Model Railroading > How do you do your unit trains ?

This question is specific as to the road number of each car. It does not mater if you are running a coal or tanker or covered hopper unit train

Whether your a rivet counter ( I am not ) or just someone who likes to watch trains go by ( that's me ) how do you do a 20 pluss car unit train when most manufacturers only put out between 8 to 12 different road numbers at a time.

Do you ( a ) renumber your units.
( B ) weather them in such a way that parts of the road numbers are not visible.
Or do you simply run duplicates or 3 or more of a road number just to say you have a unit train.

While I am aware I can do as I choose I am simply curious as to how those of you who do run unit train ( do yours)

Jon Fink
Schenectady, NY

run duplicate numbers

I don't worry about duplicate numbers. But if you have operating sessions where unit trains are broken down and made up, then you might have to worry about the duplicate numbers.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Also don'y run duplicate numbers end to end, spreade them out. I t helps keep people seeing the same numbers in a row.

Stanley Jackowski
Valrico, FL

No duplicate numbers, at all.  It just takes a bit of time and effort to eliminate that issue.  I mean, we're supposed to be model railroaders here. 

I run freights, not unit trains.

I now have 83 car numbers for a HO UFIX coal train, just added 13 new numbers last month. This has been a work in progress for at least 14 years. I have one duplicate car number which is changed out when running a caboose or an EOT. I run other unit trains for many different road names with coal/empties, grain, potash and Auto racks, no duplicate numbers. Guys at the RR Club give me a hard time because of the fixation I have with the car numbers. As someone else has said its model railroading!

coaltrain45

With some care, I've been able to build sets of coal trains that have no repeat numbers with Arrowhead and ExactRail and even Watlhers coal cars.  I'm talking about unit trains in the 30-40 car range.  I've also managed to build a couple of Unit trains from Athearn 5-bay rapid discharge and Hi-side UP/D&RGW gondolas, no repeat numbers.  For a couple of other unit trains there are some sets that repeat numbers but those trains didn't run in the area I am planning to model.

Cheers,
Jim
 

'It depends' is the answer. As mentioned, if you are not into operations, you could go either way. Even with 6 random numbers, you could build a train of 12 or 18 pretty easily. If someone looks closely, they may notice duplicates or may not. If you space them out as mentioned, chances are no one will notice.

JMRI allows duplicates in the system. On the printed manifests, at my layout and a couple of others, the unit trains can actually get completely out of order and the crews don't seem to care. They find one or two on the list and in the train, count the total, and are good to go. I do use what JMRI calls a 'kernel' to keep my trains in order. I have since let some of those trains get more relaxed, but some trains are broken up and re-built during a session so need them to stay in order. I have an 'oil cans' train that is switched, so need the first/last car of each group to be correct. 

If people need multiple numbers, most just change out the last number or two. Some do all of the numbers, since after market fonts and sizes aren't always 100% the same. Which to me, I don't like seeing the odd sized/color last number. Not a problem to operate with for sure, just looks a bit out of place.

It also depends on the manufacturer and time you have. Exactrail has only offered 1 run of their coal hoppers, but with 24 numbers. Athearn has done a few runs of their tank train cars, so I think can get close to a full 72 car train, but it took many years. Scaletrains will run 12 different numbered covered hoppers usually and have done a few runs of certain roads, so could get 36 or so of the same road with different numbers. IM has run the SP sugar beet cars with different numbers and I think over 100 numbers so far. Again, over many years. Athearn has done all EL SD45-2's for example, some twice already. But to cover all UP SD40-2's at 4-6 numbers per run, no company may ever get all of them, even if you just want original number series. 

So many choices for sure. Even if you mix and match them, re-number some but not all, depending on your setup and choice. Would anyone even notice if spine cars are different? or even care? On my layout, the container or trailer number is important. On others, it is both the car and load. And on others, only the car and not the loaded item. So many choices. 

