Nostalgia & History > Nicknames of RR employees

I recently found my old Bearcat handheld scanner (the really old type that used "crystals" you had to purchase) and I started to recall some of the conversations I heard on it over the years. Living in San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria, CA along SP's Coast Line I often heard crews call each other by nicknames: "Hey Tinkerbell!" "Is that you Plowboy? You got Jivey with ya today?", ect. The SP guys here on TO know who these guys are but it took me awhile to find out or to figure it out.

Finding that old scanner also reminded me of a great story told to me, by my UP hogger cousin in Nebraska, back in the early 1980's on one of my trips back there. Seems there was a particular brakeman who always stuffed his grip full of porno mags before each trip out of North Platte. His excuse was that the pictures helped keep him awake! At some point during the trip he would disappear into one of the rear units and then reappear after 15 minutes or so. My cousin swears he would look more "refreshed" upon his return to the lead unit. Naturally he aquired a nickname: "Rosie"...

If some of you don't get it I can't help you.


Allen

I knew a brakeman that got caught shoplifting some steaks from Krogers. After that he was known as T-bone.

a couple of old-head l.a. santa fe trainmen come to mind: one guy's initials were r.f.--he was known as "rat face."
another fellow's last name was "poore." as you might guess, he'd get referred to as "pi--" poore. 3rdswitch, do you remember these guys? eljay

Pi-- Poore is still working for BNSF out of Hobart.

Amtrak had "Voucher Boy," "Miss Piggy," "Boots," "Bags," and "Babs" in the senior management ranks.

Tuna worked out of LA.


Chris

We have a "Love Doctor", "Tea Bag", "Wingnut", "Uncle Fester", "Opie", "Arnzo", "Poopie Pants", and many more.

None of which are mine, BTW..... :-)

Soo Line Hoghead

It's funny how these threads "remind me of a story", but it really does. I will say I don't know who the hoghead is who has this nickname, but I'm sure a lot of people on here do. Quite a few years back, I was riding the Reno Fun Train with my wife. I was chatting with the Amtrak RFE who was riding as the "official" on the train. We were coming back from Reno, pretty much riding the blocks of the WB CZ. As we were holding out of Sacramento waiting for the CZ to finish its stop and leave, I thought it was taking quite a long time. The RFE happened by and I noted my observation to him. He said that it was taking a while as the hogger on the CZ had missed his chance on the green at the I Street bridge and had to wait for the DS to give him a new one. The RFE's comment to this? "There's a reason we call him buckethead."

DaveE

Have a friend from high school that is a conductor for NS in KC. She told me her fellow NS guys call her the "Switch _itch" or "B.O.B" for big old butt.

Neither one fits her as she is a very attractive redhead!

Regards
Q-GP30

There was an ATSF LA division conductor named Peaches, supposedly he had been out in the peach orchard in his early days and the name stuck. Also another named Tank because he was built like one. I heard a story about him, back when there were still cabooses, a train on Cajon had a broken knuckle, the rear brakeman had walked forward when the train went into emergency and found the broken knuckle. He radio'd his conductor to bring him a replacement. Tank on a passing train said he would drop one off his caboose instead. When Tank's caboose passed the brakeman's location Tank was on the back porch holding the knuckle out with one hand and he tried to hand it to the brakeman who wanted no part of catching a knuckle on the fly.

This tradition is also alive and well at some of the railroad museums.

In Portola, you'll find "Dynamite", "PopTart", "Bookie", "Heywood", and "Weasel" among others. There's even one guy who proudly goes by the nickname "The F**king Moron".

Z

Tom De La Rosa, now retired SP/ATK engineer of Coast Starlate fame, has been "the Rocket" for years. Believe it has to do with his penchant for speeding?? :-)
C.

On the Atchison LA Divn, a 6th Street YM was 'T-Bone', and a TM was 'Geronimo"...

Ok.. here are two old railroad nicknames...

This should stir up some conversation!

Who knows "Buttercup"

or "Parachute P***y" AKA "Peck**head Fred" (didn't want to make his name TOO obvious)

bradleymckay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I recently found my old Bearcat handheld scanner
> (the really old type that used "crystals" you had
> to purchase) and I started to recall some of the
> conversations I heard on it over the years.
> Living in San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria, CA
> along SP's Coast Line I often heard crews call
> each other by nicknames: "Hey Tinkerbell!" "Is
> that you Plowboy? You got Jivey with ya today?",
> ect. The SP guys here on TO know who these guys
> are but it took me awhile to find out or to figure
> it out.
>
> Finding that old scanner also reminded me of a
> great story told to me, by my UP hogger cousin in
> Nebraska, back in the early 1980's on one of my
> trips back there. Seems there was a particular
> brakeman who always stuffed his grip full of porno
> mags before each trip out of North Platte. His
> excuse was that the pictures helped keep him
> awake! At some point during the trip he would
> disappear into one of the rear units and then
> reappear after 15 minutes or so. My cousin swears
> he would look more "refreshed" upon his return to
> the lead unit. Naturally he aquired a nickname:
> "Rosie"...
>
> If some of you don't get it I can't help you.
>
>
> Allen


Let's see now...

