Model Railway Forum

A bit off subject - but then I think this is a place for this!

Ebay are getting rid of their Americanisms in their categories. In the past they have used:
Model Railroads

But they are trying to standardise across all their international sites, so are changing the category to:
Model Railways & Trains

I have been a member since 2002 and that is what it was originally before they shifted to railroads.

I always thought it said model railways

Maybe the OP saw the term railroads on the eBay USA site rather than the UK one?

I didn't put into my first post as was not sure, but, I agree I think the change to Railroads was recent, now they are returning to a more generic name.

Ebay are trying to make classification names more internationally friendly. So maybe they had a backlash from places like UK when they adopted an American name?

nope WTD and Steve, op is correct, definitively was model railroads and I am a regular buyer and seller since 2002 and visit the site many times each day.

dtb so you’re saying it was model railways and the changed to railroads and now they have changed back. So much for my observation skills.

Contrary to popular oppinion, the term railroad was origionally an early term used in Britain before the term railway was used. Though I am guessing, but it may have changed when the term tramway came in and when individual tramways may have given way to larger railway systems as time progressed?
I do know that on very old maps like the one I have that they use the term railroad.
Similarly when one looks at old UK documents the term turnout is used. The term points was not used until later. What I believe happened is that when the railways began in America they used the old British terms when they shipped them over, and here as things progressed we changed the terms due to how our use of language changed and over there they did not change those terms?

It is interesting though to discover things like this. The old term tramroad was popular as well on maps and in various documents back then, so at one time tramroad and railroad gave way to tramway and railway. At a guess this would have been somewhere in the mid 1800's but I am not sure. The early 1800's they were using the term road.

Walkingthedog wrote: ↑Fri Apr 15, 2022 8:02 am dtb so you’re saying it was model railways and the changed to railroads and now they have changed back. So much for my observation skills.

yes Brian