Do identical car numbers bother you ?...

[Wdlgln005]

It does bother me some that it makes another project for the RR I'd rather not do. I've been an Nscaler for a long time. Many A1G cars came with only one car number. For some roads, you'd have to wait years for MTL to produce another car in that number series. I give credit to Atlas for producing their locos for as many roads as they do. Prices for items get too high or too scarce if they don't make enough of a hot seller.

Matching the car color & number font gets to be a chore. It would be easier if you could make your own carnumbers with white letters. Not many use yellow. I don't want to spend $500 for an Alps printer just to do car numbers. Prices for items become too high or  

The problem gets worse as you try to get a proto car fleet for a fallen flag minority road. Then you don't need so many ATSF or UP units.

[theodorefisk]

I will say, in echoing others, that the worst thing on a freight car or other rolling stock is the wrong number. When I was with the Santa Fe, I distributed boxcars offline and knew all the series. When in a hobby store or looking in a catalog, I would find a car with a number that someone pulled out of the air that wouldn't be corrrect at all and that would aggravate me more than anything. If a manufacturer of rolling stock was going to worry about the number of rivets or ladder rungs, it should at least get the car number and mark correct.

[theodorefisk]

It doesn't really bother me too much. With the exception of five Rutland boxcars, I have very few duplicate cars in the fleet of 300 or so I have, amazingly enough.

[DSchmitt]

I have a lot of engines with the same number but in different paint schemes: 

Silver and Orange

Green

New Image

-------------WP LIVES

 

[espeejim]

Hello everyone, Identical numbers on frieght or passenger cars don't bother me much, but on motive power I like to see diffrent numbers. After all is'nt that we all look at first? My friends who come over to "see the trains" don't even notice the numbers at all! But i feel that if you think about it too much, should then yes you fix those numbers. Keep um rolling!

[gear-jammer]

Out of 400 plus cars, only a dozen are duplicates.

That is impressive.  So far we have avoided duplicates, but as time goes on we will probably change numbers if necessary.

Sue

[fec153]

Tho not a nit-picker, I loathe duplicate numbers. Out of 400 plus cars, only a dozen are duplicates. My { H.O.} Ortners, FEC, are the only ones I purposely bought with dupes.

Flip

 

[BUZZDUZ]

yES, BUT I AM WORKING ON A SYSTEM THAT HELPS WITH THE PROBLEM AND NOT DESTROY THE CARS OR ENGINE IDENITY. I TRY TO MATCH THE DECAL AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE AND ADD  "-A" THRU Z , ETC OR "-1"THRU 99 ETC, TO THE EXSISTING NUMBER

[LVJJJ]

Identical car numbers do bother me, but what bothers me even more is the fact that most factory numbered cars do not have enuff "7's" and too many "8's".  Somewhere out there is my ideal piece of rolling stock, #777777.  Yes, I like to pick nits.  Larry of the Northwest.

[wesper]

Duplicates bother me, but they are a ways down on the list of things to fix, and a duplicate won't keep me from buying a loco or piece of rolling stock. Dup locos are higher on the "bother" list than rolling stock and generally get fixed at DCC install / weathering / detailing time before going into service. Rolling stock gets new numbers also at weathering time, but may be in service a while before this happens. Just depends on my mood and what else needs to be done that is causing more heartburn. I try to find a prototype number and use it or a similar number (right number of digits and plausible range). Main thing in this hobby, as in life, is don't sweat the small stuff. And I NEVER let renumbering get in the way of playtime - er, I mean operating the layout.

[ger8034]

Hi: Identical numbers aren't too much of a bother. I go by the thought, My railroad, my train. I do what I want.

[Anonymous]

Yep, it bugs the heck out of me.  I have over 250 cars on my layout, and none of them have the same reporting mark and number.

When I see it, like the one time I saw a 50 car NYC Pacemaker freight with all the same car number, it just destroys any sense of realism anyone is trying to create.  Sure, the public doesn't care, but then the public wouldn't care if you ran a 200ton derrick at 120mph with the boom facing forward, either.  And they love wrecks almost as much as they love speed.

Paul A. Cutler III
************
Weather Or No Go New Haven
************

I'm glad you brought this up. I had someone recently make the comment that the speed I run my trains at is boring, and asked me if they went any faster than that. I replied - These are trains, you're wanting slot cars...

Tracklayer

Once I get the Duplex out with the passenger cars, it will run. They wont have any chance to look-see too closely.

[Anonymous]

    Identical numbers don't "bother" me but even in Z scale i am organizing myself to re-number my wagons as a matter of personal preference, some of my fleets have up to 15 wagons with the same number. I have also ordered 5 of the new MTL runner packs in N scale, so they will cop the treatment before being weathered. I run trains to enjoy watching them pass my point of vision and dont get too serious with waybills and the like, but to watch 15 identically numbered wagons pass by is too much even for me.

[tunnelmotor2000]

When I first took up model RR it didn't. These days it does. However, this fenomena only shows up when working with car cards and on photographs. It is nice when every new batch of the same car is offered with a new and different number. This saves me, and a lot of others, of scratching the numbers off and replacing them with new ones.

[Anonymous]

I am not terribly bothered by duplicate car numbers, as I can disguise them fairly easily, by spacing them apart, or using them in different trains, depending on the circumstances.  I do not use a car card system, though, so this may skew my opinion slightly.

I do, however, appreciate manufacturers that offer packages of multiple cars of a particular type that do carry different numbers on each car.  I've purchased several sets of Athearn reefers and coal hoppers packaged in this manner.  They come in a six pack and have different numbers on each car.  I like this idea for two reasons.  First, the numbers are different, so I don't have to put any special emphasis on the order in which I run them.  Second, this method of packaging seems much more economical to me.  I can build up my rolling stock collection more affordably (and more rapidly) by purchasing these six packs than by making purchases of individual cars.

