Batboard

How about it railroad guys (& gals!)? What portables are used in the field these days? How about locomotive base units? Are there any HT600's, P200's, MT1000's still in regular use out there? Also, I was asked recently whether the 99-chan MT1000 was originally created for railroad use since it could handle all of the 91 AAR channels etc. And who uses /\/\ to listen to / scan rail com's?

NS for the most part has HT1000 w/DTMF keypad and Spectra Railroad,MCX100 for locomotives. The yard towers have lots of stuff from Maxtracs,GM300,Vertex and many others. A few carmen still have MT1000 99 ch. I don't know about the former Conrail termals.



SD70MAC OUT

Out my way, Conrail employees use the HT1000 for portable use.

Amtrak uses a wide variety of radios, som I've identified, some I haven't. I'm certain about the GE MP-A and HT1250 radios.

Loco radios: Spectra, MCX100, AeroTron (but that's not an (/\/\) product ).

Maintainers use the GM300 and its scan feature. The local Defect detector also makes use of the GM300 (its predecessor used a Uniden and the Former Conrail NS detectors further south use Uniden mobiles).

The block towers, while varied- the M gear in there has included the Radius Mobile, GM300, and some sort of marine radio...moto branded. When the power goes out, there is an HT600 on standby.

But otherwise, CR/NS uses a computer-based dispatch system using phone-line connected radio base stations- of unknown brand. The yards, dispatcher, and towers have this sytem. The towers with the computer radio don't have an (M) mobile wired up at all.

In the past, I've used for railscanning: GP300, GP350, MCX100, GP68, ht90 - probably some others that I forget.

I currently have and use: GM300, MaxTrac300, CDM1250, GP2000, HT1250 and MT500, PT500 for railcom monitoring- among other things. I no longer use scanners, and haven't tried other brands. My friends have use Ham gear to do a side-by-side test, and I just DON'T care for the audio of that crap.... so there ya go.

-Josh

Well, the shortline I work for uses mainly HT1000 for the train crew's HTs. We do have a few HT600s floating around, but they are mainly used for track workers. Mobiles (in trucks) consist of GM300, Maxtrac, M1225, and one Radius. All locomotive radios are CleanCab Spectras. Our "local" radio for yard comms is a Maratrac with A7 head, and our "main" radio is an MSF5000+ on a tone remote. I think that NS locally uses HT1000 HTs and CleanCab Spectras in the locomotives. CSX locally uses some HT1000s, some P1225's, and some P110's, with CleanCab Spectras in the locos.

The popular radio's used are the Railroad Spectra, Railroad Micor? and the MCX100. Most Class 1 railroads have the RR Spectra and has since been replaced with the RR Astro Spectra. The Aerotrons and the Colt's are out there, but most trainmen don't like them.

MT500's were very popular. Then came the 99 Channel MT1000's. Now you see HT1000's and MT2000's with DTMF. CSX/ex-CR where I lived had quite a few JT1000's.

In most districts, the radio's were programmed for the area, and company channels. Most railroads just use a few channels thru their system, and everyone you need to talk to can be programmed with 16 channels. Even though there are 97 AAR channels, some RR have semi-duplex pairs and obviously with the portables...you cannot select seprate pairs as you can on the loco radios.

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In the great white north of canada
the railroad use a lot of motorola
MT2000 portables.


.

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There are a few railroads out here that used to have the old RR Micor's in them, but age & parts availability have done them in! We replaced them all with RR Spectras and have been pleased with them.

They do have a few weak points though... the 72V supply needs more protection/filtering, and the keypad on the face needs to be more durable. One month in a loco and the writing on the buttons are gone!

For the portables, we tried the HT750 when they were first introduced. However due to range problems, we reverted back to the HT1000. This may change since it looks like the HT1000's days are numbered. We tried another HTxx50 and it looks like they have addressed most of the range issues and it might be our choice.

For base stations and control points, they range from the MTR2000, Spectra, and Maxtrac's. They are due for an upgrade so we will see what happens.

-WEC

Well here at the Valley Rail Road in essex ct .

we have 2 channels
1-160.695
2-160.230

the base is a 100watt Mitrek on channel 1 only
channnel 2 was added later changes to the base this summer

Locomotive
steamer 97,40,Diesel 0900 2 channel maxtrac/radius
Diesel 0901 80 ton center cab 100 watt 2 control head Spectra (loco is dual contro station in the Cab)

Steamers have a power inverter to drop 32 volts to 12 to charge battery and power radio

diesels have a GM 1 wire alternator with battery to power radio and 12 volt accys

We also run a river boat
the Becky Thacher
100 watt A7 Maratrac Powered by a 35 amp Astron P/S off the generator

the trac equipment have old Uniden Mobiles that were Donated

HT's

6 2 channel p100
2 ht750
2 ht90

BNSF is using Kenwood TK290's, I have also seen the RR Police using XTS3000. The UPRR has a P-25 Astro Smartzone (mixed-mode) TRS in Portland, so a lot of Astro units around here in the yards. They DO NOT use the Astro on the road. In the US the AAR only uses channels 7 thru 97.


Jim

from MP 735.2 on the SP (up) Valley line

Around here NS is now issuing TK290s to the trainmen as they are hired or if their old radio dies.

The UP is using MT 2000s here.


