Trains.com

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

How did you choose your forum 'name'?

11144 views
95 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Bradford, Ontario
  • 15,797 posts
How did you choose your forum 'name'?
Posted by hon30critter on Monday, October 10, 2011 9:47 PM

Some of our forum names are fairly easy to figure out, such as those with an obvious reference to a specific railroad. Others are not so obvious.

How did you come by your forum names? What do they mean?

I think mine is one of the more obvious ones - I like critter engines.

How about yours?

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

  • Member since
    May 2008
  • From: Miles City, Montana
  • 2,289 posts
Posted by FRRYKid on Monday, October 10, 2011 9:56 PM
Mine actually ties back to my model railroad. I freelance and I have called my railroad "Forest Railway" (as you can see from my avatar). Its reporting marks are "FRRY" and though I am not a "kid" so to speak, I have used that in most all of the websites I am on. (And yes, theoretically, the reporting marks should be "FRY." I decided that I didn't like having my reporting marks remind me of fast food every time I looked at them)
"The only stupid question is the unasked question."
Brain waves can power an electric train. RealFact #832 from Snapple.
  • Member since
    May 2011
  • 114 posts
Posted by Fastball on Monday, October 10, 2011 9:58 PM

Fastball ... sounded better than Fast Express.  And a cool band from the '90s. 

-Paul

  • Member since
    August 2007
  • From: Red Lodge, MT
  • 893 posts
Posted by sfcouple on Monday, October 10, 2011 10:11 PM

Well, I was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and lived in downtown San Francisco with my lovely wife for many years. Hence: sfcouple.  We are now retired living in a small town in Montana and love our new life in the "Big Sky Country." Our new Montana town has zero traffic lights and zero parking meters....somewhat different than San Francisco.  And, best of all, our new (to us) home has a basement where my layout is located.  

Wayne 

 

Modeling HO Freelance Logging Railroad.

  • Member since
    January 2008
  • From: Stockton, CA.
  • 333 posts
Posted by Truck on Monday, October 10, 2011 10:52 PM

I work on big concrete trucks, actually I've  worked on trucks of all kinds all my life. So at the time I was sighning up I noticed a lot of members used fictitious names so I came up with "Truck".  

 

                                                               Truck. 

  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: Ridgeville,South Carolina
  • 1,294 posts
Posted by willy6 on Monday, October 10, 2011 10:54 PM
Being old is when you didn't loose it, it's that you just can't remember where you put it.
  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 1,400 posts
Posted by fiatfan on Monday, October 10, 2011 10:55 PM

Former owner of a 1971 Fiat 124 Sport Spyder.  Had it for 22 years.  See the picture in my avatar.

 

Tom

Life is simple - eat, drink, play with trains!

Go Big Red!

PA&ERR "If you think you are doing something stupid, you're probably right!"

  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Culpeper, Va
  • 8,204 posts
Posted by IRONROOSTER on Monday, October 10, 2011 11:08 PM

From the book title Riding the Iron Rooster by Paul Theroux.  Also the rooster is a popular symbol in the Cursillo movement in which I was active at the time.  Just appealed to me when I joined the forum.

Enjoy

Paul

If you're having fun, you're doing it the right way.
Moderator
  • Member since
    November 2008
  • From: London ON
  • 10,392 posts
Posted by blownout cylinder on Monday, October 10, 2011 11:14 PM

I used to drag race up at St. Thomas Dragstrip back in the early 1970's...one of my ...erm..coff coff ...traits was for blowing engines up...Whistling

Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry

I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...

http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: upstate NY
  • 9,236 posts
Posted by galaxy on Monday, October 10, 2011 11:54 PM

Mine is a shortened version of my whole online screen name and email address. How I came up with the part I use here- GALAXY-is that once, while trying to come up with a new screename, everything I wanted was rejected as "taken" by my server.

