Train-Themed License Plates?

Uh..is that a contraction for "magnetic levitation", or what? Maybe owner writes science fiction?

I have seen "choo-choo" on plates...wonder what the extra charge is....in various states?....in some, vanity plates seem common..

colorado hirailer posted:

Uh..is that a contraction for "magnetic levitation", or what? Maybe owner writes science fiction?

Could be sci-fi, but this is what I had in mind:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maglev

I have non-RR vanity plates that I got years ago to promote my short-lived technical writing business.  They are now $80 each year in Mass. and have become rare as a result. My mechanic says my ancient plates won't pass the next inspection, so tack on another fee to have the plates restamped ... it may be the last set for me. 

My long-time friend, Stan Kistler, has custom license plates that read MR ATSF.  And he certainly is.

I thought about using a railroad theme on my own plates, but they said "Santa Fe All the Way" was too long. 

I don't personally recall seeing many RR related vanity plates in Mass, if at all.  

I have a set of non-RR Mass vanity plates for an older car and they do have to be renewed every year and are expensive.

Due to the electronic/photographic tolling in Mass,  the RMV is cracking down this year on older plates that the system allegedly can't pick up. My wife had a rare Mass green number plate for the past 25+ years (rear only) that had to be replaced with the new red number (front and rear) plates for an extra registration fee, because nobody would pass the car for inspection with the old plates. Just a way for Taxachusetts to phase out the old plates and generate more revenue.  

TomlinsonRunRR posted:

I have non-RR vanity plates that I got years ago to promote my short-lived technical writing business.  They are now $80 each year in Mass. and have become rare as a result. My mechanic says my ancient plates won't pass the next inspection, so tack on another fee to have the plates restamped ... it may be the last set for me. 

Here is the People’s Republic of Puget (known the rest of the country as Washington State), we have something similar. Specialty plates cost a bundle, even the veteran plates. THAT irritates the heck out of me as I have to pay a lot of extra money if I want an Army plate, even though I served. I don’t expect to get one at a discount or for free, but I don’t think I should have to pay an extra $72.75 for one if I can prove I’ve served. Vanity plates will cost you $84.75. This why, I guess, you don’t see so many of them in this state.

I can’t think of anyone I know with a vanity plate that’s RR related. Maybe that’s because most of the train fans I know are comically cheap?

Growing up, my family would go to civil war re-enactments and competition shoots with my Dad’s M1841 6-pounder field gun (a cannon with spoked wheels, to the public). Another cannon owner had a Florida plate with “6 PDR” as the text. Even as a kid, I always wondered what people thought that meant when they weren’t hauling their own cannon on its trailer around…

I have a plate that reads PRR T1 here in PA.  Some think that it is actually  "Pretty One" since the car is quite pretty.

Over the years a couple guys have come up to me to talk about the T1,my favorite steam engine.....a real bonus.

Norm

Great story, Lee (as always :-).  Norm, nice plate!  Anything with PRR in it works for me.  For the fun of it, I just entered a few RR names in the vanity plate Search box at the Mass. Registry of Motor Vehicles.  Somebody is driving around with: Amtrak, PRR, and NYC ... But RRFAN is available.  (We only have 6 characters and no punctuation.)

TRRR <-- Hey, that would fit.

Pennsylvania offers a train license plate which depicts Griff Teller's painting of the Broadway Limited flying through central PA. I've had one for several years and just transferred it to my new car!!!

My wife's car as license plate "WESTIE 8", since we have West Highland White Terriers for more than 40 years.

My car has license plate "JJW 4449", for obvious reasons.

Apples55 posted:

Pennsylvania offers a train license plate which depicts Griff Teller's painting of the Broadway Limited flying through central PA. I've had one for several years and just transferred it to my new car!!!

Paul,

That is AWE-SOME!  I wonder if they'd sell to an out-of-stater?  I have to have one on my wall .

TRRR

Virginia also offers a good looking N&W J-611 Railway Heritage sample plate that can be customized for a slight fee.

https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/d...?PLT=JLOC&PLTNO=

I guessed right....magnetic levitation..and...it is no longer science fiction in comic books.  I have seen that Broadway Limited plate. Wonder how many sheckles it demands?  I give thanks my home state and this one's voters got rid of idiot inspections, revenue raising ripoffs. But what about states out of the ultratax belt? Some vanity plates must be cheap, as they don't seem uncommon.

I saw one that said "NOTCH 8." Again, pretty sure most of the general public has no idea what that means.

colorado hirailer posted:

I have seen that Broadway Limited plate. Wonder how many sheckles it demands?

PA charges an additional $54 fee for the "Preserve Our Heritage" plate.

Here's mine (less month and year stickers).  I'm a fan of the N&W and of the 611 J engine especially.  Virginia only charges $10 extra for the special plate and another $10 for the personalized letters (I can't tell you how many times people have come up to me to ask if I'm from Trinidad).  Dean

I have the VA one.

