Nicknames for specific engines or types of engine

[Harvester]

Also known as "Lawnmowers" by some enthusiasts. Presumably from the sound they make.

Strumbox
Strummer
Joe Strummer
Joseph
Sir Keith Joseph
Spoon

Or maybe something else?

I was thinking of the “something else”

 

[Benters]

I've heard the first-generation DMUs described as 'Fart Carts' - a name derived from the loud, rasping exhaust note of the engines, especially when accelerating hard from a standstill.

 

[D6130]

I was thinking of the “something else”

Do you mean 'Duff' by any chance?

 

[Gloster]

Bubble cars was one of the few that were used by railwaymen.

 

[Harvester]

Do you mean 'Duff' by any chance?

I was reluctant to use the word…but yes!

 

[E27007]

Class 24 locos without headcode boxes were known as "Skinhead Sulzers"

 

[xotGD]

141/142/143/144: Bouncy Castles or Nodding Donkeys

Also: Bendy-buses or just Bendy

 

[Richard Scott]

Do you mean 'Duff' by any chance?

With a 47/7 being a shove duff.
47/8s used to have a rude nickname, just combine twin and tank and you may get close!

 

[Ashley Hill]

Also Shredder for 33s and Brian’s for 31s after the snail on the Magic Roundabout.

 

[xotGD]

Air conditioned coaching stock referred to as Coffins.

Much better to travel in a set of Vacs (vacuum braked Mark 1s).

 

[Rescars]

In Scotland and the North of England the small 0-4-0 saddle tank locos used for shunting at collieries, docks, etc. were known as 'Pugs'....presumably because their squat, flat-faced appearance was similar to that of the eponymous breed of dog. In some parts of Scotland the name was also applied to any type of tank engine used for shunting in depots and yards.

Apparently the GSWR 4-6-4 express Baltic tanks were known as "Big Pugs".

Have we had "Big Bertha", the Lickey banker noted in this thread yet?

 

[D6130]

IIRC, the ex-LNER V2 class 2-6-2 mixed traffic locos were nicknamed 'Green Arrows' after the first of the class.

....and the ex-LMS 'Patriot' class 4-6-0s were called 'Baby Scots'.

 

[Harvester]

IIRC, the ex-LNER V2 class 2-6-2 mixed traffic locos were nicknamed 'Green Arrows' after the first of the class.

Wasn’t this the ‘official name‘ given to the class by the LNER after 4471 had been named, rather than a nickname! When I was a lad we always called them V2s.

 

[52290]

IIRC, the ex-LNER V2 class 2-6-2 mixed traffic locos were nicknamed 'Green Arrows' after the first of the class.

....and the ex-LMS 'Patriot' class 4-6-0s were called 'Baby Scots'.

Amongst the trainspotting community Patriots were called Pats, at least in the North West. Jubilees were called Jubs, to rhyme with pubs. I remember a visiting spotter from down south who called them Joobs, to rhyme with boobs
How we all laughed.

 

[m79900]

The mk3 DVTs were ‘Skoda estates’ as they looked like the 90s but with a blunt back.

 

[Enthusiast]

Has anybody mentioned Class 14 diesels -the "Teddy Bears"?

I don't believe any survived to take a TOPS number and they were D95xx

 

[Dr_Paul]

Black Motors -- ex-LSWR class 700 0-6-0 freight locos.

That's one of the more puzzling names, because nobody seems to know why they were called that.

 

[D6975]

03​	Noddy
08​	Gronk
09​	Gronk
13​	Master and Slave
14​	Teddy Bear
20​	Chopper/Bomb/Wardrobe
23​	Baby Deltic
24​	Skinhead Sulzer (non-headcode)
25​	Rat/Spinner
26​	McRat
27​	McRat/Fire Engine
28​	CoBo
31​	Goyle/Pedal Car/Gary
33/0​	Crompton/Shredder
33/1​	Bagpipes
33/2​	Slim Jim
35​	Hymek
37​	Tractor/Siphon/Growler
40​	Whistler/Big D/Bucket
41​	Warship
42​	Warship
43​	Warship
43​	Zing/Tram
44​	Peak/Wagon
45​	Peak/Wagon
46​	Peak/Wagon
47​	Spoon/Duff
50​	Hoover/DubDub/Fifty-Fifty
52​	Western/Whizzo
55​	Deltic/Speedboat
56​	Grid
57​	Bodysnatcher
58​	Bone/Eggtimer
59​	Spaceship
60​	Scud/Doughnut/Tug
66​	Shed/Fred/Bluebird
67​	Skip
68​	Cat
70​	Ugly
76​	Tommy
77​	?
81​	Roarer
82​	Roarer
83​	Roarer
84​	Roarer
85​	Roarer
86​	Spark Plug
87​	Seven
88​	?
89​	Anteater
90​	Skoda
91​	Lada

 

[Western Sunset]

Westerns were also known as Thousands.

