Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/Style advice

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Following are guidelines and suggestions on the style of train articles forWikiProject Trains.

Notability

See also:Wikipedia:Notability (Railway lines and stations)

A topic ispresumedto be notable if it has received significant coverage inreliable sourcesthat areindependentof the subject. For general advice on notability of articles seeWP:N.

The primary Wikipedia notability criteria for organisations (WP:ORG) would also need to be consulted. In particular, a company, corporation, organization, group, product, or service isnotableif it has been the subject of coverage insecondary sources.Such sources must bereliable,and independent of the subject. The depth of coverage of the subject by the source must be considered. If the depth of coverage is not substantial, then multiple independent sources should be cited to establish notability. Trivial or incidental coverage of a subject by secondary sources is not sufficient to establish notability. Once notability is established,primary sourcesmay be used to add content. Ultimately, and most importantly,all content must be attributable.

When that has been done, train specific criteria may be considered. That an article meets one or more of these criteria, or doesn't meet any of them, is not by itself proof of notability.

Train specific criteria

1. Railroad and rail transport operating companies
   • Any current or defunct railroad or operating company with an assignedreporting mark.
   • Railroads that have been honored at the national level with an award, i.e.Short Line Railroad of the YearorE.H. Harriman Award.
   • Railroads that have appeared on postage stamps.
   • Currently operating railroads.
   • Railroads that were first to enter or be built in major political divisions (states, provinces or nations).
   • see alsoWikipedia:Notability (companies and corporations)
2. Rolling stock
   • Generic classes by manufacturer for diesel and electric locomotives, i.e.EMD GP30orGE U30C.
   • Generic classes by railroad for steam locomotives, i.e.PRR K5orSouthern Pacific class AC-12.
   • Individual equipment that has been labeled as a superlative type (only, first, last, largest, longest, smallest, oldest, etc.), i.e.El GobernadororC. P. Huntington.
   • Individual equipment labeled as historically significant by reputable and verifiable external sources, such as theNational Register of Historic Places,i.e.Pere Marquette 1225.See alsoWikipedia:WikiProject National Register of Historic Places.
3. Equipment manufacturers
   • Currently operating manufacturers.
   • Companies that have been labeled as a superlative type (first, largest, etc.).
   • Companies that have been depicted on postage stamps in any country.
4. Railroad infrastructure and buildings (Note thatdiscussion is ongoingfor notability guidelines on railway and rapid transit/subway stations.)
   • Any structure labeled as historically significant by reputable and verifiable external sources, such as theNational Register of Historic Places.
   • Structures that have appeared on postage stamps in any country.
   • Any piece of equipment or equipment part where a history of the development can be described (more than just a dictionary definition).
5. Rail transport museums
   • Any museum whose collection includes culturally or historically significant rolling stock or infrastructure, such as equipment or structures listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.
6. People (For articles on living people, the WikipediapolicyWikipedia:Biographies of living personsapplies, andmustbe consulted. In all casesWikipedia:Notability (people)should also be consulted.)
   • Founders, Presidents, CEOs andChief Mechanical Engineersof railroad companies.
   • Railroaders who have been honored at the national level in any country with an award, such asRailroader of the Year.
   • Railroaders who have appeared on postage stamps in any country, i.e.Jimmie Rodgers(the "singing brakeman" ) orCasey Jones.
   • Railroaders who have been identified as noteworthy by reputable and verifiable external sources, such as those who appear in:White, John H. Jr.(Spring 1986). "America's Most Noteworthy Railroaders".Railroad History.154:9–15.ISSN0090-7847.JSTOR43523785.OCLC1785797.
7. Events
   • Events that served as important turning points in rail transport history.
   • Accidents where a significant number of casualties or a significant amount of property damage occur (this is purposelynotnailed down to a specific number for either criterion).
   • Accidents that form the basis for rail transport legislation.
   • Events that have been labeled as historically significant by reputable and verifiable external sources.
8. Historical, technical and preservation organizations
   • Organizations that have been recognized as superlative (i.e. first, oldest, largest, etc.) by multiple reputable external sources.
   • Organizations that have appeared as the primary subject of postage stamps.
   • Organizations that are stewards of equipment or facilities of historical or cultural significance (i.e.listed buildingsor equipment or structures on theNational Register of Historic Places,etc.).
   • see alsoWikipedia:Notability (organizations)(proposed) andWikipedia:Notability (companies and corporations)

This list is not intended to be used as minimum requirements.

General style guidelines

• Don't use apostrophes for plurals. For example, the plural ofEMD GP40isEMD GP40sand notEMD GP40's.
• A large number of templates for use on rail transport articles are listed onWikipedia:WikiProject Trains/Article templatesand inCategory:Rail transport templates
• When equipment or train service names are mentioned in an article text, they should be showin in italics (such asSuper ChieforStourbridge Lion)

Lead paragraph

• Write a conciselead sectionthat summarizes the content of the entire article.
• The first sentence should provide a definition of the article subject, including (where applicable) the company'sreporting marks;use the{{reporting mark}}template to present the mark in a standardized format.
• If there is another common abbreviation or alternative name for the subject, state it in the lead section.

Talk page

• Add{{TrainsWikiProject}}and{{Todo, trains}}to the article's talk page to indicate that the article is part of theTrains WikiProjectand to list the tasks that need to be completed. If there are many talk page templates for a specific article, consider usingsmall=yesto reduce the display size of the template's output.
• Using{{TrainsWikiProject}}without any parameters will automatically add the article's talk page toCategory:Unassessed rail transport articlesandCategory:Unknown-importance rail transport articles,where other editors will see it and assess it based on the guidelines atWikipedia:WikiProject Trains/Assessment.This is often backlogged, so try and fill out these parameters yourself if you are comfortable doing so.
• The appropriate WikiProject(s) for the geographical area(s) served by a rail line, rail company or facility, or the location of a preserved locomotive should also be added. For example, theBranford Steam Railroadfalls under both WikiProject Trains and WikiProject Connecticut.

