BNSF4797 Wrote:
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> What were the number boards on Santa Fe Passenger
> Locomotives? Like in the Trainnews picture last
> night (i.e. 74L and 34C)

I might not be completely clear on what you're asking, but I'll give it a shot.

The lighted number boards allowed other trains and employees to identify the train the locomotive was on. A handful of railroads displayed the actual train number in the number boards (which were called Train Indicators, in that case), but the vast majority displayed the locomotive's assigned number. Each railroad had their own published rule about it, and it's still in today's GCOR and NORAC rule books.

For an example of how this was used, the dispatcher would issue a train order like this:

NO 24 HAS ENG 74

NO 16 HAS ENG 34C

That tells other trains and employees that the eastbound Grand Canyon that day has engine 74 and the Texas Chief has engine 34C, so they can identify the trains and compare it to the timetable schedule. Without knowing this info, they could not positively identify the train, and a collision might result.

> I see that 34C on most of
> the reprints of the Santa Fe "F" Units

You might be referring to the 347C, which is the unit in the California State Railroad Museum at Sacramento. There are lots of photos of it.