Talk:District Railway

Move Proposal

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: moved. Open for over two weeks, no opposes. Also, no one has disputed that "District Railway" is the common name and seeing as District Railway redirects here there is no need to add a dab, such as "(London)". Jenks24 (talk) 07:40, 15 July 2012 (UTC)

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Metropolitan District Railway → District Railway – I propose this article is renamed District Railway as this is the common name of the railway and the article name should reflect this per WP:COMMONNAME. Relisted. Jenks24 (talk) 12:29, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

Background

The company was created in 1864 as the Metropolitan District Railway and this remained its official name throughout its life, for most of this it traded as the District Railway. At stations (eg Bow Road and Victoria stations, both photographed in 1900, and Barons Court built in 1905. This photograph of Whitechapel station in 1896 has both "District Railway" and "Metropolitan District Railway".), on locomotives (eg steam locomotive no. 38 in 1883), on this 1901 poster and on the 1908 London Underground Map, the railway is known as the District Railway.

In the reliable sources I have to hand,

• Bruce (1983) p.8 ...Metropolitan District Railway (known and referred to subsequently as the District Railway...
• Green (1987) p.8 ...the Metropolitan District Railway, soon generally known as the District..., then calls it the District or District Railway
• Goudie (1990) refers to the District Railway
• Horne (2003) refers to the District Railway
• Horne (2006) introduces the Metropolitan District Railway, then calls it the District from page 6
• Jackson (1986) uses the abbreviation MDR
• Lee (1956) uses the formal title of the Metropolitan District Railway, then calls it the District from page 2
• Simpson (2003) uses the formal title of the Metropolitan District Railway, then calls it the District from page 22

Bibliography

• Bruce, J Graeme (1983). Steam to Silver. Capital Transport. ISBN 0-904711-45-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Green, Oliver (1987). The London Underground — An illustrated history. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1720-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Goudie, Frank (1990). Metropolitan Steam Locomotives. Capital Transport. ISBN 978-1-85414-118-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Horne, Mike (2003). The Metropolitan Line. Capital Transport. ISBN 1-85414-275-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Horne, Mike (2006). The District Line. Capital Transport. ISBN 1-85414-292-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Jackson, Alan (1986). London's Metropolitan Railway. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-8839-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Lee, Charles E. (1956). The Metropolitan District Railway. The Oakwood Press. ASIN B0000CJGHS. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Simpson, Bill (2003). A History of the Metropolitan Railway. Vol 1. Lamplight Publications. ISBN 1-899246-07-X. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Edgepedia (talk) 20:05, 24 June 2012 (UTC)

Discussion

• Since it seems possible to confuse the proposed article name with the general concept of a district railway, as opposed to this particular district railway, I suggest "District Railway (London)". —BarrelProof (talk) 20:55, 24 June 2012 (UTC)
  • At the moment District Railway redirects here. What articles (or potential articles) are you trying to disambiguate? When I google "District Railway"[1] I get
  • Marlow and District Railway Society Home Page
  • Stockport & District Railway Modellers
  • Yeovil & District Railway Society
  • New Mills & District Railway Modellers
  • Basingstoke & District Railway Society
  • Skipton & District Railway Society
  • Romsey and District Railway Modellers Society
  • District line facts | Transport for London
  • Oxenholme The Lake District Railway Station, Cumbria
  • RAILSCOT | Photographs of Bury and Tottington District Railway
  • RAILSCOT | Photographs of Paisley and Barrhead District Railway

So it seems that names in the format "N & District Railway" are common, either as railway companies, or societies. Wikipedia has an article at Paisley and Barrhead District Railway redirect from Bury and Tottington District Railway,

Does this need disambiguation by the means of a page or a hatnote to a disambiguation page? If we go down the route of a disambiguation page and this is not the primary topic, I would suggest we leave it at this name as the official name for the railway company. There is no need to invent a means of disambiguating it. Edgepedia (talk) 05:02, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

I suppose that I just tend to have a desire to know what an article is about by reading its title. In this case, I would have guessed that an article entitled "District Railway" is about district or regional railways in general, and would have been surprised to find myself reading about just one specific railway in London. –BarrelProof (talk) 05:26, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Arguments based on the usage of terms by such as Horne (2006), Lee (1956) or Simpson (2003) cannot be used as proof that District Railway was the common name. On that basis we should move Great Western Railway to GWR, because many books save space by writing GWR a lot of the time. Such shortenings are merely convenience, much as our MOS permits an abbreviation to be used, provided that it is defined on first use. --Redrose64 (talk) 16:39, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

A valid point and I am considering striking those. The example at COMMONNAME is we have an article at Bill Clinton, not William Jefferson Clinton; but a book on Bill Clinton would probably call him Bill or Clinton after the introduction. However, I think that the evidence is that the Railway branded itself as the District Railway, as shown in my first paragraph and by the statement at Green (1987) p.8. Edgepedia (talk) 17:02, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

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Completing the circle

"After opening the District service from New Cross four trains an hour ran alternately to Hammersmith or Putney"

This is grammatically or syntactically incorrect. ("Four trains an hour ran alternately to Hammersmith or Putney after opening the District service from New Cross" makes it clear that it is wrongly worded.)

Perhaps the writer means:

"After the opening of the District service from New Cross, four trains an hour ran alternately to Hammersmith or Putney"

Or

"After opening [sc: being opened], the District service from New Cross comprised four trains an hour run alternately to Hammersmith or Putney"

This is still tricky as the service couldn't run before the opening. 82.45.172.71 (talk) 12:32, 24 November 2023 (UTC)

Clarity

"In the 1920s the off-peak weekday service was a train every ten minutes from Wimbledon and Ealing and every fifteen minutes from Richmond" To where? 82.45.172.71 (talk) 15:51, 9 March 2024 (UTC)