On the Burlington, a Dinky was a dispatchers name for a commuter train. It comes from the fact that a commuter was a "Dinky" train on the triple track main as compared to a freight that was longer. I
we had one through Litchfield that was an engine, mail and passenger all in one car I am sure several others will jump in on this. Tom Koch Director of National Accounts ADTRAN, Inc. Toll Free: (877)
On the Northwestern (UP) they are called Scoots... I believe that term also is used on the Milwaukee Road... (Metra) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I remember the term "Dinky" being attributed to the special 0-6-2 Tank engines built for commuter service. They were small engines (without tenders) and the name applied to them got generalized to al
Greetings list: Noted several comments along the lines of: << "Dinky" was/is a Suburban Train. >> Ogle County 100 miles west of Chicago still isn't very surburban and was even less so in the older da
Interestingly, the same was true for the Chicago & Northwestern. A 99 year old friend of mine grew up in Clinton, Iowa and for a while his dad worked for the Northwestern in Fulton across the river.
Everybody, railroader and nonrailroader alike, called the Passenger Motor Car assigned to trains 11 & 12, in southern Illinois, the "Dinky". That term was also used for the tank engines, (and later 4
I know the PRR commuter to Valparaiso was the "Dummy" Ran twice a day each way. Inbound in the morning, outbound in the evening. Rich (who will model dinkies, plugs and dummies) [Non-text portions of
Rich, That is what I intended on saying but the geography of the State of Indiana somehow escaped me at the moment. Should have called Dan Quayle, he knows at lot of stuff about almost everything. VL
<< That is what I intended on saying but the geography of the State of Indiana somehow escaped me at the moment. >> Russ, I think the PRR did have some train that went to Logansport as well. Going to
Russ, You are correct. I talked to a SPF this afternoon, he said the Logansport run was called the "Dummy". I remember the term Dinky from when I was a youngster back in the 1960's Loren [Non-text po
Confirming Brad's comment re Rock Island suburban trains...They were indeed called dummies. However this was a railroad term and would probably not have been used by the "traveling public". Also as a
As the Burlington did Metra still continues to place the "time signs" on the rear of the Dinkies. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]