HELP,Couple of symbol questions??

[Anonymous]

I have noticed on a lot of BNSF symbols that they use two different symbols to represent Chicago(CHC and CHI). Is there a reason why they do this or not, I was thinking maybe they are two different terminals in the Chicago area that they run them to, but I am not sure. Alos it seems sometimes on some symbols they insert a Z in place of the letter that is normally there like(BPA-BPZ)or (NBY-NBZ)What's with this. Any help

[dstill]

I am not 100% sure but the Z may represent high priority trains. I have read something to this affect.

[Anonymous]

The letter designations for terminals can represent specific terminals, interchange points or interchanging railroads. UP and BN(sf) use the Z to designate priority intermodal trains. Check out http://home.earthlink.net/~cimahill/

[favuprailroadfan]

I am not a big BNSF fan but I do know that the Z trains are UPS trains- it was one of the deals that BNSF gave them when they signed the contract. BNSF agreed to give them the Z symbol, and they also gave them the 9 prefix in their symbol also. As I'm sure as you know that the hottest train on the Transcon is the 199 and the 991- that is usaully their symbol. Another hot train is the
ZWSPRIC- but there are other hot trains with the Z symbol. UP symbols their hottest with a Z, but most of their trains are designated with a I. I live along the Golden State Route in McPherson Kansas and one of the hottest through here is the IG2LA- this is what they call the Global. It has a mixture of Hanjin, K-Line's, and Evergreen plus assorted containers. These are usually around 8000 to 8500 ft. long and rate some of the best power that the UP has to offer- but some people will disagree with me. Back to your question- BNSF has I believe 2 facilities in Chicago. I know one of them is the Willow Springs facility on the west side of town. UP has 2 facilities in Chicago and are in the process of working on a third. They are simply called Global 1 and Global 2. Global 1 is in conjunction with Proviso Yard, and is APL containers only( I believe- if I'm not correct please tell me-) and Global 2 is all other containers. But BNSF has several symbols for there trains. I know most of UP's but hardly any of BNSF's. If there is anybody out there with questions or corrections, please right me back and tell me the right answer. I hope this info helps you out.


Thanks, Dru