The Grand Canyon Chapter of the NRHS has a Sante Fe extended vision caboose with the letters “NE” stenciled near the steps on opposite ends of the lower sides. Does anyone know what this means?[?]
www.rrpicturearchives.net/srchThumbs.aspx?srch=atsf+caboose&search=Search
It seems to be on most of them
This is the mechancal department designation For caboose, all cars types have a designation that identifies car type and special equipment. LO is covered hopper, BX [if memorey is right ] is box car."Official Equipment Register’’ gives type of car and mechanical designation.
This is the mechancal department designation For caboose, all cars types have a designation that identifies car type and special equipment. LO is covered hopper, BX [if memorey is right ] is box car."Official Equipment Register’’ gives type of car and mechanical designation.
rking112,
Thanks for the info. It had us stumped yesterday.
Ernie C
The pre-70s two letter AAR Car Codes for Cabooses (according to a PDF published by Jeff Kucsma) are:
NE - Caboose mounted on eight wheels and longer than four-wheel caboose, but of the same general design.
NM - Freight train service caboose for convenience of trainmen. This class is mounted on four wheels and has lookout at top over roof. It is fitted with bunks or benches and a stove for cooking and heating purposes; also tank for storage of drinking and washing water, and small tool storage boxes.
In the early 1970s, the AAR switched to a the Universal Machine Language Equipment Register (UMLER) format car codes that consist of a letter and three numbers.
According to the AAR Mechanical Designations (i.e.; Car Codes) that I archived from http://members.rogers.com/iancranstone2001/aartype.html (a URL no longer available), here are all of the Caboose Codes:
NA - Sensing, audio, emergency braking unit (CDU) that accepts, analyzes and displays information relevant to the rear of train. The NA provides audible alerts and displays to assist the engineer operating the train and is equipped with emergency braking feature in the event normal brake capability is lost. The arming feature prevents unauthorized use of the emergency braking device (4/99).
NB - Receiver Display Unit (RDU). A device mounted on the control stand in the locomotive to receive, analyze and display information as transmitted by the SBU. The RDU provides audible alerts and displays to assist the engineer in train operation (4/99).
NC - Communications Logic Unit (CLU). A device located in the short hood of the locomotive which accepts and analyzes radio messages transmitted from the rear of the train by the SBU. After the messages are analyzed the CLU forwards the information for display in the cab of the locomotive (4/99).
ND - Input and Display Unit Unit (IDU). A device mounted on the control stand in the cab of the locomotive to display information which has been sent by the SBU and analyzed by the CLU. The IDU provides audible alerts and displays to assist the locomotive engineer in the handling of the train (4/99).
NE - Caboose mounted on eight wheels and longer than four-wheel caboose, but of the same general design (1/17-10/66).
NE - All cabooses (1/73-4/99).
NF - A device mounted on the trailing coupler on the rear car of the train coupled to the brake pipe. The SBT senses brake pipe pressure, and may sense motion and direction. This information is relayed by radio to the head end of the train to a RDU, CDU or a CLU/IDU combination. In addition, the SBT acts
I’d like to offer a few clarifications on the AAR Mechanical Designation. Not all designations are two characters. An RBL, for example is an insulated box car. Most of the designations for railroad work equipment are three letters. There are other three letter codes, but I’m writing this from home, where I don’t have access to the UMLER file. Also, the mechanical designation was not phased out in the '70s. It still appears in the ULMER file, which all railroads use to access information on the North American car fleet. The four character AAR Car Type code and the four character Marketing Type codes were added to allow for more detailed descriptions of the more specialized types of cars that exist these days. However, if I want a list of all insulated cars for example, it’s easier to write a line of code to look for all Mechanical Designations that either begin with R or have the letter I in the third position than it would be to list the hundreds of Car Type codes that correspond to insulated cars.