jbhunt04
Member
To hear the train talking to the dispatcher, you need to be so close to the train to pick up the crew. At least on the CSX here in Kentucky. They use base stations that are placed so many miles apart to call/communicate with the crews. The base stations generally put out more power the the locomotive radios, and they will have the antenna higher up. So usually you’ll end up hearing the dispatcher, but not the crew(on the dispatcher channel). On the CSX, you should hear the train crews calling their signal indications over the road channel, unless it’s on a line that’s not signalled. I live in Robards, KY, and there you can also pick up two different defect detectors. If there’s nothing going on in a particular day, then my scanner stays quiet, but once’s there’s train or equipment movement, that’s when the radio traffic picks up.