Ross, I don't know where you live, but if you are looking for UP or BNSF symbols the Altamont Press timetables are an excellent source for the codes listing both origin/destination codes as well as train types and how the codes break down.
http://www.altamontpress.com/
rrnut282 I've heard some E-xxx trains on the former B&O CSX out of Garrett. They looked like Empty coal cars headed West. Either that or I need a new scanner.
I've heard some E-xxx trains on the former B&O CSX out of Garrett. They looked like Empty coal cars headed West. Either that or I need a new scanner.
Many empty hopper trains in 'captive service' move under the designation of the loaded coal train. Example, Cross, SC coal trains are given their train designation at Brunswick, MD where the cars receive a 1000 mile inspection....ie. U324-06 (the dash is mine) The U324 originates at Brunswick on the 6th of the month, operates from Brunswick to the loading mine, loads, operates from the mine to the power plant at Cross, SC and then operates from Cross, SC back to Brunswick as U324-06, where the train set will be inspected again and receive a new train designation for it's next load cycle. Performance of trains in this type of service are guaged on the number of round trips per month that that portion of the fleet completes. Different services have differing numbers of trains providing service as dictated by the needs of the individual consignee (some need 1 train a week, some need 2 or 3 trains a week (or more), some need a train a day, some need multiple trains a day).
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACDJoeKoh some csx numbers 090-091 hot produce trains 100 series-intermodal 200 autoracks/parts 300 merchandise trains from one railroad to csx and vice versa 500 trains from one yard to another(500 from cincinnati-lima-garrett-chicago) v 771 is a up designated coal train on csx u 994 is a bnsf designated coal train on csx. Y 101 is a yard job out of defiance(y150 on sunday) hope this helps stay safe joe The (Q, R, S, X) 300-400-500-600 series trans are all Merchandise trains.... In general 300 series are East-West. 400 series trains are North-South. The 500 series are considered Inter-regional East-West trains and the 600 series are considered inter-regional North-South trains. Recently the 700 series was created, this series encompases the Tropicana Juice Train, various Rock Runners, and the numerous line of road trash trains. Divisional locals are in the 700 series with their own Divisional prefix identifier, extra divisional locals are in the 900 series corresponding to the locals identity in the 700 series (ie. an extra D794 will be identified as a D994). Coal trains have U, T, V, and occasionally W prefix identifier. Other mineral trains (Coke, Iron Ore etc.) run with a K prefix identifier. Passenger trains have a P prefix identifier. All Yard Jobs have a Y prefix identifier. Foreign line movements have a Z prefix identifier. The Divisional prefix identifiers are far from logical.
JoeKoh some csx numbers 090-091 hot produce trains 100 series-intermodal 200 autoracks/parts 300 merchandise trains from one railroad to csx and vice versa 500 trains from one yard to another(500 from cincinnati-lima-garrett-chicago) v 771 is a up designated coal train on csx u 994 is a bnsf designated coal train on csx. Y 101 is a yard job out of defiance(y150 on sunday) hope this helps stay safe joe
some csx numbers
090-091 hot produce trains
100 series-intermodal
200 autoracks/parts
300 merchandise trains from one railroad to csx and vice versa
500 trains from one yard to another(500 from cincinnati-lima-garrett-chicago)
v 771 is a up designated coal train on csx
u 994 is a bnsf designated coal train on csx.
Y 101 is a yard job out of defiance(y150 on sunday)
hope this helps
stay safe
joe
The (Q, R, S, X) 300-400-500-600 series trans are all Merchandise trains....
In general 300 series are East-West. 400 series trains are North-South.
The 500 series are considered Inter-regional East-West trains and the 600 series are considered inter-regional North-South trains.
Recently the 700 series was created, this series encompases the Tropicana Juice Train, various Rock Runners, and the numerous line of road trash trains.
Divisional locals are in the 700 series with their own Divisional prefix identifier, extra divisional locals are in the 900 series corresponding to the locals identity in the 700 series (ie. an extra D794 will be identified as a D994).
Coal trains have U, T, V, and occasionally W prefix identifier. Other mineral trains (Coke, Iron Ore etc.) run with a K prefix identifier.
Passenger trains have a P prefix identifier. All Yard Jobs have a Y prefix identifier. Foreign line movements have a Z prefix identifier.
The Divisional prefix identifiers are far from logical.
R is a re-route....
S is a second section of a Q train..
X is an extra train..
csx engineer
Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").
BaltACDEach train that is operated is operated for a designated economic purpose, not just for the fun of railfans.
No! Say it isn't so!
It's still fun trying to "reverse engineer" (take an existing product and try to figure out how it works) what's going on...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Within the confines of the carrier, Train Designations are the 'shorthand' that bring organization to the operation of the carrier. Every car going from A to Z needs to have an organized path to get there.
