Scanner for Amtrak Trip

[TomH123]

Greetings,

Total newbie here hoping for some comments and/or suggestions.
The wife and I are booked on Amtrak's Southwest Chief, from
Fullerton, CA (FUL) to Fort Madison, IA (FMD), round trip.

I'm wondering if my Icom IC-R6 would be a decent scanner for the trip.
I've programmed the following freqs, which I've obtained from several
Amtrak sites:
160.305 MHz
160.410
160.455
160.515
160.560
160.590
160.650
160.815
160.935
161.010
161.055
161.085
161.145
161.190
161.385
161.520
452.900

Supposedly, there are "defect detectors" along the way that I should be able to receive.
I have no idea what to expect as far as verbal communications from/to the train.

I have a Diamond antenna, but will probably just take the original Icom antenna, unless
someone on here feels I should take the Diamond.

Sorry for the long first post. Just would like to know if the Icom IC-R6 is up to the task.
And, if there are "train folks" on here, are there other freqs I should include?

Thanks in advance for any efforts expended. Take care.

 

[Nasby]

Great idea to take your Icom. It will actually be more sensitive than a scanner.

Listening to the rail coms will really enhance your trip. You'll know locations, why the train is stopping, etc.

I would take the smallest antenna you have for ease of portability and concealment along with an earbud of course.

You'll hear a variety of things including defect detectors, the dispatcher issuing track warrants, speed restrictions, etc. along with the conductor on the train communicating with the engineer about details related to passengers, baggage, etc.

As for frequencies, do some research and find out the channels(s) in use for the railroad you will be on.

So if you are on BNSF rails, you'll want to program the mainline and dispatchers channels.

 

[pinballwiz86]

Sometimes on an Amtrak train you will hear transmissions that are not in the railroad band plan. That's why I think if you have the money, you should get an actual scanner and turn on "Close Call" or "Signal Stalker" or what have you. That way you'll be sure to get every transmission on the train.

But, as is, your Icom is more than up to the task. Have fun and enjoy your trip! I know I enjoyed my last one. I went from Chicago to St. Louis, MO on Amtrak. The conductor was bit of a horse's arse though.

 

[RoninJoliet]

"pinballwiz" is correct, i took my Uniden 346xt and used CloseCall as the Amtrack uses who ever those tracks belong to and not just THERE specific freqys...If you can put in a "search" of 160-162 you would be better off....And along the way use CCall for little towns that are pick up stops ...I went from Naperville IL, to Las Vegas and that was a great time....Make sure you go early to the dining car and dome car and hopefully get seats where there are NO little babies crying !!!!!...Have a great trip.....

 

[TomH123]

Thanks

Thanks to Nasby, pinballwiz86 and RoninJoliet for the replies. After a little more research, I added 160.380MHz to the list. We are in a bedroom so, hopefully, the ear buds will not be necessary while in our compartment. It will, most definitely, be a learning experience. Again, thanks to all who responded. Your time and efforts are appreciated.

Take care,

TomH123

 

[bharvey2]

I can't offer much in the way of experience with train comms but I would offer the suggestion that you still bring earbuds of phones. It might keep the Mrs. a bit happier and there may be times that having them might offer clearer sound. While not mandatory, the close call would be offer the capability to pick up some of the unknown freqs. I envy you that trip, good luck.

 

[wtp]

the radio can scan

i would just scan the railroad band.

 

[RadioTowerMaster]

WOW.... A 1,900 mile AMTRAK train trip.....Railroad Nirvana

Your R-6 is pretty much restricted now that the railroads are going NXDN, trunked & in some cases out of AAR allocated frequencies, just dial in all 196 or 197 new narrowband VHF AAR allocated frequencies, the UHF EOTD, 800/900 MHz ATCS, 220 MHz PTC & UHF locotrol & telemetry frequencies & you cant miss, there was also a thread on the Railroad subforum a while back about railroad private contract service frequencies for Hulcher, Herzog, Loram & others, if you get a chance by all means visit the largest freight yard in the "WORLD" in North Platte, Nebraska, it's named Bailey Yard & is owned by UP, 60% of the city's population are UP employees, best to keep earbuds handy if you must listen anywhere outside of your compartment, since railroad cars act like Faraday cages I'd take along the Uniden suction cup antenna for your compartment window only, AMTRAK conductors are strongly opposed to any passenger attaching anything to the cattle car or dining car windows, lately on the Northeastern routes some of them are even ordering passengers to remove GPS pucks from the windows now except if you can show cause or if they know you personally or on a professional basis. In San Bernardino, Ca. the BNSF police operate on the county's trunked system, MCRR in Iowa operate on non AAR allocated UHF frequencies, the AAR TTC in Pueblo Colorado has pretty much migrated to NXDN so good luck with that. 99% of what you hear will be on any host railroads road channels especially at night with the engineer & conductors confirming signal aspects and with the passing train engineers trading good EOTD visuals & AMTRAK rear markers, Have fun.

