of a steady supply of articles and Submittal Guide pdf
photos, and we want your input. This
Style Guide should help you with
routine language uses associated with
our publications.
Style Guide
This
style Guide has been prepared by WRP staff, including Kevin EuDaly, Mike
Schafer, and Dale Sanders for use by magazine authors and editors during
preparation of articles, photo captions, and columns. It should be adhered
to strictly so that each editor's writing fits in with the flow of the
magazines. Following this style guide will also produce material that can be
read and understood by even the most novice of readers. If you have any
questions, suggestions, or additions, please contact Kevin EuDaly.
Our magazines are primarily news and hobby magazines and do
not pretend to be the pronouncer of all that is good and bad in the world.
Please resist the temptation to point out that whoever you're writing about
is stupid, short-sighted, or whatever, and especially avoid political
statements that clearly indicate your position. It's ludicrous to blame
things on President Clinton or President Bush, or even the parties they
represent -- odds are they have very little to do with anything we're writing
about (including Amtrak). Please allow our readers to be smart enough to
figure it out for themselves. Also, remember that our magazines are
subscribed to by numerous people in railroad management and unions, as well
as everyday railroaders, modelers, and rail enthusiasts. If you bash a
political party, odds are you're bashing half our readership. If you bash a
railroad or its management, you're likely bashing a number of our readers.
At the end of the day it's not worth it.
Submitting text, photos, columns, etc., is covered in detail
in the Submittal Guide that appears
at whiteriverproductions.com.
Word usage etc.:
Abbreviations:
Try to limit the use of abbreviations. Too many abbreviations make the text
choppy and difficult to read. Follow these guidelines:
Cities: Do not abbreviate cities such as L.A. or S.F. Spell
them out. Avoid nicknames such as "the Windy City," etc.
Days of the week: Do not abbreviate days of the week.
Months: Do not abbreviate months of the year.
Nations: Generally, avoid use of periods in USA, USSR,
etc., but "U.S." is fine when not including the "A."
Organizations: DOT, FRA, ICC, PUC do not require periods.
Railroads: UP, BN, SP, CSX, D&H, NS, etc. No periods but
use ampersands (&). Always spell out Conrail, Guilford, Southern, Alaska,
and other one-word railroads.
Railroad names: avoid use of "the" in front of the
railroad's name. Example: The D&H is looking for ways to speed up schedules
(incorrect). SP will combine power with Rio Grande (correct). One exception:
"The Milwaukee Road" is the name of the railroad, so "The" should always
precede "Milwaukee Road." It is proper to use "the" when the railroad name
is used as a modifier. Example: The SP system is power-short. Since many
lines have been absorbed, merged, etc., it's helpful to refer to the line's
previous owner. Examples: Conrail trains have been using this former NYC
line since September. UP's former MoPac line to Pueblo has little local
traffic. Always use former, instead of "ex-" when referring to a railroad or
line; "ex-" is used when referring to the former owner of a locomotive.
Example: ex-BN SD45.
States: Do not abbreviate states or provinces except in
addresses. When abbreviating before a zip code, use the standard USPS two
letter abbreviation (both letters capitalized and no period).
United States: no periods: US
Washington, DC: No periods.
Other abbreviations:
horsepower: hp
miles per hour: mph
pound(s): lb. lbs.
Acronyms: Acronyms such as RAMAC car facility and TEBU should not be used without first identifying the compound term from which it is derived. Example: "Southern Pacific's Tractive Effort Booster Units (TEBU) will be assigned to the Pyramid Lake line next month. This latest batch of TEBUs will be mated with SP's new DDA40Xs..." Once an acronym has been defined it may be used throughout the same story without its definition. Always define these acronyms no matter how commonplace they may seem.
among or amongst: always "among" -- "amongst" is British.
as vs. because: As is not a substitute for because. Example: "As weed control was done in the spring, the winter months..." should be "Because weed control was done in the spring, the winter months..."
Builders: EMD, GE, BLW, FM, Lima, and Alco (not ALCO or ALCo)
Colons/Commas/Semicolons:
Colons: Use a colon at the end of a sentence to introduce
lists or tabulations. Example: Guilford's roster includes: MEC U23Bs, ST
SD26s, etc. The next word after a colon is not capitalized
Commas: Use commas to separate elements in a series or set
off phrases. The word "and" should be preceded by a comma when it's the last
item of a list. Example: "Damaged in the wreck were three GP40s, two GP39s,
and one GP9.
