NS GP40-2 3046

Monday, July 23, 2007

I created a "pen" name, Boomer Hoghead. My favorite author inspired me, Samuel Clemens. Most boys of his era who grew up along the great Mississippi dreamed of working on a steamboat and maybe becoming a river captain. So I guess that while learning the trade and terms of being a riverboat man, he picked his pen name. Mark Twain" (meaning "Mark number two") was a Mississippi River term: the second mark on the line that measured depth signified two fathoms, or twelve feet—safe depth for the steamboat. So what that in mind, I searched for a suitable railroad name. I decided to combine two terms from the railroad. Boomer is a person who has worked for many railroads due to the lack of work on the roads. Hoghead is a old term for engineer. So I just combined the two to form Boomer Hoghead.

Over at Trainorders.com, there is a post at about the term Boomer. Check it out at http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1454469

Here is a post about a F40 being used in work train service. I never liked what Amtrak did to these locomotives to make them ready for freight service.