Re: [CBQ] Palace Stock cars....old railroad terminology

["John D. Mitchell, Jr." <cbqrr47@yahoo.com>]

On the MOP, all engines from 1 to 99 were called spot engines. Indeed, the class was called the "spot class" (actually the class went up to 127). They were classy looking, little consolidations and were the last steam road power, on the MOP, in 1955. The "69 spot" is shown on page 20 of BB 35. The "9 spot" was the first engine I was ever on, at about the age of five! At the time, I thought it was a huge engine. It was only later that, I found out how tiny they were!

--- On Fri, 12/14/12, Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com <Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com> wrote:

From: Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com <Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com>
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Palace Stock cars....old railroad terminology
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, December 14, 2012, 12:26 PM

 

John et al

 

Here is another "distinctive" that has never been adequately explained..(at least to me)...It's the matter of referring to an engine as the   1 SPOT   5 SPOT etc...On the RPL&N our second locomotive...(Baldwin saddle tank class of 1913) was always referred to as 2 SPOT...I've also seen this terminology used in old RAILROAD MAGAZINE stories written by REAL RAILROADERS...Was the term maybe used for single digit numbers to designate that "that's all the number there was".   I never heard the term used to refer to any double or more series of numbers  ie   2793 SPOT.

 

I ready to listen

 

Pete

-----Original Message-----
From: John D. Mitchell, Jr. <cbqrr47@yahoo.com>
To: CBQ <CBQ@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Fri, Dec 14, 2012 10:34 am
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Palace Stock cars....old railroad terminology

 

Pete

To all cocerned:

As a boy, I learned that old railroad language, hanging around the depot. I still use it today and every once in awhile, I'll have someone say, "Why did say it THAT way?". I guess I drove my secretaries nuts! Also, I learned to group digits in twos. You know 2814 becomes "twenty eight fourteen", not two thousand eight hundred fourteen.
Regards,

John
--- On Fri, 12/14/12, Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com <Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com> wrote:

From: Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com <Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com>
Subject: [CBQ] Palace Stock cars....old railroad terminology
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, December 14, 2012, 10:20 AM

 

  While having little or no interest in the stock car matter, per se, I'm always interested in noting the now archaic, but then common railroad teminology

 

Example:...PLEASE. do such and such....REFERRING TO YOURS OF  1234 INST.   KINDLY do thus and so...ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT.

 

Some day when my round tuit arrives I'm going to do a dissertation on RAILROAD CORRESPONDENCE....

 

When the latest and last "management" came to the Rock Island there was a, shall we say, threat, to get rid of this old language..It seemed that it was almost worth your job if you didn't.  Seems like incorrect terminolgy was responsible for most of, if not all of, Rock Island past failures.

 

Examples..You were not to use your initials for your first  name...Talk about a heresy!!!!!   You were not to begin a sentence with the letter I...Your corespondence was to be "You centered"...One of my old bosses, trying to comply with this directive would write..."AM going to do thus and so"...Thus complying with the letter of, but not the "spirit of" the directive.

 

Al Holck and I had a conversation some years ago regarding the matter of...."PROTECTING a job"...ie...Mr. so and so PROTECT third trick at Langdon effective....date.

 

If anyone would like to participate in gathering such terms I'd be glad to receive your input off list. 

 

Pete

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