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.