Riding the Rails into Baltimore, MD

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If you like trains and railroading, like I do, bring your scanner with you the next time you take a train trip. It will give you an exciting behind the scenes look at railroading!

Last weekend I took a trip on Amtrak Northeast Regional from Providence, RI to Baltimore, MD for a mini weekend vacation with my wife. I thought this would be a great opportunity to monitor railroad communications on the move rather than from my hobby room.


 
My gear for the trip:

Small notebookThis was the first time I used an ear-piece for scanning, the Shadow Earpiece was very comfortable plus I could enjoy listening without disturbing anyone else. This was the first time using AA Lithium batteries with my scanner… I put in a fresh set of batteries at the start of my trip and I never had to change them.Frequencies:
I was able to find a few frequencies here and there online. This was a great opportunity to use the scanner “Railroad Service Search”and the (Uniden) Close Call feature.Below I found the Road Channels for each region along the Northeast Corridor from Boston to Washington DC:

Boston, MA – New Haven, CT
Road Channel – 160.9200 ARR Channel 54

New Haven, CT – New Rochelle, NY
Road Channel – 160.5450 ARR Channel 29

New Rochelle, NY – Philadelphia, PA
Road Channel – 161.0100 ARR Channel 60

Philadelphia, PA – Washington, DC
Road Channel – 160.9200 ARR Channel54

What are Road Channels?
For Amtrak these channels are used for the train crew and for train to dispatcher communications.

Monitoring around Baltimore, MD:
Once I got into Baltimore I switched gears from rail to public safety communications. The city of Baltimore has a 800MHz Motorola Type II Smart Zone Trunking system with 98% of the talk groups using digital (P25) voice communications. So a digital scanner is a must for this area. I was getting great reception in most area.

Who is on the City of Baltimore Trucking System?

  • Fire
  • Police
  • Public Works

***As of right now this system is not rebanded.***

I was able to monitor both Security at Camden Yards and B & O Railroad Museum from my hotel room a little over a mile away. I could also hear a lot of CSX Railroad communications as well.
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This entry was posted in Railroad, Riding the Rails, Uniden and tagged , by Jonathan Higgins. Bookmark the permalink.

About Jonathan Higgins

Jonathan joined Scanner Master in May 2008. Along with being a scanner expert Jonathan handles all of the digital content; websites, point of sale management, social media, blogs, e-newsletters, phone system, and photography. Before working at Scanner Master Jonathan was in Radio as an on air personality and producer, in both the Boston and Providence Markets. Jonathan has been interested in scanners and two-way radios for over 25 years When not at work Jonathan loves to spend time with his wife Jodie and daughter Kortnie and there dogs Abbie, Daisy and Watson. He loves to go bike riding and camping with his family. He has an interest in trains and railroad history, check out his personal blog "Train Aficionado" about everything that rides on rails!