Is it important to you to have unique numbers on all your cars?

Not important I am playing not working LOL

I run several unit trains and the longer the train is the harder it is to have unique numbers.  I think the only one that will notice is the owner and not any guests or visitors.  What do you think?

 

Art

Nice thing to have, but not crucial...my train of Gov't of Canada grain hoppers has eight cars carrying road number 110060. I did attach stickers to the underside identifying which 110060 each particular car is, but that's only for collection purposes and matching a particular car to a particular box. When the train is running, I doubt anyone other than those looking for unique numbers would notice.

 

I'll add that I can see how it would be rather important to some others though.

 

---PCJ

I have different number cars when I can.....like MTH N&W hopper sets they have done with different numbers.....but I have a few Weaver box cars....all the same number....I just run so numbers are not that important.....visitors never notice.

Only really important if you plan to operate like a real RR and "deliver" the goods.

No.  Actually, with my eyes being what they are, I can barely read the freight car numbers on, say, a coal porter hopper when it's standing still.  If there's a unit train of 'em running around the layout, forget it!     The numbers are a blur.  

 

As Nick said, it's play not work.  

 

- Mike

Not important to me either. I have never had anyone visiting point it out to me so they must not have ever noticed.  Even the grandkids have never mentioned it and they handle the cars more than I do.

Art:

 

For your application, where you have had run sessions with specific manifestos for the operators, I would think that unique car numbers are very important.

 

But for me, this is not an important factor. However, most of my passenger cars do carry different car numbers. 

 

Very good thread topic!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I will be the dissenting voice here. To me it is very important that my trains have unique road numbers. Maybe it is OCD on my part but it really bugs me when they are all the same. That is one thing I like about MTH is when you can buy the 6 pack of road numbers and if there are 2 of those and the 2 single sale cars you can get 14 different road numbers. I wish Lionel would to the same. Atlas is pretty good about offering 2, 3 or 4 numbers per run. What I would really like to see is production runs with all data and a blank spot for the number with access to decal sheets (manufacturer supplied maybe) I then I can create as many unique road numbers as I need.

I prefer to have individual numbers, but like you said, the longer the train, the harder it becomes. I do have a couple duplicate # Reefers so I just put them at opposite ends of the train. Most people wouldn't notice anyway.

No.

I do host regular prototypical operating sessions and it is very important that all road name/car number combinations are unique.  It's okay to have Reading 12345 and B&O 12345 but two cars that are NYC 12345 are a no-no.

 

It's been tried by once Roundhouse in HO and SHS in S.

Lead balloon.

 

Rusty

For some reason it is very important to me to have different road numbers.. Part of my O-Gauge OCD I guess. i don't want to spend money buying two of the same item.

 

I THINK I might be able to let myself get away with it if I was to put together a l-o-n-g coal drag.

I've kind of been wrestling with this issue myself. The way I see it, it really only matters for cars that will be going to industries. So all your passenger cars, and unit trains, don't need unique numbers. That includes intermodal cars.

 

in my case, the layout and car pool are so large, that it would be difficult to detect multiple cars with the same number, even if they were being sent to industries, as long as they are not in the same train or sharing a common destination. A likely scenario would be that one car is circulating between yards and industries while its partner was stuck in a train in the hidden yard (off stage).

Chugman,

 

I prefer to have different numbers. I had MTH 4 bay hopper cars stripped, painted and renumbered a couple of years ago. I used different numbers on each car & used birthdays, anniversary date, address's etc. on each car. I recently ordered 4 of MTH's 3 car hoppers sets in CSX which at the moment I think I will leave as is when I run them.

 

Joe B.

I wouldn't want two adjacent cars with the same numbers. And if it's a unit train I'd want at least four different numbers.

Different numbers are a good feature but not a must have. If I only have two of one identical car, than more important.

 

Clem

 

No, it is not important to me, although if I had my "druthers" I would prefer unique numbers when I have two or more cars.  I have around two dozen PFE reefers, and I think I have four or five pairs with the same number.  Same with sixteen ATSF map-slogan cars.  I've bought two of several locomotives where I had to get the same roadnumber (e.g., H7) and those I do go to the trouble to re-number, etc.  

I have a unit train of UP coalporter cars, and actully renumbered all of them to ahve different road numbers. It took some time, but it really is cool. Something about it that goes visually beyond, that I really like. Also use 3 engines on the point and one on the rear to handle this train.