Semicolons: 1) to avoid confusion and divide separate
elements in a series when individual elements contain commas or 2) to link
independent clauses when a coordinating conjunction (and, but) is not
present. Example: Johnson stole second base; he was called out on the
ensuing play.
Crediting photographers: The rule is the credit
should stand out from the text and should be italicized. The word
"collection" designating that it's a photo in a person's collection and not
one he took, should always be lower case. It's best to put "photo" after the
name so the credit is obvious, and this also distinguishes "collection"
photos from ones that have been taken by the person in the credit. Example:
in the end. -- Dale Sanders photo
Dates:
Exact dates: spell out, set year off with commas. Example:
"December 7, 1941." When in the middle of the sentence, set of the year with
commas: "On August 29, 2006, White River Productions agreed to acquire RRI
from Hundman Publishing."
Month/year: no commas. Example: June 1938 (never use "of"
i.e. June of 1938).
Plural, no apostrophe. Example: 1940s.
Centuries: capitalize. Example: 20th Century.
the Depression, or the Great Depression (capitalized)
Directions: Do not capitalize north, south, east or west except when it appears as part of a proper name. Example: East Sibley (correct) East of Sibley (incorrect). Capitalize when indicating a specific region of the country. Example: The Southeast was hit hard by storms, as was the Midwest. East Coast and West Coast are also capitalized.
Divisions and subdivisions: when specific, capitalize, otherwise, don't. Example: C&O's Cheviot Subdivision was part of the Chicago Division. He worked his way down the subdivision to the yard. Capitalize routes such as the Sunset Route, Moffat Road, Bee Line, St. Charles Air Line, etc.
Evening/morning: Lower case in small caps: 7:15AM, 7:15PM -- leave as lower case and small cap them.
Ellipses: these are not three periods, they are a specific character used to start a quote in the middle of a sentence, and don't need any spaces: "Give me liberty... or give me death!" -- Patrick Henry
etc.: Substitutes include "and so forth" or "and so on" which avoids using an abbreviation at the end of the sentence. It never needs "and" preceding it, as the Latin includes "and" in the meaning of the two words "et cetera."
Feet/inches measurements: A board that measures 26-feet, 3-inches; or a 26-foot, 3-inch board.
Houses: All houses are one word: roundhouse, scalehouse, and freighthouse.
Hyphenation: Use hyphens to
connect two or more words to convey a single idea. The following list
includes some of the most common hyphenated words used by staff editors:
100-ton, Auto-Train, bad-order, bi-level, dead-in-tow, double-stack,
ex-Conrail, first-generation, low-cost, hours-of-service,
maintenance-of-way, mid-December, on-line, pick-ups, push-pull, re-engined,
right-of-way, run-through, Sea-Land, set-offs, start-up, time-freight,
trade-in, two-man, way-freight. There are some terms that are written as one
word, including: autorack, boxcar, branchline, deadhead, hotbox, mainline
(except when used as a noun, i.e. "...on the main line.").
Three lengths of dashes:
dash - used for hyphenating words
and diesel designations
en dash
-- used to span series such
as locations (with no spaces): Lee--Hart, or numbers including dates:
1938--1944; locomotives numbered 2300--2399
em dash --- as a spacer between
phrases, with spaces: "...is perhaps its only real claim to fame --- and that,
like"
it's or its: Simple rule: "It's" is the contraction of "it is" so if you can substitute "it is" in the sentence use "it's" -- otherwise, use its for the possessive: Example: "The SD40-2 blew its turbocharger. It's expected to be back in service soon."
Locomotive consists, etc.:
Consists can be listed with slashes, using the railroad initials only for
offline railroads. Examples: (WP consists) 3559/2262/3015 (GP40-2/U23B/GP35)
...3559/UP-3265/BN-6516 (GP40-2/SD40-2/SD45)...3559/3558/3557 (three GP40-2s).
When listing a group of locomotives that are not lashed up as a consist,
such as units going to scrap, use commas to divide rather than slashes.
Also, identify all model numbers either in parentheses after the engine
number or before listing. Example: Burlington Northern SD45s 6516, 6542,
6550, and 6551 will be placed in long-term storage. Units awaiting sale
include 830, 831, 832, and 834 (F9s).
Apostrophes: Do not use apostrophes after locomotive model
numbers. Apostrophes are used to show possession only. Example: The
westbound train had three SD40-2s (correct). The new SD60's arrived last
month (incorrect). The SD40-2's prime mover is a 16-cylinder diesel
(correct, shows possession). To see a list of locomotive designations, go to
the last page of the Style Guide PDF.
