Etymology. Stub.

[don warner saklad]

Thank you AlanB !

What is the etymology of the term?... stub

 

[AlanB]

Well if you're after the history of how it came to be called a stub train, I have no clue how or when that practice started. Sorry.

If you're looking for more of a definition of Stub Train, then basically it means a train that typically runs a short distance to allow passengers to then transfer to yet another train, which is typically a train that runs for a much longer distance than the stub train. And the main point of the stub train is to allow passengers to connect, not so much as to ride between two intermediary points along the run.

That's not to say that Amtrak won't carry passengers between stations on that line, but the train isn't being run for that purpose. It's purpose in life is to connect passengers from those stations to the parent train.

At one time the Boston Lake Shore Limited used to be a connecting train, meaning that it's cars were combined with those cars from the larger parent train that runs out of NY and continued on to Chicago. And of course that meant that the passengers did not have to physically transfer themselves and their luggage from one train car to another.