Stubs

• The most general stub type for rail transport is{{rail-transport-stub}}.
• Use the most specific stub type applicable (as listed onCategory:Rail transport stubs), deferring to{{rail-transport-stub}}only when the existing subtypes are not appropriate.
• Multiple stub templates can be used on a stub (such as using both{{diesel-loco-stub}}and{{US-rail-transport-stub}}on an article about a diesel locomotive that was only used in the US), but avoid adding more than two stub templates to any specific article.
• In order to create a new stub type, identify at least around 50 articles that would fall into the proposed stub category and then make a proposal on theWikiProject Stub sorting/Proposalspage.

Categories

• The most general category for rail transport isCategory:Rail transport
• Use the most specific categories applicable, deferring toCategory:Rail transportonly when the existing categories are not appropriate.
• Do not place articles into both a category and that category's parent category, but use the more specific of the two.
• There are categories for beginnings and endings based on start and end years as appropriate. For companies, add[[Category:Railway companies established in YEAR]]and[[Category:Railway companies disestablished in YEAR]];for biographies, add[[Category:YEAR births]]and[[Category:YEAR deaths]](if both birth and death years are known). Train service or rolling stock equipment introductions can be categorized in[[Category:YEAR introductions]].In each of these, substituteYEARwith the appropriate year number (the complete four-digit year).

Articles about rail transport companies (railroads) style guide

Article name

• Articles should be named using the railroad company'smost common name in independent reliable sources.Createredirectsfrom alternate names and abbreviations. Example:BNSF Railwayis the most common name; its longer official nameBNSF Railway Company,even longer former official nameBurlington Northern Santa Fe Railway,and abbreviationBNSFall redirect to the article.
• Article names should use the word "and" instead of an ampersand ( "&" ), e.g.Chicago and North Western Railway,unless the ampersand can be shown to bepart of the proper name,as inDecatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad.

Summary information and lead section

• Use{{Infobox rail}}to present standardized summary information about the railroad;{{Infobox SG rail}}is a special case that has thegaugeparameter already filled in forstandard gaugerailroads.

Standard subsections

• History of the railroad and significant predecessors and/or successors (history may be broken up into further subsections as appropriate)
• Territory and/or station list
• Company officers (presidents and CEOs only) through history
• Major service areas

DEFAULTSORT

Adefault sort keyshould be created by removing commas andconjunctions,adding an extra space before the "Railroad" or "Railway", spelling out abbreviations like St., and "updating" old spellings likePittsburg.For instance,Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway,Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad,Chicago and North Western Railway,andChicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroadwould be "Chicago Milwaukee Saint Paul Railway", "Chicago Milwaukee Saint Paul Pacific Railroad", "Chicago North Western Railway", and "Chicago Rock Island Pacific Railroad", and would appear in that order in categories such asCategory:Former Class I railroads in the United States.

Articles about rail transport equipment (rolling stock) style guide

General

• Do not use "she" to describe equipment.
• Use{{Infobox Locomotive}}for motive power.

Article name

• Articles about a generic type of equipment should use the equipment type's most general name with subsections for specific subtypes (such asRefrigerator car)
• Articles about a specific model of equipment that may have been used by more than one company should be named as MANUFACTURER MODEL (such asEMD SD40-2)
• Articles about a specific class of equipment used by a specific railroad company should be named with the most common company and class names (such asPRR K4s)
• Articles about specific single pieces of equipment should be named with the most common name used to identify the equipment, using disambiguation as appropriate (such asJohn Bull (locomotive)); if the equipment is known by its operating number, the number should be prefaced with the most common railroad identifier (such asSanta Fe 3751)

Standard subsections

• Design and historical development
• Export Variations
• Rebuilds
• Preservation

Articles about named passenger train services style guide

Summary information and lead section

• The first sentence of the article text should list the service name, operating railroad(s), service endpoints (i.e. Chicago to Los Angeles) and the beginning and ending service years; for example, the following would be an acceptable lead sentence:

  TheFooian Expresswas a passenger train service operated by theBar None RailroadbetweenFrozz, Michigan,andBazz, Ohio,from 1882 to 1926.

General

• Within the article text, train names are italicized (as inSuper Chief)
• For Amtrak services, use{{Infobox rail service}}and the appropriate footer navbox(es)

Article name

• The article name should be the service's official name
• Where disambiguation is necessary, first disambiguate to "(train)", as inChief (train),then to individual railroad companies as needed, as inOverland Limited (ATSF train)andOverland Limited (UP train).
• Do not use the word "the" in the article title unless it is part of the service's official name

Standard subsections

• History
• Route and equipment used
• Legacy

Categories

• Add articles to the appropriate[[Category:Railway services introduced in YEAR]]and[[Category:Railway services discontinued in YEAR]],whereYEARis the year that the named service began or ended.
• Where there is a category for the operating railroad, add the article to that category (and to the specific passenger service subcategory if it exists)
• For named passenger services, add it to the appropriate category underCategory:Named passenger trains

Articles about railway stations style guide

See also:Wikipedia:WikiProject Stations § Article structure

Opening date

For the opening date, if there are multiple dates (such as a "grand opening" prior to the start of revenue service), use the start of revenue service for the infobox and categorization, but discuss both dates in the article text.