How are trains currently identified?

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

I grew up in the day when scheduled trains were numbered and sometimes ran in sections with the sections being prefixed "First ", "Second ", etc. (or “1-”, “2-”,…). Then there were extras with an “X” or the word "Extra " prefixing the locomotive number and the direction. There were also symbol freights like NYC’s Super Van trains that were designated SV1, SV2, etc.

I know all of that has changed and changed differently on different railroads. Can you describe some current train ID formats that don’t follow the patterns described above?

Then there’s the question of yard jobs. Do they have a formal format other than just a number with or without a prefix?

2

Last year (or maybe 2014) Trains published an article on the Class 1’s train identification nomenclature. They are all different.

3

And they change with time. In the last 35 years there have been 3 or 4 distinct train naming conventions on the MP/UP.

4

That’s probably exactly what I’m looking for. Anybody know what issue I’m looking for in my disorganized collection?

5

Feb 2015 issue.

6

Found it, amazingly enough, in less than 5 minutes. It was at the bottom of my “when I get time” stack.

Thank you very much. That is the information I was looking for when I asked the question and it’s all in one place! [bow]