I used to have PRR 4877 as my license plate, but when the economy tanked it wasn't worth the $25 a year fee.  It was also a bit obscure in AZ.

This is my license plate. You may have seen it at York.

in calif they came out with a 1960 legacy plate that is $50 to order and only $40 additional a year to renew .  you can get personalized or regular for the same. other plats are more.

I got one that says something  for train fun

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/wasapp/ipp2/initPers.do

Dean Hall posted:

Virginia only charges $10 extra for the special plate and another $10 for the personalized letters  

That's a great plate and VERY reasonable charge. I'd get one for that amount in a heartbeat, especially as I've seen and ridden 611 back in the 80s and 90s...

I wish WA state could take a page from the VA playbook (WA is home of the highest gas and sales taxes in the country).

This was on my car till NYS wanted too much money to renew it. Its now on my train wall.

Since I have a Virginia RR Heritage plate there is no need to snap a picture.  However my plate number is RDG CO.

eddie g posted:

This is my license plate. You may have seen it at York.

Eddie G, you're a brave man driving around New England advertising the Yankees. It was great to meet you last week at York and hope to see you soon. 

John

bigdodgetrain posted:

in calif they came out with a 1960 legacy plate that is $50 to order and only $40 additional a year to renew .  you can get personalized or regular for the same. other plats are more.

 

I got one that says something  for train fun

 

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/wasapp/ipp2/initPers.do

Here is bigdodgetrain's I took a picture of it last time our group set up our modular layout

"Eddie G, you're a brave man driving around New England advertising the Yankees."

Tell 'em Eddie-you can take the boy out of New York but  you can't New York out of the boy.

train1872h posted:

This was on my car till NYS wanted too much money to renew it. Its now on my train wall.

I made it better: 

Anyway, PA has done some train plates, I've only seen them with the K4 and it says preserve history (I think). If they haven't discontinued them, I hope I can get one when I become of driving age - and own a car. 

saw this plate and bumper sticker at a train show here in Maryland a month or two ago...

Here's some I found at York

Hey everyone, what great (and colorful) posts!  Thanks and keep 'em coming. 

Tomlinson Run Railroad (I particularly liked the "L E Vated" :-)

train1872h posted:

This was on my car till NYS wanted too much money to renew it. Its now on my train wall.

700E would make a great plate!

York is a great place to find RR theme plates.  I've seen those posted and others as well

Fantastic collection, Mr. Butler! 

A vanity plate is now $76. in PA, recently up from $36.. But that is a one time charge. My plate is LEWES, the Delaware town our beach house is in. 

I recently ordered this plate for my truck:

TOY RR

It should be here in a few weeks. 

John

In NY, I have "TOYTRA1N." Apologizes to whomever has "TOYTRAIN." 

Tom

Next plate I get will be either NS6770 or NSSD60M...

Good choices everyone!  I must confess when I recently had to get new vanity plates to pass inspection, I opted for my old standby initials.  

Have any of you seen the new digital license plates?  There are newer articles and videos available, but I had this link handy:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com...us-fuming-180971093/

About 8 states will have them in the future.

In theory, not only can you have a train-themed plate tag, but while your vehicle is parked, you could display a photo of your favorite locomotive, train station, layout, hobby shop, etc.  I don't recall whether videos are supported, but that would be cool -- how about showing those old films of train collisions at county fairs? 

Prices range around $700, so I'll never complain about my plate costs again.

One flaw I see vs. the traditional metal plate is this:  Imagine you are parallel parked. Some nut in a hurry tries to cram in to the tight space behind you, "touching" your bumper in the process.  CRUNCH.  I plan on drawing a cartoon entitled "What could go wrong?" or "It seemed like a good idea at the time".  Maybe I'll use a train plate in the illustration -- perhaps something with a PRR or steam era tie-in?

Tomlinson Run Railroad

Here's a rather long video (9 min.) but it showcases the available digital license plate customizations ...

If you spend $1000 on a model engine, what's another thousand to advertise it on your truck or car? :-).  

Oh, and the presenter claims the front glass is "bullet proof":

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7STn_OgU0do

TRRR

Texas is quite reasonable on custom license plates, and it offers a very large number of plate designs.  The plate design costs $25 extra and the custom letters/numbers cost $40 extra.  This is on top of the $60 annual fee for the registration.  All Texas plates are automatically renewed every three or four years at no extra cost, to keep the reflective surface and the holograms (in the Scotchlite) in good condition.

I have a God Bless Texas plate with a Lone Star Flag and custom lettering MTNST (empty nest) on the Suburban which cost $125, and my wife has a Bluebonnet (state flower) plate on her car, no special lettering, at $85 yearly.

