Toronto’s new subway tunnel boring machine honours David Bowie

It’s become a thing for cities and public institutions to ask for suggestions on what to name new pieces of equipment. The most famous of these was a British polar research vessel was dubbed Boaty McBoatface after a country-wide contest. In Scotland, they had competitions to name their “gritters” (their version of snowplows). Winners there included Sled Zeppelin, Gritney Spears, and Spready Mercury.

The latest involves Toronto and one of the giant German-built boring machines that will be used to tunnel the Scarborough Subway. The winning name? Diggy Scardust–“Diggy” as in “Ziggy,” of course, and “Scar” to denote that the work is being done beneath Scarborough. The name was submitted by Jean-Pierre Veilleux.

Before you ask, yes, someone suggested “Diggy McDigface.”

There are two more tunnelers being pressed into service for the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension. The winning names in that contest were “Rexy” and “Renny.” Those are derived from the neighbourhoods through with the line will run (Rexdale and there will be a Renforth Station). Oh-hum.

(Via BlogTO)