Train Symbol 101

While this is not a post of pictures, I wanted to spend a little time to expand the train symbols that ply the St. Clair Subdivision commonly known to the crews as the "Clair".

MCIS 3823 (EMD GP38-2) handling the Y-BA04-02 holds the main on the east end of Bay Yard awaiting DTC authority to occupy "BAY2" block which allows access to switch Northern Arrow Logistics and Lakes Forest Products. 

MCIS 6051 (EMD GP60) assigned to the L-GLBU-XX idles at Gray's Lake awaitswork which will arrive tomorrow morning on the M-BAPH-03. 

The Symbol:

All trains except Locals, Road Switchers, and Yard Jobs.
Example: M-BAPH-02

1st character - type of train operating, in this case "M" for Manifest freight
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2nd and 3rd character - Two letter code for trains origin station and or terminal, in this case "BA" Bay Yard in Bay City, Michigan.
4th and 5th character - Two letter code for trains destination station and or terminal, in this case "PH" for Port Huron "St. Clair Yard".
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6th and 7th character - day of month departure from origin, does not denote month or year just date for example July 2nd.

Local Trains
Example: L-BAUH-02

1st character - type of train operating, in this case "L" for Local freight.
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2nd and 3rd character - Two letter code for trains origin station and or terminal, in this case "BA" Bay Yard in Bay City, Michigan.
4th and 5th character - Two letter code for trains turn point back to origination station, in this case "UH" Upper Huron, Michigan.
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6th and 7th character - day of month departure from origin, does not denote month or year just date for example July 2nd.

Road Switchers Trains
Example: R-BAPB-02

1st character - type of train operating, in this case "R" for Road Switcher freight.
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2nd and 3rd character - Two letter code for trains origin station and or terminal, in this case "BA" Bay Yard in Bay City, Michigan.
4th and 5th character - Two letter code for trains turn point back to origination station, in this case "PB" Port Belle, Michigan.
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6th and 7th character - day of month departure from origin, does not denote month or year just date for example July 2nd.

**The difference between the "L" and "R" freights has to do with the road switcher taking two scheduled days to complete its work (Up one direction day and back the other direction day two) while the locals are planned to complete and return to origin station same day.**

Yard Jobs
Example: Y-BA01-01

1st character - type of train operating, in this case "Y" for Yard Job.
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2nd and 3rd character - Two letter code for serving yard, in this case "BA" for Bay Yard.
4th and 5th character - Two digits that identify either shift or specific job, in this case Bay Yard 1st trick job.
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6th and 7th character - day of month on duty.

Symbol Key:
A - Agricultural Unit  (Grains, Ethanol)
C - Loaded Coal 
E - Empty Unit (All types)
F - Foreign Line 
L - Local Switcher
M - General Manifest (Terminal to Terminal)
O - Officer Special
P - Amtrak / Regional Transit Authority
Q - Extended Manifest (Division to Division with block swaps)
R - Road Switcher 
U - Unit (Non Coal or Agricultural)
W - Work / Ballast 
Y - Yard Job

Station Key: (Stations you will see on St. Clair Sub symbols)
BA - Bay City, MI (Bay Yard)
BU - Buhler, MI
BW - Bay City, MI (HESR Interchange)
EX - Essexville, MI (LSRC Interchange)
CN - Tappan, MI (CN Interchange)
GE - Gerhard, MI
GL - Grays Lake, MI
GR - Grand Rapids, MI (Kent Yard and CSX Interchange)
KN - Kincaid, MI
MC - Mackinac City, MI (Bridge Yard)
MP - Mount Pleasant, MI (GLC Interchange)
MY - Marysville, MI 
PB - Port Belle, MI
PH - Port Huron, MI (St. Clair Yard)
UH - Upper Huron, MI

I hope this helps better understand "Clair" operations as you read through my blog posts.

GM