Train Symbols — alphanumeric codes to trains/locations

As an old airline guy and familier with airport codes. IE BOS, JFK,LAX etc etc...can you guys help me decifer the codes for a trains? For example when i see a posting for a POED i have to assume that that means Portland To East Deerfield? Is that correct? Is there somewhere where a neofite can learn the codes for PAR? I there a reference book or web page? I won't EVEN think to try to figure the CSX codes. Anyway, if this is not cool to post, Admin can take it down, but I bet I'm not alone. Thanks, Tommy

Pan Am uses 4 letter train symbol. The first two letters are the originating location and the last two letters are the destination. This is for road freight only. POED is POrtland to East Deerfield. WAAY is WAterville to AYer.
Local switchers use the location they are based out of. PO-1 is out of Portland. AY-1 would be a switcher out of Ayer. DJ-1 is Danville Junction local. DO is Dover..

SJ: Saint John, NB (interchange to NBSR at Keag)
MA: Mattawamkeag
OT: Old Town
BK: Bucksport
NM: Northern Maine Jct.
WA: Waterville
RU: Rumford
RI: Rileys (Verso/Jay)
DJ: Danville Junction
PO: Portland/Rigby Yard/South Portland
DO: Dover
PH: Portsmouth
LA: Lawrence
LO: Lowell
SA: Salem
BO: Boston
NA: Nashua
BO: Bow (BO only symbol used twice.)
AY: Ayer
SE: Selkirk (interchange to CSX at Barbers/Worcester)
FI: Fitchburg
ED: East Deerfield/Yard
PL: Plainville
BF: Bellows Falls
WJ: White River Jct.
AD: Adams/North Adams
NB: North Bennington
MO: Mohawk Yard
ME: Mechanicville
RJ: Rotterdam Jct.
SS: Saratoga Springs/CP interchange.

Think thats most of the current station symbols, best I could do off top of my head. Might be a few they dont use currently but have in the last 5 years. Thats roughly east to west.

Edit in a few more.
PW: Providence and Worcester (generally the Gardner interchange)
495: Ayer/I495 corridor in Mass.
190: Fitchburg?/I190 corridor in Mass. I'm not familiar enough with Mass to know where I190 runs, think its Fitchburg area.

190/495 are the only numerical symbols used on "home grown" trains. Other run thru trains use numerical symbols, 11R/14R are the Deerfield-Enola manifests interchanged to NS at Mohawk. 205/206 are auto trains fromNS to Mechanicville, 22K/23K are the IM jobs between Chicago and Ayer and 287/28N are the auto trains to Ayer from NS.

OH! Thank you guys. That is a big help. Any and all info is appreciated.

Is Saratoga Springs SS or SR? I could've sworn it was SR back when trains ran there...

Also, Mechanicville is more frequently referred to as XO. The auto job switchers run as XO-1, and the High Iron fan trip ran as BOXO iirc. XO is the former name of the interlocking/tower at the D&H/B&M split, now CPF 468.

Now that you mention it SR sounds right. I don't know if that symbol has been used in the last 5 years. But I remembered reading a press thing about the "new" Deerfield-SaraSprings service. Don't know if it ever materialized.

I knew they called them AYME for a while when they were running second section AYMO's on occasion, when they first split the auto and IM jobs but hadn't yet adopted NS symbols for the runs. So that was my thinking there. XO is a new one to me, but then I'm at pretty much the opposite end of the main, so local symbols way out there are lost on me.

Mikejf wrote:Local switchers use the location they are based out of. ... DO is Dover..

To make some clarification, DO-1 and DO-2 report to Rigby, but typically handle all the local work in between South Portland and Dover, including interchange with the NHN in Dover on occasion, plus the Portsmouth Branch.

The DOBO crew is symboled as PH-1 on Sundays, but they still report to Dover as they do every night. The PH is for Portsmouth, though, and typically they will do DO-1/DO-2's type of work.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any other locals with names that don't correspond with reporting location.

NM-1 reports to Old Town.

KSmitty wrote:Now that you mention it SR sounds right. I don't know if that symbol has been used in the last 5 years. But I remembered reading a press thing about the "new" Deerfield-SaraSprings service. Don't know if it ever materialized.

I knew they called them AYME for a while when they were running second section AYMO's on occasion, when they first split the auto and IM jobs but hadn't yet adopted NS symbols for the runs. So that was my thinking there. XO is a new one to me, but then I'm at pretty much the opposite end of the main, so local symbols way out there are lost on me.

SR was the SRED/EDSR symbol for Saratoga Springa which last ran in the very early 2000s timeframe. The "new" service was never intended to bring this symbol back but was just to expedite loaded paper to the CP ie for Quadraphics.

XO has been the symbol for Mechanicvlle since the yard reopened I have no idea why they went with that over the old ME symbol.

Hope this helps.

I'm assuming that the listing above is to give a thorough complete list vs an active list? Like it was my understanding that the presence in Buckport kind of crapped out after that factory closed down. Also... wasn't (isn't?) there an interchange w/ NECR outside ED?

That was symbols used in the last 5+/- years, off the top of my head. There is currently no symbol using BK, but NM-1 is still down there 2-3 times a week for scrap.

Millers Falls is the NECR interchange on the Freight Main, but don't believe theyve ever had a symbol for it. Again though, this was all off memory, so mistakes are possible...

Don't they occasionally run an RJJC from Rotterdam Jct to, I believe, Jones Chemical, which is located off the old Northern Main in Merrimack, NH?

**This is my first post, though I've been reading for years; I am most appreciative for all of the good information given out on this board.** (edit - the system tells me this is my third post. I can't remember the other two.)

They used to run DJJC (Danville Jct-Jones Chemical) but after a couple incidents involving TIH chemical leaks from tank cars Jones didn't properly seal the railroad no longer hauls for them. May have run an RJJC, but I don't know.

That adds another symbol, JC: Jones Chemical.

You are right - DJJC is the symbol I had in mind. But it sounds like a now-defunct symbol anyway.

DJJC runs as-needed, whenever TIH (toxic inhalation hazard) cars show up on the property to get them off the railroad ASAP for liability purposes. It has been used as recently as the past few months, and I doubt it will ever be defunct unless Jone's Chemical goes out of business.


One symbol missing from the big list above is WO for Worcester. It is used on occasional extras besides SEPO/POSE, such as WODJ which was an empty oil train heading to upstate New Hampshire for storage via SLR. Sometimes crews/dispatchers/clerks will get creative with one-offs and unusual runs such as this.