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So, you're getting into operation now, Sawyer? It's a lot of fun and is my favorite facet of the hobby.[:)] I have one comment from a relatively experienced operator, as I've been operating for over a year now on both mine and a friend's layout: Put the car type back. I use a car card and waybill system (I like them a lot better than switch lists, but that's just me) and when I'm operating I never look at the car number that's on the car card. I only look at the roadname and car type. And, while you may have your numbering system memorized, any guest operators will find it hard to tell and you may find it awkward too. Just looking at the car type is a whole lot easier. Maybe you can write the number bigger without the car type on the list, but since most people won't even look at it unless they need to, it's not really needed.Most trains won't have two of the same road and same type of car. I routinely run up to 7 car locals (one of the only times you need to look at the car cards except for yard ops) and I don't think I've ever gotten the same type of car from the same railroad.Of course, you're using a switch list system. This is similar too. An operator looks at the list "Any cars for ABC Lumber? Yup. It's loaded on a UP bulkhead flatcar." Since there's probably only one UP bulkhead flatcar in the train, it's obvious which one the list is reffering to. The operator never needs to look at the car number.That isn't to say you should take the number slot off. Other people have different operating techniques and they may be used to looking at the number slot even if they don't need to. Plus, on the chance you do actually get two of the same type of car from the same railroad in the same train, car numbers are useful to know!Of course, unit trains are the exception here, but since they don't exactly do much switching, I don't see a switch list being written up for one on most railroads...So, I'd put the car type back! Just a suggestion from an operator...
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