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Your decision, but...I'm not saying your operators won't be able to do their work without the car type, but it is definetely easier on them (and you, some people will ask the layout owner questions they could easily get by reading a manual, but it's faster and people are lazy) if they could tell the car type by a quick glance. Prototype railroads are constantly trying to streamline their operation, and model railroads should follow suit.And the car numbers do make it look official, no doubt. They should stay there. I'm just saying you should put the car type on IN ADDITION to the numbers.A manual is a great idea for your operators. I'm planning on having one for each train on my layout giving descriptions of each industry and the different car spots (after one operator spotted a loaded cement car on the sand track at New Poland Cement) for each industry. I'll try to include everything the operator needs to know, including track authority proccedures and random tips and remainders. I will, however, make information available outside the manual when possible, such as the car types on each waybill, and having town schematics on the fascia with the industries labeled. This will make it easier for the operator to find the information without having to slog through a manual trying to find very basic information.I'll try to write up a crash course on car cards and waybills for you tomorrow, including copies of the documents I used. It's really simple, and worth the extra trouble at the start because setup takes just as long as turning the waybills in each car card, instead of writing up each switch list. I once operated a train on a friend's layout using a switch list, and it took us a good 15-20 minutes to write up the switch list for ONE TRAIN! Setting up the waybills for a session on my layout (with three or more trains) takes less than 5. Multiply that by having a session once a week, and you've saved yourself 540 hours in one year!
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