NS Train Symbols

[ns engineer]

The list of letters that are used as the last digit are A,E,G,J,K, M,Q,R,T,V,and Z.I think that is all of them, but there may be 1 or 2 more.Also NS has reasigned the 400's to unit trains,with the exception of 470-489 these are used for crew deadhead symbols.Some train symbols include 22A,62E,24G,51J,50K,17M, 37Q,12R,25T,42V and 56Z.With these train numbers 24T runs most of its route northbound and 25T runs most of its trip southbound.The exception to that rule is trains like 17M/18M.17M runs north from Linwood NC to Hurt Va. then runs westbound to Elkhart.18M Runs east from Elkhart then turns south at Hurt to Linwood.The resaon it called 18M is most of it trip is east bound,the same with 17M most of its trip is west bound.The current NS numbering system is a combination of Southern and NW.Road trains use the Southern 3 digit train symbols and locals and yard job use the NW way of letters and numbers as in PL01 or P84.I hope this helps.

[ccaranna]

I'm a little late to this thread-

The link that someone posted was really good becuase it seemed to list all of the trains and where they originated and terminated.

http://www.angelfire.com/sc2/nstrains/nstrains.html

The only problem is that the links for the 100's, 200's, 300's, and 400's don't work! Those of course, are the ones I'm interested in.

Does anyone else know where this information can be found on the web? Any other web pages I've found with train symbols are, for the most part, not complete.

Thanks for the help!

Chuck

[jmp883]

SRS125 wrote:

East end with Even Numbers
West end with Odd Numbers
North end with Even Numbers
South end with Odd Numbers

Except that NS didn't always follow that rule. I worked for a time as a dispatcher on the NJ Transit Mainline desk and they ran a pair freights on the 2nd trick that were numbered backwards from what is listed above.

These 2 trains replaced the former Conrail OIBU/BUOI. If I remember correctly they were the 43/42. They had a letter suffix but 2002 was soooo long ago I can't seem to remember what letter it was. Anyway, the 43 was the eastbound freight and the 42 was the westbound freight. Go figure......

I liked the old Conrail (and whoever pioneered it before Conrail) system of using the letters of the starting point and ending point of the train.

OIBU: Oak Island to Buffalo
NBSE: North Bergen to Selkirk

It was a lot easier that way.......

[TheChessieCatLives]

Here's the list for CSX trains

CSXT Freight Trains Menu

http://www.bullsheet.com/schedules/QTrains.html
http://www.bullsheet.com/schedules/KTrains.html
http://www.bullsheet.com/schedules/ZTrains.html
http://www.bullsheet.com/schedules/sche ... ies=CP/SOO
http://www.bullsheet.com/schedules/GrainTrains.html
http://www.bullsheet.com/schedules/CoalTrains.html
http://www.bullsheet.com/schedules/Locals.html

My favorites are train numbers H703 and H707!

[AmtrakFan]

How come is there a 33G? IT is a NSIGAL Train.

[NYSW13000]

This is not exactly true, we have an autorack train here that is 11J (eb) and then 18N (wb).

100's Manifest/Mixed trains
200-270 Intermodal trains
270-299 Auto trains
300-400 Mixed trains
500-600-700 Some coal, also ore, stone, and other bulk commodities
800 coal
900 light engine moves/special work, I believe

In theory, eastbounds have even numbers and westbounds odd, not sure about north/south.

When NS added Conrail's trains back in '99, they ran out of 3 digit #'s so they started using 13 letters of the alphabet to replace the final number of certain trains.

For example, NS train 145 passes westbound thru Fostoria, Ohio each day.
So does eastbound coal train 84M. This train is an 840 series coal train.

There's lots more but that's a start.

[SRS125]

SRS125 wrote:

East end with Even Numbers
West end with Odd Numbers
North end with Even Numbers
South end with Odd Numbers

Except that NS didn't always follow that rule. I worked for a time as a dispatcher on the NJ Transit Mainline desk and they ran a pair freights on the 2nd trick that were numbered backwards from what is listed above.

