Series (railway)

Locomotive address of a 482 of the SBB with series designation, locomotive number and check digit

In the case of railways , a series is each group of rail vehicles that were manufactured in a similar manner and technically different from other series . A similar and sometimes synonymous term is given with genus . The term class is used especially in English-speaking countries .

The designation of rail vehicles in Europe is done by their operators mainly by specifying a series and a serial number.

Germany

In Germany , since the introduction of the series scheme of the Deutsche Reichsbahn , newly created series have consisted of almost identically built and interchangeable vehicles . The existing locomotives of the former regional railways have been grouped into separate series in this scheme according to common wheel alignment characteristics and intended use. Here, in some cases, very different locomotive types from different regional railways were classified in common series. Within these series, recognizable sub- series were created by the first digits of the serial number , each of which was only occupied by vehicles of one regional railway type.

North America

In North America , most railway companies had their own designation system until the 1960s. This system was initially also applied to diesel locomotives. With the extensive market dominance by EMD and General Electric , these systems became dispensable and the names of the locomotive manufacturers were adopted.

Today, the railway companies number their vehicle stocks consecutively , trying to provide locomotives of the same design with consecutive numbers. Then there are the "Reporting Marks" issued by the AAR . Due to the technical limitation of the IT systems used , only numbers in the range 0000 to 9999 can be assigned. Since the large railroad companies have more locomotives in their inventory than this system allows, several reporting marks have to be used.