Travel: Fun with Foreign Place Names

TORONTO, ONTARIO - When traveling to Europe, I often would not be especially functional the first day because of jet lag. Often, I would use that day to travel by train to my actual destination, figuring I didn't need all my mental faculties to just ride a train. Such was the case in April 2002 as I took a Die Bahn train through Waldshut, Switzerland. In my less-than-alert state, and noting the valley in the area, I mused that the town must be "walled shut." Of course, that's not even how the town name is pronounced in German. When I later told a Swiss colleague about this joke, he mentioned that he would have never thought of that. Why would he; there was nothing in the etymology of the name or its pronunciation to lead one there--it was pure ignorance.

Having just updated my railfanning notebook index through the end of my European experiences, I decided to go back through the index and have some fun with German-language place names.

The following questions resulted:

Do people make friends easily in Chum, Switzerland?

Are the breakfasts good in Egghütti, Switzerland?

Do they skip generations in Grandson, Switzerland?

Do people often have bad hair days in Grossheringen, Germany?

Do only less attractive people live in Haag, Switzerland?

Do young lovers go to Kissing, Germany?

Do they ever buy anything in Liesing, Austria?

Do they build new houses in Neuhausen Bad, Switzerland?

Is it a good thing that Payerbach, Austria is not near Taxenbach, Austria?

Do they have good snacks in Pichl, Austria?

Do they overdose in Pill, Austria?

Do people have good manners in Rottenmann, Austria?

Do they have good alcohol in Rum, Austria?

Do people fall in love in Schmitten, Switzerland?

Are they early adopters in Tecknau, Switzerland?

Of course, after massacring all these place names, I would probably be sent to the Rathaus (city hall) for punishment. I've always thought that was a great name for a place where politicians work... nothing more than a house of rats!

Transport: Most Common Place Name

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Recently, I finally finished updating the index of my railfanning experiences to the end of 2005. (Can you tell it hasn't been a priority?) More than a decade of serious ralfanning took me to a lot of places, each of which gained an entry in the index. I noted a place name in essentially two cases: When I saw a train or other significant railroad "thing" there, or when I passed through that place on a train. The sample size is large enough that the place names that are repeated makes for an interesting study. For the sake of this discussion, place names that are spelled differently are not counted (e.g. Bern, Switzerland is not considered the same as Berne, Washington even though the one in Washington was named after the one in Switzerland).

Place names that appeared twice were quite common. The list includes Adeliade, Afton, Albany, Alexandria, Argo, Athol, Aurora, Avon, Ayer, Ballard, Bannock, Batavia, Battle Ground, Bayview, Bell, Bellevue, Belmont, Berg, Berkeley, Bethel, Bingen, Bradford, Brunswick, Canaan, Charlotte, Cliff, Clay, Cold Springs, Comstock, Croydon, Edgecomb, Elmhurst, Erlenbach, Exeter, Gardner, Guilford, Georgetown, Glenwood, Goble, Glacier Park, Green River, Halifax, Harrison, Hermosa, Indian Creek, Jamestown, Jordan, Kent, Laufenberg, Las Vegas, Lawrence, Lindsay, Little Falls, Lombard, London, Ludlow, Midway, Milfod, Millersburg, Monroe, Morrisville, Mount Vernon, Newcastle, Newton, Niles, Norwood, Oneida, Park, Pine, Pinkerton, Portland, Providence, Quincy, Radnor, Riverdale, Rockland, Rockwood, Rosemont, Ross, Salem, Selma, Soda Springs, Somerville, Stratford, Syracuse, Tacoma, Thompson, Thornton, Trenton, Verona, Washington, Waterbury, and Wellington. I may have missed others that are considered part of a larger place (Glacier Park, Washington is a siding I have listed under Orillia, Washington, and arguably both Glacier Park and Orillia should be listed under Kent, Washington as they are both within the city limits of Kent).

Twenty-two names appeared three times. They are:

• Brookfield - Connecticut, Illinois, and Wisconsin
• Bristol - Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Washington
• Burlington - Iowa, North Carolina, and Washington
• Cannon - California, Pennsylvania, and Quebec
• Clifton - New Jersey, Ontario, and Oregon
• Essex - Connecticut, Montana, and New York
• Harrisburg - North Carolina, Oregon, and Pennsylvania
• Hinsdale - Illinois, Massachusetts, and Montana
• Hudson - Colorado, New Jersey, and New York
• Huntington - Massachusetts, Oregon, and West Virginia
• Lowell - Indiana, Massachusetts, and Washington
• Marysville - California, Kentucky, and Washington
• Newark - California, Delaware, and New Jersey
• Norwich - Connecticut, North Dakota, and Vermont
• Plymouth - New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Washington
• Ramsey - Idaho, New Jersey, and Wyoming
• Richmond - California, Virginia and Vermont
• Russell - New Hampshire, Illinois and Massachusetts
• Summit - Pennsylvania, Utah, and Vermont
• Wilmington - Delaware, Illinois, and Massachusetts
• Winona - New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Ontario
• Woodford - California, New South Wales, and Virginia

Five names appeared four times:

• Auburn - California, Massachusetts, New South Wales, and Washington
• Fairfield - California, Connecticut, Iowa, and Oregon
• Hamilton - Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio and Ontario
• Springfield - Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Virginia
• Westport - Connecticut, New York, Oregon, and Vermont

I had thought that Springfield would be the overall winner, as it was a name so generic that it was used for the generic town in the Simpsons, but it didn't even make the top three.

Three names appeared five times:

• Ashland - New Hampshire, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Virginia
• Lincoln - California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nebraska, and New Hampshire
• Riverside - California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois and Vermont

And the big champion, appearing six times? Chester. I have been to the Chesters in Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Montana, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. I had no idea that Chester was the most prolific railroad place name in my experience.