board another CP liner in Vancouver, and then continue on across the Pacific Ocean to Japan and China.  Also CP owned a large fleet of airliners.  A truly transcontinental and world wide travel system crossing a least 12 time zones.

Empty Net 

 

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Posted by Heartland Division CB&Q on Friday, August 17, 2007 9:16 PM

The slogan I use for my fictional heartland Divistion of CB&Q is.....

Everywhere Lost

GARRY

HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR

EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU

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Posted by paul_r on Friday, August 17, 2007 8:49 PM

My favorite slogan is for the Chattahoochee Industrial Railroad - "Better by a Dam Site"

 

Many years ago, my dad told me about the Spokane, Portland, and Seattle - "Slow Poke and Sloppy"

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Posted by dti406 on Friday, August 17, 2007 8:20 PM

The NKP's slogan was "Nickle Plate High Speed Service", that was emblazened on their bright red cabooses. 

The NKP also bought the Lake Erie and Western Railroad whose slogan to the people it served was Leave Early and Walk.

 

Rick

 

Rule 1: This is my railroad.

Rule 2: I make the rules.

Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!

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Posted by reklein on Friday, August 17, 2007 6:40 PM
Gandydancer, a belated thanks for the memory prompt,next road any load,next road any load. OK I got it.
In Lewiston Idaho,where they filmed Breakheart pass.
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Posted by tankertoad70 on Friday, August 17, 2007 6:19 PM
My fave is GN's "See America First".Cowboy [C):-)]
Don in 'Orygun' City
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Posted by Heartland Division CB&Q on Friday, August 17, 2007 5:35 PM

GTW opted for the "Good Track Road" which beat the following employee suggestions:

"Ship Your Junk on the Grand Trunk" ...or..."We Hustle our Caboose for You"

GARRY

HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR

EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU

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Posted by Paul3 on Friday, August 17, 2007 5:09 PM

The New Haven Railroad had a few:

"The Aristocrat of New England Transportation"

"The Key To New England"

"Train Yourself To Relax, Ride The New Haven Today"

"Center To Center Convienence"

"Serving The Great Industrial States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island And Connecticut"

You can even listen to a NH radio ad here:
http://www.gis.net/~fm/NH_Radio.wav (about 500kb)

And my favorite (since it's still painted on the bridge in my neighborhood):

Weather Or No Go New Haven

Paul A. Cutler III
************
Go New Haven!
************

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Posted by soumodeler on Friday, August 17, 2007 3:32 PM

Um, let me think...

The Southern Serves the South (Don't ever forget it!Wink [;)])

Green Light to Innovations

Fast Dependable Transportation

 I also have to give credit to the Central of Georgia (The Right Way) and NS - The Thoroughbred of Transportation.

 

soumodeler --------------- The Southern Serves the South!
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Posted by shawnee on Friday, August 17, 2007 11:42 AM

Well, my favorites of this roundup are:

Southern Serves the South

Scenic Line of the World

Next Load, Any Road

Everywhere West

The Antracite Speedway.

 

Well, for my own Southern Alleghany & Cumberland, I've chosen "The Highland Line".  It's premier layout design element is a rather nice grade leading to a mountain pass, called Last Panther Gap.

Shawnee
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Posted by twcenterprises on Friday, August 17, 2007 3:03 AM

The catchiest one I can remember for a trucking company was "Breathe freely, ship Ross Neely", which is still in business today.  A recent article about that company had an interview with the owner, who had decided to drop the slogan because it was too costly to keep putting on trailers, until he met with a very important client (very big and profitable contract), who promptly recited the slogan to him, and stated the the slogan was (in thier case) a very fitting description of the company.  Needless to say, the owner immediately changed his policy, and made sure every trailer had the slogan on it.

Then there's "Just Tag it Baggett" for (I think it's spelled correctly) Baggett Transport (another trucking company).

Of course, there is "Be specific, ship Union Pacific" and "We can('t) handle it", or an unauthorized nickname for UP could be Utterly Pathetic, or Unlimited Parking.  CSX could be Coal (or Chemical or Car) Spilling (or Smashing) eXperts, or Chicken S*** eXpress, or Crash, Smash and eXplode, or Color Scheme eXcitement.  Since I'm a fan or Southern Railway, I like the "Gives a green light to innovations", but that's too late for my timeframe, which would be more along the lines of the round herald and "Serves the south".  For ET&WNC, try Eat Taters & Wear No Clothes if don't like the real name of East Tennessee & Western North Carolina (aka "The Tweetsie").

If you want nicknames for diesels, look in my signature.

Brad 

EMD - Every Model Different

ALCO - Always Leaking Coolant and Oil

CSX - Coal Spilling eXperts

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Posted by Hudson on Friday, August 17, 2007 1:10 AM

"The Water level Route, You Can Sleep!"

 

Cool [8D]

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Posted by MilwaukeeRoad on Friday, August 17, 2007 12:57 AM

MILW- "America's Resourceful Railroad"

End of discussion. Wink [;)]

Alex Czajkowski
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Posted by Hawks05 on Friday, August 17, 2007 12:33 AM
All of the slogans that I like have been mentioned. I'll add votes to "Everywhere West", "Next Load Any Road", and "Route of the Rock". Those are my favorites.

I'm pretty proud of the one's that I came up with for my soon to be freelanced railroad, "Bridging Prosperity". This will be used for my Wisconsin, Minnesota, & Northern railroad, the WM&N.
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Posted by wgnrr on Friday, August 17, 2007 12:13 AM

Chicago & North Western = Cheap and Nothing Wasted

I don't care if it wasn't an official slogan, but it did fit the road perfectly well. They gave their tired GP7's a new life by rebuilding them with new prime movers, a low nose, and new electrical components. The ties on their track were in place until they absolutly had to be replaced. That would be the reason why I see so many '58 C&NW date nails in northern Wisconsin.

Depots can be placed in this category too. They didn't tear down all of their depots. They did interior renevations (Well, at least the Oxford depot was rebuilt) and they were given a new coat of grey paint and used as M-O-W offices.

Most of the lines in Wisconsin still had Semaphore siginals and ancient crossing protection well into the late 80's (not to say others didn't too, but these were well maintained). Wig-Wags could be found at Baraboo, and other towns.

And I am sure I am missing a ton of things, but the Cheap and Nothing Wasted will always be a true feature of the once mighty Chicago and North Western.

Phil

 

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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, August 16, 2007 10:58 PM
Union Pacific - BUILDING AMERICA
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Posted by nbrodar on Thursday, August 16, 2007 10:40 PM

My freelanced Penn Lake System's slogan...The Anthracite Speedway.

I'll put in a second vote for D&H's Bridge Line to New England and Canada.

I like Reading's Bee Line Service, too.

Nick

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Posted by RedGrey62 on Thursday, August 16, 2007 10:09 PM
 Gandy Dancer wrote:

 on30francisco wrote:
Denver & Rio Grande Western: Scenic Line Of The World
Sign - Ditto [#ditto]This would be the one!

My second would probably be "Ship and Travel Santa Fe all the Way"

It is a pitty the Q didn't live up to their "Everywhere West".  They could have. 

While the Q did not serve western states beyond Colorado, Wyoming and Montana directly, their connections made transconnental shipments and travel possible, especially since they were the first direct Chicago to Denver line.  And of course, being part of the Hill lines really did open upo the west to them.

Rick

"...Mother Nature will always punish the incompetent and uninformed." Bill Barney from Thor's Legions

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