Has Anybody Here Traveled By Amtrak?

[JASII]

I did find this.

On Track On Line - Amtrak Freqs Empire Builder

After sifting through the above website, I might be able to search/scan all AAR frequencies, but focus on these.

160.305

160.690

160.740

160.770

161.250

161.265

161.520

161.370

 

[romanr]

Amtrak from Illinoise to New Orleans

My wife and I took Amtrak from Bloomington, IL to New Orleans (and back) about 2 year ago. It was my first real train ride and we both enjoyed it. We got the sleeper rooms and figured that the trip was going to cost us a hotel if we drove, so the price wasn't out of line for a car trip. The food was not bad - certainly better than the gruel they serve on the airlines and we had the chance to meet a few nice people. There was a place to get a drink with a wonderful attendant from New Orleans, the accommodations were much more comfortable than flying, and we genuinely enjoyed the trip.

I took my Motorola XPR7550 (VHF) and listened to the railroad communications the entire trip {as a side note, I always use the Motorola covert headset in public. [Why would anyone want to bother others with the noise and deal with any potential drama that it may cause?]

They condition of the rails in Mississippi are not good, so the train has to slow down, but the trip was overall enjoyable. The car attendant was a really nice person that we still follow on FB (58 Sleeper Guy).

It was pleasant way to start a week long get away (and we never went to Bourbon street)

 

[N9JIG]

My first long-distance Amtrak trip was way back when the BC-100 handheld was the top of the line scanner. I even brought a tiny screwdriver so I could swap batteries en route as it used rechargeable AA's but really wasn't set up for easily replacing them in the field.

I rode the California Zephyr our of Chicago and met a girl on the train that I spent the whole ride with until she made it home in mid Nebraska in the middle of the night, we kept in touch for a while after that and I took the train there and back a couple times that summer. I continued on to Denver when my folks met me and we all rode to SLC and then after a few days came back. We then drove down to Phoenix from Denver and later rode the Sunset to New Orleans and then they returned on the Sunset and I took the City of New Orleans to Chicago.

The BC100 worked great and I was able to hear all the traffic when we had an unfortunate incident in Texas after striking some pedestrians sleeping between the rails. The car attendant knew I had a scanner (we had chatted about it before and he thought it was cool we could hear the radio traffic) and came to me and asked that I not let people know what was happening as to not alarm the rest of the passengers so I kept it to myself until the Border Patrol released the train.

In those days one could park on the Road channel and it would not change for hundreds of miles in places. The Sunset line was all on 161.550 from Phoenix to New Orleans at the time, the IC was all on 161.190 etc. Now it is a little more difficult, as there are several Road channels on each railroad. Scanning all 97 channels is pretty easy and if you do that you won't miss much.

 

[eyes00only]

Many years ago I rode Amtrack and asked the Conductor or some employee about their radios and he actually gave a list of frequencies used on that trip.

 

[jaymatt1978]

Most newer scanners have service search which includes a service search for railroads that might be your best bet ALSO program the statewide frequencies for each of the states you go through

 

[FrensicPic]

Frequencies listed by train ...
On Track On Line - Amtrak Radio Frequencies

 

[wwhitby]

I've ridden Amtrak several times, but they've all been day trips (no overnights.)

I enjoyed the trips and find that I relax more on the train. I would listen to my scanner with an earbud, mostly parking it on the road channel or scanning the road and dispatch channels, as I watched the scenery go by out the window.

Since my train didn't have a diner, just a cafe car, I would get a sandwich for lunch and a drink. I'd also buy some Amtrak souvineers.

I would also go to the very last car on the train and stand at the locked rear door and look out the back window.

Yes, travel by train does take longer, but you can always get up and walk around to stretch your legs. I also found that the seats are much more comfortable that airline seats and the seats in most automobiles. And, I wouldn't have to deal with airports, changing planes and being tired from driving when I got to my destination.

I wish there were more trains that went where I needed to go.......

