Yard Names

[CSXrules4eva]

This is something I don't understand to much. How did Bailey Yard get it's name considering it's up and over (for me) in North Platte?? I would of just called it NP or something, however, now days people don't really refer to Bailey Yard as Bailey Yard, it's North Platte. Sometimes, the railroad likes to confuse people, instead of making things plain and simple. lol

[Anonymous]

Lots of the names along the RR right-of-way were at one time small towns, albeit, the towns were most likely there because of the RR in the first place.

Lots of times they had a Brass Pounder and perhaps a small station, and now there's nothing more than a Station Name Sign.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Clearing got its name based on its original purpose. When it was originally proposed by A. B. Stickney, he intended it to be a great clearinghouse for all railroad cars passing through Chicago. It didn't quite work out that way but the name stuck and also came to refer to the neighborhood north of the yard and west of Chicago Municipal Airport. The September and October 1966 issues of TRAINS have a good two-part article about the BRC which include a lot of interesting background about Clearing Yard and the BRC.

[nanaimo73]

October 1986 Trains, page 31-
Railroaders almost never refer to Milwaukee's St. Paul Yard by its proper name. To them, it's simply Pig's Eye, the original name for that area of present-day St. Paul. According to legend, the first settler, a French Canadian bootlegger named Pigs Eye Parrant, settled by the lake adjacent to today"s railroad yard, and both the lake and the community which grew up there became known as Pig's Eye.

[DPD1]

All the points along a line can have very interesting and historic names. It seems to be a fairly informal thing when they do the naming, except for the ones named after RR officers. The best part is they seem reluctant to change them, so the RoW becomes a kind of time capsule. There was a spot on the EJ&E in Chicago named Electric Jct. I've talked with crew guys that didn't even know what it meant. But there was actually an electric interurban line there in the old days. Some points were also named after old businesses that were served at a given location, which are long gone.

Dave
-DPD Productions - Featuring the NEW TrainTenna LP Gain RR Scanner Antenna-
http://eje.railfan.net/dpdp/

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine in the Twin Cities tells me that St. Paul was originally named (you guessed it!) Pig's Eye!

Many other yards are named after various RR officials.

[Murphy Siding]

As I read a lot of train info, the names of different train yards are mentioned. Some names make sense,like when the yard and the town have the same name. So far,so good. But where do some of these names come from? For example, Pig's Eye Yard, in I believe St. Paul.Minn.? How about some others?