How does one casually identify a freight train on any American road.....

...without asking RR personnel?

Where is the train headed via which cities?

Are trains marked anywhere with their identification and/or destination?

This information is useful to some railfans as well as freight jumpers.

Passenger trains are offended designated a name like Amtrak California Zephyr.

At some stations, passengers used to be directed to board their trains at certain track numbers.

Back when SP was running local passenger trains along the San Francisco Peninsula ujp until 1985, the schedules would

list train numbers by the number actually on the lead engine of the train.

Railfans learn these things thru...
- Other railfans
- Clubs
- RR Timetables
- Scanner

Here's a good video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l91j-eG8xEk

Danny Harmon produces great railfanning videos. Watch them all.

For the most part you can't officially.

Even an Amtrak train is unidentifiable when standing trackside (aka there is nothing on it saying what it is).*

That being said, there are ways you might be able to find out. First is to get a scanner and listen, the train when talking with dispatch will call out it's number. You can then look search for that number online & if some fan has compiled information about that train you can find out about it. But for the most part it's entirely fan-driven, so of no railfan has done the leg work, than there will be no data.

For Amtrak, probably the easiest way is to use one of the two train tracking websites. But you can figure it out using timetables & on time performance information.

For the most part railroads don't want you to have this information, so they aren't going to tell you... you might get a loose-lipped employee. There are security issues in telling you what the train is, where it's going & what's on it. As well as trying to avoid hitch hikers.

peter

*edit: yes I know the new Chargers have LED signs on the front, that are supposed to say the train or destination. But at this point it's more of the exception than the norm.

PerRock said:

Even an Amtrak train is unidentifiable when standing trackside (aka there is nothing on it saying what it is).*

*edit: yes I know the new Chargers have LED signs on the front, that are supposed to say the train or destination. But at this point it's more of the exception than the norm.

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Actually, There is one Amtrak train that's easily identifiable: The Auto Train. It's the only train in the Eastern U.S. that uses Superliner cars and also is the only Amtrak train in the US that carries auto cars behind the passenger cars carrying the passengers' cars with them. There can be up to 33 auto cars, 17 Superliner cars, and three locomotives, those there's normally two. This makes it Amtrak's longest passenger train. You can see it on a daily basis on Virtual Railfan's Ashland, Virginia webcam. The southbound Auto Train comes thru in the afternoon between 4:30PM and 6:00PM. Amtrak's Silver Star can also be identifiable on the Ashland webcam as it has Viewliner sleepers and baggage car, but no Viewliner dining car, hence it's nickname Silver Starvation. The southbound Silver Star comes thru Ashland between 3:00PM and 5:00PM. The Silver Meteor can be identified by having a similar consist to the Silver Star, but with the addition of a Viewliner II dining car, which uses a paint scheme similar to Amtrak's Phase III (?) paint scheme. The southbound Silver Meteor and comes thru late at night, normally between 8:30 and 9:30 and the northbound in the afternoon between 12:00 and 2:00PM. The Carolinian and Palmetto also come thru Ashland, but the two are indistinguishable as they both use a consist of Amfleet coaches and a café car and Viewliner II baggage car. Four Northeast Regional trains come thru in the morning, three northbound and one southbound and four more in the afternoon, three southbound and one northbound. All the Northeast Regional passenger trains stop at the station in Ashland while all others, Auto Train, Silver Star, Silver Meteor, Palmetto and Carolinian don't. Link to Virtual Railfan's Ashland Virginia Webcam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e47XhLmZhFk

jordon412 said:

Actually, There is one Amtrak train that's easily identifiable: The Auto Train. It's the only train in the Eastern U.S. that uses Superliner cars and also is the only Amtrak train in the US that carries auto cars behind the passenger cars carrying the passengers' cars with them.

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Superliners on the east alone isn't enough to identify it; the Capitol Limited is an "eastern" train that uses Superliners.

