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Poll
Question: What should we call the line from Paddington via Pewsey to Plymouth?  (Voting closed: August 03, 2018, 20:07:49)
West of England Main Line - 18 (50%)
Plymouth Main Line - 2 (5.6%)
West of England Fast Line - 0 (0%)
Riviera Line - 1 (2.8%)
Lesser Way Round - 0 (0%)
The Westbury Wonderoute - 1 (2.8%)
Colin - 1 (2.8%)
Something else (please post below) - 13 (36.1%)
Total Voters: 36

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Author Topic: Name of the fastest line from London to Plymouth  (Read 9138 times)
ellendune
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« Reply #30 on: July 30, 2018, 07:51:28 »

Call it the Cornish Mainline and be done with it,

I've always known the line through Newbury as the Berks and Hants, wasn't this because the line ran through part of Hampshire but lost its Hampshire neighbourliness under the 1974 Local Government Act which saw Didcot transfer to Oxfordshire from Berkshire and the birth of Avon, now deceased of course.

No the Berks Hants boundary did not change - so far as I am aware - and certainly not that much.  The Hants bit was the Basingstoke branch, which was part of the line from the start.

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Bmblbzzz
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« Reply #31 on: July 30, 2018, 10:10:34 »

Call it the Pod Line because it has four peas: Paddington, Pewsey, Plymouth, Penzance.

For a more serious answer, it already has a 'technical' name used by the railway engineers, operators, etc, so any name choosing now is for marketing purposes. So the name has to be something catchy and appealing, summing up the character of the line and the places it serves (perhaps difficult for a long line) and without reference to anything too technical, obscure or historical.
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didcotdean
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« Reply #32 on: July 30, 2018, 11:44:38 »

Call it the Pod Line because it has four peas: Paddington, Pewsey, Plymouth, Penzance.
In late Victorian times the East Coast Main Line was publicised as the Cathedrals line as it went through many places with a significant Cathedral or other church. In a way makes more sense than 'East Coast' as it is some way away from that most of the time.
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grahame
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« Reply #33 on: July 30, 2018, 12:09:17 »

Call it the Pod Line because it has four peas: Paddington, Pewsey, Plymouth, Penzance.
In late Victorian times the East Coast Main Line was publicised as the Cathedrals line as it went through many places with a significant Cathedral or other church. In a way makes more sense than 'East Coast' as it is some way away from that most of the time.

There's no easy answer here, is there?

Naming the line after a something positive that's generally found in abundance along the route, but isn't so common elsewhere, has some merit.  But what?    We have a land of quiet beauty, of rolling hills and and a landscape that's typically lush and green.  We have a relatively affluent territory (though there are pockets that are not, and indeed further west there are some significantly poorer places).  We're going to have a line that's going to be populated with Japanese bullet trains, including perhaps the only UK (United Kingdom) station(s) served exclusively by these trains - so is there scope for a new name that celebrates the very trains rather than the geography?   Is there a culinary speciality to celebrate - think I saw a suggestion based on the "Cream Tea line", but then the TOC (Train Operating Company) would be duty bound to have a cafe selling cream teas on al services, would he not?
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chuffed
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« Reply #34 on: July 30, 2018, 12:13:39 »

Following on from the previous suggestion what about the Jam up Cream down line,
to clear up the confusion once and for all. From Pad to Penzance it would revert to the  Jam down Cream up line !
« Last Edit: July 30, 2018, 17:08:25 by chuffed » Logged
paul7575
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« Reply #35 on: July 30, 2018, 12:24:50 »

No the Berks Hants boundary did not change - so far as I am aware - and certainly not that much.  The Hants bit was the Basingstoke branch, which was part of the line from the start.
That’s what I understood as well.  The Berks and Hants Railway was a GWR (Great Western Railway) subsidiary aimed at virgin territory that the LSWR (London South Western Railway) wanted to extend into, a sort of pre-emptive strike.  Odd that B&H (Berks and Hants - railway line from Reading to Taunton via Westbury) never seems to be mentioned in the context of Basingstoke though...

Paul
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Andy
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« Reply #36 on: July 30, 2018, 17:12:02 »

I've always called it the Penzance to Paddington Main Line.
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TaplowGreen
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« Reply #37 on: July 30, 2018, 18:39:04 »

…….The Hopwood Highway?
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Thatcham Crossing
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« Reply #38 on: July 30, 2018, 23:16:27 »

Brunel's Bendy Railway (for not much of it is straight)
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eightonedee
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« Reply #39 on: July 31, 2018, 22:12:43 »

....and the large chunk between Hungerford and Taunton was built years after the great Brunel was dead!
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Thatcham Crossing
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« Reply #40 on: July 31, 2018, 22:30:47 »

.....oh well, maybe not then  Wink
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broadgage
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« Reply #41 on: July 31, 2018, 23:02:35 »

"THE BRUNEL LINE"

Has a nice ring to it, is short and memorable, and is partially true even if parts were completed later.




















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A proper intercity train has a minimum of 8 coaches, gangwayed throughout, with first at one end, and a full sized buffet car between first and standard.
It has space for cycles, surfboards,luggage etc.
A 5 car DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) is not a proper inter-city train. The 5+5 and 9 car DMUs are almost as bad.
Andy
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« Reply #42 on: August 03, 2018, 15:39:07 »

We have the WCML (West Coast Main Line) and the ECML (East Coast Main Line), so how about the LCML (London Cornwall main line)?
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Richard Fairhurst
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« Reply #43 on: August 03, 2018, 16:02:38 »

Or even the West Country Main Line. I'm sure Messrs Branson & Souter would love the enforced renaming of London-Glasgow as the Virgin Trains Main Line to avoid confusion.
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eightf48544
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« Reply #44 on: August 03, 2018, 17:41:51 »

What about the Short Way Round. Oh dear that's SWR» (South Western Railway - about)!

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