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

Not important to me. Those who view my layout know little about trains, they don't notice those kind of details. Me, I don't have a problem with duplicate numbers.

I rarely have a consist that has more than one of a particular car, so numbers are not important to me. Like many others, I can't recall when anyone visiting the layout mentioned numbers one way or another.  I can, however, appreciate how it would look better if you were running a train with a lot of the same rolling stock.

OK you got me  rivets

I would like have all nonduplicate numbers, but I already have a few duplicates.  Since I don't have real railroad or a layout, I guess it really doesn't matter if I have a few of the same.

Larry 

Nope. I have several groups of cars with duplicates.

Gilly

I prefer unique numbers on each car. However as long as I don't have two or more cars with the same number next to each other I am fine.

Scott Smith

On freight cars I prefer different road numbers if possible. It isn't a deal breaker if I want another car like one I already have and can't find it in a different number. I have several freight cars with the same number.

They must be different on locos and passenger cars. I have passed on buying locos or passenger cars that had a number that I already have. I have found the items I was looking for with different numbers, sometimes fairly quickly, sometimes it took years. It may seem weird, but that is just one of my things.

I just today decided to not buy another car with the same number, because I already have two with the same number.  I considered having multiple cars of the same railroad on the consist, but decided two with the same number was enough.  All the rest of the cars in the consist that are duplicated have different numbers, and I decided to keep it that way.

BTW, what is another railroad's car on the consist called?  I'm drawing a blank.

When running LONG unit trains, I can see where some folks would like a little variety in road-numbers.  But unless you're running them consecutively, I'm not so sure anyone would notice.  And if you mix things up a little, duplicates would largely go unbeknownst to even the most scrutinizing visitor.

And then if we factor in great prices, then I especially wouldn't give a hoot about duplicates.  When Walter was running his huge clearance sale on RMT ore cars at $10 per car (among other rolling stock items), I snagged a bunch of similarly numbered cars without even blinking!!!   At that price-point, I'll gladly look the other way when it comes to the purist mentality.  

David 

I "operate" and deliver specific freight cars to specific doors or docks on specific industries.  I have made a significant investment of time and energy and money buying different road numbers.  I only have around 125 pieces of revenue rolling stock. 

I opted to follow the general guidelines of Bruce Chubb's book on operation and the ratio of "home" and "foreign" road name rolling stock.  So slightly more than 50% of my cars are ATSF.  About 30-35% are connecting lines that are common in the region.  The rest are from "someplace else".

I only have two locomotives that get changed out every few work shifts so the one can go back to the "not modeled" main yard for service...only one locomotive at a time.  The caboose is more or less "assigned" to the switching district I model.

The 15x19 layout represents about 5 or 6 miles of industrial trackage in Oklahoma City circa 1963 (so I can run Zebra Stripe geeps and SW's).  No reason to run multiple locomotives since space is a premium while switching.

I would prefer that I not have more than 20 cars spotted at industries and no more than 12 moving on or off the layout during any given "shift".

I am about "done" acquiring rolling stock.  I need/want a few more Weaver ATSF and other regional road name (MP, MKT, CRIP, SLSF) stockcars for the stockyards, a few more NATX, GATX, UTLX, SHPX (generic black) tank cars, and a couple of gondolas and flats...and I should be good.  I also need/want a couple of specific "3D" buildings for the peninsula.  I have all the building flats that I need.

Give me a year...18 months tops.

Tony - Your layout and operating sessions sound very interesting.  Any chance you could share any pictures with us?  Thanks for telling about your operation.

Art

Art, like many model railroaders, I am currently in a rebuild...sort of.  I was nearly finished with the basic track plan and decided to pull the track and paint the Homasote a flat black to help hide the middle rail.  Naturally, life, work and family got in the way of getting things back to normal.

If you would like, I could send an email with a few photos and the track plan, but I don't have the ability to load those to OGR at this point. 

My plan is that later this summer, I will probably leave my current part time employment. I anticipate that I will be spending a fair amount of time in the layout building.  (16x20 free standing building in the back yard. Complete with AC, baseboard electric heat and carpet and insulated for Oklahoma winters and summers.)

I hope to have the track in place and most of the structures in place by Thanksgiving.  What little "scenery" I will have should follow.  Based on my experience in HO, it will not take a lot of scenery to make it believable for ME...and since it is MY layout, that is the only person I am concerned about...most of the wall space will have rows of building "backs" since railroads typically go behind the buildings to the loading docks.  While not all the buildings will ship and receive, most will, so rather than have hills and trees...this is an industrial switching district, warehouses and manufacturing plants will be the "backdrop scenery". 

And before anyone starts to get their rivet counter out...this is a fictional or freelanced approach to real life.  Yes, the Santa Fe had a switching zone from the north-south main line thru Okla City.  That switching branch ran east-west for about 5 miles on the south side of I-40.  The primary purpose was to reach the Oklahoma City National Stockyards and the meat packing plants that were located between South Agnew and May Ave.  I will be changing names of industries and even moving warehouses that were not served by rail onto my layout...because it is MY railroad.  So, don't get out the historic photos or time tables and try to tell me it is wrong...as for the operating procedures, well, the unions made special rules for this short district...

Hello Art, I have all steam engines and my layout is based on the early 40's so I watch what freight cars I buy just for the appearance and for my own preference.

All of my automobiles and trucks on the layout are based in this era also.

I just think this adds to the layout.

Mark Strittmatter

TCA #14-69917

I totally agree, Mark.  I am modeling two eras:  First generation diesels and modern.  Obviously these are two different eras, so I try to swap them out based on what era I'm running. 

Art

No. To me they are toys, not yet another thing to stress over.

Mack

Although they are toys, it is interesting to research and find out what railroads were running when.  Researching railroad practices and rules is part of the hobby.  I guess I just enjoy learning about railroads, and not only turning on the transformer.

No, it is not important to have unique car numbers. I look at the overall impression of trains and rarely look close enough for fine details. If I were building trains from kits or scratch, then I would opt for unique numbers.

Being on a committee that is involved with providing an annual club car, I find it extremely rewarding to be involved with the research aspect of the club car process. We have found valuable information regarding the history and use of the various rolling stock that have become club car offerings. We have found information about road numbers and data to build dates and how many cars were produced, and heralds and logos that were prototypical to a particular car. I have several sites saved in my favorites that I refer to from time to time, and each year that we do a new car, we add to our research cache. The stressful part for me is the going back and forth via e mail to make sure all the details are in order. 

Don