Reporting mark
Encyclopedia
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...
and other equipment used on the North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n railroad network. The marks are stenciled on each piece of equipment, along with a one-to-six-digit number, which together uniquely identify every such rail car. This allows the cars to be tracked by the railroad they are traveling over, which shares the information with other railroads and customers.
Standard practices
The Association of American RailroadsAssociation of American Railroads
The Association of American Railroads is an industry trade group representing primarily the major freight railroads of North America . Amtrak and some regional commuter railroads are also members...
assigns marks to all carriers, under authority granted by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board
Surface Transportation Board
The Surface Transportation Board of the United States is a bipartisan, decisionally-independent adjudicatory body organizationally housed within the U.S. Department of Transportation. The STB was established in 1996 to assume some of the regulatory functions that had been administered by the...
, Canadian Transportation Agency
Canadian Transportation Agency
The Canadian Transportation Agency is an independent administrative tribunal of the Government of Canada that makes decisions relating to federally-regulated modes of transportation...
, and Mexican Government. Under current practice, the first letter must match the initial letter of the railroad name. As it also acts as a Standard Carrier Alpha Code, the reporting mark cannot conflict with codes in use by other non-rail carriers.
Marks ending in X are assigned to companies or individuals
Private railroad car
A private railroad car, private railway coach, private car or private varnish is a railroad passenger car which was either originally built or later converted for service as a business car for private individuals. A private car could be added to the make-up of a train or pulled by a private...
that own railcars, but are not operating railroads; for example, the TTX Company
TTX Company
TTX Company is a private company that owns a large fleet of freight cars and provides them to stockholding railroads. It also provides freightcar management services...
(formerly Trailer Train Company) is named for its original reporting mark of TTX. In another example, the reporting mark for state-funded Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
services in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
is CDTX (whereas the usual Amtrak mark is AMTK) because the state transportation authority Caltrans owns the used cars. This is why the reporting mark for CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
, which is an operating railroad, is CSXT instead of CSX.
Companies owning trailer
Trailer (vehicle)
A trailer is generally an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle. Commonly, the term trailer refers to such vehicles used for transport of goods and materials....
s used in trailer-on-flatcar service are assigned marks ending in Z, and the National Motor Freight Traffic Association
National Motor Freight Traffic Association
The National Motor Freight Traffic Association is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, and is dedicated to advancing the interests of its members. It consists of 950 freight carriers...
, which maintains the list of Standard Carrier Alpha Codes, assigns marks ending in U to owners of intermodal container
Intermodal container
An intermodal container is a standardized reusable steel box used for the safe, efficient and secure storage and movement of materials and products within a global containerized intermodal freight transport system...
s.
When the owner of a reporting mark is taken over by another company, the old mark remains the property of the new company. For example, when the Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
(mark UP) acquired the Chicago and North Western Railway
Chicago and North Western Railway
The Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was a Class I railroad in the Midwest United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s...
(mark CNW) in the 1990s, it retained the CNW mark rather than immediately repaint all acquired equipment. Some companies own several marks that are used to identify different classes of cars, such as boxcars or gondolas. Note that if the acquiring company discontinues the name or mark of the acquired company, the discontinued mark is referred to as a fallen flag railway.
List of reporting marks
Due to this list's size, it has been split into subpages based on the first letter of the reporting mark. Railinc CorporationRailinc Corporation
Railinc Corporation provides rail data, IT and information technology services to the North American freight railway industry. Railinc is a for-profit subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads.-Corporate structure:...
, a subsidiary of the AAR, maintains the active reporting marks for the North American rail industry. Railinc offers a free online look-up of reporting marks and other industry reference files through the Railinc IRFi website.
See also
- UIC Country CodeUIC Country CodeThe UIC Country Code is a two digit number used to identify member countries of the International Union of Railways . The UIC has issued numbering systems for rolling stock and train stations that both contain the UIC Country Code. The values are defined in UIC leaflet 920-14.-Table of Codes:-...
– A series of prefixes used on rolling stockRolling stockRolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...
identification numbers by members of the International Union of RailwaysInternational Union of RailwaysThe UIC , or International Union of Railways, is an international rail transport industry body.- Brief history :The railways of Europe originated as separate concerns. There were many border changes after World War I and the Treaty of Versailles. Colonial railways were the responsibility of the...
(UIC) to identify the country of origin of railway rolling stock.
External links
- Nakina.Net – Reporting Marks – Unofficial incomplete compilation of reporting marks from the 1920s to the present day, as listed in the Official Railway Equipment Register. (Does not include U & Z markings.)
- National Railway Historical Society Railroad Reporting Marks (2001)
- Railinc Industry Reference File Look-up – search Railinc's free reporting mark look-up by markings (current marks only)
- Association of American Railroads (AAR) Reporting Marks