Railroad nicknames

The initials used to identify railroad and railway lines have often been used for humorous, disparaging or slanderous names. In a related category, portmanteaus, such as Amtrak, have also been lampooned.

Railroad	Locale	Common abbreviation	Nickname(s)
Amtrak	United States	AMTK	Amcrash Amtrash Damntrash Amlate
Ashley, Drew and Northern Railway	Southern United States	AD&N	All Day and Night
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad	Eastern and midwestern United States	B&O	Beets and Onions
BNSF Railway	Western United States	BNSF	Buy Now, Sell Fast Bye Now, Santa Fe Big New Santa Fe Big Nothing So Far Better Not Shit (on the) Frisco Big Nasty Santa Fe Been Nothing Since Frisco Buy Norfolk Southern First
Boston and Maine Railroad	Northeastern United States	B&M	Beaten and Mismanaged Bruised and Mangled
Burlington Northern Railway	Northern United States	BN	Big Nothing
Canadian National Railway	Canada and Midwest United States	CN	Cooked Noodles Canned Newbies
Canadian Pacific Railway	Canada	CP	Can't Play
Chicago and North Western Railway	Midwest United States	C&NW	Cheap and Nothing Wasted
Chicago Great Western Railroad	Midwest United States	CGW	Great Weedy
Copper River and Northwestern Railway	Alaska, United States	CR&NW	Can't Run and Never Will
CSX Transportation	Eastern United States	CSX	Chicken Shit Xpress Crash Spill Xplode Cash Strapped Xpress Can't See Xtras Cat Shit Xpress
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad	Western United States	DRGW	Dirty Rag & Greasy Wipe
Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad	Michigan and Ohio	DT&I	Darn Trainees & Idiots
Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway	Midwestern United States	EJ&E	Egypt, Jerusalem & Elsewhere Easy Jobs for Everyone
Erie Lackawanna Railway	Eastern United States	EL	Erie Lack-o-Money
Gateway Western Railway	Missouri and Illinois	GWWR	Great Wobbly Wobbly The Wobbly
Guilford Rail System	Northeastern United States	GRS	Guilford Fail System Guilty Rail System
Kansas City Southern Railroad	Midwestern and Southern United States	KCS	The Haywire
London and Port Stanley Railway	Ontario, Canada	L&PS	Liver and Pork Steak
Long Island Railroad	New York City	LIRR	The Liar's Route
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority	New England	MBTA	Mucho Bad Transit Attitude
Missouri Pacific Railroad	Western United States	MP	The Mop MoPac
Montana Rail Link	Western United States	MRL	Monkeys Running Loose
Norfolk Southern Railway	Eastern United States	NS	Nazi Southern New Southern No Sense Railway
New York, Ontario and Western Railway	New England, United States	O&W	Old and Weary the Old Woman
Penn Central Railroad	Northeastern United States	PC	Plucked Clean
Peoria and Pekin Union Railroad	Illinois, United States	P&PU	Pee and Poo
Pontiac Pacific Junction Railway	Quebec, Canada	PP&J	Push, Pull and Jerk
St. Louis-San Francisco Railway	Midwestern and Southern United States	SLSF	The Frisco
Seaboard System Railroad	Eastern United States	SBD	Slowly Breaking Down
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority	Eastern United States	SEPTA	Society for the Elimination of Public Transit Altogether
Southern Pacific Railroad	Southwest United States	SP	Sour Pete Stinky Pete Espee
Southern Pacific Santa Fe Railroad	Southwest United States (proposed)	SPSF	Shouldn't Paint So Fast
Springfield Terminal Railway	Northeastern United States	ST	Slow Trains Shitty Trackage Stupid Trainees
Staten Island Rapid Transit	Eastern United States	SIRT	Shall I Run Today?
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum	Chattanooga, TN	TVRM	That Volunteer's Really Mad
Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway	Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada	TH&B	Tramps Hobos & Bums To Hell & Back
Union Pacific Railroad	Western United States	UP	Under Powered Unlimited Parking Uncle Pete Union Pissant Union Pathetic Ungodly Pleased Onion Pacific
Western Pacific Railroad	Western United States	WP	(The) Wobbly Willing People Wild Pete
White Pass and Yukon Route	Alaska, Yukon and British Columbia	WP&YR	Wait Patiently, and You'll Ride

See also

• Rail terminology