I would encourage other manufacturers to offer similar packaging for their products.  I know there were a few manufacturers named in this thread that are doing things like that, or at least having numerous numbers available for each model.  I know Walthers/Proto offer two different numbers for each of many of their models, but this is far too few choices, especially for those who use a car card system. 

-Joe 

 

[Tracklayer]

Yep, it bugs the heck out of me.  I have over 250 cars on my layout, and none of them have the same reporting mark and number.

When I see it, like the one time I saw a 50 car NYC Pacemaker freight with all the same car number, it just destroys any sense of realism anyone is trying to create.  Sure, the public doesn't care, but then the public wouldn't care if you ran a 200ton derrick at 120mph with the boom facing forward, either.  And they love wrecks almost as much as they love speed.

Paul A. Cutler III
************
Weather Or No Go New Haven
************

I'm glad you brought this up. I had someone recently make the comment that the speed I run my trains at is boring, and asked me if they went any faster than that. I replied - These are trains, you're wanting slot cars...

Tracklayer

[dinwitty]

if your into operating different numbers help, but I may have unit coal trains so same numbers wont bugger me there.

 depends how you wanna operate.

[markpierce]

Our club's model layout is under initial construction.  Since a card-order and/or switch-list method of car routing is anticipated, we are planning to permit no duplicate car numbers for any one prototype owner (cars would be identified by owner and number).  Since the layout could end up with 1,000 cars (both individually and club owned) on it at one time, I expect a lot of renumbering.  Same for locomotives.

Mark Pierce

[CMSTPP]

Gosh, I didn't know anyone even paid attention to those little, bitty numbers in N scale...

 :>)

Nah, just kidding.

N usually has a bit fewer choices available. I've noticed that Micro-Trains generally releases cars in single numbers, while in HO its cousin Kadee puts out pairs of differently numbered cars. More typical are releases from Red Caboose and Intermountain, which will put out 6 or 12 different road numbers of the same car in each run. If you want to represent certain prototypes, you have to accept some of that at times, no matter what scale you model in. Otherwise it's difficult to get a representative fleet of rolling stock assembled.

Your strategy sounds a lot like my own. For boxcars and other types generally handled as single cars, I stick to distinctive road numbers. I do have 12 Athearn hoppers that have duplicated numbers, two sets of the same six numbers. With traffic like coal being generally handled as cuts of cars, if not outright unit trains, it bothers me less to have duped numbers. And it's virtually unnoticeable to visitors.

My thought exactly. But ya it shouldn't be that funny. Sorry.

But I guess for those that are really wanting different numbers they can go and change them. Otherwise I will buy the car with different numbers, but then If I want more of the cars, I will buy more of the same numbers. So it doesn't bother me on freight cars. On passenger cars I am a little more on the different number side.

Happy railroading

James

[CRNFLKS]

If switching the same # cars is a concern, you can keep a few coupled together and run them / switch them in and out of your industries as a block, as space permits.  This works especially well with coal cars.

[underworld]

Nope.

 

underworld

[Anonymous]

It bothers me yes.

That is why I pulled some orders of Woodland Scenics Dry Transfers and adjusted my rolling stock purchases around different car number availibility.

Half tempted to duplicate some more athearn coal hoppers in the B&O that I know are availible right now and replace the numbers on each car simply because Athearn does NOT make enough numbers availible RTR.

[Anonymous]

Sure, the public doesn't care, but then the public wouldn't care if you ran a 200ton derrick at 120mph with the boom facing forward, either.  And they love wrecks almost as much as they love speed.

Paul A. Cutler III
************
Weather Or No Go New Haven
************

That's too funny.

 

[ydoihave2haveascreenname?]

yes they do--even in unit-coal trains.  for those manufacturers that don't release multiple numbers on their product they should include decal number sets with the matching car-color a-la accurail in ho.  but then i also don't buy freight cars w/o end reporting marks.  this really gets me.  i definately notice cars w/o end reporting marks.  i do, where possible, put end reporting marks on favorite cars that don't have them.  most new cars today already have them. 

[Dave Vollmer]

Yes.  Even in N scale.

No two cars on my layout have the same road number.

[richg1998]

It does not bother me but I like the response of nit pickers amd rivet counters. At least it fulfills their needs.

 rich 

[Paul3]

Yep, it bugs the heck out of me.  I have over 250 cars on my layout, and none of them have the same reporting mark and number.

When I see it, like the one time I saw a 50 car NYC Pacemaker freight with all the same car number, it just destroys any sense of realism anyone is trying to create.  Sure, the public doesn't care, but then the public wouldn't care if you ran a 200ton derrick at 120mph with the boom facing forward, either.  And they love wrecks almost as much as they love speed.

Paul A. Cutler III
************
Weather Or No Go New Haven
************

[jecorbett]

With cars that run in units, I cheat a little. For example, I have 3 identical chemical tank cars that will always be shipped to my paper mill together so logically, they are considered one car by the computer. I also have a block of PFE reefers that pass through my large city and drop some cars for the produce warehouse. I have 10 of these cars but as far as the computer knows, I have just two, the block being dropped and the block going through. Each day I can vary the number of cars being dropped at my discretion. I will eventually do the same with coal trains that will drop some, but not all of their consist in my primary city for a couple different receiving spots.

[johncolley]

It never used to bother me as I would usually attempt to seperate them, until I became a convert to operation. So I just set them aside and occasionally go thru a bunch of cars while I have the decals out. It is mostly a matter of changing one or two numbers on each side, per car. jc5729