Talk:Reporting mark

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There are many, many more than are listed here with the initial checkin. Please add only those reporting marks that are or were recognized by the AAR as official markings for rolling stock (e.g. NW), and not abreviations for railroads (e.g. N&W).

Do we have anywhere to put those abbreviations? —Morven 19:01, Jan 22, 2005 (UTC)

Not that I've seen beyond putting the abbreviation on the appropriate railroad page. Either add them to Rail terminology or start a new page like List of rail transport abbreviations. I like the former solution better than the latter, tho. slambo 00:18, Jan 24, 2005 (UTC)

When were reporting marks first used, and was it a quick phase-in, or was it not until a while later that every company used them? --SPUI (talk) 17:58, 17 May 2005 (UTC)

My guess is that the first "official" reporting marks were issued and used beginning in 1934, when the AAR was created. But, there are a number of photos out there that show rolling stock older than that with what look like reporting marks, so they were probably standardized with an earlier organization (maybe the American Railway Association or the USRA?). slambo 18:49, May 17, 2005 (UTC)

Could somebody check out all of the 25 February edits by 66.227.205.251 to the lists of reporting marks? They look like they might be nonsense edits, as LIRR is almost certainly Long Island Railroad and that IP has a history of vandalism. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.112.66.25 (talk • contribs)

Checking... Slambo (Speak) 14:26, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

The ones I've looked at so far are not what I would call vandalism, but misunderstandings. The added listing for CHS, for example, is correct as far as I can tell, just the name in the link is longer than what we normally use for a railroad name. The LIRR listing appears like a misinterpretation; as you can see on [1], the railroad uses LIRR on its equipment, but it's actually LIRX according to the photo index page. While the Long Island Rail Road could be using a different reporting mark now, it seems unlikely. Slambo (Speak) 14:36, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Hmmm... STB docket number 33936 (summary PDF: [2]) uses "LIRR" as the abbreviation for the railroad name, but doesn't explicitly list it as the official reporting mark. Slambo (Speak) 14:59, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

as an interesting side note, I found one page that mentions all of the short line railroads that IP address added/modified in one legal document: Employer Status Determination from the Railroad Retirement Board. Slambo (Speak) 14:43, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

According to [3], that IP address is located in Michigan. Taken together with the information in the RRB document, it seems likely to me that this editor is employed by or is in some way associated with the Adrian & Blissfield Railroad. This would seem to fit with the pattern of edits that I see. Slambo (Speak) 14:50, 2 March 2006 (UTC)