Model Forum / General / Railroads / June 2004

Hey there Pete :

The short answer is 'not always' because there are thousands of private
companies that own freight cars in interchange service but which are not a
railroad company.

Reporting marks seen on the sides of rolling stock are often the initials of
the railroad that owns that car, but not always.
Reporting marks are officially assigned to a company by the AAR (Association
of American Railroads) to each company that has cars used in interchange
traffic.  For example, the official reporting mark for cars owned by the
Sante Fe railroad is ATSF, which, of course, stands for that line's official
name of "Atchison, Topeka and Sante Fe".  So all cars owned by the Sante Fe
have the ATSF letters on the side and together with the car's serial number
(or road number) make that car unique in North America.  This uniqueness is
then used for dispatching, car routing and charges.

Some railroad companies that have been around a long time and merged or
taken over other companies can have as many as 20 or so official AAR
reporting marks assigned to their cars, making it harder to identify which
railroad actually owns a particular car.  In these instances, very few of
the reporting marks actually correspond to the railroad's name or initials.

Then there are the private car owners.  These are companies that own their
own freight cars but are not a railroad.  Their cars are designated with a
suffix of X meaning that the car is owned by a private company.

You should be able to find listings of the AAR official reporting marks on
the web.  Try www.trains.com for a start.

Rick White
Wollongong, NSW