Railroads - Update

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RadioDitch

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Update for the railroads in the New Jersey database. All CSX operations within NJ are now officially NFM, all NS road operations on the Lehigh Line (64/64) are now officially NFM. Conrail should change on North Jersey (50/50) sometime 02/2012.
 

W2SJW

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Just wanted to double-check with you on the CSX stuff - I have all the channels they use for both the BE & NI desks & roads, as well as the recently-new frequency used on the North Jersey River Line (that goes to Selkirk, NY on 160.620 - I believe that is known as the NC desk).

So all of those are now NFM as well as Lehigh (I can't see CSX only doing some & not all of a region at once)?
 

RadioDitch

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Everything on CSX in the Albany Division is now 12.5kHz NFM, and everything in the NS Harrisburg Division (including the Lehigh Line) is now also Narrowband. The idea is to covert entire divisions at once for uniformity.

Conrail (Shared Assets) has not yet flipped the switch AFAIK.

Database needs an update for this stuff too.
 
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W2SJW

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OK, I'm also assuming the old 'Road 1' channel on 160.800 falls under the CSAO coverage & is still wideband?

I'll get the database updated this weekend...
 

RadioDitch

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OK, I'm also assuming the old 'Road 1' channel on 160.800 falls under the CSAO coverage & is still wideband?

I'll get the database updated this weekend...

Within the limits of Conrail territory...yes...still FM. On CSX in NJ/NY/PA and NS in NJ/PA/NY...no...it's been switched to NFM.

Here's where it gets sticky. Conrail has not changed over to NFM on any channel. But being NS and CSX have...most locomotive and company issued portables (with the exception of Conrail portables)...are operating as such. This is what the FCC and AAR were attempting to avoid by setting a central date. But since the major roads started doing it early...so much for uniformity.

But anything owned by Conrail has not been changed over to 12.5kHz NFM, no.

-----------------------------------

Also just to clarify any confusion, Conrail does still exist. It is a subsidiary owned 60% by NS and 40% by CSX. Beyond, ownership, it operates basically independently of them. It employs it's own crews, dispatchers, maintainers, clerks, etc. It owns trackage, property, and rolling stock (all 3 cars of it). It is no longer a common carrier, but is responsible for the areas of shared or disputed operations of it owners in New Jersey, Staten Island, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
 
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N2ICV

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Also just to clarify any confusion, Conrail does still exist. It is a subsidiary owned 60% by NS and 40% by CSX. Beyond, ownership, it operates basically independently of them. It employs it's own crews, dispatchers, maintainers, clerks, etc. It owns trackage, property, and rolling stock (all 3 cars of it). It is no longer a common carrier, but is responsible for the areas of shared or disputed operations of it owners in New Jersey, Staten Island, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

Conrail is a jointly-owned subsidiary, with CSX and NS owning respectively 42% and 58% of its stock, corresponding to how much of Conrail's lines they acquired. Each parent, however, has an equal voting interest. The primary asset retained by Conrail is ownership of the three Shared Assets Areas in New Jersey ( South Jersey including Philadelphia, and North Jersey), and Detroit. Both CSX and NS have the right to serve all shippers in these areas, paying Conrail for the cost of maintaining and improving trackage. They also make use of Conrail to perform switching and terminal services within the areas, but not as a common carrier, since contracts are signed between shippers and CSX or NS. Conrail also retains various support facilities including maintenance-of-way and training. Payroll is done by NS.
 

RadioDitch

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One correction for CSX...
The listing for the River Sub should say that, not River *Line* Sub.

One addition for NS...
161.1300 AAR 68 MOW FM
*On NS the MOW channel varies by where the road gang is from.

And being Amtrak is a tad scarce under the railroad tab in New Jersey...
160.5150 AAR 21 Amtrak MOW FM
*On AMTK the MOW channel is referred to as the "Production Channel".
161.2150 APD 1 Amtrak Police FM
 

N2ICV

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My CSX Albany Division ETT shows it as "River Subdivision".
I have ETT's for CSAO , NS, Amtrak, NJT, and CSX.
 
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RadioDitch

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My CSX Albany Division ETT shows it as "River Subdivision".
I have ETT's for CSAO , NS, Amtrak, NJT, and CSX.

Sub is short for subdivision. Common abbreviation. CSAO is an abbreviation used in reference to Conrail, but officially it is still Conrail.
 

W2GLD

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One correction for CSX...
The listing for the River Sub should say that, not River *Line* Sub.

One addition for NS...
161.1300 AAR 68 MOW FM
*On NS the MOW channel varies by where the road gang is from.

And being Amtrak is a tad scarce under the railroad tab in New Jersey...
160.5150 AAR 21 Amtrak MOW FM
*On AMTK the MOW channel is referred to as the "Production Channel".
161.2150 APD 1 Amtrak Police FM

Please confirm for the database what the actual AAR channel assignments are for these Amtrak channels as these frequencies do not appear in the narrowband table for the AAR channels and I just received an update that they were indeed NFM now; thus their AAR assignments should have changes as well.
 

RadioDitch

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Please confirm for the database what the actual AAR channel assignments are for these Amtrak channels as these frequencies do not appear in the narrowband table for the AAR channels and I just received an update that they were indeed NFM now; thus their AAR assignments should have changes as well.

In the narrowband plan, the original 92 channels retain their original numbers. DPD has a great table for this... http://dpdproductions.com/page_rrfreqs_newplan.html

However, it helps when I don't make a typo...here's the corrected info...

161.1300 **AAR 68** Norfolk Southern MOW NFM
*On NS the MOW channel varies by where the road gang is from.

160.5150 **AAR 27 (Not 21)** Amtrak MOW NFM

**161.2050** **AAR 73** Amtrak Police 1 NFM
(Originally typed 161.215, is actually 161.205)

And yes, all of Amtrak in New Jersey is now NFM.
 
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W2GLD

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All fixed and thanks for the clarification and the link.

Happy monitoring!
 

W2SJW

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Guys,

As far as I know, the PD is still on 161.295. I'll have to do some monitoring myself today.

I'm assuming the two road channels for them that traverse the tri-state area also went NFM (161.010/160.920)?
 

N2ICV

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Guys,

As far as I know, the PD is still on 161.295. I'll have to do some monitoring myself today.

I'm assuming the two road channels for them that traverse the tri-state area also went NFM (161.010/160.920)?

Amtrak PD CH# 1 161.295 for the repeaters, CH# 2 161.205 (simplex) is Car to Car.

Amtrak on the NEC ,

160.920 (simplex) AAR 54/54 Northeast Corridor – Mid-Atlantic Division
(Washington, D.C.-Morrisville, PA)
161.010 (simplex) AAR 60/60 Northeast Corridor – Metropolitan Division
(Morrisville, PA-New Rochelle, NY)
 
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