UNUSUAL OR WEIRD TOWN NAMES FOR A LAYOUT

Carl Sowell Oct 9, 2015

  1. GP30

    GP30 TrainBoard Member

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    TwinDad is right about odd names in WV.

    Left Hand, WV
    Odd, WV
    Rig, WV
    Speed, WV
    Hundred, WV
    Volcano, WV
    Petroleum, WV (one of the first oil wells in the USA was located near there)
    Natrium, WV (large Bayer chemical plant there)

    A friend of mine built a layout over his washing machine, of course the water supply pipes were an obstacle. He sceniked around the pipes and named that area "Pipe Falls"

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  2. Kenneth L. Anthony

    Kenneth L. Anthony TrainBoard Member

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    I saw identical posts this morning by two different people on two different Facebook railroad Texas groups:
    town originally RAGTOP, Texas on the Quanah, Acme and Pacific RR.
    renamed ROARING SPRINGS.

    Incidentally, town of QUANAH, Texas, named for Comanche chief Quanah Parker, mixed-blood son of kidnapped white woman Cynthia Ann Parker and war chief Peta Nocona.
    But don't stop there. There is a town of NOCONA, Texas named for Peta Nocona at the suggestion of a Texas Ranger who admired the Comanche. Town was birthplace of Nocona Boots. Nocona has become a subsidiary of Justin Boots.
     
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  3. Kenneth L. Anthony

    Kenneth L. Anthony TrainBoard Member

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    Sometimes model railroaders named towns after family members, and some critics bemoan these names as unrealistic. But as another thread is titled, "There's a prototype for it."
    The New York, Texas and Mexican Railroad (which built in South Texas but never touched New York or Mexico) wanted to run tracks across the land of rancher Shanghai Pierce. Pierce agreed, provided the railroad built stations and named them for his three daughters. So there are three towns along the line (and present highway US59) named:
    EDNA
    LOUISE and
    INEZ.

    This gave rise to the following limerick, which I think came from columnist/humorist Leon Hale, printed at least once with a map as an explanation:

    A young lad, Houston-bound from Laredo,
    Bedded down for the night in Ganado.
    He slept, if you please,
    Between Edna and Louise,
    And thought he was in "El Dorado."

    GANADO is a town between Edna and Louise. "Ganado" means "cattle" in Spanish. Big loading point once.
    EL TORO ("the bull") is just southwest of Edna.
    One town on the line was named for the rancher himself, PIERCE.

    Shanghai had a lot of interest in another town toward which a branch line was being built. When the long-awaited line finally arrived, Shanghai proposed the town be named "Thank God!" But Post Office rejected that as blasphemous. So we now have the town of BLESSING.

    The railroad itself was built by an Italian immigrant, a Count Telferner. Because of the background of the builder and his crews, the railroad was nicknamed "The Macaroni Line." And one town got the name TELFERNER. Sometimes deliberately mispronounced as "tell-a-foreigner."
    Lines through all the places abandoned about 1990 but much rebuilt recently between Rosenberg and Victoria as part of the Kansas City Southern.
     
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2015
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  4. Arctic Train

    Arctic Train TrainBoard Member

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    More Indian names but how 'bout Humptulips, and Salmon la sac Washington. And my favorite, Wawawai Wa.

    Brian
     
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  5. Mike Kmetz

    Mike Kmetz TrainBoard Member

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    Weed, New Mexico
    Truth Or Consequences (formerly Hot Springs, New Mexico)
     
  6. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    I've always enjoyed Fryeburg, ME. Growing up, I was led to believe a "burg" was a dump. So why would a Mr. Frye want to be remembered this way?

    BTW, Lower Corners was the highest community in Sandwich Township, Carroll County, NH.
     
  7. MisterBeasley

    MisterBeasley TrainBoard Supporter

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    My main town is called Moose Bay. There's a branch line that crosses Squirrel Creek and heads down to the station at Bullwinkle. The carfloat terminal is in Mooseport.
     
  8. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Humptulips has significance for my family. How about tongue twisters for outsiders, such as Sequim, Hoquiam, Puyallup, Issaquah, and, and.....
     
  9. GP30

    GP30 TrainBoard Member

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    I remembered a few more:

    Shock, WV
    Pinch, WV
    Womelsdorf (a.k.a. Coalton), WV
    Beech Bottom, WV
    Torch, OH
    Fly, OH
    Normal, WV
    Pickle Street, WV
    Big Chimney, WV
    Czar, WV

    I'm sure I'll think of more.


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  10. Rocket Jones

    Rocket Jones TrainBoard Member

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    And Staunton, Virginia. Which is pronounced "Staan-ton". They changed the way you say it during the Civil War to make it easier to detect Union spies, who would call it "Ston-ton".
     
  11. jdetray

    jdetray TrainBoard Member

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    Wapakoneta, Ohio, birthplace of Neil Armstrong, first man on the Moon. A fair amount of CSX rail traffic passes through and services customers in Wapakoneta.

    - Jeff
     
  12. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    Noticed that no one has mentioned John Allen's Gorre & Daphetid (Gory & Defeated) system.

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  13. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

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    I got it right off the bat.

    Why, Az
    Bagdad, Ca
    Mecca, Ca
    Zyzyx, Ca
    Novato, Ca
     
  14. Locoman

    Locoman TrainBoard Member

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    I used to stay next to a village called 'Ugly' when I was in the UK. Particularly unfortunate for the members of the village's Women's Institute.
     
  15. APV105

    APV105 TrainBoard Member

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    Boogertown, NC
    Intercourse, PA
    Blue Ball, PA
    Spread Eagle, WI
    Looneysville, TX
    Dead Horse, AK
     
  16. Kevin Anderson

    Kevin Anderson TrainBoard Member

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    Here are my place names:
    Moab
    Dorado
    Silvermountain
    Uintah junction


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  17. dstjohn

    dstjohn TrainBoard Member

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    I had a friend who grew up in Green River, Wyo (his Dad was station master for the U.P.). He always called Green River Boogerwoods and Rock Springs, Wyo was Puckerbrush! So I have a Boogerwoods & Puckerbrush in honor of my friend, Ernie Paoli.
     
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  18. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I have a retired railroader friend who never cared for Cut Bank, Montana. He calls it "Butt Cank."
     
  19. Kevin Anderson

    Kevin Anderson TrainBoard Member

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    We call Shelby Montana shelberia...


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  20. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    And on the west side of the Montana Rockies, some refer to Kalispell as Cattlesmell......
     
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