Railroad Frequencies Question

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KE0FKH

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Hey All!

I am very new to the railroad scanner monitoring. I have a few quick questions about this so maybe I can get some help!

I live in Central Iowa where Union Pacific is pretty much the only locomotives run on our tracks. I looked on the railroad frequencies page and found many, upon many railroad frequencies that are used for Union Pacific as well as some others.

I did a few scans on some of the frequencies but I'm not quite sure what each channel is used for. Does anyone have a list of frequencies and their uses? I don't know where to start with them, so any advise is welcome!

Also, the AAR frequencies, can anyone give some light on what they are used for?

I appreciate it!
73' KE0FKH
 

kma371

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From looking at the the Iowa UP freqs, it appears most are "Road" channels that are used for track operations between two specific points (located in the description).

AAR just means American Association of Railroads. I don't see any listed like that in Iowa, but if you are looking at a national page, AAR just allocates each frequency a channel number. For example AAR01 is 160.650 or whatever.
 

imbruski

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Depending on where you are in Central Iowa, Union Pacific Mason city and Trenton Subdivisions are the north/south lines. Boone and Clinton Subdivisions are the east/west lines.
 

N9JIG

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Find the "Road" channel for your area. That has the traffic from the train to the dispatcher and train to train as well as the lineside detectors and discussions with maintenance crews.

The subdivision names are as follows:
Boone (Missouri Valley to Boone)
Clinton (Boone to Clinton)
Mason City (Des Moines to Mason City)
Tara (Grand Jct. to Mallard)
Fort Dodge (Somers to Belmond)
Jewell (W. Ames to Burt)
Laurens (Albert City to Rolfe)
Oskaloosa (Bridgeport to Marshalltown)
Perry (Des Moines area switching)
Rake (Esherville to Bricelyn
Estherville (Estherville to Goldfield)

Look at the Iowa Railroads page here at RR (https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?aid=4330) and find the Road freqs for your area.

Enjoy!
 

N5XTC

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evidently there are some ops who are really into the RR scanning. i have done it, but it seems the commo is fairly boring IMOP. when in ohio i often see guys with scanners and binoculars at the RR tracks waiting for trains. is there a name for these folks, like a slang term? i have thought of stopping and talking to them but i am usually trying to get somewhere. maybe next summer when there i will stop and talk to them. i should try scanning RR in southeast Virginia for a few days and see what i am able to pick up.
 

Nasby

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evidently there are some ops who are really into the RR scanning. i have done it, but it seems the commo is fairly boring IMOP. when in ohio i often see guys with scanners and binoculars at the RR tracks waiting for trains. is there a name for these folks, like a slang term? i have thought of stopping and talking to them but i am usually trying to get somewhere. maybe next summer when there i will stop and talk to them. i should try scanning RR in southeast Virginia for a few days and see what i am able to pick up.

Foamers or FRN's (F*$#! Railroad Nuts/Nerds) as the railroad calls them.
 

TailGator911

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When it comes to scanning the rails, I have found the best solution is to just put every daggum rail frequency you can find into one scan bank and give it a go. People will tell you this and tell you that and give you all kinds of info - collect it all and work all of it! You'll be surprised what pops up as active.

JD
kf4anc
 

phask

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When it comes to scanning the rails, I have found the best solution is to just put every daggum rail frequency you can find into one scan bank and give it a go. People will tell you this and tell you that and give you all kinds of info - collect it all and work all of it! You'll be surprised what pops up as active.

JD
kf4anc

Agree - with any of the HP,X36or SDS there is more than enough room for all of it. I do keep the local ones in a list separately as well.

Same for Marine channels - if applicable.
 

JoshuaHufford

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I'm one of those people that chase trains, I think of myself as a Railfan, but feel free to call me a foamer or whatever you like, I don't really care.

I'm sure it seems odd to most people, but again I don't care as I enjoy it. My father took me to watch trains as a child and I've always held an interest throughout my life, although it has came back in the last 6-7 years or so as something more serious.

For me it is the merging of several interests, my love of trains, my love of photography (photographing the trains can be very challenging, if anyone wants to see my photos let me know), and my love of working with radios. Not only do I scan the RR voice communications, I also have a mobile ATCS kit with several radios to help track where the trains are.

Scanning RR voice communications might seem boring, but it can be very useful to help figure out what trains are where, and where to go to find them. I also enjoy listening while at home and watching my ATCS dispatcher display, I find it interesting to see how the dispatcher routes trains, especially when problems arise etc.
 

