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Railroad radio frequencies
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Railroad Radio Frequencies
From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Organization: Minnesota State University System
There are 97 radio frequencies regularly used by railroads for
communications. More and more locomotives are equipped with radios
that synthesize the appropriate frequencies. This allows one radio
to access all 97 frequencies by simply setting the appropriate AAR
channel identification number on the radio, which makes run-through
operations on different railroads much easier. (For example, when
Conrail wants to run some Burlington Northern power though Chicago,
all they have to do is set the radio to the appropriate AAR channel
for the desired Conrail channel.)
The following table converts from AAR channel number to the
appropriate radio frequency. These channel numbers and frequencies
are used in both the US and Canada.
02 159.810 18 160.380 34 160.620 50 160.860 66 161.100 82 161.340
03 159.930 19 160.395 35 160.635 51 160.875 67 161.115 83 161.355
04 160.050 20 160.410 36 160.650 52 160.890 68 161.130 84 161.370
05 160.185 21 160.425 37 160.665 53 160.905 69 161.145 85 161.385
06 160.200 22 160.440 38 160.680 54 160.920 70 161.160 86 161.400
07 160.215 23 160.455 39 160.695 55 160.935 71 161.175 87 161.415
08 160.230 24 160.470 40 160.710 56 160.950 72 161.190 88 161.430
09 160.245 25 160.485 41 160.725 57 160.965 73 161.205 89 161.445
10 160.260 26 160.500 42 160.740 58 160.980 74 161.220 90 161.460
11 160.275 27 160.515 43 160.755 59 160.995 75 161.235 91 161.475
12 160.290 28 160.530 44 160.770 60 161.010 76 161.250 92 161.490
13 160.305 29 160.545 45 160.785 61 161.025 77 161.265 93 161.505
14 160.320 30 160.560 46 160.800 62 161.040 78 161.280 94 161.520
15 160.335 31 160.575 47 160.815 63 161.055 79 161.295 95 161.535
16 160.350 32 160.590 48 160.830 64 161.070 80 161.310 96 161.550
17 160.365 33 160.605 49 160.845 65 161.085 81 161.325 97 161.565
(Be careful -- I haven't checked these numbers very carefully for typos.)
Most railroad radios that synthesize the frequencies have a window that
shows the AAR channel number for transmitting and the AAR channel number
for receiving. For example, Conrail Channel 1 (Road) is 160.800. The
window on the radio would show 4646 (transmit on AAR channel 46 and
receive on AAR channel 46).
Here are some possible uses for this information:
1. If you have a scanner that can hold 100 channels, you could enter
all of the above frequencies in their corresponding channels. You
can then use the channel lock-out facility of many scanners to only
scan the desired frequencies. This saves you having to reenter
frequencies when you change railroads or locations -- simply change
which frequencies are locked out. (Check first to see how easy or
difficult it is to lock out channels and to recall and unlock
channels.)
2. If your scanner has the ability to scan a range of frequencies, you
could set your scanner to scan the range 159.810 to 161.565.
3. If you ever talk to someone with access to a railroad radio and you
want to know what frequency they are using, simply ask them to tell
you what numbers show in the window. If they tell you, for example,
it shows 6666, then you know that they are transmitting and
receiving on frequency 161.100 and set your scanner accordingly.
Note that these frequencies are *NOT* the only frequencies used by
railroads. Some railroads also use frequencies in the 4xx.xxx band,
particularly around 45x.xxx, 46x.xxx, and 47x.xxx.
In addition, as another thread has already noted, railroads also use
some frequencies to transmit end of train telemetry. Some EOT devices,
for example, transmit the train's brake pressure to the closest tenth
of a pound and whether the EOT is moving or not every 40 seconds or
whenever there is a change. AAR has allocated 457.9375 for EOT
telemetry, which most railroads use. Some railroads, however, have
chosen to use some other frequency. I believe, for example, that
Norfolk Southern uses 161.115. I also believe that CN and CP use
457.9375 for EOT telemetry and 452.9375 to initiate a rear end brake
application from the locomotive, although some of our friends from
Canada may have more recent and accurate information. Since EOT
devices transmit at two watts, the tranmission will travel about
3 to 5 miles. Thus, by setting your scanner to scan these EOT
frequencies, you get a warning whenever a train approaches. The
problem with this strategy, of course, is that as soon as your scanner
picks up anything on 457.9375, it will lock on that channel. Thus,
this strategy works best if your scanner makes it easy to change the
channels that are scanned so that you can stop scanning 457.9375 when
you know a train is close.
Happy rail-scanning!
Paul L. Schumann, Ph.D.
Professor of Management
Mankato State University
Mankato, MN 56002-8400
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