railroads and engineers. It is a pet peeve of many engineers that their profession is confused with the occupation of railroad engine operator. They consider it a stale joke at best, after they identify themselves to be an engineer, to have someone ask if they drive a locomotive. Historically, the word engineer designated someone who designed engines before it did someone who drove or operated them; however, to some laypeople the latter definition is the one that comes first to mind.

The locomotive engineer's cap, made out of the tightly woven and strong cotton upholstery fabric known as ticking, has also been annoyingly associated with engineers who have no connection to trains. Next to cartoon depictions of engineers in hard hats are those caricaturing them in the railroader's cap. I was conflicted at my university's commencement ceremony one year when the graduates receiving engineering degrees were handed blue-and-white striped caps as they marched to their seats. The idea was that at the end of the ceremony they would doff their mortarboards and put on the caps. The well-intended but ill-advised act of camaraderie nevertheless bothered some other engineering faculty members, who had also fought the misdirected stereotype of engineers as train drivers. Fortunately, the attempt to establish a commencement “tradition” lasted only a year or two before being forgotten.