The Gauge Railway

N Gauger

1:20.3 Train Addict
WOAH! Looks like one of them New Fangled can openers ex-Caped!! LOL

I would saw it's definatly MOW! or OMW -- Outta My Way!!! :D:D :eek: :D :D

~~Mikey
 

Vic

Active Member
Hi 88, You got me to looking and after an hour I was able to find one pic of a watermelon car:) and its a derilict:( One would think that since ACL owned 2300 + of these cars that there would be more pictures on the web:confused: :D
 

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Vic

Active Member
88, Yep its got me thinking too.....May be my "Gauge Car"....Looks like it would be real easy to "cobble up" a narrow gauge version out of a RailLine D&RGW boxcar. :) :cool:

BTW...Did you notice the size of the shingles on that shed behind the car. They are HUGE:eek:
 

rockislandmike

Active Member
I'm still very wary of including the "type" of car in the reporting mark (i.e., "GB"). Except for reefers, 99% of railroads have one reporting mark (i.e., MP for Missouri Pacific) and all their rolling stock is denoted as such. And, IMHO, I don't think it's all that important to include scale.

What I would propose is a six-digit numbering system as per the following:

123456

1 - the first digit represents the type of car: "1" for boxcar, "2" for covered hoppers, "3" for open hoppers, "4" for tank cars, "5" for reefers, "6" for flat cars, "7" for gondolas, "9" for all others including cabooses and MOW equipment.

234 - the middle three digits would be individual member's id number - as noted by wolv elsewhere, this can be found by scrolling the mouse over the "profile" button at the end of everyone's posts.

56 - the last two digits are for the car number for each individual, again allowing up to 100 for each individual.

I'd further recommend "GAUG" as a reporting mark - not only is not currently being used, it doesn't look like it's ever been used (TGR, The Gauge Railway, is also likewise available, I just prefer the looks of GAUG).

Thus, if the first car I decorated was a boxcar, it would be
GAUG 130601

Indicating:
- boxcar
- my user id is #306
- it's the first car I've decorated for The Gauge Railway.

This would much better reflect the prototypical way cars are numbered.

And just to summarize the two surveys, it looks like the majority prefer blue rolling stock (keep in mind that for the vast majority of the century, regardless of a railroad's "colors", most rolling stock - particularly boxcars and stockcars - was brown or mineral red). And the font will be freeform, whatever you wish.
 

Wolv33

Member
Guys,

I have to agree with RI Mike. His system sounds a lot more prototypical and easier than what ya originally came up with. Not that what you came up with was a bad thing.

Also, Mike could produce a database table on his site, and keep track of all the member's rolling stock and member #s associated with each. He has done a good job of keeping records and databases for the ROCK part of this forum.

Check out his site. It's pretty cool.
If you get time, check mine out too. I have made mine look like a corporate site for my RR.

So all we gotta do is follow the system, paint them up in our own colors and logos (some of us model more modern eras), and we will have our LARGE family of The Gauge rolling stock.

I have enough engines in my RR, so I am gonna stick to rolling stock ONLY for this project. I should have my Bel decals in a few days, so I can begin doing up a couple of cars for my contribution.

Comments and criticisms welcomed and encouraged.

Thanks.

Later.


PS...

Some #s are:

Vic-403
eightyeightfan1-537
N Gauger-35
 

CarlFidy

New Member
Another poll to decide on numbering system?

I agree, rimike's numbering system is more prototypical as most railroads or private companies have a primary reporting mark (GAUG), and the larger modern systems typically have a six-digit number. I'm not sure what would be correct for earlier eras...input from those modelling other eras would be appreciated.

The system I described in an earlier post was based on the TTX system for their fleet of flat cars, and allowed the reporting mark and number to reflect the following info: company (TG-The Guage Railway), scale, car type, member number, and car number.

Guess it depends on how much info you want to be able determine from the designation.

The only problem I see is with the member numbers:
1) how many digits do we use for the numbers - 3 or 4, this depends on how soon we feel the forum will reach 1000 members.
2) presuming a four digit number - do those with short numbers need to precede theirs with leading zeros (ie-Shamus mem# 20, would be 0020). I'll defer to this to Mike - if you or someone else does a database, and as the database grows would this point make a difference in the searchability of the database???

Although I'll support what ever is system is settled upon by the members of the forum, whether it is one of these two or something completely different. Myself, I would like to include the scale in some fashion. Since this project will include anyone that is interested, and I like the idea of a quick way to deternime the scale involved, especially when looking at photos.
 

Wolv33

Member
Uhh Mike,

Carl has a point there. Not everyone does HO scale here. Some do N, some do O, some others like narrow gauge, and others like S and TT and Z....

