The Lemon Fool

Afternoon all

I was waiting for a train today and heard the announcement that my train would be, ‘formed of five carriages’.

I hadn’t heard the phrase, ‘formed of’ before - is it correct? I’m not too sure what a suitable alternative might be.

Cheers, OLTB.

OLTB wrote:Afternoon all

I was waiting for a train today and heard the announcement that my train would be, ‘formed of five carriages’.

I hadn’t heard the phrase, ‘formed of’ before - is it correct? I’m not too sure what a suitable alternative might be.

Cheers, OLTB.

'comprised of'?

'comprises'?

Watis

Sounds OK to me -Formed of [stuff] Formed by [agent or action]

Unlike "this train will shortly be arriving into Oxford", which doesn't.

"formed of" is the correct terminology. Railway employees might also talk of a train being "short-formed", meaning that it is comprised of fewer than the normal number of carriages.

You could also say 'is made up of five carriages' which I think says the same as 'formed of five carriages' but to me would be a more natural expression. 'Formed of' though seems to me to be a perfectly acceptable expression.

Dod

Sounds fine to me.

"This train has five carriages" would be more concise. But perhaps too concise for a noisy environment, where the slightly more verbose and less everyday "formed of" might offer a useful audio cue.

UncleEbenezer wrote:Sounds fine to me.

"This train has five carriages" would be more concise. But perhaps too concise for a noisy environment, where the slightly more verbose and less everyday "formed of" might offer a useful audio cue.

I was thinking that, ‘this train has five carriages’ would be clearer, but as has been mentioned above, perhaps formed of is ok.

I wonder what my dinner will be formed of tonight?

Cheers, OLTB.

OLTB wrote:

I wonder what my dinner will be formed of tonight?

Cheers, OLTB.

In your original post you omitted to include/explain that the train which would be formed of five cariages would include at least one cariage formed of restaurant services.

panamagold wrote:

OLTB wrote:

I wonder what my dinner will be formed of tonight?

Cheers, OLTB.

In your original post you omitted to include/explain that the train which would be formed of five cariages would include at least one cariage formed of restaurant services.

Ahh, unfortunately not - a strangely formed train company employee pushing a trolley was the extent of refreshments.

Cheers, OLTB.

Railway staff have been using the phrase for at least 40 years round London

Here is a bungalow formed of two carriages:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6873345/Three-bedroom-detached-Bognor-bungalow-built-two19th-century-restored-train-carriages.html

Pagham is apparently well known for the number so created.

OLTB wrote:I wonder what my dinner will be formed of tonight?
Cheers, OLTB.

Given my current expansion around the middle my dinner will definitely be formed of only one course.

In the case of, say, an HST would 'this train is formed of eight carriages' be correct ?
They are actually formed of eight carriages and two Class 43 power cars

AleisterCrowley wrote:In the case of, say, an HST would 'this train is formed of eight carriages' be correct ?
They are actually formed of eight carriages and two Class 43 power cars

If you don't regard a power car (or driving trailer) as a carriage then perhaps. It's ten vehicles, eight of which are carriages.

Railway speak might talk of a train formation, thus "formed of".

I'll have to look at the dot matrix on my local line next time I'm travelling to see what verb or verbal expression is used.

There's also the American noun "consist". British usage would have this as a verb. "This train consists of three coaches/carriages", rather than "The train consist is three coaches/carriages".

It's a train formed of ten units, eight of which are (Mark 3) carriages

AleisterCrowley wrote:It's a train formed of ten units, eight of which are (Mark 3) carriages

Given that the targets of the announcement are the passengers, "formed of eight carriages" is really the only relevant information.

Scott.

Doesn't 'formed of' usually imply the whole thing e.g. 'formed of iron, copper, and some trace elements"

Alaric wrote:There's also the American noun "consist". British usage would have this as a verb. "This train consists of three coaches/carriages", rather than "The train consist is three coaches/carriages".

The term "consist" (noun) is used in the UK too and provides a technical description of the train formation. Here's the definition from the UK's Rail Standards and Safety Board: "The train consist is a defined entity within the GB rail industry; it comprises the identity, order and orientation of each vehicle."

"Formed from"?

XFool wrote:"Formed from"?

E.g. The train is formed from the carriages available.

TJH