Boxcar Numbering

[Anonymous]

I have based my layout on a fictional RR and would like to add some boxcars with the RR name. I assume that Loco numbering is pretty much unique to each RR, but I wonder if there is some standard for freight car numbering since cars are often exchanged with other RRs.

[Sperandeo]

No, each railroad uses its own number system for boxcars and other freight cars. The numbers are used in combination with the reporting marks (initials) to make a unique identification for each car.

Today six-digit numbers are pretty much the rule, but in the past railroads were all over the map on the number of digits and the kinds of sequences. Some roads even went so far as to use only the even (or odd) numbers in a given series.

In the fifties the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville, better known as the Monon, achieved some notoriety by fielding a brand-new 40-foot steel boxcar with the number "1."

So long,

Andy Sperandeo
Editor
MODEL RAILROADER Magazine