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Train reporting number
A train reporting number in Great Britain identifies a particular train service. It consists of:
The train reporting number is often called the headcode, a throwback to when the number was physically displayed at the head of a train.
Headcodes were introduced circa 1850 and were shown by oil lamps facing forward on the front of the locomotive. The position of these lamps on the locomotive denoted the class of train, which assisted the signalmen to determine the gaps between trains required in the interval-based signalling system that was used at the time. The lamps were lit at night and were usually painted white to assist with sighting by day. On some lines white discs were used by day in the place of lamps.
With the advent of absolute block signalling, the class-based headcodes allowed signallers to identify and regulate trains properly. On some busy lines, particularly busy suburban ones, the headcode denoted the route of the train rather than the class of train. In these areas junctions were complex and timetables were intense: it was more important that signallers routed the trains correctly than regulated trains by class. This was prevalent in the south of England, where companies used six headlamp positions to show the route of train.
Some companies had their own code format which led to some confusion where trains from one company ran onto other companies' lines. The Railway Clearing House intervened to standardise headcodes, based on four lamp positions, and they were adopted by the majority of lines outside the south of England. At the time of the 1923 Grouping, the standard headcodes were simplified so that normally only two lamps were used at any one time, and these codes were adopted by the London Midland and Scottish Railway, the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the London and North Eastern Railway. The Southern Railway (SR) retained a route-based headcode system, with up to four lamps in six positions. Notable exceptions were former Glasgow and South Western Railway and the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway lines, which continued with their own headcodes on internal trains. The Caledonian Railway maintained a completely different route-based headcode system consisting of a pair of semaphore arms mounted on the locomotive – the angle of the two arms and their position (on the buffer beam or smokebox) indicated the routing.
Historically train reporting numbers were used to denote trains in the internal working timetable. These contained one or more letters or numbers to either uniquely identify a particular train, or denote its route (particularly on busier lines). Not all lines used these and the details and extent of the practice varied widely between companies. Although these numbers were in many places confined to timetables and other documentation, in some busier areas they were actually shown at the head of the train.
On the SR, a single alphabetic character system of denoting routes used on suburban lines grew into a two-character route-based system. This was developed at the same time as a significant programme of electrification and the consequent introduction of a large number of multiple unit trains. Many of these trains were fitted with display devices to show the route code instead of a lamp or disc-based headcode. Originally this was a back-lit stencil with the single letter code, later a two-character roller-blind system was used. The code system had equivalence with the lamp or disc route-based headcodes in assisting signallers with routing trains.
On the other railways, the reporting number was on occasion displayed at the head of the train along with the lamp headcode. This happened more often than not with special trains or other unusual trains (e.g. summer Saturday timetables), to allow signallers to identify unfamiliar trains and route them correctly. This code was sometimes either chalked onto the locomotive front or pasted as paper characters onto a headcode disc. The GWR sometimes used a three-character frame mounted on the locomotive smokebox in which the train reporting number could be displayed.
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Train reporting number AI simulator
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Train reporting number
A train reporting number in Great Britain identifies a particular train service. It consists of:
The train reporting number is often called the headcode, a throwback to when the number was physically displayed at the head of a train.
Headcodes were introduced circa 1850 and were shown by oil lamps facing forward on the front of the locomotive. The position of these lamps on the locomotive denoted the class of train, which assisted the signalmen to determine the gaps between trains required in the interval-based signalling system that was used at the time. The lamps were lit at night and were usually painted white to assist with sighting by day. On some lines white discs were used by day in the place of lamps.
With the advent of absolute block signalling, the class-based headcodes allowed signallers to identify and regulate trains properly. On some busy lines, particularly busy suburban ones, the headcode denoted the route of the train rather than the class of train. In these areas junctions were complex and timetables were intense: it was more important that signallers routed the trains correctly than regulated trains by class. This was prevalent in the south of England, where companies used six headlamp positions to show the route of train.
Some companies had their own code format which led to some confusion where trains from one company ran onto other companies' lines. The Railway Clearing House intervened to standardise headcodes, based on four lamp positions, and they were adopted by the majority of lines outside the south of England. At the time of the 1923 Grouping, the standard headcodes were simplified so that normally only two lamps were used at any one time, and these codes were adopted by the London Midland and Scottish Railway, the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the London and North Eastern Railway. The Southern Railway (SR) retained a route-based headcode system, with up to four lamps in six positions. Notable exceptions were former Glasgow and South Western Railway and the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway lines, which continued with their own headcodes on internal trains. The Caledonian Railway maintained a completely different route-based headcode system consisting of a pair of semaphore arms mounted on the locomotive – the angle of the two arms and their position (on the buffer beam or smokebox) indicated the routing.
Historically train reporting numbers were used to denote trains in the internal working timetable. These contained one or more letters or numbers to either uniquely identify a particular train, or denote its route (particularly on busier lines). Not all lines used these and the details and extent of the practice varied widely between companies. Although these numbers were in many places confined to timetables and other documentation, in some busier areas they were actually shown at the head of the train.
On the SR, a single alphabetic character system of denoting routes used on suburban lines grew into a two-character route-based system. This was developed at the same time as a significant programme of electrification and the consequent introduction of a large number of multiple unit trains. Many of these trains were fitted with display devices to show the route code instead of a lamp or disc-based headcode. Originally this was a back-lit stencil with the single letter code, later a two-character roller-blind system was used. The code system had equivalence with the lamp or disc route-based headcodes in assisting signallers with routing trains.
On the other railways, the reporting number was on occasion displayed at the head of the train along with the lamp headcode. This happened more often than not with special trains or other unusual trains (e.g. summer Saturday timetables), to allow signallers to identify unfamiliar trains and route them correctly. This code was sometimes either chalked onto the locomotive front or pasted as paper characters onto a headcode disc. The GWR sometimes used a three-character frame mounted on the locomotive smokebox in which the train reporting number could be displayed.