What can I expect to hear

[cookiend15]

Hello fellow scanners,

I have never really monitored railroad comms before. I was just wondering if I wanted to start monitoring railroad comms what should I do. Below is a list of the following questions I have as far as getting started on railroad monitoring.

P.S. I LIVE ABOUT 3 MILES FROM THE RAILROAD TRACKS IF THAT HELPS.

1. Can I monitor railroad comms with my RS PRO-97 and PRO-2055 scanners WITHOUT HAVING TO PURCHASE ANY OTHER EQUIPMENT AT ALL.

2. What frequency range or ranges should I search to find railroad comms.

3. What mode AM / FM / WFM should I search to find railroad comms.

4. Is there any PL or DPL tones that go along with railroad comms or do they transmitt in(CSQ)

5. What can I expect to hear when listening to railroad comms, like what do they say when they key up and talk.

I hope to hear from my fellow scanners soon as to my questions on getting started on monitoring railroad comms.

Thank you in advance

Chris

 

[akuter]

I can help with a couple of your questions.

1. I have 2 2055's and and can hear

 

[DarkPhoenix]

1. Yes
2. Check the Database for your area. It should list the frequencies. http://www.radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&aid=2258
3. FM
4. No PL or DPL(that I'm aware of)
5. You will hear train movements in Rail Yards(if any are nearby). Defect detectors along the right of way that usually anounces a milepost and if there are any defects or dragging equipment. You will hear Conductors talking to Dispatchers that could be miles away asking for trackage rights, clearance etc. Track crews repairing track, ties, crossings etc.

There is a frequency that is not in the railroad "band" that is interesting in it's own respect. Although I can't think of the exact frequency, It's transmited by a F.R.E.A.D (Flashing Rear End Device). It's mounted on the last car in a train and it monitors the air pressure in the trains brake lines as well as other things I believe. You can hear it on your scanner, sounds like a "chirp".

Hope this helps....I acually got started in radio monitoring by using my 10ch scanner to track trains down to photograph them.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Here is the FRED frequencies... Primary 457.9375, Alternate 457.9125.
Here is the listing of the Nationwide Association of American Railroad Channels and Train Frequencies http://myweb.accessus.net/~090/scan/comfreq.html. At the bottom of the list there are some 220 800 and 900 MHz frequencies that I'm not familiar with, I think I'm going to enter some in and see what happens

 

[trainman111]

452.9375 is also used to transmit data from the lead engine to the FRED/EOTD (whatever you choose to call it...)

 

[cookiend15]

Fred Frequencies

452.9375 is also used to transmit data from the lead engine to the FRED/EOTD (whatever you choose to call it...)

Hello fellow scanners. I was just wondering would I be able to hear the FRED FREQUENCIES in this part of the country. Is the FRED FREQUENCIES something that is nationwide on all trains. Please let me know. And thank you all very kindly for your input so far.

Chris

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Yes they are nationwide

 

[Dubbin]

Hello fellow scanners. I was just wondering would I be able to hear the FRED FREQUENCIES in this part of the country. Is the FRED FREQUENCIES something that is nationwide on all trains. Please let me know. And thank you all very kindly for your input so far.

Chris

You do know that that you wont hear any talking, right?

 

[DaveNF2G]

Just for clarity:

FRED = Flashing Rear End Device
EOTD = End of Train Device

The EOTD is the component that involves radio. I don't remember what the headend device is called. They send telemetry back and forth. There is no voice traffic on these systems.

 

[markinillinois]

My suggestion is to program in all of the railroad frequency allocations into your scanner, listen for a couple of days and just write down the ones which have activity on them.

Speaking for myself, I'm only interested in the local Sub frequencies, but others may like to listen to everything that there is to hear. My favorite thing to listen to are the track detector broadcasts after passing trains trigger them.

If you like to watch trains and have some good spots in your area, a hand-held scanner really adds to the enjoyment.

Check out the http://rrpicturearchives.net site for pictures taken from towns in your area.

Mark Holmes
Marion, IL
markinillinois@webtv.net

 

[BigC801]

Just for clarity:

FRED = Flashing Rear End Device
EOTD = End of Train Device

The EOTD is the component that involves radio. I don't remember what the headend device is called. They send telemetry back and forth. There is no voice traffic on these systems.

Well we call it, Head end box, or Head end device, or Heu. FRED and EOT are the same things, they tell you your how much air u have on the rear, let you put it in emergency from the rear, and have a flashing red light for a marker. The best bet for finding traffic in your area is just to program in all 97 of the AAR ch's into your scanner http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Railroad, dont worry about ch 2 through 6 or the narrow band.

 

[Dubbin]

The best bet for finding traffic in your area is just to program in all 97 of the AAR ch's into your scanner

Or just setup SR6 for a service search.

