For those that haven't seen it, this is the best (and only)
BART track map I've seen to date. I would love to get a better understanding of the dispatch format, and the significance of the milepost/geographic markers (e.g. "A55 gates alpha charlie," etc).
Transitman: I'm inclined to suspect that the border between M & W lines is at Daly City, because that's where the majority of the runs on the regular rider map end, but I have no other evidence to back that up. Let me know if I copied your info right below:
R-Line talkgroup - Ashby station to Richmond Yard
C-Line talkgroup - Rockridge station to Pittsburg/Bay Point turnback
K-Line talkgroup - Ashby & Rockridge stations to West Oakland & Lake Merritt stations
A/L-Line talkgroup - Lake Merritt station to Fremont & Dublin/Pleasanton turnbacks
M-Line talkgroup - West Oakland station to Daly City station?
W-Line talkgroup - Daly City station? to Millbrae turnbacks
I finally found where I originally saw the train numbering scheme listed,
in this thread on the BARTrage blog (which seems to be a really good source of BART info). The way they temporarily number (and renumber) trains is apparently a hot topic, because if a train falls too far off schedule they simply move it to the slot behind and renumber everyone else in line - so that everyone is "back on schedule" and one train is "missing." Apparently this is to meet an on-time quota. In summary, here is what it said:
Train Radio IDs
100 - SF to Fremont
200 - Richmond to Fremont
300 - Bay Point to SF
400 - Richmond to SF
500 - Dublin to Millbrae OR Daly City?
900 - Out of Service
* Apparently +400 is added to the original ID if the train is going out of service at the end of their run (such as if they're late). Example given was the 325 becoming the 725. *
Note: These radio numbers are unit IDs temporarily assigned depending on what run the train is on. Individual train car ID numbers are four digits, and the TO usually mentions the number of the lead car when getting their initial dispatch. Also not to be confused with the "Radio IDs" unique to each radio.
When Central is patching multiple line talkgroups together into one of the temporary patch talkgroups (12-xxx AFS / 1537 decimal and up), listening for train ID numbers and station names should help to get an idea of which talkgroups are in the patch without resorting to control channel monitoring software.
Hopefully this consolidates a lot of the harder to find (but already out there) info. Great thread, keep it coming!