For the most part, most long distance trains are going to be fairly identifiable. Where you might have problems is knowing if it's the one that left (say,) Chicago yesterday or today.

peter

Freight trains don't run on strict schedule times, sometimes they tie up on a siding, or in an intermediate yard, awaiting re-crews, delayed for hours and days on end. High priority trains such as produce, perishables, Tropicanna ... etc ... have a guaranteed 56 to 72 hr cross Country delivery time, and are run around stopped trains ... Amtrak has the strictest high priority over that of freight

It is actually a crime in the US, to reveal to others information such as: radio frequencies, and train schedules ... And in many other foreign Countries, rail fanning, eavesdropping on radio frequencies, taking photos and videos of transportation, communications and revealing information to others ... etc ... is considered espionage, spying, and treason, punishable by death

It is strictly on a "need to know basis" ... and strictly you have "no need to know" !

PerRock said:

Superliners on the east alone isn't enough to identify it; the Capitol Limited is an "eastern" train that uses Superliners.

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I didn't know that they were using Superliners on the Capitol Limited. I thought it was New York-Chicago, which would mean Amfleet and Viewliner cars. I just checked and they've cut it back to Washington D.C. instead of New York, which was where it ended the last time I checked.

cascaderailroad said:

Freight trains don't run on strict schedule times, sometimes they tie up on a siding, or in an intermediate yard, awaiting re-crews, delayed for hours and days on end. High priority trains such as produce, perishables, Tropicanna ... etc ... have a guaranteed 56 to 72 hr cross Country delivery time, and are run around stopped trains ... Amtrak has the strictest high priority over that of freight

It is actually a crime in the US, to reveal to others information such as: radio frequencies, and train schedules ... And in many other foreign Countries, rail fanning, eavesdropping on radio frequencies, taking photos and videos of transportation, communications and revealing information to others ... etc ... is considered espionage, spying, and treason, punishable by death

It is strictly on a "need to know basis" ... and strictly you have "no need to know" !

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If I were a hobo, I would like to know where that freight I'm contemplating jumping is headed. But if I we're just a passenger with a
paid ticket, hopefully I would never accidentally get on the wrong train. I've gotten on the wrong city bus before.

We live in a different day... I (anyone) can watch the La Plata rail cam and when Amtrak stops in the evening (after dark) and I can literally (almost) see what people are eating in the dining car. Literally. It's a perfect shot and lighting is just right to see inside the car very clearly. So not only do you know what and when things are running, you can almost know what's on the menu.

JonMyrlennBailey said:

If I were a hobo, I would like to know where that freight I'm contemplating jumping is headed. But if I we're just a passenger with a
paid ticket, hopefully I would never accidentally get on the wrong train. I've gotten on the wrong city bus before.

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Hobos get locked up overnight, and are arraigned, and fined, and have to post bail money in a guilty plea agreement, to get released ... I've met all kinds of railfans ... ones that write down each railcar number, and loco number, and know each train symbol such as PGPI (Phila Greenwich to Pittsburgh) ... I myself just watch trains roll by ... and note which railcars have flatspots and mechanical defects about to cause a derailment ... I saw a train that had 10 CSX locos on it ... didn't know where it was going ... But I did know one thing ... They desperately needed power somewhere distant, as snow is a coming ... What difference does it make at all to the common everyday railfan, as to where the train came from, and where it is heading to ... It is none of your business

cascaderailroad said:

What difference does it make at all to the common everyday railfan, as to where the train came from, and where it is heading to ... It is none of your business

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It's called having an interest.... I think the role of railroads in this country (US) is very interesting. I don't know about other countries but the US has a lot to thank railroads for. From moving troops for war time effort to Santa trains delivering presents to children to bringing your next car to the area for you to purchase. Interesting.

Freight railroads just hate railfans "So Interested" in the railroads business (when in fact they have absolutely no business chasing and interfering with federal railroad operations) ... In Altoona PA there is a retired guy in a white SUV that chases trains up and over the hill, pretending to be a wanna' be railroad cop ... he escorts every train uphill for 20 miles, and chases trains back down the hill ... making a "Wanna' Be Railroad Cop" his personal retired life business ... Has a license for RR radio transmission, with antennas sticking out all over his car ... All the RR crews know him as: "There goes that guy with the white SUV, again, seen him at 5 locations up, racing over RR access roads at breakneck speeds, kicking up a cloud of RR ballast dust, wearing out his tires ... all over the mountain, on our trip".

