I got a chance to take a few pictures recently, and caught a lot of "Q" trains. I caught this train on a foggy, overcast morning: Harold [ September 22, 2005, 08:11 PM: Message edited by: chessie ]
I don't remember the symbol for this train.... I just barely caught it (I had to ditch my car, run across a highway, and into a field for this shot) Harold
Nice pics Harold. Nice to see that not all them Conrail SD60M's have lost the red lights in the nose. That new blue seems to be becoming established as well!
CSX Quality! (BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I still can't say that with a straight face!) The short story is that CSX used to symbol their manifest trains with an "R" and their higher-priority trains with a "Q." Over time enough shippers complained that their cars weren't moving in "Q" trains that CSX changed all the manifest symbols over.
I like the red classification lights.... sometimes they still remain on the rear hood as well. I guess they are moving along with repainting units, so the new scheme is becoming more common. Harold
As Brian pointed out, the CSX sysmbols all were supposed to indicate sometjhing about the trains status and type of train. The "Q" just means a regularly scheduled train. Harold
I use a scanner - I usually hear the defect detector in Zeeland and can almost guess what type it is by the length of train. The detector checks for "hot" wheels/bearings - the defect detector reports an automated message lik: "CSX defect detector milepost 19 point 1 - length of train (in feet) number of axles (number) no defects". This also alerts the crew if the number of axles doesn't match the number of cars they are supposed to have. By milepost 19.1 in Zeeland you can see the detectors by the track and the transmitter/antenna. It's really nice that crews have to call the signals as they approach them, so you know that when they say "CP X521 west clear approach Waverly" I know that they are heading into Waverly Yard in Holland westbound - also I know that CP is Canadian Pacific, X is an extra, and the odd number means they are westbound - even numbers go east. Usually they report the number of the engine, so if I was a little more informed, I could probably know what type engine is leading. It's also nice because I can monitor the messages between crews and CSX dispatch in Jacksonville Florida, so I usually know what is waiting in the sidings or scheduled to come in next. Oh - and I also have a permit from the State Police of Michigan - required if you have a scanner in a motor vehicle.
Alan, I do use a scanner, like Tim. (My telepathy isn't what it used to be ) . I have all 100 AAR channels programmed in and scan those only. You can hear everything from the defect detectors, dispatchers, train crews, track workers, yard tower, shuttles, etc. It is challenging.. kind of like solving a puzzle. Like Tim said, CSX and NS generally call their signals with their train # and/or locomotive #, their location and the signal indication. The trick is you have to know what all of that means... especially location. A lot of "locations" are not cities and towns, yet places or locations that the railroads have named. If you don't know where the location is, is doesn't always help you to know where they are going! That's where detailed timetables come in handy. Harold
That's how it starts. You can hear a train calling signals/detectors or talking to the dispatcher and then discern what each one on the road is. After a while in the same territory you should be able to pick out what each train is just by looking at it. Noting the usual power, blocking pattern, and operating time for each train and then associating that with the symbol is the best way to differentiate based on sight.
