Wednesday, August 18, 2010
In Search of: TRAIN THEMED NAMES
Our IPA needs a name! Inner Sanctum is a fine name, but all of our house beers have a train themed name. So all of you that have obscure train trivia and knowledge locked up and put away in the old noggin need to find the key. Be the one to gain a piece (albeit minuscule) of history here at Flossmoor. When submitting, please give us the meaning of the name if it is a train term that is unfamiliar to most. For example - Pinhead IPA, (a pinhead is a brakeman). The best name will be collected from the thousands we get :)
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22 comments:
A few ideas....
Railbender IPA - a switchman
Highball IPA - maximum allowable speed
Crow's Nest IPA - the cupola on a caboose's roof
Hotshot IPA - high speed priority train
Hop A Freight - i.e. Hobos
Hopper Car - a type of railroad car
Hop-toad (derailed) IPA
How about "Flag Stop IPA"?
A suggestion: Since Flossmoor is an old IC/ICG station, find old IC or ICG employees (Metra conductors that stop at the passenger station could be of help) and ask them for terms specific to IC or ICG. For instance, C&NW ran trailer trains in their fast "Falcon" service, and those hotshot trains became known as "birds". (It also helped that those trains "flew" across the railroad.)
I like Anna's cool-sounding suggestion of "Flag Stop", whether for an IPA or any other beer style. A "flag stop" is a scheduled but infrequently-made stop where passenger trains pick up or let off railroad employees only (see "deadhead" below).
Others:
"Spike Maul", a large sledge hammer; to be used for a headache-inducing super-high-ABV beer.
"FRED", "Flashing Rear End Device" (some angry trainmen used a different word for the first initial, though), the primitive version of the device now found on the rear end of all road trains. I think it would be best to use this name for the final non-holiday release of any year; keep each FRED beer unique to that year to build long-term interest and customer retention.
"Team Track" is a track rented for short-term use, to receive or ship goods without having to pay for expensive long-term rail service at a location that must be purchased or leased by the user. Often used by one-time customers. This name could be used for the guest taps ("what's unloading on the team track this week"?).
"Hy-rail", a car or truck fitted with railroad wheels, most often used by "track jockeys" to inspect track. (Might be trademarked, though.)
"Slow Roller" or "Easy Roller", a heavy and often long train.
"Rule G", the western railroads' safety rule against alcohol use. (It's probably not a good idea to use this except on root beer, though; otherwise your attorneys might get calls from railroads.)
"Pin Lifter", a cool name for an everyday device which disconnects railcars.
"Deadhead", a crew being moved between their home and away terminals but not working on a train. Also used as a verb, moving a crew in this way. Use for a soda, an alternate root beer to Gooberbrau, or a low-alcohol beer.
"Clinker", the metal and rock contaminants remaining in a steam engine's boiler after coal was burned. Could be used with its alternate meaning for a beer that didn't turn out as planned yet is perfectly drinkable.
"Double Track" and "Triple Track", self-explanatory. Best used for dubbels or tripels (duh).
"Granger" or "Granger Line", generally a railroad line that had no high-speed traffic but stopped at every town along the line.
Headshunt IPA
A length of track feeding a number of sidings that permits the sidings to be shunted without blocking the main line, or where two lines merge into one before ending with a buffer, to allow a run-round procedure to take place
Folssmoor Zepher IPA.
Sidetrack IPA.
Or Panama Limited IPA.
Illinois Central's most famous train was the Panama Limited, a premier all-Pullman car service between Chicago, St. Louis, Missouri, and New Orleans. In 1967, due to losses incurred by the operation of the train, the Illinois Central combined the Panama Limited with a coach-only train called the Magnolia Star. On June 1, 1971 Amtrak took over the operation of the service, but shortly afterward dropped the name in favor of the City of New Orleans, a daytime streamlined coach train that had been operated by the Illinois Central whose name was popularized by a song written by Steve Goodman and performed by Arlo Guthrie (Willie Nelson made the song #1 in 1984.). Illinois Central ran several other trains along the main route including The Creole and The Louisiane.
Folssmoor Zepher IPA.
Sidetrack IPA.
Or Panama Limited IPA.
Illinois Central's most famous train was the Panama Limited, a premier all-Pullman car service between Chicago, St. Louis, Missouri, and New Orleans. In 1967, due to losses incurred by the operation of the train, the Illinois Central combined the Panama Limited with a coach-only train called the Magnolia Star. On June 1, 1971 Amtrak took over the operation of the service, but shortly afterward dropped the name in favor of the City of New Orleans, a daytime streamlined coach train that had been operated by the Illinois Central whose name was popularized by a song written by Steve Goodman and performed by Arlo Guthrie (Willie Nelson made the song #1 in 1984.). Illinois Central ran several other trains along the main route including The Creole and The Louisiane.
The Green Diamond was the Illinois Central's premier train between Chicago, Springfield and St. Louis.
Green diamond IPA
I love Ken's idea. Maybe even get the IC Historical folks involved. http://icrrhistorical.org/index.html
I do like the Green Diamond suggestion. With permission, that logo would be awesome to transform into a beer label.
http://icrrhistorical.org/logos.html
Darn, I was going to say Green Diamond and I agree about the logo They also had an overnight train, the Night Diamond, which you could use for the next India Black Ale
Shoofly : A temporary stretch of track that takes trains around construction or an accident scene.
Demurrage: A charge levied by a railroad to a shipper for excessive delay in unloading cargo.
Wheel Tapper: An historical railway occupation; people employed to tap train wheels with hammers and listen to the sound made to determine the integrity of the wheel; cracked wheels, like cracked bells, do not sound the same as their intact counterparts.
How about Sandhills?
Here's the justification. According to the wiki article on IPAs, they were named in Liverpool, which was the origination port for East Indiamen. Sandhills is the name of the British Rail station at the Liverpool docks.
Lifeline Express IPA -- The Lifeline Express or Jeevan Rekha Express is a mobile hospital train run by the Impact India Foundation
Hey Bryan:
How about:
Lightning Slinger IPA (A railroad telegraph operator)
Bullhead ipa - bullhead = type of rail, Lake Country Limited = rail line from Chicago to Janesville (WI) that was discontinued in 2001, Twilight Limited IPA - train route from Chicago to Pontiac, MI
How about Loop Ipa .Loop is a second track so two trains can pass one another
How about Loop Ipa .Loop is a second track so two trains can pass each other
How about: "Rail-Hopper" IPA?
I'd say "Freight Hopper."
For obvious reasons. :-)
But to give an explanation, the Freight Hoppers were the hobos who would hitch free rides in the emptier cars.
It's a simple name with a simple idea, and it gets the point across.
Better yet:
Boxcar Betty !
From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxcar_Betty) :
"Roaming the railroad yards across the country. Her name itself has become synonymous with rollicking, rough and tumble adventure. And wherever she goes, Boxcar Betty is a railroad tramp's worst nightmare and most delicious dream. Hopping freights and bouncing from one boxcar to another, Boxcar Betty is brawling her way across this great land.[2]"
"Orient Express"- India is in the orient and it's certainly a famous train
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