Tinkerbell was Jay Bell.

Jivey was Jivey Jack (I can't remember his last name)

Plowboy? I have no clue..

JE

The name, Jay Bell, reminded me of a story that Mr. MRC told me when he (MRC) worked the the coast as the dispatcher with Jay Bell, Joe Bell, and Carol Bell, who were all AMTRAK engineers who were working the coast on the same day and, at the same time but on different trains.

MRC calls all three of them on the radio and says, "Jay, you'll be Tinkerbell and Joe, you'll be Big Bell, and Carol, you'll be Little Bell. Jay was on the northbound Starlite, Joe was on #774, and Carol was on #771. MRC tells me it was like this all day giving out blocks. I'd love to hear a tape of some of the conversations from this day.

So, when MRC had to talk to say, #774, he'd talk to engineer Big Bell and so forth.

Jay was a very good friend of mine. Mention John Denver to him and Jay would never shut up. He was one number behind me when we both were on the LA Division enginemen's seniority roster. He eventually went to AMTRAK to work and I went to Bakersfield to work. Later on, Jay moved to Bakersfield too.

When he got sick and passed away in August of 2000, it was like losing one of my brothers. Every time I think about the things he and I did together (like when we went to Portland in March 1989 to help the 4449 get ready for her long trip to LA and back) I get a little teary eyed and think the we won't be doing those types of things any more. He was a great guy and an excellent passenger engineer.

JE

I'm suprised some of the Indy Terminal folks haven't mentioned
the colorful characters working Avon/Hawthorne/Transfer yards
in Indianapolis.

While I worked there a short time, folks such as Fireball,
The Nutty Professor, and Iron Man (or the Iron Maiden) were
well known, but my favorite was "Cuz" (short for cousin).

An older gentleman, now retired, he'd been banned for life off
the road for some offense, and worked terminal jobs mostly
at night. His claim to fame was a slightly slurred, high voice
somewhat like Strother Martin's voice in "Cool Hand Luke".
("What we have here is a failure to communicate..")

Once, while talking to the terminal dispatcher, the dispatcher
replied in a similar, mocking voice, much to derision of those
who heard it, but "Cuz" lost his cool over that one.

I actually liked working with Mr. Cuz, although crusty at first,
he was helpful once I got to know him, usually as a conductor on
CSX Y331. I wish him well in his retirement.

A few of the nicknames on the shortline I work for:

Sideshow - looks like the Simpsons character
Turbo - always in a hurry
Big Dog or Super Dave - the conductor I usually work with
Baba Lou - guess who...
Hodgie Saldana - the guy liked this handle so much he got custom plates
Smurf or Switch Troll - because he looks the part

Since Roustabout commented, here's a few more from the P&W...

BOHICA: Bend Over Here It Comes Again (a certain trainmaster)

Screech: a female conductor known for very high-pitched radio transmissions

The Estrogen Express: a female tag team conductor & engineer

PW5.5: a suck-up engineer/trainmaster wannbe

Wrinkles: a local locomotive magnate who is now actually older than dirt

Conductor Peep: a guy whose first name is Bo


And here's a few favorites from the SP...

The Great One: a local but nationally-known steam hoghead known for his great ideas; also known as McPuff and God.

JayLight: Jay Bell, engineer

Panty Hose: P.H. Lynch, engineer

Here's a few from my work area:

An Engineer whose initials are L.N. = "Loose Nuts"
An Engineer whose name is Jay, known for taking a long time to get the work done = "Two-day Jay"
A Conductor with a reputation for being "a little out there" = "Moon-Beam"
An Engineer whose last name is Klock = "Cuckoo"
A Conductor whose initials are M.D. = "Mad Dog"
A (retired) Conductor who bore a striking resemblance to Gary Burghoff = "Radar"


How about some Dispatcher's initials?

DNH = "Do Not Hump"
KRT = "Kill 'R' Trains"
DJO = "DJ No"
MAH = "Mad As Hell"
TEH = "The Empty Head"
HLT = "Hot Little Tomato"
RBM = "Ruined By Management"
ADS = "Always Demanding Something"