Finally, I was looking around for anything to use as a name, and saw the computer's speakers had the label "galaxy" on them. SO that started off my screen name..the rest of it that I DON'T use here was found in an even more stupid rediculous way so I won't bore you to tears with that part. That part, by itself, was also rejected as "taken". COmbining the two together was a winner though Thumbs Up.

-G .

Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.

 HO and N Scale.

After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.

  • Member since
    July 2009
  • 14 posts
Posted by heavymetal92 on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 12:15 AM

Mine Refers to my love of heavy metal music and the 92 refers to the last year when 80's metal was popular before the big rush to cash in on grudge and alternative

 

 

Joel

  • Member since
    March 2008
  • 40 posts
Posted by dowop62 on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 12:18 AM

I always liked dowop music, and I graduated in 1962, theyb just go together.

 

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New York, NY
  • 330 posts
Posted by MerrilyWeRollAlong on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 12:43 AM

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Merrily We Roll Along is a musical with a book by George Furth and lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim.  The story revolves around Franklin Shepard who, having once been a talented composer of Broadway musicals, has now abandoned his friends and his songwriting career to become a producer of Hollywood flicks. Like the play, the musical begins at the height of his Hollywood fame and moves backwards in time, showing snapshots of the most important moments in Frank's life that shaped the man that he is today.

 It is also a show I performed in high school.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrily_We_Roll_Along_%28musical%29

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Southwest US
  • 12,914 posts
Posted by tomikawaTT on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 1:44 AM

My screen name is actually a shortened form of the name of my freelance coal-originating railroad, Tomikawa Tani Tetsudo - literally translated from the five kanji pictographs as Rich Stream Valley Iron Road.  The first T wasn't capitalized because I was too lazy to hit the caps key...

As for my reasons for modeling Japanese prototype, the second biggest one is the fact that I lived in Japan for close to half of my Air Force career.  I've been married to the biggest reason for almost 51 years.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

  • Member since
    February 2004
  • 933 posts
Posted by aloco on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 3:23 AM

My name came about when I was 12 years old.  I had just gotten into model railroading and I had trains on my mind almost constantly.

My oldest brother had a Creedence Clearwater Revival album with the song 'Porterville' on it.  As I was listening to the song I heard John Fogerty singing "i don't care, I don't care", and to me it sounded like "A-loco, A-loco".  Having trains on my mind at the time, it couldn't have sounded like anything else. Big Smile

JLK
  • Member since
    March 2011
  • From: Lancaster County PA
  • 158 posts
Posted by JLK on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 4:27 AM

It's simple. It's my initials and they won't change.

Justin

  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: sandy, utah
  • 197 posts
Posted by thortenney on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 5:22 AM

My wife has a friend/coworker who was helping me sign up for the forum. He cant remember my name (Thayne) so he calls me Thor,  So he signed me up as Thor. I tried to change it a few times. But i dont have very good computer skills so I gave up. I guess I am Thor???  


  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: upstate NY
  • 9,236 posts
Posted by galaxy on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 5:24 AM

thortenney

My wife has a friend/coworker who was helping me sign up for the forum. He cant remember my name (Thayne) so he calls me Thor,  So he signed me up as Thor. I tried to change it a few times. But i dont have very good computer skills so I gave up. I guess I am Thor???  

Don't be so shy about teh name Thor...Thor in mythical legend carried a mighty big hammer....!!!

-G .

Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.

 HO and N Scale.

After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.

  • Member since
    June 2006
  • From: Maryville IL
  • 9,577 posts
Posted by cudaken on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 5:43 AM

 Berry, I would have never guess Blonout Cylinder came from drag racing. All wise figured had to do with steam engines.

 How I came up with Cuda Ken started at a Dodge Charger site. I tried to sign up as Charger Ken, but name was taken. All so tried Road Runner Ken, it was all so taken. Had one car left, my 70 Cuda so I tried Cuda Ken and I got that name!

 By the time I got into trains, well Cuda had became my nick name at car shows so I stuck with it.