 

[TomH123]

Thanks for the responses

Thanks bharvey2, wtp, & RadioTowerMaster for your replies.

I've decided to include ear buds, although the wife, of 55+ years, shares my curiosity about what to expect. I do not plan on using the Icom outside of our compartment.

Special thanks to RadioTowerMaster, although you are giving me waaaaaaaay too much credit. 99.44% of your comments were over-my-head, but I thank you for the, obviously, thoughtful reply.

This site, seemingly, consists of many kind, considerate, and knowledgeable members. Again, thanks to all for your help.

Take care,

TomH123

 

[N5TWB]

Your basic list is probably adequate for listening to your train while en route.

Have you evaluated your receiver for its scanning ability? Sometimes they can be slower than an actual scanner. However, scanning is not key to catching transmissions just from your train as it will operate on the host railroad's subdivision frequency for some time/miles.

 

[16b]

Have you evaluated your receiver for its scanning ability? Sometimes they can be slower than an actual scanner. However, scanning is not key to catching transmissions just from your train as it will operate on the host railroad's subdivision frequency for some time/miles.

The older Icom receivers were not known for impressive scan speed, but they really improved the R6. Not as fast as a modern scanner, but it's at least respectable now.

N5TWB brings up a good point, though. I think the R6 actually scans faster if using search limits rather than scanning memory channels. So, you might be better off setting up a limit search from 160.215 to 161.565 in 15KHz steps. If the railroads where you're going are using the new "splinter" frequencies you'll probably want to go for 5KHz since the R6 doesn't do 7.5KHz.

I have a cheap chinese-made stubby antenna like this for my receivers:
https://www.amazon.com/Retech-RHA-601-Stubby-Antenna-SMA-Male/dp/B00DSEGSAG
Of course it does not work very well, but that's the point: it limits what I receive to things that are nearby, while reducing the antenna size and making the radio much more discrete. Combine that with a pair of iPod (or lookalike) headphones (as others have mentioned), and nobody will give you a second look.

The R6 is an excellent receiver and great for keeping a low profile.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[TomH123]

One more time, thanks

Thanks N5TWB and 16b, for your replies.

"Have you evaluated your receiver for its scanning ability? " Nope.

I've only used it to scan about 20 aviation channels while sitting on my patio with a diamond stubby antenna.
It picks up many in-flight transmissions, but nothing from the ground level.
This thing is, supposedly, rated at 100 channels / second scanning speed. I have no idea how that compares to a "dedicated" scanner. I do notice that with the eighteen (18) freqs installed that when I go to scan mode, without any signals, the displayed freqs are just a blur.

For what it's worth, the 18 freqs are simply in memory, not a "bank". I select "Mem-All" when I scan. It appears to simply cycle through the 18 freqs, but too fast for me to be certain.

As you have probably ascertained by now, I'm clueless.

Thanks again for the responses and, please, take care.

TomH123

 

[RadioTowerMaster]

Update

Thanks bharvey2, wtp, & RadioTowerMaster for your replies.

I've decided to include ear buds, although the wife, of 55+ years, shares my curiosity about what to expect. I do not plan on using the Icom outside of our compartment.

Special thanks to RadioTowerMaster, although you are giving me waaaaaaaay too much credit. 99.44% of your comments were over-my-head, but I thank you for the, obviously, thoughtful reply.

This site, seemingly, consists of many kind, considerate, and knowledgeable members. Again, thanks to all for your help.

Take care,

TomH123

No problem Tom, you have a good group here that's always ready to help, I must confess that I am not very familiar with Western host freight railroads & the subsequent AMTRAK subdivision trackage rights, I initially presumed the Southwest Chief was traversing the UP SoCal To Chicago route but in actuality it is utilizing the BNSF South Transcom Route, I don't know when you're leaving but my best advice is to map that route from Fullerton which is one AMTRAK station East of the LA Union Station in the UP San Bernardino Subdivision up to Fort Madison in Iowa & match it with the RR Database subdivision frequencies, for the sake of expediency I'd just program the road & dispatch frequencies as they'll be the main ones that will directly involve your train throughout your entire journey. Hopefully RR's resident engineer Burner50 will chime in here & hook you up with the real deal, sorry I couldn't help you further but have a very happy experience.

A good foamer friend who's into "EXTREME FOAMERY" just advised me that you can listen to your R-6 in the "Sightseer Lounge Car" if you sit either in the very back or very front of the car using your earbuds, your supplied helical antenna will receive just fine as the windows are fairly oversized & it has eyebrow windows over each main window which helps. if you can still try to take some time to visit the UP Bailey Yard, believe you me it's well worth the trip. get back to us & give us a review of how things went.

 

[ratboy]

If it was me, I would program ALL the 160-161 mhz rail frequencies into the R6, that's what I have in mine, that way, you can hear all the traffic on whatever railroad you're on or near along with Amtrak, which isn't nearly as interesting, IMHO, most of the time.