New to RR monitoring...a few Q's

[madnachos]

I am new to rail monitoring and have found the RR police to be very interesting to listen to. Is it typical for the RR police to see a lot of action? I seem to hear many foot pursuits and fairly verbose radio traffic about what is going on. Are these guys typically off-duty cops working a second job or are most dedicated to being RR cops?

Got a few more questions:

I hear a lot of radio traffic that sounds like PBX networks. Are these littlerly just RF links to actual PBX's?

What kind of power are the trains allowed to transmit with? I seem to hear them from very long distances for ground traffic.

Are the communications that I hear in So California fairly typical of most RR traffic? Is it pretty standard across the country?

 

[icom1020]

I am new to rail monitoring and have found the RR police to be very interesting to listen to. Is it typical for the RR police to see a lot of action? I seem to hear many foot pursuits and fairly verbose radio traffic about what is going on. Are these guys typically off-duty cops working a second job or are most dedicated to being RR cops?

Got a few more questions:

I hear a lot of radio traffic that sounds like PBX networks. Are these littlerly just RF links to actual PBX's?

What kind of power are the trains allowed to transmit with? I seem to hear them from very long distances for ground traffic.

Are the communications that I hear in So California fairly typical of most RR traffic? Is it pretty standard across the country?

I rarely hear them except near a terminal and usually on the road channel, most have discovered Nextel, no, they are full time employees with full police powers on RR property commissioned by the state.

What are called PBX's are telephone interconnects, usually only one person at a time can talk, much like a ham phone patch. It is a repeater operation with the DTMF tones transmitted into the input side of the repeater.

Trains normally have 40-60 watts depending on the model of radio.

The communication of track warrants and other related info can vary depending on the railroad but it usually means the same thing, a repeat of the dispatchers instructions for affirmation of what was said. Some railroads give track authority by blocks which are then released back to the dispatcher, some are signal indication and the train proceeds accordingly. Maintenance of way crews always have 'track and time' or something similar in which they are authorized so much time on the track and then release it back to the DS when their time is up or they ask for more time. But then I still remember and saw train orders dispatched by hand along with cabooses. The railroad is not as friendly of a place as it used to be when there were more faces trackside.

 

[burner50]

The communication of track warrants and other related info can vary depending on the railroad but it usually means the same thing, a repeat of the dispatchers instructions for affirmation of what was said. Some railroads give track authority by blocks which are then released back to the dispatcher, some are signal indication and the train proceeds accordingly. Maintenance of way crews always have 'track and time' or something similar in which they are authorized so much time on the track and then release it back to the DS when their time is up or they ask for more time. But then I still remember and saw train orders dispatched by hand along with cabooses. The railroad is not as friendly of a place as it used to be when there were more faces trackside.

Warrants, track permits, track and time are generally the same for every railroad. The paperwork just looks a little different. It really just depends on the signalling system in effect for that area.

 

[madnachos]

Thanks for the info guys.

 

[tonyneece]

In CA all cops is cops!

<, they are full time employees with full police powers on RR property commissioned by the state.>

In California Railroad Police are fully certified Peace Officers and have authority anywhere within the state. Any Certified Peace Officer in California can arrest you or issue a citation anywhere. It is a common misconception that only CHP officers can cite you on freeways, or that railroad police cannot pursue you once you leave RR property. Same is true for the LA Unified school district police. They are all certified cops, and technically are never off-duty or out of jurisdiction. Rent-a-cops are not Certified Peace Officers so do not have the same powers UNLESS they are real cops moonlighting. I have seen moonlighting SWAT officers working security and carrying some pretty heavy hardware.

A RR cop from Roseville on vacation visiting Disneyland with his family could arrest you on the spot if he sees you commit a crime there and it pissed him off. Normally, lucky for us fast drivers, it is not often done, because out of their normal district they are not familiar with the courts and do not know the open dates. Also they probably would not get paid for time and expense to go to court away from their normal jurisdiction. But if you were to annoy any of them enough they could and would transport you to a local hoosgow where the locals help out with the paperwork.