Railway Station?

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station. 

[Red Squirrel]

Do these un-named Americans even use the phrase 'train station'?

'Railroad station' seems to be their preferred nomenclature for the place where passenger trains are to be found.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_station

As [note 1] in that Wikipedia article says, perhaps we should just go with 'station' as the primary name for a regular stopping place on a railway line, unless otherwise qualified with a noun, such as 'bus' or 'petrol'.  

Well yes they do, according to Michael Quinion's research (see my link above).

Over the years I have tried to learn the lesson that, where language is concerned, prescription always loses and description always wins. Quinion is very much a describer, and has access to better sources than most of us!

For myself, I will continue to say 'railway station'. But I don't 'correct' my kids when they say 'train station'; I'm just glad it's relevant enough for them to talk about. When I was a kid living in South Bristol in the sixties and seventies, everyone said 'railway station' - but they usually prefixed it with 'disused'. I prefer the world we live in now, where 'train station' is often prefixed with 'reopened'.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Flax Bourton. 

[Red Squirrel]

Flax Bourton. 

...well there's a station that isn't even on Station Rd...

Brislington would have been my local. My Dad told the tale of him and his brother taking a train out to Pensford from there once, for a pint. On the way home, they staggered up to Pensford Station to find the gate locked and all the lights out. They waited, and were starting to think about walking home, when a chap came up the path, whistling; he unlocked the gate and lit the lamps, and a minute later the train came in. As they pulled out of the station they could see him snuffing the lights. All very Kaizen...

[Chris from Nailsea]

Flax Bourton. 

...well there's a station that isn't even on Station Rd...

Erm ... Station Road in Flax Bourton

[bobm]

Railway station every time for me... but then I get pulled up for referring to "luncheon", "see you anon"and "five and twenty to/past the hour" so I play to it and take "a hackney carriage from the railway station"!

[Red Squirrel]

Flax Bourton. 

...well there's a station that isn't even on Station Rd...

Erm ... Station Road in Flax Bourton

But Flax Bourton Station was accessed from Clevedon Road, wasn't it?

[Chris from Nailsea]

By road, yes - but footpath access was available from Station Road - on the right, in my linked image. 

[TonyK]

"five and twenty to/past the hour"

Is there another way to express the passage of the sun across the sky? I had no idea.

[rogerpatenall]

A Railway station will have rails, but not necessarily any trains that still stop. A train station has ... trains!

[lordgoata]

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station. 

And there was me thinking buses stop at .... bus stops! So you are all wrong, we should be calling them train stops