Rail3D*

 

How to Spot Trains

This guide applies to 21st century Britain.  If there is demand for a guide to German or Swiss train numbers - please let us know - we'll try to provide one


Really, it's not difficult, it's lots of fun and not nearly as daft as chasing pokewhotnots on your mobile phone :-).  

Here's a quick guide:

How to Spot Trains

All railway vehicles have numbers.  Train spotting is simply collecting the numbers of railway vehicles.

Most people start with the locomotives - Steam engines, Diesel engines, Electric engines - the power units that pull rakes of coaches or wagons.  These days, loco-hauled trains are getting rarer and rarer on British mainlines, especially loco-hauled passenger trains, so the next class of train to spot is the multiple unit - a self-contained and self-powered set of passenger carrying coaches, and nearly all British passenger trains are - or soon will be - multiple unit trains.

If that's not enough, you can collect coach numbers, and for the ultra-complete-dedicated, you can collect wagon numbers.  SpotLog doesn't have data for coaches or wagons, so they won't be discussed any more here.

Locomotive numbers

British diesel and electric locomotives all carry a 5 digit number.  The number is usually on the side at each end under the cab window (and sometimes on the end as well)

The photo above shows loco number 68008 at Banbury in 2015.  In this case, the number is also on the yellow panel on the end.

For locomotives, the first two digits (68 in the above example) are the class, so this is a class 68 and you will find it in SpotLog in the current UK section (UK/UK) and on the class 68 page. (http://www.rail3d.info/other/locolist/locolist.aspx?show=UK\UK\68)

For UK locos, classes 01 to 13 are diesel shunters, classes 20 to 70 are diesel locomotives (in increasing size, 20 being smallest and 60 upwards are the more modern, more powerful).  Classes 71-92 are electric locomotives.

The most common type of locomotive in use in Britain today is the class 66 which has several hundred members that can be seen all over the network (and across Europe) hauling freight.

 

Multiple Units

Multiple units are sets of passenger carrying coaches that are more or less permanently linked together to form a unit.  Power is provided by motors or engines, often mounted under the carriages, and the unit has a cab at each end where the driver sits and controls the unit.  The multiple bit means that two or more can be coupled together and one driver can contol the whole lot from the front cab.

Multiple units come in diesel and electric versions, and soon we will have bi-mode units that are both diesel and electric.

Multiple units are cheap, efficient and taking over.

Multiple units usually have the number on the end.  This is class 185 number 185121 an electric multiple unit.

Usually on the end, but not always, this is class 220 unit number 220006:

 

the number is on the side, tucked away just above the wheel:

These class 220's are some of the hardest to get numbers from, particularly at speed.

For multiple units, the class number is the first three numbers, eg "220" above and the whole six digit number ("220006") is the unit number.  Multiple units can be found in SpotLog in the "Diesel Unit" or "Electric Unit" section.

Formation Numbers

Since a multiple unit stays together for most of its life, we can record the numbers of the individual carriages in the unit.

As well as the unit number - usually on the end of the unit - each individual carriage in the unit has its own number.  SpotLog records this in the database as the "Formation"

Example:  Class 159 (see http://www.rail3d.info/other/locolist/locolist.aspx?show=UK\UK\159 )

Unit 159001 is composed of three carriages, 52873, 58718 and 57873

SpotLog will recognise all of these numbers, so if you enter "52873" SpotLog will recognise this as part of unit 159001 and will record 159001 as seen.

This is useful for occasions when you don't get to see the end of the unit clearly, but can spot the numbers on the side of the carriages.

 

High Speed Trains

 

High Speed Trains might look like multiple units - they have a cab at each end etc.  However, we treat them as a set of coaches with a diesel loco at each end.

 

 

The power cars - at each end - are class 43 diesel loco's and are numbered in the same way as diesel loco's.  This is class 43 number 43034 at Westbury in 2015.

 

Note on preserved loco's

You will also find preserved loco's - ie not the current main loco fleet - running in older liveries, this may include a previous number.

 

This is class 24 number 5081 at Loughborough on the Great Central railway.  This loco was originally numbered "D5081" when built around 1960, at some point carried number "5081" and later (1970's) numbered 24081.  The current owners have chosen to use the "5081" number.

Fortunately, SpotLog will recognise all the varients of the number and match them in the book, so you can enter any of "5081" , "D5081" or "24081" and SpotLog will accept the number.  The different numbers are listed in SpotLog as "Alternate numbers" (see http://www.rail3d.info/other/locolist/locolist.aspx?show=UK\UKP\24 )

Steam Engines

 

There can be a lot of variation, but look for the number on the front or the side (below the cab windows).  In the photo above "Tornado" carries number "60163" on the front of the smokebox and the cabsides.

Note, in this case the number could apply to several trains.  It could be the steam loco above, or it could also be one of the cars in unit 222013 (see "Formation Numbers" above)  When this happens, SpotLog doesn't know which train to mark as spotted so the number remains in the NotePad until you tell SpotLog which one you want to record.  See "Dis-ambiguation" in the manual


Bonus Points

Train spotting is not a competition, and we just do it for fun.  What you get out of it is up to you, but most "traditional" train-spotters grade their spots in various ways.

  • Seeing a loco or unit for the first time is good.  (This is why SpotLog puts a star against the first time you spot a loco and tells you if it's a first spot)
  • Seeing your first spot of a particular class is good.
  • Seeing every member of a class ("Clearing a class") is good. Especially if it's a big class.
  • It used to be, seeing a named loco (a "Namer") was good.  Less so these days.
  • Seeing something unusual - eg away from its usual territory - is good.
  • Travelling on a train hauled by a loco / or in a unit ("Haulage") is good.  (SpotLog lets you mark the trains you travel on)

 

MRG 21/09/2016 21:45:38