Why do the brits call

[ta152h0]

Why do the brits call switches " points ? and rolling stock is called " wagons ' ? and cars are called " carriages " ?

[prebres]

Why do they call elevators lifts? Or the bathroom the loo? Who knows why they do the things they do. Just kidding

Dialect is influenced by environment and history. I grew up in Ohio where we called Pepsi, Coke, Mt. Dew, etc "pop". When I moved to San Diego, Ca I had to start calling it soda.

Whatever you do, just don't ask them about haggis. Trust me.

[john tricarico]

keep in mind the british were pionerers
in railroading

carriages from horse and carriage
wagons from wagons that pulled frieight by horses

as far as the bathroom goes  loo     not sure

but sir thomas crapper invented the flushing overhead pull
pull chain toilet

thus we have the crapper or craphouse

now can we get back to railroading

good luck  john t  brooklyn ny

[Woody Elmore]

According to Lloyd and Mitchinson in their book, "the Book of General Ignorance" Crapper invented and patented the ballcock and held a royal Warrant to install them in the various royal palaces. There were toilets in use in China 2000 years ago. He just improved upon the idea.

As for British usage: what we call trucks they call lorries. And we spell "labor" differently; it is labour in British spelling. Their cars have windscreens and bonnets and luggage goes into the boot. How heavy is the car? Find its KERB weight. (We use curb for that.)

Listen - they have first claim on the language and railway terminology. Some of the earliest American railroads used locomotives made in England. The English were first with railroads and they have developed their own nomenclature. Hip, hip and Cheerio! (I'd love a pint of bitter right now!)

[john tricarico]

thank you for that update woody

also lets not forget
british and euro trains are driven on the left side
ours on the right side
there autos are right side drive
ours on the left side

not to mention they lost the greatest parcel of land
on earth when they finally left brooklyn in 1776

all kidding aside  not to mention there great contributions
to literature and the movie industry

and the railways  has they call it

good luck  john t   brooklyn ny

p.s. going to read my 2008 bachmann catalog
and harry potter

[Dr EMD]

This really a HO trend?

BTW The spare tyre is in the boot.

[ta152h0]

Comes in handy to know this stuff when you buy rolling stock on ebay and you have to figure out what all this means.

[rogertra]

not to mention they lost the greatest parcel of land
on earth when they finally left brooklyn in 1776

The greatest parcel of land on Earth is the country to your North.

We are not only bigger, the second largest country in the world, but we are also the best.  :-)

[Ozzie21]

In modern times locos are left hand drive but prior to the modernisation plan of 1950 the locos of the big four, LMS,LNER, SR and GWR were driven right, left, left and right. The BR transport commision decided on left hand drive in 1949 when they displayed  the cab mockup ofnumber 70000 "Britannia" . This was little strange as the CME of BR, R.A.Riddles, was an LMS man and their locos were right hand drive. Points are easy  as it just comes from the point rails which 'point' the loco to the right track. Other differences are vacum brakes as opposed to air brakes though two companys LNER and SR used air brakes. The LMS inheritated many air braked locos in the almagamation of 1923. Where sleepers(ties),  or fishplates ( jointbars) came from I don't know. Another unknown may be the use of buckeye couplers on express coaching stock . This was used on at least three of the big four, LMS,LNER and Southern and was adopted by BR though much local coaching stock still used screw couplers.


Charles Emerson
Queensland
Australia

thank you for that update woody

also lets not forget
british and euro trains are driven on the left side
ours on the right side
there autos are right side drive
ours on the left side

not to mention they lost the greatest parcel of land
on earth when they finally left brooklyn in 1776

all kidding aside  not to mention there great contributions
to literature and the movie industry

and the railways  has they call it

good luck  john t   brooklyn ny

p.s. going to read my 2008 bachmann catalog
and harry potter

[rogertra]

"Sleeper" is an old term for any timber laying on a surface to support anything placed upon it.

"Fish Plate".  Is simply derived from the the word "Fish".   To  "Fish" something is to use it as a splint.  You "fish" a mast or a yard arm that has broken by strapping another yard to the broken yard or mast.

[rogertra]

Remember.

The Brits invented the "modern" railway, therefore, whatever thay call something is the "correct" name, all other names for the same things are mearly words created by other nations who don't like to use any British terms.

Not mentioning any names here but you know who you are.

[ebtnut]

And when you're looking for that spare tyre in the boot at night, you use a torch.

[r.cprmier]

Some years ago, I bought a Jaguar XJS, and got a chuckle whilst reading the manual.  Yep; tyre, bonnet, boot are real Brit terms.  I love my little kitty car-with its twelve-cyl engine and all.  Some what of a chick magnet too.  That is good, because I am not anymore...
However, the Brits do not have the market cornered on spelling; the Canadians do...(ha ha).

[SteamGene]

I'll never forget taking my brand new MG-B's  top down for the first time with the warning to "not bend the rear quarter light."  And many an American GI got in trouble during WWII when and English girl told him to "Come knock me up some time." 
BTW, one can find some strange terms in the U.S.  Wisconsin has "stop and go lights" and "bubblers" while New England has "round abouts." 
Gene

[Woody Elmore]

Wasn't it George Bernard Shaw who said that America and England were two countries separated by a common language?

I often went to college in a friend's Jaguar XKE. It was a great car but had a lot of down time - wire wheels were a pain and the 6 carburetors were a challenge during a tune up. One British item that we were spared over here were gauges and switches made by Lucas!

My buddy liked to show off and go on road rallies. Once he took a girl along as his navigator. She wasn't good at reading the rally directions and my buddy wound up driving over a rock, tearing open the sump (oil pan) and loosing something like 12 quarts of oil. He wasn't happy!