When is a train not a train?

[The Gauge]

A mate who is a train fan recently told me that a train is only a train when you have an engine/loco hooked up to coaches. When not connected together you have an engine, and you have coaches, being two separate things.

I have always referred to an engine/loco as a train, even if it isn't hooked up to any carriages/coaches.

He also told me that carriages aren't really a word in the train fan community, they are called coaches.

Is this correct?

[ChocolateFrog]

Sounds like nth level pedantry.

They're all trains to me and we call the passenger carriages 'saloons' but most of them have engines too.

DMU's or EMU's for the nerds.

[Simpo Two]

Every subject has its own vocabulary, I wouldn't worry about it. A friend of mine is a railway anorak; in a car he insists on calling slip roads 'turn-outs' and a speed limit is a 'slack'. Was irritating at first but I've got used to it.

[droopsnoot]

I'd agree that a loco on it's own is a loco or engine, but it's not a train, it only becomes one when it has carriages or wagons (or both) attached to it. I don't know whether carriage or coach is correct. I think it's not worth getting upset about terminology, especially when used by people who aren't "into" a particular subject - I've even managed to stop getting upset when people say "train station".

[MarkwG]

A "train" is a procession, a "train" of camels, for example; hence a train running on tracks is a series of carriages, pulled by a locomotive - that's how I was brought up to think of it (Grand parents generation were very enthusiastic about it)

[Master Bean]

Is it a train station or railway station?

[Simpo Two]

Master Bean said:

Is it a train station or railway station?

How about - a station on the railway for a train?

[MitchT]

Train enthusiasts have a meltdown if you say "train station", insisting that it's a railway station. So, should we refer to a bus station as a "road station" instead?

[rix]

But yet a single car DMU is still considered a 'train' - I'm honestly not a train nerd!

E.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_1...

[borcy]

What's wrong with calling it a train station, seems normal since we have bus stations.

[williamp]

Simpo Two said:

Every subject has its own vocabulary, I wouldn't worry about it. A friend of mine is a railway anorak; in a car he insists on calling slip roads 'turn-outs' and a speed limit is a 'slack'. Was irritating at first but I've got used to it.

This. How many of us get upset when a car manufacturer release a 4 door with a sloping rear roof and call it a Coupe. Most normal people wont care. Or even realise...

Me? I'll always call it out... A Coupe is 2 doors. But not, of course a 2 door saloon or 2 door hatch. Those are different..

[Rick101]

So what's a rake of 5 engines?

What if you're in Scotland?

[Alex Z]

williamp said:

Simpo Two said:

Every subject has its own vocabulary, I wouldn't worry about it. A friend of mine is a railway anorak; in a car he insists on calling slip roads 'turn-outs' and a speed limit is a 'slack'. Was irritating at first but I've got used to it.

This. How many of us get upset when a car manufacturer release a 4 door with a sloping rear roof and call it a Coupe. Most normal people wont care. Or even realise...

Me? I'll always call it out... A Coupe is 2 doors. But not, of course a 2 door saloon or 2 door hatch. Those are different..

Lots of people think the two door thing is far from conclusive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coupe

And like all of these bits of pedantry over wording it doesn’t really matter as they have no legal status and the meaning is commonly understood. The only one where I do think it’s right to correct people is the use of Moped for all Scooters.

[wolfracesonic]

borcy said:

What's wrong with calling it a train station, seems normal since we have bus stations.

…and why not plane station?

[Simpo Two]

williamp said:

How many of us get upset when a car manufacturer release a 4 door with a sloping rear roof and call it a Coupe. Most normal people wont care. Or even realise...

Me? I'll always call it out... A Coupe is 2 doors. But not, of course a 2 door saloon or 2 door hatch. Those are different..

How about 'Fastback'? We hired a Peugeot 408 recently and they all seem to be 'fastbacks'. All I know is that they're hatchbacks.

wolfracesonic said:

borcy said:

What's wrong with calling it a train station, seems normal since we have bus stations.

…and why not plane station?

Perhaps air 'port' came about because aeroplanes were an alternative to ships for travel between countries.

Airport
Train port
Bus port
Car port...?
USB port...

[MarkwG]

Simpo Two said:

williamp said:

How many of us get upset when a car manufacturer release a 4 door with a sloping rear roof and call it a Coupe. Most normal people wont care. Or even realise...

Me? I'll always call it out... A Coupe is 2 doors. But not, of course a 2 door saloon or 2 door hatch. Those are different..

How about 'Fastback'? We hired a Peugeot 408 recently and they all seem to be 'fastbacks'. All I know is that they're hatchbacks.

wolfracesonic said:

borcy said:

What's wrong with calling it a train station, seems normal since we have bus stations.

…and why not plane station?

Perhaps air 'port' came about because aeroplanes were an alternative to ships for travel between countries.

Airport
Train port
Bus port
Car port...?
USB port...

The first Fastback I recall was the VW 411 two door coupe, but the term goes back to Auburn in the '20s apparently.

A lot of aviation terms originated in the maritme world. A lot of those were borrowed from other languages anyway - "porte", french for door, door into/out of the country, I imagine.

[williamp]

MarkwG said:

Simpo Two said:

williamp said:

How many of us get upset when a car manufacturer release a 4 door with a sloping rear roof and call it a Coupe. Most normal people wont care. Or even realise...

Me? I'll always call it out... A Coupe is 2 doors. But not, of course a 2 door saloon or 2 door hatch. Those are different..

How about 'Fastback'? We hired a Peugeot 408 recently and they all seem to be 'fastbacks'. All I know is that they're hatchbacks.

wolfracesonic said:

borcy said:

What's wrong with calling it a train station, seems normal since we have bus stations.

…and why not plane station?

Perhaps air 'port' came about because aeroplanes were an alternative to ships for travel between countries.

Airport
Train port
Bus port
Car port...?
USB port...

The first Fastback I recall was the VW 411 two door coupe, but the term goes back to Auburn in the '20s apparently.

A lot of aviation terms originated in the maritme world. A lot of those were borrowed from other languages anyway - "porte", french for door, door into/out of the country, I imagine.

Hence portaloo ...

[Agent57]

borcy said:

What's wrong with calling it a train station, seems normal since we have bus stations.

It's normally called a railway station because it has permanent rails. It only temporarily has trains stopping, some trains don't even do that and just pass through.

[Simpo Two]

williamp said:

Hence portaloo ...

Or in the case of the French, Waterloo...

On ports, there are also spaceports. You need one to get to the space stations

[vikingaero]

Jasey_ said:

Agent57 said:

borcy said:

What's wrong with calling it a train station, seems normal since we have bus stations.

It's normally called a railway station because it has permanent rails. It only temporarily has trains stopping, some trains don't even do that and just pass through.

If a train passes through a station without stopping does the station have a temporary name as railway station means trains need to stop at it to be a station.

Some stations are request stops so if no-one asks the train doesn't stop there.