Locomotives at end of a line: never break the locomotive designation: i.e. "SD40-2" must stay together
Main line vs. mainline: Mainline, branchline, and shortline are always one word.
Mileposts and Locations: When
referring to obscure railroad locations or sidetracks, try to identify their
location by associating with a larger, well-known city or town. Example:
SP's Shasta Route has been plagued with a rash of derailments at Hotlum, 31
miles north of Dunsmuir. Remember, station sites we deal with all the time
and take for granted are unknown to readers on the other side of the
country. Always list the state after every location, town or siding, unless
it is a huge city like Chicago, Houston, or New York, or has previously been
identified in the article. Write so that people unfamiliar with the region
can understand it.
Mileposts: When referring to mileposts (always one word,
not capitalized), don't use the word "milepost" unless it's an integer, such
as milepost 184. Mileposts don't exist at 104.4. When referring to locations
by mile use the word "mile" (mile 23.7).
Numbers: spell out ten and below. Use commas in numbers over 999 (1,101). Spell out percent instead of using the % sign except in tables; percent is one word. Other examples: a six-year-old girl, a five-to-four court decision, $1.05, $655,000, $2.45 million, six GP40s and 27 U25Bs.
off: always "off" never "off of." Example: "President McGinnis fell off his chair." (correct). "Kevin is off of his rocker." (incorrect).
OK: This is fine to use in all but the most formal writing, and comes from "orl korrect" a colloquial usage invented in Boston in 1839, and meaning "all correct." It's OK to use it like this, with no periods, something can be OK'd, or someone can be OK'ing something.
Parentheses: Use parentheses and em-hyphens sparingly; most phrases should be set off with commas.
Quotes: Use
quotation marks to set off names of television shows and movies. Words used
that are jargon or slang and not the normal or proper usage should also be
placed in quotes. Example: The C&NW "Belt Line" through Cedar Rapids...
Quotes and punctuation:
punctuation always goes inside the quote marks: i.e. He would ride in the "railfan
seat," and would...
Quotes within quotes: are single apostrophe: "...he would
ride in the 'railfan seat,' and would..." At the end of a sentence: "...he would
ride in the 'railfan seat.'"
Scales: caps with no dashes: O scale, HO scale, and N scale
Seasons: no caps: winter, spring, summer, and fall (or autumn)
that or which?: "That" is by far the most common word, and usually can be substituted for "who(m)" or "which." "Which" generally implies a choice between two or more things. Examples: "He had to decide which way to go."
toward or towards: Always "toward"
Titles of people: high-up titles are capatilized only when preceding a name, otherwise lower case: "There was a time when the New Haven's President McGinnis met with Robert Young, president of the C&O."
Titles of our publications: use small caps and italics: NORTH WESTERN LINES. Our magazines names should always be referred to as the title without "the" in front of it: RAILROADS ILLUSTRATED, PASSENGER TRAIN JOURNAL, not "the Railroads Illustrated." Exceptions include where the magazine title starts with "The" as in THE MILWAUKEE RAILROADER and THE DIAMOND.
Train Symbols/Numbers/Names: Always list origin-destination-train type after the symbol or number. Example: LABRT (Los Angeles-Brooklyn Trailers), No. 170 (Bieber-Spokane manifest). Do not leave numbers or symbols without these descriptions. Not all of our readers know these symbols as well as we do. If you don't know or can't list the details of a train symbol or number don't use it, simply state that the train was an eastbound, westbound, etc. When listing trains by their direction, capitalize as follows: Extra 3557 West, Extra East 703, etc. Use No. or Nos. in front of train numbers; not in front of locomotive numbers. Example: No. 76, the Lark (correct); engine 3051 (correct). All train names should be in italics. Example: "The Humming Bird was L&N's..."
United States: Abbreviated with no periods or spaces: US for United States, and DC for Dictrict of Columbia.
utilized: most of the time "used" is better. Some linguists indicate that "used" can always be substituted for "utilized." However, "utilized" carries a connotation of putting something to practical use as opposed to simply operating something. Thus the sentence "The publishers were unable to use the new computers" might mean only that we were unable to operate the computers, whereas "The publishers were unable to utilize the new computers" suggests that we could not find ways to employ the computers in publishing.
Yards/trestles/bridges/viaduct: When in proper names, all are capitalized: Neff Yard, Limedale Bridge, Wooded Hills Trestle, Starrucca Viaduct.