On my Railroad, the Monticello Railway Museum, we use a vatiety of radios. One depot has a 12v micor; the other an Aerotron loco radio; the is a PT500 in one of our exhibit cars (in use); the locomotives have either an Aerotron or a RR Micor, depending on weather or not they go off the property; and for portables there are a few rock relms, P200s, HT600s, MT1000s (16 & 99), and one MT2000. The MT2000 is mine

Our tourist railroad (http://www.coopersvilleandmarne.org) uses HT90 hand helds. I wired up a charging station so that our batteries don't cook to death during the week when we don't run. I average about eight years on a HT90 battery. We use Maxtracs with Newmar inverters in our locomotives. The station uses a SM50 with power supply as a base. A lot of our volunteers have various models of Bendix King radios. We aren't fancy, but a handheld can talk to the engine house or station anywhere on our line.

an SM50 for a base station ohh my

our old base that we we did about 10 years ago. was a maxar with about 200 feet of hardline the small stuff. it went undergroud to the station. and the conduit filled with water and flatened the cable

we replace the base witha mitrek with a dc remote . wich i changed a few years ago to tone.
and the the antenna has now like 30 fett of 7/8 hardline now
puttin out like 125 watts

" puttin out like 125 watts"

Oh!! isint the power allowed 6 0 watts MAX?

nope we are listed for 150 watts

VHF railroad frequencies are limited to 60 watts MAX.

From the FCC website,


KGW260 160.695 75 Watts ERP, TX OUT 75 Watts.

That is for CH-1

WPWD948 160.230 100 Watts ERP, TX OUT 100 Watts.

That is for CH-2


Jim.

Will wrote:VHF railroad frequencies are limited to 60 watts MAX.

The DME in Brookings SD is licensed for more than 60, i guarantee that. The Syntor X9000 consolette they have is a 110w drawer, but its set to 100 watts to stay within the license.

Railroad comms are not limited to 60w, where did everyone get that idea? Just look up some railroad com licenses on the FCC ULS.

I'm a conductor for the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, so I've got some info to share. Portables are mostly HT1000's for train crews. The ones up by Eugene and down by Black Butte, CA are HT1000 w/ DTMF for use on the UP microwave system. Managers have HT1250's and 1550's w/ DTMF. One conductor has an HT750. The daytime yard office clerk was a comms guy for the military, and he has everything! AS3, XTS5000, MCS2000 in his truck. Crews have a choice of using speaker microphones or not. If you use a portable without one, you also get this reflective vest/holster thing that looks like a bra. Needless to say most guys, myself included, use a mic.

Locomotive radios are strictly Railroad Spectras with an assortment of mics. Hand type (VMN1035A), telephone handset type, and a few use the David Clark interface box w/ headsets. An unpleasant surprise came Friday night that required us to hostle power. One of our units, CORP 3817, was on another railroad for about two years. During that time, they ripped the entire radio cabinet off the top of the control stand, leaving wiring strewn everywhere. Going by the new antennas, they were apparently using their own UHF mobile.

Company vehicle mobiles are mainly Kenwoods. They don't say a model number anywhere that I've found. A few GM300's w/ DTMF mics, 100 watt Spectras, M1225's, MCS2000's. In the Coos Bay depot, there's an old, OLD oak cabinet with a brass Motorola plate and a telephone handset on top. That's the drawbrige radio.

I don't usually monitor the railroad in my spare time anymore as I'm already paid to do so 12 hours a day, five days a week. I tune in on weekends sometimes and always on my way in to see what I'm getting myself into. I listen to, and sometimes use, PM400, MT1000 99 ch., HT1000, CP200. I have no need for scan, I know what channel I'm supposed to be on.

Almost forgot. Our dispatch radio is a 100watt Midland rig up on Mt. Rose. It's controlled by a CPI MCR320 tone remote via dry line. 10 channels, six simplex, four repeaters. Simplex used for switching, repeaters for calling the dispatcher. Repeaters are on Mt. Ashland, King Mtn, Kenyon Mtn, and Roman Nose Mtn. There is a King-Ashland repeater hop via microwave off an old AT&T tower, that sounds really cool with all the pops and beeps when unkeyed.

Our defect detectors are cool. They all still say "SP Detector, milepost..." I want to say they are HT90? The yellow ones with Synthesized on the front. They have audio input from the Harmon voice generator and an antenna output to everything from Larsen NMO to 1/4 wave, even some Sinclair locomotive antennas!

"89 cars clear on the rear. Highball the rollby good buddy, 104 Ground out!"

GP-38 wrote: Our defect detectors are cool. They all still say "SP Detector, milepost..." I want to say they are HT90? The yellow ones with Synthesized on the front. They have audio input from the Harmon voice generator and an antenna output to everything from Larsen NMO to 1/4 wave, even some Sinclair locomotive antennas!

"89 cars clear on the rear. Highball the rollby good buddy, 104 Ground out!"
~Billy Myers,
GP-38

Yeah, I forgot about the defect detectors on our line when I detailed our equipment a few days ago. We use old Southern Technolegies detectors, with a 7 watt Repco transmitter. All old Norfolk Southern equipment, and they all still say "Norfolk Southern milepost ***, no defects". Want some real laughs, set them up to anounce the speed and listen to the train crews start crying!

BTW Billy, when my brother was still with the railroad, his favorite version of your "89 cars clear" statement was "no smoke, no fire, no sparks, put it in the wind"!

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Yeah, sounds kinda like our yard. Gotta love working for a shortline!
Ever had cars rock so bad because of all the low spots in the track that wheels actually leave the rail? I've seen that happen a few times around here. We've even had a few derailments from that.