 

[kf4lne]

yes, you will be able to hear lots of the same things evey day several times a day. Most of what you will hear will be on the road channels for your particular RR in your area. You will hear train crews calling signals as they pass from one block to the next, you will hear trains passing each other giving a status report of the other train, what they saw that may need to be checked, that kind of thing and you will hear the defect dectors recorded or synthesized voice when a train passes by. You will also hear dispatchers, sometimes you find them transmitting on the same frequency as the train crews and sometimes you will find the dispatcher using a different frequency to talk back to the train crews. most of the time the dispatchers are far away, usually in another city and state altogether. CSX out here in northwest NC is dispatched from Jacksonville, FL. Dispatchers are connected to local radios by phone line or some other wireline connection and the dispatcher has a control device for the radio at his console. Usually when you hear dispatchers you will hear them issuing authorizations to occupy a section of track and the conditions of occupying that section of track. Not as often you will hear MoW crews out working on the line, train crews calling for dispatch to send a cab when their time runs out and the occasional HyRail truck and signal maintainers. Basically what you will be hearing is the day to day operations of a railroad. If you live close enough to a rail yard you can hear the operations in the yard, most of that will be from portable radios so you will have to be close or have a really good antenna to hear most of the comms except for teh yard tower, they usually have a good radio and antenna since they need to be able to communicate with trains that are several miles out. Most RR operations are CSQ and simplex, meaning there is no PL tones and no repeater. Something else a lot of railroads do to optimize signal coverage is to use directional antennas at the dispatch tower sites that focus the signal along the right of way. its a railroad so its not like they need coverage all over town, they know where the train is going to be so they focus the signal in that direction. Dispatch towers are usually very tall, so you may be able to hear the dispatcher like gangbusters but the train crew may be this scratch you hear in the noise and rialroads tend to collow rivers so they are low in the valley, don't expect to hear much from a rialroad that is the next hill over because the hills will block the signal. Something else you may find too is a series of DTMF tones that come and go with the train. Older EOT units used a standard VHF rail channel to send telemetry to the head end and in mountainous terrain where there are a lot of tunnels some still do. Also, unless you are using it to find a train there is no need to have the EOT frequencies in your scanner, you will never hear voice used on the EOT frequency, those are for control and monitoring of the train. Hope you enjoy your rail monitoring, and for best results I suggest getting a dedicated rail monitoring antenna for your scanners. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Scott_PHX_APP]

FRED's partner is Wilma at the head end, or engine of the train. The 400 Mhz frequencies mentioned are indeed the right ones and there is some 2-way comm between them but as mentioned, no voice. Enjoy your listening, I do it all day long and know several of the local UP crew members here in Phoenix.
Later...

 

[cookiend15]

Heard my first railroad comms tonight

Hello fellow scanners. Thank you for all your input and help. Tonight while I was searching the 160.215 - 161.565 MHZ range FM mode I heard my first railroad comms. They were on the frequency 160.800 MHZ. This railroad monitoring seems pretty neat, I think that I will continue to check for more active frequencies. Right now I'am searching the above mentioned frequency range. Does anyone have any suggestions as to which other frequency ranges I should search and what mode. Thank you all very much for all your help.

 

[Scott_PHX_APP]

Chris,
I don't know if you have enough channels, but I programed all the AAR channels in my Pro-95 and put them in 2 banks for more coverage. You could do the same and just note the ones most active for later. Another thing I might mention is to web forums for Railroad related stuff that are free to join if you like. The first is www.railroadradio.com and allows you to listen to streaming communications for all over the country. All free and it includes a discussion forum for each of the covered areas. You can ask questions about the area you're in if one exists. I think there is one for your area too? The other site you sould check out if you like trains/railroads is www.railroadforums.com Another free site with forums like this one and pictures, etc. I'm UP Scott over there if you desicde to join up. Have a great day and have fun listing. BTW, if you have any questions about what you hear, let me know, I should be able to help you out or find out the answers? I have several buddys that work for UP.
Later...

 

[hummn]

here are a couple sites from NY that may interest you.


http://www.crisny.org/not-for-profit/railroad/scanfreq.htm

the home page is here
http://www.crisny.org/not-for-profit/railroad/index.shtml

another site
http://rochester.railfan.net/freqs.html

home page
http://rochester.railfan.net/

look around this site in the statewide transportation
http://www.nf2g.com/scannist/index.html

http://zippy.ci.uiuc.edu/~roma/rr-freqs/index-old.html

 

[gcgrotz]

Hello fellow scanners. Thank you for all your input and help. Tonight while I was searching the 160.215 - 161.565 MHZ range FM mode I heard my first railroad comms. They were on the frequency 160.800 MHZ. This railroad monitoring seems pretty neat, I think that I will continue to check for more active frequencies. Right now I'am searching the above mentioned frequency range. Does anyone have any suggestions as to which other frequency ranges I should search and what mode. Thank you all very much for all your help.

Chris: I find RR scanning and "fanning" go together well. Check for railfan web sites in your state/area. I have a ham rig (Yaesu FT100) in my truck that has the local Norfolk Southern freq in the call channel memory and it stays on most of the time. It works great with mag mount on the roof. I also have a small bank of other local RR channels in every scanner I have. There's always something going on too. I think about the only thing that has more activity is aero comms.

Happy scanning!

 

[captncarp]

Amsterdam NY should have very good listening, Amtrak, CSX, CP plus short lines. Find the right frequency's and u will hear lots of talking. Engineers, Dispatchers and Maintainers.

 

[cooldude546]

Hello from another amsterdam resident, the RR freqs that i found are these 160.800 and
161.070 . Happy Scanning