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NS ‘barcode’ unit

By Angela Cotey | July 1, 2016

| Last updated on November 3, 2020


Ask Trains from the October 2014 issue

barcode_olson
SD70ACe No. 1111
Randy Olson
Q I recently saw a Norfolk Southern locomotive passing through Vermillion, Ohio, with only four vertical stripes on the cab where a unit number should be. Can you explain what this designation is? — Joseph McCormick, Oberlin, Ohio

A The stripes are really four “1s” for NS’s SD70ACe No. 1111. The “1s” are in a font that makes them appear as white bars. Some train-watchers refer to No. 1111 as the “barcode” unit. — Brian Schmidt

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