Mike ONeill
Parker, CO

For my TTX well, spine, and flat cars, I know I have some overlaps and I haven't changed the numbers - yet.  Even my trailers and containers probably have number overlaps, but I wouldn't notice that or the railroad cars, and I doubt most others would either.  Would I like them to all be unique?  For sure.  Will I get to it - maybe.  :)

Nathan

funnelfan Wrote:
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> I don't worry about duplicate numbers. But if you
> have operating sessions where unit trains are
> broken down and made up, then you might have to
> worry about the duplicate numbers.

Even in that case, I've operated on layouts that used a "cut of cars bill" instead of individual car waybills for unit train type sets (coal trains, etc) that use the number of the first or last car in the set depending on which side you're on

Totally agree about the 'block' of cars, easier with car cards for sure. Like I said, you might need duplicate numbers, but certainly lots of options. 

It's fun to run trains is the goal. 

Mike ONeill
Parker, CO

Unit trains, by definition, do not get broken up or made up.

Paul

I'd have to disagree and say 'it depends'. The SP Oil cans for example, were built in sections in Bakersfield, moved over the road as a unit train, and then broken down, in Dolores (at least in sections of 13 cars at a time. I guess if the term 'unit train' is only for the train on the road, then sure, it wouldn't necessarily be broken down. However, even on my layout, I have sections of the oil cans that the crew has to switch and break up/put back together, then run over the road/layout. So many options. 

Mike ONeill
Parker, CO

Everything gets a unique number. It's just a personal preference. I have some trains of somewhat unique
cars where there were not a lot of numbers made, (like 6 car sets, in this case Nevada Power) so I just found
decals that worked and changed one digit on enough cars for that 'trainset' . Same was true with some Rio Grande
hoppers, but now I have plenty of car numbers when you combine Walthers with Tangent with Exactrail and 
mix the cars up. 
Operation wise, unit trains get single bill routing. The train brief tells you what to do with the train. That said
I run one train that sets off a block of coal at one location and the remained of the cars go to a yard and are
taken in cuts to the industry (coal to a cement plant) that have bills for each car. That way the local crew can
take a few at a time to the plant, and there would be tracking and routing for those cars. But that's an unusual
handling of the cars. The Empties from the plant would eventually generate an Empty train going the other
way. Back towards the mine. 
Because there are different builders and unit trains don't have to be perfect. I've found I can mix them up to
make unit trains easily. For example PS2 cement cars are made by Athearn, Kadee and Atlas so get lots of
SP numbers and scheme variants. Throw in a few Bowser 70 ton cars and some weathering and the train 
looks pretty good.
Tank Cars (not tankers) have never really been a problem, as I only run the one tank train unit train, and the
newer stuff comes in many numbers. But if I were doing older cars, I'd just dig up some decals and go to town.
 

Hmmm, worry about separate numbers and then run 20-30 car unit trains? That's realistic...

JG

I would want to have different numbers on all the cars even in a 30-to-40-car unit train on the grounds that even with those, a car might have to be set out once in a while. Fortunately for my way of thinking, there have been enough production runs over the years that the unit trains I personally would be most interested in running -- certain roadnames for coal and grain -- have an abundance of road numbers available and/or suitable decals to replace digits.

For double-stack trains, though, I'd probably look the other way regarding duplicate container numbers.

The oil train was a little different as the cars were semi permanently coupled in thirteen car groups so technically you only needed six car numbers for the whole 72 car train.
JB

3rdswitch Wrote:
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> The oil train was a little different as the cars
> were semi permanently coupled in thirteen car
> groups so technically you only needed six car
> numbers for the whole 72 car train.
> JB

TankTrain cars all had individual numbers and standard couplers. The only connection the cars had to each other was the brake hose and the large product hose.

I change all my duplicates (when needed). My 64 NARC Canpotex hoppers did not require and number adjustments. But my 44 car BNSF ballast train, both 24 car Herzog trains, 36 DPRX tanks, 48 car ethanol,  48 car KCS hoppers, 58 car RD coal drag, and my 72 BNSF earthworms... Zero duplicate car numbers.


I've never seen duplicate car numbers in real life, so I don't model duplicate car numbers. That's just me.


~ Mr. MRL