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Can you search by the headcode?

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Ladder23

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hi guys just curious if there is a way to find the location of a train for example with the 700’s, is it possible to specifically search for where 700-001, 700-002 would be right now?
 
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Lrd

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That's not a headcode, that's a unit/train number and that's not currently searchable. If you know what service a unit is on and know the headcode then you can search Open Train Times or Real Time Trains.
 

Ladder23

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That's not a headcode, that's a unit/train number and that's not currently searchable. If you know what service a unit is on and know the headcode then you can search Open Train Times or Real Time Trains.

Thanks for answering that, I wasn’t sure.

I assume there isn’t a chart out somewhere to see which units match the numbers?
 

Lrd

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Nothing coming from official sources, no.

There was a website where users inputted the unit numbers they saw running a service but I can't remember what it is.
 

Ladder23

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Might sound silly but I don’t suppose the 4 digit numbers change at all? Reason being I wouldn’t mind making a chart myself. I could quite easily pair the ID> numbers from the real-time trains site.
 

Ladder23

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For example ID/ code 9T36 would never change and will always match with the number of the train?
 

FGW_DID

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For example ID/ code 9T36 would never change and will always match with the number of the train?

No

9T36 will always be specific to that particular train working but the unit allocated to it wont necessarily be the same day to day.
 

Ladder23

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Sorry if I’ve misunderstood, so the 9T36 will be allocated to the specific journey/ route and not the number let’s say, 700-001
 

Ladder23

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Ah that’s thrown a spanner in the works then, I thought I could start taking numbers then searching the codes and pairing. Never mind. Thanks for your help, I’d have been digging for ages otherwise!
 

Islineclear3_1

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ID codes/train reporting numbers will never be matched to a specific unit all the time. Units get swapped around all the time, work specific mileage diagrams and are "stopped" for depot exams/maintenance/overhaul etc. So for example, on a Monday, 700001 might work a Bedford to Brighton diagram all day, finish at Bedford, be "stopped" for a depot exam on the Tuesday, go on the wheel lathe at Hornsey on Wednesday, run ecs to Bedford on the Thursday and stable, work Luton - Rainhams on the Friday - each service having a different train ID/reporting number
 
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Muzer

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The best you can get is railcam (I imagine this is the website @Lrd was trying to think of), which allows its subscribers to input allocations. These tend to be quite biased towards loco-haulage however; I don't think many people interested in units are subscribed to Railcam, as I rarely see them input (though I do input them myself from time to time).
 

Highlandspring

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Numbers in the Rolling Stock Library don’t have hyphens in them. So it’s 700001 not 700-001.
 

Ladder23

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No need to be smart about it, I think everyone understood what I meant
 

Ladder23

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ID codes/train reporting numbers will never be matched to a specific unit all the time. Units get swapped around all the time, work specific mileage diagrams and are "stopped" for depot exams/maintenance/overhaul etc. So for example, on a Monday, 700001 might work a Bedford to Brighton diagram all day, finish at Bedford, be "stopped" for a depot exam on the Tuesday, go on the wheel lathe at Hornsey on Wednesday, run ecs to Bedford on the Thursday and stable, work Luton - Rainhams on the Friday - each service having a different train ID/reporting number

Thanks for your help Robert.
 

Highlandspring

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It was an attempt to point it out in case you weren’t aware. Searching (youtube, flickr, google, whatever) for numbers with hyphens in won’t find UK trains!
 

Ladder23

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It was an attempt to point it out in case you weren’t aware. Searching (youtube, flickr, google, whatever) for numbers with hyphens in won’t find UK trains!

Your right thanks,

I do find it some what odd that a train number cannot be used to search it’s location, I thought I was onto a winner earlier with the ID codes but then read they change. Gahhh!
 

_toommm_

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Your right thanks,

I do find it some what odd that a train number cannot be used to search it’s location, I thought I was onto a winner earlier with the ID codes but then read they change. Gahhh!

There is always a part of this forum where you can look where a particular train is - go into 'Allocations Diagrams and Timetables' then into the 'TOPS Allocation' thread at the top. It is powered by users though so answers aren't always possible and instantaneous, which is fair enough really!
 

anamyd

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Numbers in the Rolling Stock Library don’t have hyphens in them. So it’s 700001 not 700-001.

True, but at least when not searching I don't see issue with people writing them how they like. Some trains display their numbers with spacing!
 

E_Reeves

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True, but at least when not searching I don't see issue with people writing them how they like. Some trains display their numbers with spacing!
Of course they can write it how they like, but when it comes to searching for a particular unit or loco on the internet they may struggle to find what they're looking for with hyphens in; people usually enter sightings all as one number...
 

anamyd

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Of course they can write it how they like, but when it comes to searching for a particular unit or loco on the internet they may struggle to find what they're looking for with hyphens in; people usually enter sightings all as one number...
Not dismissing what you're saying :)
 
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