 

[m79900]

70s are 'Bone mk2s' aswell, and 73s are shoeboxes.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I also understand the electro-diesels were known as :-
71 Little Edwards
73 Edwards
74 Big Edwards

Also
09 Super Gronk
13 Mega Gronk
22 Baby Warship

 

[Richard Scott]

Mate of mine used to refer to 40s as TATS, came from D number series, Two And Three hundreds.

 

[D6130]

IIRC, there was a batch of South Eastern & Chatham Railway L class 4-4-0s built in the early 1920s by Borsig in Berlin. Unsurprisingly, they soon gained the nickname 'Germans'. Somewhere in my collection I have a facsimile edition of the original 1942 Ian Allan ABC of Southern Railway Locomotives and ISTR that it has a table giving the nicknames of all the classes of locomotive listed therein.

The original class 70s - the Southern Railway Co-Co third rail electric locos 20001-3 - were known by traincrews as 'Hornbys'....because the whirring sound made by their flywheel-operated booster generators sounded like the spring on a clockwork model winding down.

 

[Cowley]

Thread reopened for @Trackman to ask a question

 

[Strathclyder]

Not to hijack or detract from @Trackman's question in any way, this is more to add to @D6975's excellent list in post #78 with the loco classes that have hit the rails in the few years since this thread was created, plus a few other nicknames for established classes that I've either seen used or come up with myself lol

Class 69s: Frankengrid. Have seen this name for them a couple times online. Fitting and it rolls off the tounge quite a bit better than Bodysnatcher Mk2 I think.

Class 99s: Flake. Obviously a nod to the ice-cream cone and not a jab at their reliabilty as they've not entered revenue-earning freight traffic yet lol

Class 88: Supercat perhaps would a good one, in reference of their dual-power nature, having a CAT engine installed, their resemblance to the 68s and laying the groundwork for the 93s & 99s. Lucky-8s or Double 8s would be good fits too I suppose.

Class 93: Tri-angle, obviously in reference to them being tri-modes. Not the most inspired name ever, but this sort of thing has never been my strong suit lol

Class 57: Zombie; have seen this being used a few times for these (I think mainly referring to the original Freightliner 57/0 rebuilds as they still can largely pass for 47s when viewed from the front unlike the later /3s & /6s), but has definitely been overshadowed by Bodysnatcher. Both nicknames refer to the same thing of course.

Class 59: Super-Shed, referring to their resemblance to the far more numerous 66s and having higher HP and tractive effort figures than a bog-standard 66.

 

[Trackman]

I watched a video refer to a class 33's as an 'upturned bathtub'. Never heard that before , after some googling, it seems others refer to the class 33 this way.
Has anyone else heard them referred to as upturned bathtubs?

 

[70014IronDuke]

This was certainly true in diesel days too. 45s were known as Cromptons to railwaymen (particularly linked with Saltley depot, I believe) but say Crompton to most rail enthusiasts and they'll tell you it's a 33!

And Toton, for sure. I can't remember, but I think the 44s were also bundled in with the 45s. Nobody ever referred to them as 'Peaks'.

 

[Gloster]

I watched a video refer to a class 33's as an 'upturned bathtub'. Never heard that before , after some googling, it seems others refer to the class 33 this way.
Has anyone else heard them referred to as upturned bathtubs?

Never. And I was brought up and started work on the Southern, and went on to work on parts of the Western where they were common.

 

[marsker]

I remember from talking to loco crew during my spotting days at Newcastle in the mid 1960s, that different depots had different names for various locos:
Gateshead men used the name "Brush" for a (what became) Class 46, whereas London men used that name for a Class 47, which to Gateshead men was a Hawker Siddley.
Other names I remember from them were: 2000 for an EE Type 4 and Crompson Parkinson for what became a Class 45.

 

[billh]

Going back to 1960ish: Class 76 were BoBos never Tommys, 77 were CoCos. The early built 40s and 44s that were around were both called MLDs (Main Line Diesels) with no differentiation between the two. in those days we didn't see any other diesel classes , largely still a steam area.