That would be "quintet" (5) not "quartet" (4). The BNSF Z trains are classified as "Guaranteed" intermodal trains, "Priority" or "P designation trains would be a couple of steps lower/slower. Don't know if they're still using "Q" designations or not, that used to be the step between "Z" and "P" intermodals.
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Yup ... I erred and typed "quartet" by mistake. Thanks for catching that!
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The list I have may be a little out of date (2011), but it shows Z trains as "Priority UPS-LTL Intermodal," Q trains as "Guaranteed Service Intermodal" and it doesn't even show P as a symbol. Last weekend I caught a few Q trains, and the last Z train I photographed was on 6/12/19. The last P train I have in my records was from 08/07/04. I'll check with my BNSF sources, but I din't believe they use the P designation any longer.
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Yes, checking more sources seems to lead to more different "definitions." LOL they can't seem to make up their mind what to call them, but the relative levels of priority remain the same. S=Basic stack (slowest intermodal schedules), Q=Expedited (faster), Z=Highest priority (fastest), in the "general" sense. I remember the "P" symbols back in my day (1997ish), which used to be a step above "S" but a step below "Q."
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