BNSF Symbols

For years, trains in North America ran under a numbering system. Various railroads used different conventions for those systems, but it normally broke a number down into the Class of the train and which direction it was heading. Over the years, some railroads started playing with Alpha-Numeric symbols in an attempt to make the symbol a little easier to understand as to its origination/destination points (famously pioneered by the Southern Pacific). Through various mergers, acquisitions and what not, some of these new Alpha-Numeric symbols survived while other railroads went back to simple numbers.

Most of the eastern and Canadian railroads stuck with numbers, and once you understand how the numbers are assigned, it becomes fairly easy to see the logic behind them. Canadian National, on the other hand, expanded on the number system and now their trains run with a 5-digit number as the symbol (although its usually only the first three digits that are referenced as the train number). Kansas City Southern and Union Pacific both use the traditional Alpha-Numeric system, and many Class II and Shortline railroads have adopted a version of this. They have all followed some basic rules in applying these symbols, and you can get a sense of this by visiting the Second Sections or Extra Trains page for more information.