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Scanning the Railroads By Richard Carlson Copyright 2009/2017 Rich Carlson & Scanner Master Corp.
One of the most popular tools in a Railfans arsenal is a scanner. Not the device used to copy your pictures to a computer, but a radio receiver. Scanners have become an important part of the railfanning experience and to many are as indispensable as a camera. Scanners allow one to monitor multiple channels and when activity is present it will allow you to hear the radio traffic.
Scanner Master has a pair of special Railfan packages that include everything you need to listen to railroad operations. One package includes the handheld BC125AT scanner, a great compact analog scanner that goes anywhere. For the car the Mobile Railfan package includes the versatile BCT15X mobile scanner. Both come with great antennas for railroad channels and a railroad frequency guide as well as home and car power adapters. Scanners you can use: One of the most asked questions is what scanner should I use to listen to the railroads? The answer to this is usually any scanner you want to use! Most railroads use a set of 97 frequencies between 160 and 162 MHz. Most operations are in “Conventional/Analog” mode, that means they do not usually use trunking, digital or other complicated modes. Most railfans will want to have a handheld scanner that you can use while standing line side. This is the most convenient method of listening, as you are not then tied to the car. Handheld scanners, especially some of the newer models, are small enough to be easily kept in the camera bag. The BC125AT is ideal for this due to its small size and affordability. Things to look for in a handheld scanner for railfanning are:
How far can I hear railroads: This is a common question that has no strict answer. There are many factors at play here, including:
The distance that you can hear a communication can be measured in hundreds of miles down to city blocks. Usually the greatest distances result from base station scanners and transmitters during periods of special atmospheric conditions that cause radio signals to travel further. These events are unpredictable however. More common are distances around 50 miles or so for base station transmitters heard from base or mobile scanners with external antennas. Locomotive radios travel less far, and portable radios used by train crews may sometimes only be heard at distances under a mile or so. Often you don’t really want to hear distant traffic, you may only be interested in local activities, this might make a handheld scanner sufficient for your needs. If you need more distance than you are getting try using a better antenna or mount it higher on the building for base station installations. You can also try using signal amplifiers (Pre-amps) if you really need more range. Be careful with these as they tend to overload sensitive handheld scanner fairly easily. Which scanner is best then? This question is the most often asked. The answer is not so simple, it is like asking what is the best car or baseball team. Of the currently available scanners from Uniden and Whistler you can pick almost any for basic railfanning purposes. Scanner Master chose the BC125AT and BCT15X for the Railfan Packages due to the features and affordability as well as the size (for the 125). Scanner manufacturers employ different programming methods and some people tend to find one method easier to work with than the other. Check the Scanner Master website and view the scanners and their manuals to see how they work, you can get a great idea of how they work by reading the manual.
Sources for frequency information: The best source of information about railroad scanning these days is of course the Internet. If it isn’t there then it probably doesn’t exist. The trick is to find the information that YOU want. There are several starting points: RadioReference.com Radio Reference is a website that has become the central point for scanner users nationwide. It has an extensive database of scanner frequencies as well as an active forums system and Radio Wiki. If you have the right type of scanner and software you can even load your scanner directly from the site. While this feature requires a paid membership, viewing all of the information and forums participation is free of charge. Paid memberships allow you to also retrieve formatted reports about scanner information in your area. Other websites also have scanner information. By using Google you can find websites that cover any area of the country. Some sites that have extensive coverage of the local areas include:
Magazine feature articles from such titles as Trains, Railfan & Railroad often report scanner frequencies for covered areas. Radio magazines such as Monitoring Times also cover rail operations. Since there are less than 100 regularly use radio frequencies allocated for use you might find that just by monitoring these channels you will find the information you want. Make a note of the channel use as you figure it out and you can lock out channels that do not interest you or place important channels in specialized banks or groups. Use the Priority feature of the scanner to put the local Road channel at the top of the list. You can also place your radio in Search mode using 160 as the lower limit and 162 as the upper limit. Again, note the channels that are active for future reference. AAR and radio channels: Railroad monitoring is actually one of the easiest radio services to listen to. One of the reasons this is so is because of the level of cooperation and standardization the various railroads have