Nomenclature.

When railways were in their infancy, George Stephenson and his associates were wont to give expression to their pride in their accomplishments by bestowing upon their primitive locomotives appropriate names. Thus we had the “Rocket,” “Locomotion No. 1,” the “Comet,” the “Stour-bridge Lion,” the “America,” and so on. As railways developed, this happy custom was allowed to lapse, and numerals took the place of the names once favoured. To-day there is a marked return to favour of the practice of engine naming, and locomotive christenings are the order of the day on many of the world's largest railway systems.

Following the lead of the London and North Eastern, and the London, Midland and Scottish Railways, the Metropolitan Railway has now taken up the idea of locomotive naming. With a view to awakening interest in the historic territory served by the line in the London area, and adding to the attractiveness of its engines, the “Metro.” is bestowing upon twenty of its 1,400 h.p. electric locomotives distinctive titles perpetuating the memory of famous names linked with the Company's territory. Among the titles chosen are “Florence Nightingale,” “William Penn,” “Dick Whittington,” “Oliver Cromwell,” “Charles Dickens” and “Benjamin Disraeli.” Locomotive naming is a decidedly wise move, alike from the increased pride which is thereby aroused in the mind of the engine staffs, and from the public interest which is thus created in the railway and its historic and geographical associations.