 Car showed in my Icon is my 69 Charger, not my Cuda or Road Runner.

               Cuda Ken

I hate Rust

  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Culpeper, Va
  • 8,204 posts
Posted by IRONROOSTER on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 7:34 AM

thortenney

My wife has a friend/coworker who was helping me sign up for the forum. He cant remember my name (Thayne) so he calls me Thor,  So he signed me up as Thor. I tried to change it a few times. But i dont have very good computer skills so I gave up. I guess I am Thor???  

Name appears to be the one thing you cannot change.  Probably is or part of the unique key/id for each member.  I tried to change mine a while back from all caps to one cap and lower case, but was not allowed.

Enjoy

Paul

If you're having fun, you're doing it the right way.
  • Member since
    December 2007
  • From: Gateway City
  • 1,593 posts
Posted by yankee flyer on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 8:21 AM

I was flying during the "CB" rage and my CB handle was Yankee Flyer.
So, the first thing that came mind was my old handle.  Idea

Have fun

Lee

 

  • Member since
    January 2011
  • 893 posts
Posted by PennCentral99 on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 8:29 AM

I was born/raised in the Harrisburg (PA) area.  Growing up in the late '60s, '70s and early '80s, I was obviously influenced by Penn Central (because that's was we had rolling through town).

When establishing a screenname, PennCentral was already taken or unavailable.  So, I just threw 99 on the end to eliminate the the chance that someone had already used it and I wouldn't be sitting in front of a computer trying to figure one out.  I also use this screenname for my YouTube channel to keep things consistant.

You just gave me an idea.....I now need a Penn Central loco with road number 99

Inspired by Addiction

See more on my YouTube Channel

  • Member since
    May 2007
  • From: East Haddam, CT
  • 3,272 posts
Posted by CTValleyRR on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 8:55 AM

I'm boring.  It's the name of my fictitious railroad.  As you can probably tell by my signature block.

Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford

"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford

  • Member since
    July 2011
  • 81 posts
Posted by CharlieM90 on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 9:16 AM

 

My initials. And the number ("90") was my assigned number when I roadraced GP motorcycles.

 

  • Member since
    September 2007
  • From: Charlotte, NC
  • 6,099 posts
Posted by Phoebe Vet on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 9:27 AM

Ken:

I have always believed that 1969 was the best year the auto industry ever had.  There were many wonderful cars, and I owned several of them.

My screen name:

The only passenger train I rode was the Erie Lackawanna Phoebe Snow.

I was in the Navy when I was riding her.

Dave

Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow

  • Member since
    November 2002
  • From: US
  • 2,455 posts
Posted by wp8thsub on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 9:49 AM

The prototype Western Pacific had seven subdivisions in my 70s era.  I model a fictitious one, hence the 8th.

Rob Spangler

  • Member since
    December 2009
  • 146 posts
Posted by Owendubya on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 9:50 AM

Mine is another of the obvious ones. while my name is Gary, i'll answer to owen. as longtime fan of the NYO&W , o and w was an easy pick. owen was used by the O&W in advertising

  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Westchester NY
  • 1,747 posts
Posted by retsignalmtr on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 9:51 AM

I worked 31 years as a Signal Maintainer. When I was working my ID was sigmtr. When I retired 12 years ago I made it retsigmtr. Due to a credit card theft I had to change my user name and made it retsignalmtr. I use this name for everything I do online.

  • Member since
    February 2001
  • From: Wyoming, where men are men, and sheep are nervous!
  • 3,392 posts
Posted by Pruitt on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 10:36 AM

Last name

  • Member since
    October 2008
  • From: high desert so cal
  • 997 posts
Posted by BIG JERR on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 10:47 AM

nick name ,I have an enormous head ,both figurative and literally Smile, Wink & Grin...Jerry

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Users Online

There are no community member online

Search the Community

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Model Railroader Newsletter See all
Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter and get model railroad news in your inbox!