British Trainspotting Slang
Created | Updated Oct 20, 2010
Railway enthusiasts have taken the art form of slang to heights (or depths) unknown in other areas of society.
Being a bit of a covert railway enthusiast myself I have managed to gather a few examples of this surreal and incomprehsible (to outsiders) language. <BR/>
<P>
<B>Several Gems include</B>
<DL>
<DT>'Spoon'<DD>Presuambly refers to a Brush Type 4 (Class 47) for seemingly no apparent reason - previously 'Duff'
<DT>'Syphon'<DD>Refers to a class 37 loco presuably due to the sound of it's air cooling equipment for it's diesel engine.
<DT>'Slug'<DD>Has recently supplanted 'Syphon' as trhe name for a class 37. Quite why I bave no idea.
<DT>'Gronk'<DD>Probably some sort of noise that a class 08 shunter makes. Hence the nickname.
<DT>'Rat'<DD>Given to the former class 25 freight locos as they were small and there was that many of them. 327 to be accurate. (now retired)
<DT>'McRat'<DD>Scottish equivalents of the Class 25 - Classes 26 and 27, now retired.
<DT>'Crompton'<DD>Given to the Class 33 presumably by a Traction Engineer as they use Crompton Parkinson electrical equipment.
<DT>'Bog Unit'<DD>General term for the elder Diesel Multiple Units as their general demeanor, appearance and standard of maintenance (especially in the 70s) reminded someone of a toilet. Or maybe it was as there was so many of them.
</DL>
<P>
Steam engines are dismissed by some Modern Traction fans as 'Kettles'
<P>
Those who habitually try and traverse every part of the Railway system by bizzarre and often aincient (or preserved) locomotives are the 'bashing' fraternity.
<P>
What can I conclude from this? Trainspotting nicknames are a form of surrealist artistic expression, which in the more original cases shows real genius. But, it also shows how, like in many religions, codewords and secret phrases known only to the initiated that a group of people who share a common interest, as in Freemasonry.
Being a bit of a covert railway enthusiast myself I have managed to gather a few examples of this surreal and incomprehsible (to outsiders) language. <BR/>
<P>
<B>Several Gems include</B>
<DL>
<DT>'Spoon'<DD>Presuambly refers to a Brush Type 4 (Class 47) for seemingly no apparent reason - previously 'Duff'
<DT>'Syphon'<DD>Refers to a class 37 loco presuably due to the sound of it's air cooling equipment for it's diesel engine.
<DT>'Slug'<DD>Has recently supplanted 'Syphon' as trhe name for a class 37. Quite why I bave no idea.
<DT>'Gronk'<DD>Probably some sort of noise that a class 08 shunter makes. Hence the nickname.
<DT>'Rat'<DD>Given to the former class 25 freight locos as they were small and there was that many of them. 327 to be accurate. (now retired)
<DT>'McRat'<DD>Scottish equivalents of the Class 25 - Classes 26 and 27, now retired.
<DT>'Crompton'<DD>Given to the Class 33 presumably by a Traction Engineer as they use Crompton Parkinson electrical equipment.
<DT>'Bog Unit'<DD>General term for the elder Diesel Multiple Units as their general demeanor, appearance and standard of maintenance (especially in the 70s) reminded someone of a toilet. Or maybe it was as there was so many of them.
</DL>
<P>
Steam engines are dismissed by some Modern Traction fans as 'Kettles'
<P>
Those who habitually try and traverse every part of the Railway system by bizzarre and often aincient (or preserved) locomotives are the 'bashing' fraternity.
<P>
What can I conclude from this? Trainspotting nicknames are a form of surrealist artistic expression, which in the more original cases shows real genius. But, it also shows how, like in many religions, codewords and secret phrases known only to the initiated that a group of people who share a common interest, as in Freemasonry.
