Official Railway Equipment Register Question

[Kisatchie]

I've noticed that cars like open auto rack flats have a Trailer Train flat, and the racks show a railroad, like Southern. In the ORER (I don't have a copy), where would one find such a car? Under the Railroad's list of cars, or under Trailer Train's list of cars? (assuming Trailer Train is even represented in the ORER.)

Please pardon my ignorance.


Hmm... I think the
problem is more serious
than 'ignorance'...

[wcfn100]

I've noticed that cars like open auto rack flats have a Trailer Train flat, and the racks show a railroad, like Southern. In the ORER (I don't have a copy), where would one find such a car? Under the Railroad's list of cars, or under Trailer Train's list of cars? (assuming Trailer Train is even represented in the ORER.)

It would be under Trailer-Train and then divided by reporting marks like TTX, OTTX, JTTX etc..


Jason

[jmlaboda - RIP]

The racks were owned by the railroad while the car was leased from TTX.  Since the racks were not technically interchange equipment there is not any accounting for them while the flats would be listed under the TTX entries, as Jason mentioned.

[James Costello]

And I don't think there is a list correlating TT flat car reporting marks and numbers to RR-owned flat numbers.

[wcfn100]

And I don't think there is a list correlating TT flat car reporting marks and numbers to RR-owned flat numbers.

You may be able to get something from the individual RR groups.  I know the number of at least one 89' TTX car that carried a CGW rack.


Jason

[cv_acr]

Exactly. The flatcars are listed under Trailer Train. Trailer Train owns the cars, and they have TT's reporting marks.

The rack is owned by the railroad. It both part of the car, and completely separate. Many older flatcars from the 1970s that originally had open racks are still in service, but the racks have been replaced with fully enclosed racks.

The ORER does not indicate who cars are leased to.

[cv_acr]

The Trailer Train section in ORERs can be quite dizzying at the sheer amount of entries, especially all the randomly numbered single car series.

TT uses different reporting marks to denote different types and configurations of equipment. If cars get converted, their reporting mark gets changed but the numbers stay the same. (the numbers don't overlap). So if a TOFC flatcar get rebuilt with a bilevel open rack, and later gets rebuilt with a fully enclosed rack, its number stays the same, but the reporting marks will get changed with each change in configuration. Thus cars from the same original TTX number series could be spread out over several different reporting marks.

Really if you want to be sure of accurate individual car numbers, you have to have a collection of prototype reference pics.

[Kisatchie]

Thanks for all the information. I'm really gonna have to break down and buy me a 1971 Orer.



Hmm... I figure it'll take
Kiz 10 years to figure out
how to use it...

[wcfn100]

There's a '72 on E-Bay right now or a CD scan of some multiple years.

The CDs are only as good as how they are indexed.  If each page is a single PDF, it really sucks.  But if they group a bunch of pages together it works really well.

Jason

[cv_acr]

I have a '75 one (and an '80 and '86) if you ever need something specific looked up from that.

They are definitely very handy to have an appropriate register for your modelling year.

[Kisatchie]

I have a '75 one (and an '80 and '86) if you ever need something specific looked up from that.

I'm watching eBay for a 1971 ORER. I used to have a 1980 ORER, but I lost it in the hurricane Katrina flood.


Hmm... seems like that
was 7 years ago...

[wcfn100]

FYI, the ORERs were quarterly starting in January and will list what cars are new additions since the last issue.


Jason

[Robbman]

You may be able to get something from the individual RR groups.  I know the number of at least one 89' TTX car that carried a CGW rack.


Jason

Yep... N&Ws internal equipment guides listed rack numbers and which cars they were applied to...