Any other SLO area train freqs?
Not really. There's not a lot of switching or unplanned "meets" that need to be arranged (with a verbal "track warrant" broadcast by the dispatcher, and read back verbatim by the engineer), so the crews don't have much talk about.
When passenger trains are ready to leave San Luis Nabisco depot, you'll usually hear the conductor radio the engineer "Highball Amtrak #14 (or #11)," which the engineer will acknowledge, and a minute or two after they start moving they will do a check of the train brakes, upon which you'll hear "Highball the running air, Amtrak 14," meaning the brake lines are charged and working. And when the trains are coming into the station the conductor will often let the engineer know "That'll do, Amtrak 11," meaning the train's in exactly the right location to stop. Sometimes you won't hear that part if he/she is obviously stopping it in just the right place.
South from SLO to Moorpark the "road" frequency is
161.55, and north from SLO to Salinas it's
160.875.
You might want to put
160.74 and
160.32 in your scanner just for giggles, as they're used in adjacent areas and could conceivably get occasional (unofficial) use around SLO.
Also, freight trains have "FRED" (Flashing Read End Device) transceivers mounted to the rear coupler of each train, which regularly sends digital signals to a radio in the locomotive. Primarily they send brake-line pressure readings to the engineer. Basically the FREDs replaced cabooses.
They transmit on
457.9375 and the locomotive's radio "replies" on
452.9375. They're only 2-watts, and all you'll hear is the digital telemetry noise every 30 seconds or so if you're close enough. At least it lets you know there's a freight train within 2-watts radio distance of you.