[Scan-DC] Information about railroad radio system?

Sat Dec 19 09:27:51 EST 2009

On Sat, 12 Dec 2009 06:37:57 -0500 "John Pak" <pak.john1 at gmail.com>
writes:
> Hello,
> 
> I have started to listen to more railroad radio trafic.  Can any one 
> tell me a good comprehensive source that explains how railroads 
> radio systems works?  Basically I am looking for railroad radio 
> listening 101.  

When I first got on the Interwebs, Jon Roma's list was the one to get.
He's still around - I saw him posting in a Yahoo! group recently - but I
don't think he has had the time to keep his list current.

I haven't updated this list in a long while. I don't listen the way I
used to, so I haven't been keeping up. I assume some things have changed.
Updates are welcome. I filled the first three banks of a PRO-2006 with
railroad frequencies according to their Association of American Railroads
channel number. You hear this designation in use. For instance, you can
hear the engineer of an Amtrak headed south from DC to say "let's go to
96," meaning he wants the train crew to use AAR channel 96, the old RF&P
road channel at 161.550 MHz, for their transmissions. Yes, I still think
of 160.230 MHz as a B&O frequency. I know there were some changes locally
to CSX frequencies. Boteman's website is the best source for that
information. It looks as if he has something on Blogspot now.

http://trackstreamer.blogspot.com/

I hope this helps. Would it be better to have this in a comma-delineated
format?

PRO-2006 SCANNER FREQUENCIES
Friday, November 17, 2006
Bank 1 Railroads
Channel Frequency Service and AAR channel number
1 0.0 ---
2 0.0 ---
3 0.0 ---
4 0.0 ---
5 0.0 ---
6 0.0 --- 
7 160.215 AAR channel 7, the lowest one in common use
8 160.230 old C&O/B&O dispatcher (AAR channel 8)
9 160.245 Norfolk Southern ch. 2 dispatcher to train
10 160.260 ---
11 160.275 ---
12 160.290 west end car department, Cumberland
13 160.305 signal department, Cumberland
14 160.320 CSX road
15 160.335 ---
16 160.350 Amtrak car shops, Ivy City (AAR channel 16)
17 160.365 ---
18 160.380 ---
19 160.395 ---
20 160.410 RF&P dispatcher, lineside detectors (AAR 20)
21 160.425 Maryland Midland
22 160.440 Amtrak red caps, Union Station, DC
23 160.455 ---
24 160.470 east end car department, Cumberland
25 160.485 ---
26 160.500 ---
27 160.515 ---
28 160.530 CSX ch. 3, west hump, Cumberland
29 160.545 Maryland Midland
30 160.560 ---
31 160.575 ---
32 160.590 ---
33 160.605 WMATA New Carrollton yard (AAR channel 33)
34 160.620 WMATA Blue Line road (AAR channel 34)
35 160.635 Norfolk Southern PBX, Manassas
36 160.650 locomotive shop and ready track, Cumberland
37 160.665 ---
38 160.680 ---
39 160.695 ---
40 160.710 ---
Bank 2 Railroads
41 160.725 ---
42 160.740 ---
43 160.755 ---
44 160.770 ---
45 160.785 CSX ch. 8, MofW and signals, Sand Patch (AAR 45)
46 160.800 Conrail road 1 (AAR channel 46)
47 160.815 ---
48 160.830 ---
49 160.845 ---
50 160.860 ---
51 160.875 ---
52 160.890 CSX PBX for Sand Patch area
53 160.905 ---
54 160.920 Amtrak Northeast corridor
55 160.935 ---
56 160.950 old Southern Railway dispatcher
57 160.965 Maryland Midland; NYCTA, Queens
58 160.980 CSX PBX
59 160.995 Amtrak Ivy City car yards
60 161.010 Baltimore MTA Light Rail Control Center
61 161.025 ---
62 161.040 west end car department, Cumberland
63 161.055 ---
64 161.070 Conrail road 2; Popes Creek Secondary
65 161.085 ---
66 161.100 ---
67 161.115 ---
68 161.130 Conrail PBX, maintenance
69 161.145 ---
70 161.160 CSX ch. 4, east hump, Cumberland
71 161.175 ---
72 161.190 ---
73 161.205 Amtrak police (AAR channel 73)
74 161.220 locomotive shop and ready track, Cumberland
75 161.235 WMATA Brentwood yard
76 161.250 WMATA maintenance (channel 3)
77 161.265 CSX PBX, Baltimore-Martinsburg
78 161.280 ---
79 161.295 Amtrak Northeast Corridor police
80 161.310 ---
Bank 3 Railroads
81 161.325 ---
82 161.340 ---
83 161.355 ---
84 161.370 ---
85 161.385 WMATA police
86 161.400 ---
87 161.415 WMATA (Alexandria yard?)
88 161.430 ---
89 161.445 ---
90 161.460 ---
91 161.475 ---
92 161.490 old RF&P train to dispatcher (now 160.410)
93 161.505 ---
94 161.520 CSX CM dispatcher, for Sand Patch (AAR 94)
95 161.535 ---
96 161.550 RF&P road channel
97 161.565 ---
98 0.0 ---
99 0.0 ---
100 0.0 ---
101 0.0 ---
102 0.0 ---
103 0.0 ---
104 0.0 ---
105 0.0 ---
106 0.0 ---
107 0.0 ---
108 0.0 ---
109 0.0 ---
110 0.0 ---
111 0.0 ---
112 0.0 ---
113 0.0 ---
114 0.0 ---
115 0.0 ---
116 0.0 ---
117 0.0 ---
118 0.0 ---
119 0.0 ---
120 0.0 ---
xx 452.900 end of train device
457.900 
452.925 
457.925 
452.950 
457.950
452.9125 
457.9125 
452.9375 
457.9375 end of train device
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