 

[hardsuit]

JASII - yes, I traveled round trip on Amtrack from Oakland CA to Sacramento CA (old town).
the Sacramento station was Beautiful ART Deco design. but in bad disrepair.
It was an OK Expierence. its was Slow at times and quite Noisy (bad grind job) . I did like the upper Deck QUIET cars and rode some of the way Downstairs too.
this is in STARK contrast to my Expierence in riding Japanese Bullet Trains when I was younger(1986).
the Japanese Bullets are almost noise free All Electric and very smooth riding (great track grinding).
Turnarrounds in Japan are super efficient and FAST. and the Japanese trains (baring accidents) were ALWAYS on time, which cant be said about Amtrack.
Amtrack needs to go All Electric. Diesel is OUT. even DMU. Caltrain is going All Electric soon. Amtrack should follow suit.

 

[wwhitby]

If you ever come to Florida do BrightLine. The airline on rails, it makes AMTRAK look like a subway, well except Acela.

Thanks! If I'm ever down that way, i'll give it a try!

 

[WB6WQF]

I’ve been traveling on Amtrak twice a day, 5 days a week, for 12 years (Capitol Corridor) if you have any questions about that route.

 

[INDY72]

I have done the Indianapolis to Chicago run 2 times. CONO 4 times now, twice on the Chicago to Jackson, MS run, twice on the full Chicago/New Orleans run. Loved the CONO... The other one was convenient, and thats all it has going for it.

 

[Kitn1mcc]

Is NJ transit that bad yeah its that bad. I do not blame them move to sunny FLA and run a state of the art train. or stay in NJ and run some broken down old Arrows

Next summer i wanna do the Lake Shore Limited
I am gonna do brightline when i go to miami in may

 

[marlin39a]

I went from Williams, Arizona to Chicago, Illinois and back, in September 2015. It was approximately 40 hrs each way. Slept in my seat. Spent a lot of time in the observation car. Food was nothing great, but the views were spectacular. I had a uniden BC125AT. It worked great. If I do it again, I'd get a sleeper.

 

[K4APR]

Prior to having our daughter, my wife and I have taken Amtrak from New Carrolton, MD to Pittsburgh, PA several times. Its about an 8-9 hour trip, but we love it. We typically plan it so going north we go through Union Station in Washington DC and then up to Pittsburgh. On the way back, we select the Pennsylvania route that takes us from Pittsburgh, to Philadelphia and then back down to New Carrolton. The reason we do this is for the chance to go around Horseshoe Curve just outside of Altoona, PA. We're also railfans, so the trip getting to Pittsburgh and back is just as exciting as the destination.

I always bring my scanner along to listen to the standard rail channels. Started adding in some additional finds for various stations and soon I'll start mixing NXDN into my listening.

Enjoy the ride. The train is fun!

 

[jmp883]

Back in the 1990's I rode Amtrak from my parents house in Omaha, NE back home to northern NJ. I boarded the California Zephyr in Omaha at around 2 or 3am, arriving in Chicago mid-morning. I then had a few hours to kill before the departure of the Pennsylvanian. On the CZ I had a reserved seat, in the Pennsylvanian I had a sleeper roomette. The service and crew were excellent and having a hand-held scanner made the trip even more enjoyable.

 

[Mojaveflyer]

Has anyone used: On Track On Line - Amtrak Radio Frequencies This seems to list Amtrak trains by name and if you click on a route it will list (in the order you pass through the territory) the different frequencies used by each train.

 

[poltergeisty]

I've only been on Amtrak twice back in the 80's from North Dakota to Chicago. It was a loooong damn trip and quite boring. At least for me as a kid. I guess the food back then was alright. I have no idea what it's like today. The layover in Minneapolis was brutal! That's like their main switching yard or something.

 

[Mojaveflyer]

Go to: On Track On Line - Amtrak Radio Frequencies Click on the train name you want to travel on and it will show the road channels used in order as you travel along.

 

[jfr]

Please understand that your hotspot will have severely degraded connection to the outside cellular system because it’s inside a metal tube.

 

[w2xq]

I found the easiest way to listen to the train communications was just to scan the AAR 2 through 97 channels, loaded into a VX6-R, to find the one used in enroute. In the sleepers, the car attendant usually stopped by to listen. FWIW, IMHO the various lists of what channels are used on given routes were not particularly helpful. Shifting sands... changing frequencies... difficult to keep current.