Heyy Everyone! On The Southern Units What do the letters mean? Like on all the southern units they say like 3491x what does the x mean? and the letters go from a too z and i dont get it?
Any Info Will Help!
Thanx!
Keith
It was a computer check code. Not sure of the reason other than to make sure unit numbers written down were accurate? I used to know the formula, it was a simple math formula, but can’t remeber it or even where I found the info. Thats all I can remember, sorry.
Todd Templeton
Keith;
They are computer check letters. I pulled this off of HOSAM’s website.
"Not sure if I can make this simple but here goes:
Southern used A, F, H, J, K, L, R, T, W & X on their engines.
let us assign numbers to the above digits A=0, F=1, H=2, J=3, K=4, L=5,
R=6,T=7, W=8 AND X=9.
Take the engine number say 3971 which is an X.
add first number to 2 times the second number plus the third number plus 2
times the fourth number. 3+(29)+7+(21)= now this wont work if the
formula is applied straight away. If any result such as (2*9) which is 18
then you use the two digits in 18 as 1+8. Now the formula becomes
3+(1+8)+7+2=21. WE are not there yet. you subtract the answer from the
next larger even number in units of 10. In this example this would be
30-21=9 OR X.
Another example might be engine 701 which is a J.
Since there are only 3 digits simply put a zero in front. This will give
0+(27)+0+(21)= 0+(1+4)+0+(2)=7 10-7=3 which is J. "
I used to know this formula by heart, and even had it written down somewhere. There was also a version published in TRAINS, in the 1970’s. This is just one of several ways to obtain the correct letter. Also since in the example with three numbers you put one zero in the front, with two digit numbers, just put another zero.