How to find them

[fuzzymoto]

OK I'm new to scanning in general but we do have a considerable amount of rail trafic in my area (Northeastern PA). Any idea how I can find some of the frequencies to listen for. I'm not sure if they are in range or if they are trunked. Thanks.

 

[radioscan]

Check out The Railfan Helpdesk here: http://www.railfanswelcome.com/Railscan.htm

or set your scanner up to search from 160.2300 - 161.565 MHz. If it is step selectable
then select it for 15 kHz.

It is all conventional, there is no trunking use in railroad other than the UP in the NW United States.

 

[fuzzymoto]

Good site. I didn't see anything obvious that indicated it would be the rail lines near by my house but I will listen. I can't narrow my search so to hit the 160's I'm searching from 148-174 which is very active. How active are the railroads on the radio and what sort of stuff do you hear? Thanks again.

 

[radioscan]

Where in NE PA are you located? That would help narrow down what lines are near you.

Typical railroad communications include:

Dispatchers to trains giving block clearances and other running operations.
Engineers calling in signals as they transverse signal blocks.
Automated Defect Detectors giving trains' status.
Yard/Switching operations.
Maintenance of Way crews.
Crew Cabs.

 

[fuzzymoto]

I'm about 20-miles northwest of Wilkes-Barre, PA.

 

[radioscan]

From what I can tell, the main lines going through Wilkes Barre are the
Canada Pacific Rail (ex-Conrail), and the Luzerne and Susquehanna. Also the Deleware and Lackawana has a presence NE of Wilkes Barre. So give these a try:

160.4250 CPR - Dispatcher
160.5300 CPR - Conklin Yard
160.7250 CPR
161.4500 CPR - Road

161.0700 LS

160.4250 DL - Ch. 2 Office
160.3200 DL
161.4600 DL - Road

161.2950 NYS&W - Ch. 1 Road
160.6200 NYS&W - Ch. 2

 

[fuzzymoto]

Thanks...I'll listen tonight. I'm not sure when they run the trains or when they talk but hopefully I'll hear something. Thanks again!

 

[fuzzymoto]

Hey I think I just heard one....160.770 They talked very briefly so I didn't catch much bit something is in range for me and I'm pretty sure it was Reading Blue Ridge & Northern Railroad because they said somthing about having the train under move...."good marker at south & ridge..."

 

[kb2vxa]

Hi Fuzzy and readers,

What you heard was the Reading & Northern and consider yourself lucky to live in ex Reading, CSX and NS country! (I love horsies.) BTW, Conrail is now CSX/NS Shared Interests, in other words they share trackage under that name. You'll find http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchLicense.jsp helpful once you learn the railroad lines themselves. You can look up the licenses and break them down by transmitter sites and frequencies. Cross reference and list them for reference and you have it made. The FCC database won't tell you what each frequency is used for but listening will.

BTW, there's lots of MoW going on around here and they can get funny at times. If you want to hear what's going on in this neck of the woods go to http://railaudio2.railroadradio.net:7172/ and http://www.railroadradio.net/ for many more live scanner feeds.

"NJ Rail 4870 wye five at Long Branch clear the Bay Head running track."