lipman@decwrl.UUCP (02/28/84)
From: super::alcock (Bruce G. Alcock) Yes, it is good to see all the information that is being distributed by this group. As an add on, I for one, would like to see if we could oftain the freight car data-base. The abbreviations for each owner are called reporting marks. Each one is unique. They can be from 2 to 4 characters in length. Some roads such as B&O use the ampersand. This is the only non-alphabetic character that I have ever observed. Every car is uniquly identified by its reporting marks plus number. The car number usually appears right below the reporting marks on the side of car. Reporting marks plus number are painted on the bottom left or right side of the car (on both sides) and on the ends. The shortage of freight cars in the 70s prompted a number of investors to buy freight cars especially through the equipment trust certificate mechanism where a number of investors would get together and finance the purchase through a holding company. Many short line railroads made money by buying and then leasing large fleets of cars, usually box cars. During the recent recession, many of these cars were diverted to siding and put into storage. Specialty cars are usually supplied by a limited number of companies: GATX, or General American Transportation is larger owner and operator of tank cars (they bought Union Tank Car). Only recently, they have gone out of the tank car building and repair business, but will continue as operator/owner of such cars. When they enter into a long term lease, the reporting marks usually are those of the leasee. bruce alcock Digital Equipment Corp (DECX) Nashua, NH (DEC E-NET) SUPER::ALCOCK (UUCP) {decvax, ucbvax, allegra}!decwrl!rhea!super!alcock (ARPA) decwrl!rhea!super!alcock@Berkeley decwrl!rhea!super!alcock@SU-Shasta
ntt@dciem.UUCP (Mark Brader) (03/01/84)
Bruce G. Alcock's interesting article on reporting marks includes this: They can be from 2 to 4 characters in length. Some roads such as B&O use the ampersand. This is the only non-alphabetic character that I have ever observed. When I lived by a CP Rail (ex Canadian Pacific Railway), I kept a list of railway cars seen and their reporting marks. So I couldn't miss observing that the Southern Railway uses "SOUTHERN", while CP Rail's US subsidiary (whose full name I can't think of right now) uses the full usual form of its name, "SOO LINE". Of course, it may be that only 4 characters are significant, and the rest is just comment (as we would say). For those of you who live far away, the first word in the placename Sault Ste. Marie (Michigan and Ontario) is pronounced Soo -- it's either an old or a bastardized French pronounciation -- and hence the railway name. Some railways use more than one reporting mark, by the way. CP Rail has "CP", "CPAA", and "CPI". This classifies their cars in ways that matter to them, for instance, when they enter the United States. In this case AA stands for "as (if) American" and I for "international". Reporting: Mark Brader