You can get all major texas university plates, and also some out of state universities.  I have seen a couple of University of Oklahoma Texas plates.  That's similar to the one pictured earlier with the New York Yankees frame in Massachusetts.  Brave souls, but Texans are generally friendly about things like this, especially during any year following a UT victory over OU in football.

Railroad themed plates?  Texas is not the place where they are most common.  Maybe I should change mine to ATSF YALL or TX CHIEF or MR P&SF or PLAINS DIV.

This just arrived today.

I’m a big N&W 611 fan.

Here's mine.

Joe, I'm glad to see you have the RR plate now that you're in PA; if I lived there, I'd definitely have that too. 

John

Fast Fr8

This came in a month or so ago.

Too cheap to pay the $80 per year fee in Mass but I did spring for this holder...

Richie C. posted:

Too cheap to pay the $80 per year fee in Mass but I did spring for this holder...

Nice alternative/compromise, Richie!  I'll keep my eyes out for you on the local roads if you are ever in the MetroWest area :-).

NCJOE we have the PA RR plate on both my wife’s car and my truck. Nice plate. 

I just saw this thread.  Here's mine:

And here are some from the local train guys:

TomlinsonRunRR posted:

Richie C. posted:

Too cheap to pay the $80 per year fee in Mass but I did spring for this holder...

Nice alternative/compromise, Richie!  I'll keep my eyes out for you on the local roads if you are ever in the MetroWest area :-).

I'm on the Northshore (temptingly close to Charles Ro and Northeast Trains), but frequently in the MetroWest area to visit my daughter and grandkids so keep those eyes out.  

Bob posted:

I just saw this thread.  Here's mine:

 

Trains and sci-fi go hand in hand. I remember many years ago, going to a sci-fi convention and running into some train buffs. We spent most of the day talking trains, to the baffled looks of passers-by.

One of those guys is one my best friends, over 30 years later!

As for license plates in general, personalized plates are insanely expensive in my state and you have to pay that really high fee every single year, so they're not that common here.

OK, this post is a bit of a stretch but it *is* subway and commuter rail related.  Here's a photo taken today of a "T" license plate on what I'm guessing is a generator or air compressor.  This plate appears on city buses and on cars for "The Ride" -- some sort of an automobile service to fill in where the transit system (trains; subway i.e.,"The T"; and buses) don't go. 

This photo was taken in Ayer, Massachusetts on the north side of Pan Am (Guilford)/Norfolk Southern double tracks that support both the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter rail and the aforementioned freight lines.  There's something interesting going on along those tracks, which I'll post separately under Real Trains.

The Ingersoll-Rand tow-able whateveritis has single axle trailer-style tires and front and rear rail wheels, so it clearly can ride the rails. Notice the blue speck in the distance in the shot below. The bonus surprise is a leased CIT engine 3809, a GP38-3:

Here's the CIT parked on a siding while the commuter rail heads west toward the Ayer platform.

While this plate isn't a vanity plate per se, it is subway/commuter rail MOW related, which got me poking around the internet. The MBTA plate also came in the prior green color (internet photo):

The Massachusetts Transit Authority, which predated the MBTA, had an austere black plate -- almost Puritanical (internet):

Lastly, the Transit Police have their own plates.  Here's number one (internet) and an example of a transit police car (Wikipedia) with an updated version:

Got any transit or transit police plates to post from your neck of the woods?

Tomlinson Run Railroad

In Wisconsin our custom plates are around $95 and now it sounds like they are going up. My plate is GNX 582.....that's my caboose number and reporting marks. I'd also like to investigate the plate holder as shown in this posting. Anyone know of the source?

Jeff,

It looks like the locense holder with the caboose on it is available on the Bay for $9.95. Search for CafePress "railroad license holder".  Other sites, including CafePress itself, are charging double that. That is an amazing caboose restoration! Thanks for posting the photos.

TRRR

Racketeering and extortion. 

So far I hadn't found the plate in question, but I will keep looking. Thanks for the information. Glad you like the restoration too.

Somewhere in my stuff, I have a Washington, DC (WMATA) bicentennial bus tag from a bus in a junkyard. Sorry, no photos of it.

Also at one time I had a VW bus with the MD (MU CAR) plate below:

MU CAR referred to multiple-unit cars such as the PRR MP-54.

The CA plate was the first plate that was issued in my name.

Jeff B. Haertlein posted:

In Wisconsin our custom plates are around $95 and now it sounds like they are going up. My plate is GNX 582.....that's my caboose number and reporting marks. I'd also like to investigate the plate holder as shown in this posting. Anyone know of the source?

Also on Amazon for $9.95, plus free shipping for Prime members.

They also have a number of other interesting train-related license plate holders, including a couple of model railroad ones.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=rai...r&ref=nb_sb_noss

I got it, thanks for taking the time to zero me in on this!