Are numbers really important?

Just getting into the hobby again, and I had ordered hoppers from a couple of different companies. I was working for the goal of getting a set of Full Throttle C&EI and CB&Q cars. I don't know what happened, but I wound up with doubles on both sets, and missing pairs of cars on both sets. Because everything in the railroad world is limited, I cannot find the missing set of the one, and have to hurry up and buy the other one (and pray they send correct ones) for the other.
Is sombody going to bust me out because I have double numbers rolling on my train?
On another note...I guess it drives the industry but I really hate that sun and moon and stars have to be aligned to get a set of cars.
There has got to be people like me out there who just want to run model railroad somewhat realistically. I know I cant run a coal train with 100 cars, but if I get say, the pair of Mopac engines,(before they are sold out too) Id like at least a dozen Mopac cars, not a mixed batch of different railroads or types. Why would I run Santa Fe or whatever wagons on the CB&Q?
I blinked and did not pre order the IC passenger cars, so there is another set I will not be able to get.
I am not an 8 year old with Pokemon cards.

Kelly,
Maybe I can help you with MOPac cars or locos.
Give me a shout at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

See what I can do for you.

And who really cares if you have the same number a dozen times over? Can't see them anyway, especially if you weather them up.
Loren
Z Train Things

Kelly, i agree with Loren, you really can't see the car numbers that well, unless you pull the car from the tracks and look at it up close. Also like Loren said, a bit of weathering makes a huge differance, no two weathered cars look the same. In our Z club, we run unot coal trains with 40-50 cars, and theres alaway a few numbers that repeat, and we have yet to have anyone even notice it at shows...... usually, most folks are stunned that we are running such long trains at shows, and in Z scale to boot!!!!

Tony B...
Wasatch Z ClubB)

I have plenty of dupe's in my trains. I only have a few 4-8 car sets like the coal or box cars but for most of it, I have just mixed trains with random cars. Sometimes 2-3 of the same road/style and they often have the same number. Many numbers are too small to see, some are just big enough at 3'/1m you might be able to read them but this is where weathering takes care of that. A rust spot, dirt or run off lines from the roof, etc. are all easy ways to draw focus to the uniqueness of the car versus that tiny little number.

Jeff

The numbers on carriages and wagons really are not visible under operating conditions. The only duplications that would worry me are when a double header had two identical locos with the same number. But, the way things are, that won't happen with my Z gauge stuff but will be a problem with N scale where the numbers are larger.

Chris.

Since you cannot read them I feel they are of no importance. I feel having enough of them, being of the right period/place is more important. It only raises the price.

However I would find it nice if the manufacturer would put each year a different number on the engines.

It seems like the consensus is that duplicate numbers are not too important.
That makes me feel better, cause I have a bunch of cars that are dupes.
I didn't want to feel dumb when I start posting pictures.

Thanks

JC

Having duplicate numbers wouldn't matter a whit or a jot to me, but then we're all in this hobby for slightly different reasons. And, as just about all the previous respondents pointed out, you can barely see the numbers anyway.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone.
I don't want to be a rivet counter, but I don't want to run modern double stacked container cars with a Casey Jones engine either. There has got to be a happy medium somewhere.
I hear people complain that the other scales do not take Z serious, but then I see some major anachronisms in not just the modelers but the companies sometimes. I know it cannot be helped, we only have 2 cabooses to chose from, and I am happy to get one that matches my engine. I am VERY happy with my little coal hoppers because they fall into the beginning of the era that I do. I just wish I could find some more "Up to date" ones with 3 or more bays on them in my railroad colors. I just sort of cringe when I see a modern paint scheme on a wagon that would have reached its peak in the 50s'.
Just throwing my 2 cents in and stirring up trouble.