Editing Reporting mark (section)

{{Short description|Alphabetic code ID used on the North American railroad network}}
[[File:Reporting marks.jpg|thumb|Reporting marks on two Canadian Pacific [[covered hopper]] cars; with the left car marked as [[Canadian Pacific Railway|CP]] 388686 and the right car marked as [[Soo Line Railroad|SOO]] 115239]]

A '''reporting mark''' is a code used to identify owners or lessees of [[rolling stock]] and other equipment used on certain [[rail transport]] networks.<!--is the term used anywhere other than N. America?-->  The code typically reflects the name or identifying number of the owner, lessee, or operator of the equipment, similar to [[IATA airline designators]].

In [[North America]], the mark, which consists of an alphabetic code of two to four letters, is stenciled on each piece of equipment, along with a one- to six-digit number. This information is used to uniquely identify every such rail car or locomotive, thus allowing it to be tracked by the railroad it is traveling over, which shares the information with other railroads and customers.<ref name="register">{{cite web |url=https://www.railinc.com/rportal/mark-register |title=Mark Register |publisher=[[Railinc Corporation|Railinc]] |access-date=2014-12-09 |archive-date=2014-12-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141225170028/https://www.railinc.com/rportal/mark-register |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="trains">{{cite journal |title=Understanding railroad reporting marks |journal=Trains |date=May 1, 2006 |last=McGonigal |first=Robert S. |url=http://trn.trains.com/railroads/abcs-of-railroading/2006/05/understanding-railroad-reporting-marks |access-date=2014-12-09 |archive-date=2014-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027061937/http://trn.trains.com/railroads/abcs-of-railroading/2006/05/understanding-railroad-reporting-marks |url-status=live }}</ref>  In multinational registries, a code indicating the home country may also be included.