Letter: I blame the shipping exec

Last updated 12:00 22/03/2010

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OPINION: Having a keen interest in railways, I draw to your attention a misuse of railway terminology in recent years. The most recent example was in a headline that referred to 12 freight train carriages having been derailed (March 12).

"Carriages" and "freight train" form an oxymoron. A carriage is a railway passenger vehicle. The usual terms are "carriages" and "goods wagons". I think the misuse arose during the TranzRail era, when the chief was a shipping executive.

Further, you recently referred to "Silver Fern carriages". Carriages have no motor or means of propulsion, needing to be coupled to a locomotive to move. The Silver Fern sets have full motor/drive systems and are fully self-propelled. The New Zealand term for these is "railcar".

BRIAN MOOSMAN

Masterton [abridged]

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