188. Italicize the Names of Certain Vehicles

Today we will talk about using italics for the names of certain means of transportation.

1- We always italicize the name of ships.

The Titanic sank on its tragic maiden voyage from Europe to the United States.
The USS Arizona is now a memorial at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii.

2- Certain long-distance train routes are named, and those train names must be italicized.

The Heartland Flyer runs daily between Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Fort Worth, Texas.
If you want to see the countryside, ride the Southwest Chief from Chicago to Los Angeles.

3-The names of special space vehicles and airplanes should be italicized.

The Space Shuttle Challenger was scheduled to carry the first teacher into space.
The Concorde, a supersonic passenger airliner, had a maximum speed of more than twice the speed of sound.

We use italics for the names of ships, long-distance trains, space vehicles, and special airplanes.

  • It’s your turn. Which words in this sentence should be italicized? I rode the Heartland Flyer down to Texas so I could watch the Challenger lift off for space. I hope you italicized the name of a train and the name of a space vehicle.