The Big Blue & Gauge RR car numbering and paint schemes

[ezdays]

The Big Blue & Gauge Railroad six-digit numbering system:

When we had our old forum we had "THE-GAUGE RAILROAD" and had a couple of tour cars that saw time on many of your layouts. We had a car numbering system in place then for anyone that wanted to decorate their own cars with this herald. When started up as Big Blue over two years ago, we wanted to keep the Gauge association, so we started the BIG BLUE & GAUGE RAILROAD. We revived our old numbering system and have put it to use on a few example cars. We will also be using this system and scheme on our tour cars and a few cars that we'll be making available to all member through a general auction. If you have any questions, feel free to ask here, if you want to make your own decals, we can supply you with artwork that will fit your scale.

BBG 1 2345 6

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,"8" for stock cars, "9" for all others including cabooses and MOW equipment.

2345 - the middle four digits would be individual member's ID number with leading “0”’s - which can be found by hovering the mouse over a member’s name and noting the number at the bottom of your browser at the very end of the link. (It is the last 2, 3 or 4 digits after the “=” sign.)

6 - the last digit is for the car number for each individual, again allowing up to 10 of each type car for each individual. (0 through 9)

A few examples are:

• http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/memberlis...ofile&u=53 would be ngauger. His first tank car carrying the BB&G herald would have the number designation: BBG 400530http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=2979 would be a future member with their third boxcar carrying the BB&G herald having the number: BBG 129792

We have no members with ID numbers 0010 through 0052, and so these are reserved for “company” cars; that is: any car made exclusively for Big Blue by anyone including members and staff. This can be tour cars, a car to be auctioned off by Big Blue management, a show car or any car used for any other Big Blue forum activities as approved by the administration. An example of that would be: BBG 200104. A list of these numbers will be maintained and issued as needed by the administrators and can be obtained by asking any member of the BB staff. Car numbers with the BB&G designation and herald that are made and used by individuals need to contain their member’s ID as described above and shall be their responsibility to keep track of these numbers. Artwork for the BB&G herald and other lettering is available upon request. Please contact ezdays and specify your scale. This artwork will be in color and suitable for use with inkjet printers.

Here are a few examples of how a BB&G car can be decorated. Note that we’ve chosen white for the sides to make it easy to use either a color inkjet or black laser (example #4) printer for reproducing the artwork. The color scheme includes Conrail Blue on the top and ends, and bright white on the sides of the car. Anyone with the ability to make white prints, such as with an Alps printer, can use color scheme #5. No hard and fast rules are set for other car types, but you can use these examples for ideas.

   

An N scale boxcar decorated in the anniversary scheme