I mean besides the local, aren’t thay all the same? I mean what’s the diffrance between a manafest train and a mixed freight? Are thay diffrent prioiaties to the railroad? Also why do some trains have really long confusing letters in their names like, for examlpe, TV10, LAAPZ trains? Is there a reason why their called that? Does it have something to do with their destanations? When a dispatcher calls the train does he say “LAAPZ 3454 over”? Does the train use the ame call sighn every time the train runs, if it runs more than once?
Oh there’s loads of differences between locals, etc. Numbers and letters denote type of service the train, direction of movement, sometimes date of origination, and originating and destination points. The local that’s setting out every few miles has low priority when a hot van or intermodal train is coming through or the auto parts train between Chicago and Los Angeles that has a assembly line schedule, or a coal train that has to slog along because of its wieght…lots of things to read into those numbers and letters.
Railroad segregate their business by commodity, manifest, coal, grain, intermodal, auto, etc. They all have their own “networks”. The different trains and types are handled to different priorities. So a coal train may be put in a siding to let an intermodal train around it.
The trains will tracked and measured by their symbols, but the dispatcher calls them by their engine number and direction for formal authority (BNSF 1234 west, UP 3456 south) and may call them by their symbol for informal communication (QNPSKP-16 or 9ZLAACHI-18).
I would suggest trying Google or other search engines, there is alot of information out there. Remember not all of it is 100% accurate, but at least you get a feel for what the symbols mean. I googled ‘csx train symbols’ and found alot of sites. This one: http://www.parailfan.com/csx.html looked pretty interesting
Ed
Each of todays Class I railroads have their own train naming conventions and they are all different from each other. While they are different from each otther, they are perfectly understandable in the context of their own railroad. Some use train numbers with various letters as either a prefix or suffix. The numbers indicate one thing and the letters qualify what the numbers indicate. Some use minimal letters as a abbreviation for the origin and destination of the train, there again there may be an addional letter, in either a prefix or suffix position that will further qualify the train.
These train naming conventions are an integral part of the railroads Car & Train movement computer systems. On most railroads the computer systems that keep track of the trains and the cars the contain are integrated with the Dispatching system, the crew calling system, the payroll system for the T&E employees and all the other computer systems that it takes to operate and control todays modern Class I Railroads.