James River Branch: Names

Names

Most model railroaders love to name things on their layouts, and those who do often have specific reasons for their choices. The name selection process usually involves family members, old lovers, favorite vacation spots, or any number of personal experiences. I'm always fascinated by the stories behind the names—aren't you? The only thing I try to do is avoid the temptation of using puns or other joke names; I like to keep things believable. Here are the origins for key features of the James River Branch.

The James River Branch itself got its start from the White River and Northern Railroad IV, where the James River divided the towns of Newton and Pennwell (see the track plan). James is the name of a brother I never knew, because he died at birth long before I was conceived. I named it for him, so it has nothing to do with the real James River in Virginia; nor does the railroad being modeled have anything to do with the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac James River Branch, the Atlantic Coast Line James River Branch, the James River Branch of the Chesapeake and Ohio, or any other real James River Branch. To my knowledge the Reading never had a James River Branch, so the layout is entirely fictitious.

Naughtright went through a few name changes. Originally it was Crooked Creek, which was not influenced by anything in real life; I simply liked the alliterative name and the rural image it conjured. After redesigning the layout, Crooked Creek just didn't feel right any more, so I sat studying maps of the Reading Railroad, looking for interesting whistle-stops along obscure branch lines. Lost Creek, Pennsylvania, was a contender for a while, but it seemed like a bit of a cliché. Then I found Naughright near Lake Hopatcong in northern New Jersey, where quite a number of branch lines once mingled, but are now nearly all gone. Naughright sounded odd to me, so I changed it to Naughtright. All of the street names are deliberately generic for believability.

Stephen A. Greene & Sons Building Supply is named for a wonderful elderly gentleman from Rhode Island who I'd adopted as the grandfather I never had. Sadly he's long dead, but I've named something for him on every layout I've built, from the Stephen A. Greene Charcoal Company of the WR&N I to the Stephen A. Greene Furniture Company of the WR&N IV.

Emma Emma's is a restaurant named for my beloved cat (RIP), who in turn was named after Emma Peel from The Avengers. Dick's Auto Salvage honors one of my two brothers, who worked as an auto mechanic while he was in college and had planned to be a shop teacher, but was drafted into the military—and nearly lost his life.

Rick Spano's Service Station will be recognized by anyone who knows that Rick Spano and I have been friends and modeling collaborators for over forty years. He has been and remains the biggest influence in my modeling life, and there is usually something on my layout named for him—on the WR&N IV, it was the Spano Recycling Center.

I'd been going to Don and Stan's Barber Shop from the early seventies through 2006, when Don and Stan retired from the business. Seeing the shop closed left me quite sad—it marked the end of a little bit of stability in my otherwise convoluted life. While I was in high school, I worked at The Switching Point, a hobby shop that happened to be next door to the barber shop; Jim's Trains on the layout is named for the hobby shop's owner.

Weller Fuel Oil Company is named for Harold "Bud" Weller, the man who hired me where I now work. I owe him considerable gratitude for saving my professional life by hiring an older IT guy instead of a cheaper young-un, as is the norm these days.

Dot's Trackside Diner is something of a holdover from the WR&N IV, which (you'll think I'm absurd, here, but) was named after Dot's Diner from the cartoon series ReBoot. The show was a pioneering effort—the first regular television program to be 100% computer animated. Since I worked in Manhattan as a computer animator for a few years, CGI is an interest of mine.

Heritage Crossing was the name of the condominium/apartment complex where I lived for about fifteen years. While living there was anything but pleasant, the location was great: the condo was a short walk from the West Trenton train station on the old Reading Line, which (almost) made up for the waking nightmare of condo life.

Originally F.W. Woolworth, the Franklin Five and Dime was named after a real business—now long gone—in Meredith, New Hampshire. This marvelous old dime store had a terrific hobby shop, which I frequented nearly every summer of my life from age 7 to 24. I credit this place for having helped inspire me to take up the hobby—it's where I bought my first copy of Model Railroader magazine.

O'Malley's Triangle Bar got its name from a combination of the triangular building and the Light Works sign that hangs out front. The East Theater got its name based on what sounded plausible and would also fit comfortably on the sign. The Gilmor Hotel was so named strictly due to the available signs from Light Works USA; I would have chosen differently.