Some time ago I noticed that I was sitting in M7 car 7777 for my morning commute. Coincidentally, I received a salary increase that day. Since then, I haven't spotted that "Lucky 7777" car. How will a typical pair of cars traverse the (third rail powered) system; do they generally stay on the same branch? Do yardmasters try to keep train consists together? Has anyone spotted "Lucky 7777" lately?
The railroad's scheduling department issues "equipment manipulations" that guide the trips each consist of cars follow. They will specify that ten cars arriving on train x will turn for train y. But the consists are mere recommendations. A dispatcher or yardmaster may turn equipment "out of cycle" for a variety of reasons. Late arrival, crew swaps, an overflowing toilet, "overboard inspections" of a particular car or an equipment defect may get the consist cycled differently. In addition, when trains are laid up in yards, the yardmaster must switch out specific cars or cycle entire trains and make up trains with different numbers of cars. So he may or may not adhere to the manipulation sheets. There is often no need to follow the recommendations, and many yardmasters, stationmasters and dispatchers interject their own plans.
Each morning, the railroad's "equipment coordinator" in Jamaica publishes a tabulation showing where every car, by number, is located. Also listed is every AM train with its reported car numbers. Through this report, car mileage is tracked, inspection, cleaning and repair work is scheduled.
An employee seeking Car 7777 need only contact the equipment coordinator to get a fair idea of where that car is operating.