Short line loco numbering

[eastworld]

I'm new to US railways. I'm interested in short lines and have noticed that the vast amount of locos on them seem to have numbers displayed that appear to be a similar format. Is this a legal requirement and is it local to e.g. the state, or is it national?

 

Stu

[Mike_Walker]

There is no requirements on numbering in the US or Canada apart from not exceeding 4 digits.  Some independent shortlines do have their own numbering systems but many simply keep the numbers the locos were received with or reduce them to two digits.  The big shortline "groups" like Genesee & Wyoming or Watco do have a more organised system common to all their locomotives with markings/reporting marks displayed for individual roads.

 

The restriction to 4 digits is to meet the constraints of the national computer systems and locomotives (and indeed cars) are always entered preceded by their reporting marks to identify ownership so you can have, for example, BNSF 1234, CSXT 1234, NS 1234 and UP 1234.  It was this that led UP to introduce the UPY reporting mark for yard power - displayed on the loco as Y123 - when it found it had so many locos it was difficult to use a straight 4 digit number for the whole fleet.  Reporting marks are also restricted to 4 characters.  Any reporting mark ending in X indicates the owner is other than an operating railroad, private owner freight cars or leased locomotives for example.

 

My former chum, the late Jim Boyd - one-time editor of Railfan - came over here and thought the UK TOPS system was wonderful - tells you everything you need to know at a glance and whished the US could have a similar nation wide system.  I didn't have the heart to tell him it originated with the SP!

 

[Glorious NSE]

As Mike says, 2 to 4 characters reporting mark of the railroad, 1 to 4 digits numbering, (eg AA 1 to AAAA 1111) up to the railroad how they arrange it within those confines.

If you are freelancing, then I think your reporting marks you choose for your shortline shouldn't end in a U (containers), Z (trailers) or X (leasing/private owner) - worth searching them to make sure they aren't already in use too! :)

If you look through shortlines, there's a few methods of numbering that come up regularly though:

* Shortline loco's are often purchased used, so some railroads may keep their loco's previous number and just add new reporting marks
* They give loco's a sequential number as they are added to the fleet (1, 2, 3...)

 

Those two can result in some quite chaotic fleet lists!

Most seem to try and come up with something a bit more logical as they grow, ISTR the following being used by different shortlines/regionals.

* Type and number, so if the railroad owns GP38s, they will be in the 38xx series, or SD40 in the 40xx series
* Alternatively horsepower ranges, so GP38s would be in the 20xx series, an SD40 in the 30xx series

The most random one i've seen I think is the Minneapolis & St Louis, who at one point numbered based on month and year of the delivery of the loco - that meant successive new loco deliveries of the same type might go something like 866, 966, 1066, 1166, 1266, 167, 267 - that results in a fleet list which is utterly incomprehensible! 🤣