Talk:Stoneham station

Article title

Inasmuch as "Stoneham Railroad Depot" is a descriptive name and not a proper noun, Stoneham station would seem to be the better title under WP:USSTATION, especially as the building isn't in active use under the former name. The building wouldn't have been known as the "Stoneham Railroad Depot" during its period of active use; the name was simply adopted during the NRHP process to describe the building. Mackensen (talk) 12:39, 20 June 2019 (UTC)

• Actually, looking at the NRHP forms, the building was listed as the Boston and Maine Railroad Depot, also a descriptive name. That resulted in the original title of Boston and Maine Railroad Depot (Stoneham, Massachusetts), which is awkward. Steve Lux, Jr. moved it to "Stoneham Railroad Depot" in 2017 with the summary "more consistent naming as other articles". Be that as it may, the current title has no basis in the history of the property and conflicts with relevant guidelines. If we're doing natural disambiguation instead of the NRHP title, then the article title should be "Stoneham station." Mackensen (talk) 12:46, 20 June 2019 (UTC)

The term depot is more accurate that the term station, first of all. Secondly, the more common and descriptive name for this location would be Stoneham Railroad Depot. Accurate, descriptive, and common. Steve Lux, Jr. (talk) 13:03, 20 June 2019 (UTC)

The terms "depot" and "station" are interchangeable, but for the purposes of consistency station is preferred by all naming conventions, not just USSTATION. Unless you're claiming "Stoneham Railroad Depot" is a proper name this title also runs afoul of WP:NCCAPS. Furthermore, this building was frequently referred to as a "station" in contemporary sources. See for example this article about the construction of the current building in 1895. Mackensen (talk) 13:13, 20 June 2019 (UTC)

The terms are NOT interchangeable as you stated. Please research this as depot is in fact more accurate and traditional for the lines in New England. Steve Lux, Jr. (talk) 13:29, 20 June 2019 (UTC)

Plenty of sources use the terms interchangeably, including those in New England. The newspaper article I linked refers to the "station", but then also refers to the "freight depot" as part of the station (not the part that still stands). Furthermore, there's no naming convention which endorses titling articles about stations "depot" if they happen to be in New England. That usage is by no means confined to New England, and in the context of a station which receives passengers there is no difference whatsoever between a station and a depot, and per MOS:ENGVAR and MOS:COMMONALITY "station" is preferred. You've also not addressed the capitalization problem. The result is a title which is arbitrary and contrary to policy, guidelines, and standard practice. Mackensen (talk) 14:21, 20 June 2019 (UTC)

"Stoneham Railroad Depot" is a phrase that you appear to have invented, Steve - I can find no use of the term except on Wikipedia mirrors and derivatives. What evidence do you have that this was ever used before 2017, much less the common name? Pi.1415926535 (talk) 15:45, 20 June 2019 (UTC)

Steve Lux, for clarification, how is "Stoneham Railroad Depot" more common? This is the only place where that name exists. You stated that it was more accurate and descriptive, but you've capitalized it as if it's a common name. I don't quite understand your stance with this. If you were advocating for "Stoneham railroad depot" that would be one thing, but I get the feeling you want to keep the current name because you really want the station itself to be named that, regardless of its past or real name. Does anyone know what the station was called on old timetables? Was it just "Stoneham" or "Stoneham Depot"? Given WP:USSTATION, I find that to be the most important aspect here. Grk1011 (talk) 15:50, 20 June 2019 (UTC)

The Official Guide simply lists it as "Stoneham", though it would only include qualifying notes where a name might be ambiguous (for example, for Nashua it reads "Nashua (Union Sta.)". There's similar usage in File:Boston and Maine Railroad 1946 timetable.pdf. Stoneham is Stoneham, while places like Worcester and Nashua are qualified. Realistically this place was called "Stoneham", appending "station" or "depot" is a form of natural disambiguation. Mackensen (talk) 16:06, 20 June 2019 (UTC)

NRHP articles seem to want to name buildings as "Xxx Train Station" and "Xxx Railroad Depot"; contrary to all the conventions cited above. Stoneham station is the correct article title. Useddenim (talk) 20:04, 21 June 2019 (UTC)