on page 39 of southern pacific c class 2-8-0 consolidation pictorial, is a photo of espee # 2522. on the number board next to the stack there is an “x” preceeding the loco’s number. however on the cab, and headlight there is no “x”. what does that x signify, and why is it only on the number board? thanks for the help.
Xtra
The number board carries the train number. In the case of a scheduled train, the number would be the one published in the employee’s timetable. Extra trains on the SP were listed on the train sheet with the locomotive number of the assigned road power (ie - Extra 9999.) If a front end helper was required, the number board of the front end helper would display the train number - the number of the locomotive behind the helper.
A new fireman’s confusion about this (helper over the Carquinez Strait Bridge) in a long-ago RAILROAD magazine has stuck with me since high school.
Chuck
UP and SP were, to the best of my knowledge, the only railroads that showed the train’s number in the locomotives numberboards. For example, the second section of the City of San Francisco would show “2-101” in the numberboards. This also applied to some scheduled freights. SP continued the practice with its Peninsula commute trains at least until the Train Masters were retired.