Usage of the terms railroad and railway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The terms railroad and railway generally describe the same thing, a guided means of land transport, designed to be used by trains, for transporting passengers and freight. Etymologically both words derive from Old English; a road being something one rides along and way deriving from a Germanic base meaning move, journey, carry.
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[edit] U.S. practice
Historically, in the United States of America the term railroad, especially when used in a company name, implies a conventional rail system and railway implies a street railway (tramway), also known as a streetcar or light rail line. There are, however, quite a number of exceptions. In fact, many companies change from one term to the other when they re-incorporate, possibly to distinguish between the old and new companies (example: Seaboard Air Line Railroad).
[edit] Railroad
The term railroad is used almost exclusively in the U.S. to describe conventional rail transport systems that are part of the national rail network, which until the mid-20th century were often described as steam railroads. These systems now operate diesel or electric locomotives hauling passenger or freight cars, and self-propelled passenger multiple units.
The alternative form of rail road as two words primarily reflects early practice, but several roads retain this form, notably the Long Island Rail Road, the oldest railroad in the U.S. still operating under its original name.
Though the use of railroad is prime in U.S. practice as described above, there are notable exceptions. Earlier railroads that were British influenced in management, engineering and/or construction had a greater tendency to use the term railway, as in Southern Railway and Chicago and North Western Railway (C&NW), the latter also using the British practice of left-hand running (although that was not inspired by British operations). Railroad companies in bankruptcy sometimes retained their name in reorganization but changed railroad to railway or vice versa; e.g., Staten Island Rapid Transit Railroad Company changed to Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway Company. Some U.S. railroads are "railways" for no obvious reason, such as Vermont Railway and Kansas City Southern Railway.
[edit] Railway
Urban and interurban electric railways in the U.S. using single cars or short trains have more commonly used the term railway in their names than regular railroads. Examples include the Pacific Electric Railway, San Francisco Municipal Railway, Municipal Railway Company (New York), Boston Street Railway Company and Chicago Railways. Here, too, there are exceptions. The first street railway company in Brooklyn, New York City to operate an electric trolley line was the Coney Island & Brooklyn Railroad.
[edit] Other English-speaking countries
In the United Kingdom the term railroad, also spelled rail road or rail-road, was often used in the early days of the railways, but by about the 1850s railway had become the preferred term, with railroad becoming disused. The use of railway then extended to the British Empire; the word railroad has some currency only in Canada, where railway is nonetheless the usual term, used almost invariably for rail systems (e.g. Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway) [1].
[edit] A road
In the context of railways or railroads, a road is a single track, which may be part of a multi-track system or an isolated line.