Its a "nice to have" for me, but not a "have to have."  If repeated numbers are necessary because the product is hard to find, then I will just live with it in that case.

 

But if I had a diesel and wanted to add an idential model/paint scheme.  I would patiently wait until a different number came up in my looking in ebay, hobby shops, etc.

I am prototypically challenged, but for some reason I do like to have different car numbers?  Probably OCD or something, but I just like the numbers to be different for some reason?  I don't have enough of any one car type/roadname to have to worry about duplicates yet however, and my layout isn't huge so it probably won't ever be a problem for me.

 

I think the true train operation type folks might notice duplicate numbers, but I doubt the average visitor would notice unless the cars were right next to each other. If the cars were spread out like laidoffsick stated above, the experts might not even notice?

Duplicate car numbers drive me nuts. I dont really have a reason for it other than I find it annoying, even in a unit train... 

I don't think I do in O yet.  But it's not that big a deal to me.  If I can avoid the same number, I will, otherwise it really doesn't matter.  I don't do prototypical operations, so I just get what I like and run it as I want.  They're all toys.

While I prefer to have different road numbers, I'm not going to get rid of my duplicates. Even operating a Card system for deliveries I can come up with a way to split them up. Like a Red paint dot on one of them.

 

No-one visiting has even noticed the numbers anyway.

I prefer each car has its own unique number, but I realize that is not always possible if a specific type of car is wanted. I've been fortunate that my primary road, the PRR, has many different types of cars available from all the manufacturers. Atlas, in particular, has produced many numbers for their H21, X26, and X29 cars. In fact, the H21 has 22 different numbers in the round herald cars.

 

I would like to get a unit train of scale sized MS boxcars in the original scheme, but the available numbers are limited (some MTH and Weaver cars). For this I will have to duplicate numbers. I figure I will just keep like numbered cars as far apart as possible and nobody will notice. 

 

Ron

I want different numbers, for my satisfaction, or my weak little mind is screaming,

"Fake, fake, fake".  It is part of "modeling a railroad".  Now, tinplate collectors I know, who packrat one kind of car, such as say, Marx six inch, have shelves full of cars with the same number.  Down that road, it's unavoidable, but..for operators?

Maybe no numbers? I have a handful of hoppers I painted black and am working at lettering them for N&W. So far I have no numbers on any of them, but rolling along in a train you can't really tell. Besides, most folks that see my trains probably don't even know every piece of rolling stock has it's own number!  LOL

 

Another thing, what about locos? If you have several of the same loco they are gonna have the same (catalog) number on the cab aren't they?

At the price point for scale cars today, yes.

Depends...

 

On scale cars, like Atlas Trinity hoppers and tankers, yes.

 

But one of my favorite trains is my PWC Lehigh Valley coal drag, made entirely of 6436-110 and 6436-100 cars. I like to drag em behind N&W 2200. Awesome sight.

It is not most important for me but still I do not like to have repeat numbers for the same car.  For the most part, visitors do not know the difference.  For operating sessions, I have seen folks put a small colored adhesive dot on a duplicate car so that it can be identified from its twin.

 

Alan

My 3 unit trains have unique numbers on all cars. Not hard to do with 2-4 manufacturers making basically the same model.. For instance my 40 ft reefers from Atlas Weaver, Lionel and MTH not only have different numbers, but different build dates and slight variations in body and roof colors.  Important to me but my guests never notice 

Extremely important right up to the point where I have to change, or add my own numbers. Then no.

Another thing, what about locos? If you have several of the same loco they are gonna have the same (catalog) number on the cab aren't they?

Nope, that's what decals are for.

For MTH Premier there are usually 3 road numbers offered for all locos. For Lionel Standard O they usually have multiple road numbers for locos under different catalog numbers.

 

MTH Premier rolling stock is offered in 2 road numbers and some come in 6 car sets as well with usually two 6 car sets available.  I think Lionel standard O only offers 1 road number for rolling stock and some in 2 or 3 car sets, but I'm not as familiar with Lionel so I could be wrong on their rolling stock?

 

Atlas also offers multiple road numbers in locos and rolling stock.

 

My understanding of Railking and Lionel traditional is only 1 number available for each item. I don't know much about the other manufacturers or their product lines. 

 

In a train? nope. Like wheel flanges, I never notice. But on a shelf for display I can understand having different numbers.

All of my engines and all of my rolling stock have different numbers, just the way we like to do it.  ANY WAY IS THE RIGHT WAY !  

Freight cars no, but my ever growing NH caboose collection yes

No