established. In the US and Canada railroads are much more integrated with each other than on other parts of the world, while there are dozens of companies and they are intense competitors, they share many standards, including radio channelization, track gauge and other technical and operational parameters. With railroads crossing each other everywhere, trains that operate on multiple railroads and limited venders of equipment railroads have learned that it makes sense to cooperate and standardize many facets of the operation. Railroads in the USA and Canada operate on a group of VHF channels in the 160 and 161 MHz. range, arranged as 97 numbered channels. These VHF channels contain most communications of interest to railfans and radio hobbyists. All Common Carrier railroads in the USA and Canada se these channels for most communications between trains, work crews, dispatchers and support staff. While there are other channels and systems in use, these channels support the vast majority of communications of interest. The railroad’s main trade organization, the Association of American Railroads (AAR, http://www.aar.org), coordinates many activities of railroads, including radio channels. The AAR assists the Federal Communications Commission (FCC, http://www.aar.org), by assigning radio channels to the various railroads so that the channels are efficiently used and interference problems are reduced. The AAR has organized the available channels into channel numbers so that radios from one railroad operate correctly on other railroads. This helps allow locomotives from one railroad operate on other railroads for run-thru traffic, locomotive leasing and coordination of shared facilities (track crossings, joint track and yards). Up to the 1990’s the FCC had segregated many different industries’ radio channels into strict “Services”. Under this plan various industries, including railroads, were assigned specific frequencies. It was unusual (and required much work) for a user from one service to acquire a license to operate on frequencies assigned to another service. While this protected various services radio channel allotments, it reduced the ability to share resources. Eventually the FCC merged many services together into just a few. Railroads are now part of the “Industrial Business Pool” (IB). This has resulted in situations like plumbing companies using frequencies once reserved for taxi cabs for example. Railroads and railroad channels however have worked to avoid this situation due to the unique needs of the industry and bonds forged as a result. While there are more non-rail operations working on traditional rail channels now it is still the exception rather than the rule as it is on other channels. The AAR has protected railroad channels from most other users over the years. Railroads usually use the AAR Channel Numbers in a 4 digit format, where the first 2 digits are the trains Transmit channel and the last 2 digits are the base station’s transmit channel. If the channel is simplex (both the base station and train operate on the same frequency) the channel number would look like “5252” for 160.890 (AAR Channel 52). If the train operates on 161.040 and the base station operates on 160.770 then the channel would be shown as 6244. Radios used in locomotives have a 4 digit display that matches these channel numbers. Recent FCC rules have produced a set of addition radio channels spaced between existing channels. These are called Interstitial Channels, these are interweaved 7.5 KHz away from existing channels. Channel Uses: Most railroad radio operations can be defined as below. Some railroads use different names for the channels in different areas. In addition to the AAR Channel numbers railroads may have their own channel numbers for locally used channels that correspond to channel positions on the radio. Usually the main Road Channel is Channel 1 and additional Road or Yard channels follow.
Other Operations: Railroads are also allocated several sets of UHF channels. These are often used for local operations, trucking subsidiaries, mobile relays, remote control, and data.
Mainline railroads and mergers: There are 7 mainline railroads in the USA and Canada as well as dozens of regional, shortline and switching lines all over the country. The mainline railroads are products of dozens of mergers over the decades. Many of the radio channels in used date from the prior lines before the mergers. Listed below are the mainline railroads and the main predecessors. Since many of these channels are still listed in many sources as “used on former XXX Line tracks” or even licensed to former railroad companies this list will help determine the best channels to listen to. Union Pacific: Chicago & Northwestern, Southern Pacific, Western Pacific, Missouri Pacific, Missouri-Kansas-Texas Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Burlington Northern, Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe (Santa Fe), St. Louis San Francisco (Frisco) Norfolk Southern Norfolk & Western, Southern, Conrail, Wabash CSX: Chessie System (Chesapeake & Ohio, Baltimore & Ohio, Western Maryland) Seaboard System (Seaboard Coastline, Louisville & Nashville) Conrail Canadian Pacific: Soo Line, Milwaukee Road Canadian National: Illinois Central, Wisconsin Central, Grand Trunk Western, Duluth Winnipeg & Pacific Kansas City Southern: MidSouth, Texas Mexican, Gateway Western, Kansas City Southern of Mexico Security Concerns: Since 9-11-2001 there has been greater scrutiny of many facets of the railfan and scanner hobbies, positive and negative. Of course there has always been the concern of