CP Rail new antennas in Cohoes, NY

[radicalbill]

I just saw CP Rail installing what looks like UHF antennas ontop of newly placed telephone poles alongside their track in Cohoes NY.

As far as I know, they only use VHF and primary is 161.100 for that stretch of track from Watervliet to Mechanicville.

Anyone know what these antennas are for ?

I have never seen anything like them before.

If I can I will get some pictures.

 

[GTR8000]

Probably some sort of Wi-Fi, either for Internet access along the line or some sort of package tracking system.

 

[DaveNF2G]

Maybe receive antennas for EOT/FRED equipment.

Mabye RFID receive sites for cargo tracking.

 

[radicalbill]

Looks like UHF directional antenna

It is at the Pine St. crossing atop a large, new, telephone pole and it looks like a directional UHF antenna pointing due North up the track.

The coverage of the 161.100 freq from dospatch is not very good and most of the time I can not make out what they are saying. Unless you are outside with a good radio you can't pick them up.

The trains are worse. You need to be within a mile or so of the train to hear them.

Maybe they are having the same problem and these are some sort of patch or repeater for the trains.

I have not noticed any difference in the signal so far, but I did not get down there today to see if they had finished.

We have been having a heat wave and tomorrow is going to be in the 90's again. Hopefully this weekend it will be cool and I can get down there.

I saw someone taking pictures of the next crossing north of Pine, which is Ontario. They looked official. Not sure what they have planned for that crossing.

I'll post more when I know more. Can you post pictures on here ?

 

[radicalbill]

Got Pictures

I took some video of the antennas and also markings on the ground. There are a lot of crews, not just CP Rail, Power, Telecom, City.

I think they are going to be laying new communication lines, If I am reading the markings correctly.

I'm guessing L3 and Level 3 are the same and L3 is going to be putting in new lines along the tracks.

Here are the pictures. Any insight is appriciated.

Thanks

Bill

 

[DaveNF2G]

Someone else suggested to me that CP Rail is installing ATCS, which is done on 900 MHz. Now that I've seen pix of the antennae, I concur.

 

[W2NJS]

I was watching a History Channel show about railroads today and in one segment they described a typical BNSF radio setup that, as I recall, included at least four separate and distinct radio systems.