These 2 trains replaced the former Conrail OIBU/BUOI. If I remember correctly they were the 43/42. They had a letter suffix but 2002 was soooo long ago I can't seem to remember what letter it was. Anyway, the 43 was the eastbound freight and the 42 was the westbound freight. Go figure......

I liked the old Conrail (and whoever pioneered it before Conrail) system of using the letters of the starting point and ending point of the train.

OIBU: Oak Island to Buffalo
NBSE: North Bergen to Selkirk

It was a lot easier that way.......

I seem to have noticed that the locals on CSX don't change there call signs no matter what dirction its runing.

[ANDY117]

I found quite a few inaccuracies on this site. (Besides the fact ti doesn't work on a few of the pages). It left out the 674/675 unit salt trains between Ithaca, NY and Saratoga, NY via the D&H. 530/531 don't run through here anymore to my knowledge. Just 532/533. It left out the H88, the Gang Mills-Binghamton road switcher. Plus I didn't see the mixed freights page. (T trains, i.e. 10T/11T etc.) Maybe someone can create a better page with more current info.

[Rockin' Roller]

NS work trains start with 9, whether two digits and a letter or three digits.

[Railfaninnj]

The NS also uses an interesting system for numbering extra section trains. Here are some examples:

I0G ('Eye Oh Gee') is an extra Intermodal 20G
I4Z is an extra Intermodal 24Z
I12 is an extra Intermodal 212
M9G is an extra 19G Manifest freight
Z4R is an extra 64R unit ethanol train

Many trains have 'reciprocal' E/W numbers, such as 18G/19G, 64R/65R, 68Q/69Q, etc, while others (18N/11J) don't follow that rule.

Jack
Central New Jersey Wide-Area Stream @ http://railroadradio.net/

[Railfaninnj]

The list of letters that are used as the last digit are A,E,G,J,K, M,Q,R,T,V,and Z.I think that is all of them, but there may be 1 or 2 more.

W has been used for work trains. The NS 99W is heard/seen frequently on the Lehigh Line in NJ.

Jack
Central New Jersey Wide-Area Stream @ http://railroadradio.net

[gravelyfan]

This is not exactly true, we have an autorack train here that is 11J (eb) and then 18N (wb).

Not sure exactly where "here" is, but the 11J is westbound out of New Jersey, and 18N is eastbound into New Jersey.

[General]

This is not exactly true, we have an autorack train here that is 11J (eb) and then 18N (wb).

Not sure exactly where "here" is, but the 11J is westbound out of New Jersey, and 18N is eastbound into New Jersey.

and it has always been that way since the norfolk took over conrail.

[2nd trick op]

CSX Conductor wrote:

Matt, traditionally North and East trains (as well as airplanes and inter-city busses such as Greyhound) are designated with even numbered designations. And at the same time Southward and Westwards with odd numbered designations.

The reasons behind this go back to the days when dispatching was accomplished by timetable and train order, as most clearly illustrated in the reference work Rights of Trains. Operating crews could immediately distinguish opposing moves from following/overtaking moves. While the rationale was to promote a uniform standard for operating rules on any railroad (and joint operations and timetables were much more common in earlier days), several lines deviated and assigned numbers in the opposite manner.

The practice can also be easily adapted for use in the simulation of rail operations, either model or actual, by computer.

[hoborich]

That link for NS train symbols was no good.

Does anyone know where NS train 39E originates and terminates? They hit a guy on a bicycle the other night, in Detroit, on the Junction Secondary. I was just wondering where they came from, and where they were going. Seems the guy was pedaling fast, trying to beat the train. The gate came down, and knocked him off the bike, and I guess he fell on the tracks, right in front of the train. The train was going slow, and stopped with the two locomotives just past the crossing. The guy was under the front axles of the first engine. The crew sounded shook up on the radio.