The best part of seeing a BNSF set of locos hauling a Bakken oil train of tankcars is ... finally seeing to go past without derailing and exploding in my own backyard

cascaderailroad said:

Freight railroads just hate railfans "So Interested" in the railroads business (when in fact they have absolutely no business chasing and interfering with federal railroad operations) ....

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Yes, you have a different view than I. And your view is just as valid as mine. No one has a lock on the truth. However, I've read about and been told of crews that treat railfans very respectfully. I'm sure it's like everything else in life. In all walks you have a mix. Isn't that what makes life fun? I'm sure some people would think me crazy using a computer "game" to simulate a railroad too. They might say "All this stuff going on in those forums... goodness.. boys (and girls) playing with toy trains." I can't live worrying about what someone may be saying or thinking about me."

cascaderailroad said:

The best part of seeing a BNSF set of locos hauling a Balkan oil train of tankcars is ... finally seeing to go past without derailing and exploding in my own backyard

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Oil has to be somewhere and move somehow. If it's not in a train tank car it's somewhere else and a risk elsewhere. If I wish the oil out of my back yard I'm just wishing it on someone else.

But I do respect your point of view. I too think people are in too many other people's business. That's one nice things about rail cams. You can be there and watch without getting in the way. But you are still in someone else's business. On the other hand... it's true, you can't take a breath now days without being observered by a person or a camera.

Quite the conundrum.....

Some railroads use destination symbols. Here are some that I remember from my own local railroad, although, there were once a lot more, and some more recently probably have been terminated.

DOBO --- Dover to Boston --- This is a combined train with the New Hampshire North Coast sand trains out of Ossipee sandpit located on the former White Mountain branch. The NHNC also does some local switching in Rochester and Somersworth.

BODO --- Boston to Dover

LASE --- Lawrence to Selkirk

SELA --- Selkirk to Lawrence

GASE --- Gardner to Selkirk

SEGA --- Selkirk to Gardner

NMSE --- North Maine to Selkirk

SENM --- Selkirk to North Maine

LADE --- Lawrence to Deerfield

DELA --- Deerfield to Lawrence

There used to be regular freight symbols out of Salem, but they've since been terminated due to lack of business. They were SABO, SALA, SASE, SABU. Salem to Boston, Lawrence, Selkirk, Buffalo. Yes Guilford once did a big partnership with CSX and ran to Buffalo, but that ended in 1988 or so after their big strike and D&H bankruptcy.

Then there are the local switchers, which unfortunately have been consolidated due to the drop in local freights.

The Salem switcher is now known as Lawrence-1 or LA-1 who also handles Boston and the remaining business in Woburn. The Lawrence switchers used to handle the traffic in Salem, NH (Not Salem MA), South Lawrence Industrial Park, Andover, and up as far as Wilmington. Today the M&L branch is gone and there's no longer any active track north of the Merrimack River so the Salem NH service is no longer and the tracks are now a trail.

The Haverhill switcher now traverses all the with the Rockingham Jct. and on to Portsmouth. At one time it only served the industries in southern New Hampshire (Plaistow, Newton), Haverhill industrial park, and North Andover. Portsmouth used to have its own very active switch and a substantial yard, but the yard is a measly siding, and the activity has been reduced to a short turn as industry closed, and the old Eastern Railroad remnant to Hampton has been abandoned so now the Haverhill switcher heads up the mainline, does a reverse move to Portsmouth, and then switches the tracks around there.

But anyway, knowing the local railroad can be done by listening to scanners, contacting historical societies, and joining local model clubs. There's a wealth of information out there that can be had from many, many sources.

jordon412 said:

I didn't know that they were using Superliners on the Capitol Limited. I thought it was New York-Chicago, which would mean Amfleet and Viewliner cars. I just checked and they've cut it back to Washington D.C. instead of New York, which was where it ended the last time I checked.

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Not unless you checked before 1971. It's possible there was a car that went to New York via another train.

simulatortrain said:

Not unless you checked before 1971. It's possible there was a car that went to New York via another train.

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For a while in the 80s one could understandably (but incorrectly) think that the CL went to NYP. As between PGH & CHI it was combined with the Broadway Limited.

peter