Numbers!

[Eastern Roads]

No not the TV show! So, you've been watching the trains on your pike cruising down the rails, and you noticed those two or three (or more) cars with the same numbers, and they're starting to bother you a little. Hey! The REAL RR's don't do that! So you ask yourself- How am I gonna get these things to look a little more prototypical?? Well, sometimes you get those great two for one sales, and you couldn't resist! I had that happen to me, and here's a pair of boxcars I got with the situation I mentioned:



Nice cars, two Athearns, with Damage Free Bulkhead lettering. One of the not so common ones out there...

Here's what I did to make them a little different from each other:

The original number:


And the second car with the new number:


As you can see, I made the 8 into a 3, with the wonderful tool called an Exacto Knife! No muss, no fuss, no MESS! Quick and easy!

There are other techniques as well, if anyone would like to add their work, please feel free to add on to the post.

[Trainman1965]

Now that is a smooth move there Mike. I have changed one number on some of my loco before. Just take one of the end number off and put a diff one in it's place.

[TrainNut]

I know what you are talking about. My favorite steam engine has the exact same number as my diesel power car - 480. It really bugs me 'cause I know you'd never find anything like that in the prototypical world. One of these days I will get around to changing the number on one of them.

[Allegany2666]

TrainNut

That's not entirely true while doing research for my new layout I've become sort of caught up in this road number stuff more so with my engines rather then my rolling stock. I have found that several railroads including N/S. and the N&W just to name two have shared road numbers between Steam & Diesels. This usually occurred because the Steam locomotive was retired and the number issued to a diesel unit. Several locomotives that were sold to other railroads also shared a common road number so in those cases they were changed but NJ Transit had several engines with the same road numbers reason why was the old NJDOT engines had different paint schemes so I guess they figured it was no big deal but it did lead to confusion for dispatchers etc. so they eventually changed numbers.

I have a situation for you, I bought 30 or so 100 ton Proto 1000 coal hoppers with the N&W road name at a train show it worked out that I paid a little over $1.00 per car! Great deal, no a super deal well yeah but after working on them, putting on the KD's and tuning up the trucks etc. I found that every third car has the same road number..... So there are three sets of ten cars each with the same road number OH MY GOD the rivet counters are going to scold me oh no what to do! Well my eyesight isn't that good that I can see the numbers as the train rolls through that it much matters and I figure once I weather the snot out of them with lots of coal dust you won't be able to see the numbers anyway.

One thing I have found and Athearn and other manufactures are equally guilty of is if you do a search of Engine rosters for any particular railroad you tend to find that the road numbers of the engines don't match the prototype. I think out of nine of my N&W diesel roaster only one had the correct numbers on it.

I guess I'm just going to have to wait til I can get Mike over here and re- number these things

[Eastern Roads]

Looks like Mike is going to have to pack his lunch and bring a pillow if he's gonna help renumber the fleet Brian's got!

TN- change one of them by one number. It's your world, anyway. Another possibility is to live with it, since a K- series Steamer is different from a modern day power car.

[Allegany2666]

Ah we'll feed ya but a pillow is negotiable you might loose that to one of the three dogs

[domiluk]

I tryed to find a box car that i renumber but couldn't fine it but what I did was put a 8 decale over a 3 and a 6 over a 5 works great.

[ak-milw]

When you buy a new Accurail kit they have a slip of paper in it to send back with $3 and they will send you decals to do 12 cars, all different numbers. The decal is printed on colored film so you just put the whole new number right over the old one, let it dry a quick shot of Dullcoat and you have a brand new number.

[Eastern Roads]

Hey guys, this is great stuff!! Keep the ideas coming in!

Brian, How you keep yourself fed with the menagerie you've got, I'll never know!

Andy, I never knew that little tidbit on Accurail! Thanks!

[Allegany2666]

Road Kill............