A Name for All Seasons

As young people make their way into the work force of name tags at retail checkout, I get to ask them how they got their names.  Most often, these are heart-felt stories - even though the names seem unpronounceable or don't seem like names.  So I thought I should brace myself for what is coming next.  What names should we expect to hear in 2019 for brand new babies?  Good Housekeeping reports that Stormi and Dream have seen a jump after the Kardashian babies.  True and Chicago are also Kardashian children names.  These are considered "Next Jenneration" names after the Kardashian-Jenner clan.  Their boys' names are Saint and Reign. Zen names are more popular than Kardashian names.  Peace, Harmony, Hope and Shanti are the top names.  And Fortnite the online multiplayer game has inspired Ramirez, Leviathan, Bunny and Rogue. I wouldn't have guessed anyone could name their girl Kale, Kiwi, or Maple.  What about these: Clementine, Saffron, Rosemary and Sage are also there. These are food trend names. The prediction for 2019?  Sneaker brands inspire names like Van, Chuck and Taylor.  Each Brand has names associated with it.  2019 will continue with the more traditional naming practice is to mimic Royal families.  Meghan has jumped in popularity, along with Eugenie and Jack. And don't forget just 'plain' celebrities.  We can expect some names after Justin Bieber - he asked Hailey Baldwin to marry him. Another continuing trend is gender swapping.  This has been with us for more hundreds of years.  So this year's trend? Max, Tyler and Ryan are now conscripted into girl names.   There seems to be a human obsession and compulsion around first names.  There are stories after stories of strange, unusual, and bizarre names, and often famous people and celebrities are singled out.  There are many stories about rejected names where governments just can't allow the names.  Perhaps this is because names made it past government officials in the past and into the crazy names hall of fame.  I thought I'd check for trends in pretty and meaningful names.  There are lots of articles on nice and beautiful names.  Scroll through the list at popsugar.com. This is where I get to feel out of touch again. Are Caspian, Idris, Jagger, Kai, Laszlo, Adley, Ireland, and Larkin beautiful names?  And I've picked them randomly.  I checked out more to find other sites do have names that seem more appealing.  Thank goodness! Who knows what will be in place of the  check-out counter in 16 years? We may not have to brace ourselves at all. Today we see the Sundance Layout with the Denver and Rio Grande Western railway making a trip.

Remember the Trains

Today is an historic day.  Just as people remember where they were when John Kennedy was assassinated, so people remember where they were when the twin towers were attacked. However, we are looking at a different story today.  We're on the railroad.  Our second photo shows Gramps tank cars.  These are famous tank cars in the modelling realm. The name is said to come from the nickname of the oilfield owner William Hughes.  To please his grandchildren, he had is name painted on the tank cars of the Union Tank Car Company. There is also reference to known Gramps Oil and Refining - perhaps he was on a roll with the name,  The tanks were shipped to Alamos, Colorado for transfer to the narrow gauge.  Then they were on to the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. This bought them their spot in history.  I can think of no railroads more beloved to modellers than those in Colorado.