Carl,

To leave room for future expansion I would actually go with 4 digits...since the forum is now up to nearly 700 numbers as it is. Since there is no more RR-Line, all the people that were joining (at least 2-4 a day) will probably come here, when they find out how friendly and family-like it is here.

Mike is a WHIZ at creating Access databases and tables in webpages.

However, we ALL would need 4 or 5 digit places. No exceptions. It just makes it look better, and I know some of the railroads actually follow this numeration convention.

And, since the actual member number is 20 in your example, you are gonna have to put the zeros in front of the 20 instead.

This is 20: 00020

This is not: 20000

Hope everyone figured out how to get their member number. If not, please see my post on member's numbers.

Later.
 

rockislandmike

Active Member
REVISED NUMBERING/NAMING SCHEME

The master list and all related information will be contained on my website at the following address:

http://www.heatherandmichael.com/prb/thegaugerailway.html

You can also find it through the front page of my website by clicking on "Links", then "The Gauge Railway".

******************************************

The following is the recommended method for naming and numbering rolling stock.

Reporting Mark

Modelers may use either "TRG" or "GAUG" for the reporting mark on their rolling stock. Either is acceptable, although GAUG would be favored for more modern units; older units would probably use TGR. Many railroads have more than one reporting mark that is tied to their corporate name.

Road Number

Road numbers should be six digits in length (i.e., 000000).

The first digit should signify the type of rolling stock that is being modeled: (1) boxcar; (2) covered hopper; (3) open hopper; (4) tank car; (5) reefer; (6) flat car; (7) gondola; (9) all others including cabooses and MOW equipment.

The next four digits should be each member's unique identifier that can be found by scrolling the mouse over the "profile" button at the bottom of each of your posts (zero's should be included at the front of this number to make up four digits). For example, my number (rockislandmike) is 306. Therefore, the four digits in my case would be 0306.

The final digit will be a unique identifier for each car. That is, the first boxcar each member models would be "1", the second "2", and so on.

Sample: Continuing the above example, if the first unit I model is a boxcar, the number would be 103061 ("1" for boxcar, "0306" for my member number, and the final "1" for my first boxcar that I model).

Scale: while some would argue that it would be useful to include scale somewhere in the road number, I do not believe this to be feasible. Six digits should be the maximum we use, and we are already at that limit. However, the master list I am creating will include scale as a separate category.

Multiple Units: if a member decides to model more than ten units in any one type, he/she could be assigned an additional member number. For expediency sake, those with member numbers less than 1000 could replace the "0" in their member identifier with an "8"; those over 1000 should replace the leading "1" with a "9". For example, if I have more than ten boxcars, boxcars after the tenth unit would be in the format "18306x". This again lets us restrict our numbering sequence to six digits.
 

Tyson Rayles

Active Member
Any chance this thing is getting outta hand? :D I know it's giving me one hell of a headache just trying to figure out if and when I do a car will I have it numbered and lettered right. The heck with it, I think I'll go fishing instead. :confused:
 

rockislandmike

Active Member
I've tried to make it as clear as possible on the website and description, Tyson. Hopefully everyone can follow the instructions, but if not they can always ask me or wolv, and one of us will figure out what road number(s) you should use.
 

Wolv33

Member
Mike,

I doubt that last bit with the 8 in front of the member number will be needed. I don't know about you, but I do NOT plan to create more than 9 boxcars or more than 9 cars TOTAL for The Gauge Railway. I was just going to do a few.

Probably do a couple boxcars, a couple hoppers and a couple tankers and leave it at that.

Excellent system, and I followed it along with you. I feel, that if you are gonna keep track of the scale on the database, then like you said, there really is no need for noting the scale in the reporting mark/number.

Okay, now I am ready to start doing a couple cars. Just waiting on the Bel paper to arrive.

Later.


PS Mike, what you think of my new logo avatar? Notice I added 3 roads to the MWDLRR. Hehehehe...
 

jmarksbery

Active Member
??????????? ???????????

I'm with you Tyson, does A go into B or does A go into A or does, never mind, Tyson, I will bring the BAIT!! :eek: :D ;)
 

Vic

Active Member
Hey Tyson, Catch us "a mess 'o fish"!:D I'll have the hushpuppies and onion rings ready time you get them cleaned:D :D :D :D
 

Wolv33

Member
Come on guys, it ain't that difficult. You guys can figure out complex electrical and wiring schemes, you should be able to figure this one out.

Here's a little tidbit... I can figure computers out easily, but I am a DUMMY when it comes to electrical or electronics. Go figure that one out. LOL!

Still, if you want, just ask Mike or myself, and we can let ya know what to put on a certain car.

Later.
 

CarlFidy

New Member
Numbering system finalized...

Mike and Wolv,

the system you suggest sounds fine to me....

Mike, if you need help getting the data into the database, let me know. I'd be happy to assist you

Carl
 
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