TailGator911

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I don't find any scannable frequencies 'boring' at all. To each his own, what we seek out to monitor. I listen to everything from the space shuttle retransmissions to Taco Bell drive-thrus. lol ok, not really, but if I am in line awaiting my burrito I will definitely CC them to see what freq they are using! You betcha haha

JD
kf4anc
 

phask

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I'm far from a die-hard fan, but I do casually participate.
I've stopped at the Horseshoe Curve and the Gallatin tunnels a few times, but have yet to hit any of the sites in Altona.

Also spent some time along some of the W.Va areas (Prince, Thurmond, etc.) I live in a rail desert, one short line and that's it.

My Father was a 40+year engineer, NYC through Penn Central- Conrail. He started in the stem age.
 

WRCM

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I'm one of those people that chase trains, I think of myself as a Railfan, but feel free to call me a foamer or whatever you like, I don't really care.

I'm sure it seems odd to most people, but again I don't care as I enjoy it. My father took me to watch trains as a child and I've always held an interest throughout my life, although it has came back in the last 6-7 years or so as something more serious.

For me it is the merging of several interests, my love of trains, my love of photography (photographing the trains can be very challenging, if anyone wants to see my photos let me know), and my love of working with radios. Not only do I scan the RR voice communications, I also have a mobile ATCS kit with several radios to help track where the trains are.

Scanning RR voice communications might seem boring, but it can be very useful to help figure out what trains are where, and where to go to find them. I also enjoy listening while at home and watching my ATCS dispatcher display, I find it interesting to see how the dispatcher routes trains, especially when problems arise etc.
I don't think it's odd at all. There is a lot more substance to the railfan hobby than most other things you can hear on a scanner.
As a railfan, listening to the radio frequencies is only a small part of the hobby. There are many facets to the railfan hobby.
But if your radio bent is listening to public service frequencies, what else can you really do besides listen?
 

Swipesy

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N5XTC, if you are in Berea, Oh do stop and talk to us Railfans. You will leave with an education about the hobby and might even find it more interesting than listening to public service radio. As stated above the scanner is only an alerting tool in railfanning. The hobby is very challenging and interesting once you learn what is all about.
 

k6cpo

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San Diego, CA
From looking at the the Iowa UP freqs, it appears most are "Road" channels that are used for track operations between two specific points (located in the description).

AAR just means American Association of Railroads. I don't see any listed like that in Iowa, but if you are looking at a national page, AAR just allocates each frequency a channel number. For example AAR01 is 160.650 or whatever.

The AAR is also responsible for assigning specific frequencies to the individual railroads.

I edit and publish the bi-monthly newsletter for a railroad museum on the west coast. At one time I was a train crew volunteer (until my amateur radio duties started taking up more of my time) and had a great time helping run trains for the museum. I've traveled on Amtrak and i use one of my radios for scanning the frequencies when i'm on the train. It's very interesting having an idea of what's happening on the train. On one occasion, I listened to the Conductor as he stopped the train to put off a passenger who insisted on smoking when he'd been told repeatedly not to. The conductor put him off on the outskirts of one of the stops, probably five miles from the station.
 

lamopac

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Pollock, La.
I'm one of those people that chase trains, I think of myself as a Railfan, but feel free to call me a foamer or whatever you like, I don't really care.

I'm sure it seems odd to most people, but again I don't care as I enjoy it. My father took me to watch trains as a child and I've always held an interest throughout my life, although it has came back in the last 6-7 years or so as something more serious.

For me it is the merging of several interests, my love of trains, my love of photography (photographing the trains can be very challenging, if anyone wants to see my photos let me know), and my love of working with radios. Not only do I scan the RR voice communications, I also have a mobile ATCS kit with several radios to help track where the trains are.

Scanning RR voice communications might seem boring, but it can be very useful to help figure out what trains are where, and where to go to find them. I also enjoy listening while at home and watching my ATCS dispatcher display, I find it interesting to see how the dispatcher routes trains, especially when problems arise etc.
What we do does seem strange to some people. I have been in places where curious locals have almost wrecked their cars trying to see what I'm doing. I also use ATCS but I scan the scan the railroad bands in areas where ATCS is not being used. If you're in an area where DTC (Dispatcher Train Control) is in use. The scanner can be very useful.
 

RRR

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When it comes to scanning the rails, I have found the best solution is to just put every daggum rail frequency you can find into one scan bank and give it a go. People will tell you this and tell you that and give you all kinds of info - collect it all and work all of it! You'll be surprised what pops up as active.

JD
kf4anc

And y'all would be surprised at the RR comms that are occuring outside the AAR (160/161) block of frequencies as well....
 
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