trespassing on railroad property and unknowing people calling in railfans as suspicious persons. Many railfans have been stopped by police (railroad and local), security guards and railroad employees and questioned about their presence. Sometimes railfans are told it is illegal to take pictures, listen to the scanners, and other supposed offenses. While we are not lawyers there are a few things to remember, most of them are common sense. #1 - Stay off private property without permission. Railroads are private property and you can be arrested just for being on the property. If you want to enter private property, whether it is owned by a railroad or some other entity, make sure you have permission first. Most railroads have official policies that prohibit railfan activities on the property except for events open to the public (Tours, open houses) or with prior written permission. Occasionally railroad employees will give permission for a quick foray into a yard or facility for some pictures if you ask nicely first. If they say no, just say thanks anyway and move on. On a hot summer day offering a bottle of water from your cooler might help matters. #2 - It is perfectly legal to watch and take pictures of trains. There are no laws prohibiting photography of trains, railroad lines and structures or other facilities other than certain military or governmental installations. Basically, if you are taking pictures from someplace you are allowed to be then you are OK. Military and governmental installations will be well posted if photography is prohibited. #3 - It is (usually) legal to listen to railroad communications. In most locations around the USA and Canada scanners are legal. Some states or cities have laws regarding permits or other restrictions on scanners. Some of these only apply to monitoring police frequencies. Some laws exempt holders of ham radio or other licenses. Check for these laws to be sure you have the proper license or permit before you go. http://www.afn.org/~afn09444/scanlaws/ has good information on scanner laws around the country. #4 - Follow safety rules and guidelines. There are several rules that railroaders must follow during their work day that apply just as much to railfans. These include things like expecting a train movement on any track from any direction at any time, and being aware of the area and your surroundings. Be sure to bring water and provisions when traveling in rural areas and to dress for the environment. Remember that railroad tracks occasionally run thru high-crime areas so keep your eyes open and be ready to leave if needed. #5 - If stopped by the police follow their requests. Most police officers and security guards do not know or care what railfans are. They may request that you cease railfan activities, turn off the scanner, move on, or follow other instructions. While the activities you are partaking in may be legal, it usually is not a good idea to argue about it with the police, right or wrong. If you feel you have been wronged follow the instructions of the officer and you can follow up with his supervisor later. #6 - Be a smart railfan. Remembering some basic rules such as these will make your time more enjoyable and reduce the amount of problems encountered. There are a lot of people who think that railfans and scannists shouldn’t be able to enjoy these hobbies, there is no need to fuel these concerns. AAR Channel Plan The AAR Channel plan is very simple, the available frequencies are numbered in frequency order. There are some oddities that are explained in the table notes
Channel Notes: * Channel 1 is often programmed for local use, on factory delivered radios it is the same as Channel 2. This is not an official AAR designation. # Channel’s 1 thru 6, as well as 161.580 thru 161.610 are not railroad allocated in the USA but are often found on railroad radios. They are allocated to railroads in Canada. @ Factory delivered radios do not normally have these channels programmed but they may be added by software. & 161.610 was once allocated to railroad use but later changed. The Rock Island Railroad was grandfathered in on this channel so was able to retain it’s use. It is still used by some successors on former Rock Island trackage, most notably Metra in the Chicago area. In the USA most operations occur on Channels 7 thru 97, Canadian railroads also use channels 2 thru 6. From these channels most railroads are assigned 1 or more for use at specific locations and for specified uses. Before the mega-mergers of the last 20 years, most larger railroads had 1 to 4 mainline “Road” channels that were used system-wide as well as other channels used for Yard, Maintenance of Way and other uses. Many of these allocations were changed after the mergers to reduce interference and to standardize company operations but many actually remain as they were before the mergers. For example, after the Union Pacific merged the former Chicago & Northwestern in the late 1990’s most former CNW channels remained in use on the old CNW lines. Newly assigned Radio Channels (Interstitial/Interweaved): The FCC and AAR have designed new specifications for additional radio channels. These channels use a narrower bandwidth than existing operations, allowing for more available channels. Eventually the legacy channels will operate on the narrower bandwidths as well. There have been conflicting reports on channel numbers for these new channels. Depending on how this all shakes out with the digital migration the whole plan can change. The new channels are currently 7.5 KHZ above/below the existing channels.
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