When I first started switching in the mid 2000s, I'd do this as well. Marking cars for northbound interchange, southbound switcher, southbound manifest, and South interchange.
We'd go all day without looking at papers unless we had to yard a train once they were marked up.
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Awesome. Thanks for sharing!
T e d
I'd heard of Lionel's magazine but never saw a copy until now. Neat stuff.
An interesting article. I can remember seeing similar chalked marks on the sides of cars back in the 1960s and 70s, and I assume those might have been aids for assembling the train in a flat yard. The photo in the magazine showed prior marks being crossed out but what I remember was a bunch of them still in place and I never could see how anyone could tell which mark was the controlling one.
The whole magazine was interesting, dating from a time when the boundary between toy trains and "serious" scale model railroading was pretty fluid. (Note there is an ad for MR on page 32). Anyone building that apartment complex would qualify as a serious modeler to be sure.
Dave Nelson
Hmm, when did they restore Magazine archives back on Trainlife?
http://magazine.trainlife.com/mb_1937_5and6/
Article page 12-13 & 29
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