As a general rule, the carrier desire to provide daily service to each of their signifigant traffic areas (this applies to general merchandise traffic - bulk commodities and Intermodal traffic have their own oprational needs and constraints). A Carriers 'Operating Plan' is designed to provide this service and the Train Designations and schedules for those trains to accomplish the plan. Since the railroad enviornment is dynamic, changes are being made to this plan constantly (Plant A has been closed, Plant B is getting more traffic than in the past, Plant C is being shut down for a month for tooling changes, Plant D is changing their manufacturing process and as such is changing their suppliers of raw materials, Plant E is new and is getting traffic for the first time, Route A has seasonal flooding and will be closed for 3 weeks, Route B has MofW Curfew and can only be used for 12 hours a day, Terminal A has been impacted with excess traffic and needs relief.....the permutations are continuing and endless)
Each train that is operated is operated for a designated economic purpose, not just for the fun of railfans.
I gave up on trying to figure out NS and CSX. If a train is going past at the time then it is going someplace. I have yet to memorize too many of their screwy symbols.
Norfolk Souther has an easy train symbol system. It's a three digit number and if needed to keep down the confusion, the date. When they added Conrail, many of those trains got a letter in the last position, like 13M or 17R.
100-199 are mixed merchandise trains, usually traversing several districts and divisions. They stop at every yard if needed, along the way. If traffic is heavy or there is a block big enough to run past a yard, they will run a second section with an "M" in place of the 1, i.e. 2nd 110 becomes M10.
200-299 are intermodal. Triple Crown trains are in the 240-270 range and if a second section is needed the "2" is replaced by an "I" for Intermodal, I guess.
300-399 are mixed merchandise trains that don't cross division lines. Some are an out and back or turn. For example train 313 leaves East Wayne Yard and takes cars to East Yard in Muncie, grabs cars headed to Fort Wayne and heads back with no switching enroute. 323 Leaves East Wayne yard and goes to Van Loon to exhange cars with the EJ&E, and returns. 306 runs from Chicago to Bellevue with a yard stop in Fort Wayne. Many times you'll see W06 with a solid string of autoracks for the GM plant that bypasses the yard.
400-899 are unit trains.
900-999 are work (i.e. non revenue) trains. Every thing from welded rail racks, work gangs to the executive E-units.
Locals used to be easy to spot. Each Division has its own unique starting letter. For example every local on the Lake Division starts with "L" and the Illinois Division uses "D" because it is headquartered in Decatur, IL. The Dearborn Division uses "B", since "D" was taken, and the Pocahantas Division uses "P". Those are just the ones I have seen/heard.
There is a web site that lists the origin-destination of NS trains, but I can't find it right now.
Henry6 summed it up nicely.
To be a little railroad-specific, The Bull Sheet has a fairly current list of CSX trains. CSX uses the letter-number-number scheme, where the letter indicates the type of train, the first number (three digits) is the specific train, and the last number is the date the train started.
Many of CSX's trains fall into the Q category. 600 series trains are cross-corridor mixed freight. A regular in my neck of the woods it the Q621. Today's start out of Selkirk would be Q621-5. If they have trouble getting it over the road, it might not be until tomorrow before I hear "Q621-5" near me.
The old Conrail designation for this train was "MSELMAS1". That's SELkirk to MASsena. I'm guessing myself that the leading M meant "mixed" or "merchandise."
Keep your eyes open as you read trade publications and visit photo sites. It won't take you long to gain a basic idea of how various railroads designate their trains, and if you listen in to railroad radio traffic in your area you should gain a pretty good idea not only of what trains frequent your area, but when (they normally don't run on a schedule as such, but many of them have a habit of showing up at fairly regular times). A little time trackside will help you understand what commodity certain trains regularly carry, as well.
It's kind of fun figuring all of this out sometimes.
Each railraod is different. And then there may be differences within a railroad. And then it all can change at any time for any reason. Basics are letter designations...usually a single letter denotes a class of service on roads that use that form; two letters a single yard or city location; and two sets of double letters designating the orgin and destination of a train. Numbers with letter designations can denote date or direction or, in combination, both depending upon placement and road's form of operation. Use of numbers is usually found in passenger services but often found in freight service, too, and use and definition again is usually confferred by individual railroads. However, usually, in the numbering system, odd numbers normally indicate westbound or northbound trains while even numbers indicated eastbound and southbound. But with railroad mergers and interline operations, a single train may have several numbers or other designations in the course of its journey. Is there a list? Probably you have to check the marketing and/or operations pages of each railroad to be assured. Passenger and commuter operations are easily learned through public timetables.
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Have a quick question; I see trains referred to as Q109 etc. I know the letters represent different types of trains (high priority, intermodals etc.). Where can I find a list of what the letters refer to. And do all railroads share the same letter designations?
Thanks,
Ross
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