More Questions about CS/EB/SWC trip next year

My son had some additional questions about our trip next year that I'm hoping you all can help me with.

1) How much snow can we possibly see from the EB in April? Are there any places where snow may still be on the ground near the tracks or will it all be off in the distance? We are from So. Cal. so snow is a novelty for us

2) Do people monitor the radio frequencies from the train? My son wants a radio to listen in, but we aren't sure if that is a problem. If not, do you have a suggestion for a not-too-expensive radio and how does he find out what channel/frequency to listen to.

thanks!

As to snow on the ground in April, good possibility in Marias Pass (between East Glacier and West Glacier stations). Possible in Stevens Pass (between Everett and Leavenworth stations, but pretty far from Everett), but most of the snow will be above the elevation where the railroad is in April. Possible early in the month, unlikely closer to May.

I monitor the railroad "road channel" all the time when I am onboard. When in public areas (anytime you aren't in your room with the door closed), use headphones. This goes for anything, but the road channel can be more annoying than even obnoxious music, full of hisses, static, garble, and touch-tone tones. You can get the frequencies from On Track Online, http://www.on-track-on-line.com/amtrak-freqs.shtml.

For the radio, google search for "radio scanner", "police scanner" or "NASCAR scanner" (if you just put in "scanner", you'll get document scanners and scan capable printers). You don't need a particularly good one for listening onboard, but I would encourage you to find one with at least 100 channels available to accommodate all 92 AAR Channels. I find it useful to input the AAR Channel number as the scanner channel when I enter a frequency, so when you hear the crew say "Going to 33" at a point where the road channel changes all you have to do is punch in 33 on your scanner. Also, if you don't know the current frequency, or OTOL is incorrect (it happens, RRs change the road channels relatively frequently and OTOL depends on people reporting from the field to stay current), it is useful to scan all the AAR channels until you find the active one.

Snow on the ground in April -

Zephyr17 has the odds right based on my experience. It all depends on the weather ^_^ .

In the 2014 "Polar Vortex" year there was still some snow and frost even in May as far east as eastern Montana along the hi-Line.

The latest (Oct 20) NOAA winter forecast expects somewhat colder and wetter weather near Marias Pass -good for snow. OTOH late season snow on the ground could mean flooding when it melts, flooding that might delay the EB in ND and points East -

Railroad frequency scanner radios cost 80-200 dollars.

I have a 25-year old model and I do use it often on Amtrak - with headphones, of course.

Because the "road channel" changes frequently on any long trip, it helps to use 'ontrackonline' or other sources to prepare a map or list of what primary channel to listen on where.

What you hear on the long-distance trains is mostly the trackside defect detectors (detector milepost nn track n, x axles no defects, ) some communication engineer-conductor, some talk dispatcher-other trains. And a bit of static, and some railroad jargon.

Thank you so much for the input. We will definitely take a look at scanners for his Christmas present. He will use his earbuds when using it, for sure (he already travels with his iPad so he is used to always using the earbuds for games, etc).

Thank you for the information about the snow also. We will be travelling the second week of April so hopefully there will be enough snow for beautiful scenery but no flooding. Since we are going back to LA from Chicago, having to fly one portion of the trip would be a bit of a bummer.

I got a scanner off Amazon, great price and lots of functions, it was the Uniden Bearcat BC125AT. Has a pre-programmed bank of railroad frequencies that was able to scan constantly and pickup the freight channels and the Amtrak. Down side is you usually only hear the train crew and no dispatcher, but when you are in the middle of nowhere with no cell service, it really makes things more enjoyable. Also, you get a heads up to whats happening. We made an unscheduled stop for a medical emergency, had to stop because the brakes locked up on one of the sleepers and were smoking, pretty fun to listen to whats going on. (Also can be used to pick up local police, fire, and ambulance radio signals). Also, the more expensive ones may allow you to talk as well and this is pretty illegal to do if you aren't authorized to talk on that channel, so just go with one of the $80-$150 models, those wont allow you to talk back, just listen.

As for snow, you'll definitely see the snow capped mountains along the route, we saw patches in the Cascades in April on the EB, but nothing for this New Englander to write home about.

Albo5000 said:

I got a scanner off Amazon, great price and lots of functions, it was the Uniden Bearcat BC125AT. Has a pre-programmed bank of railroad frequencies that was able to scan constantly and pickup the freight channels and the Amtrak. Down side is you usually only hear the train crew and no dispatcher, but when you are in the middle of nowhere with no cell service, it really makes things more enjoyable. Also, you get a heads up to whats happening. We made an unscheduled stop for a medical emergency, had to stop because the brakes locked up on one of the sleepers and were smoking, pretty fun to listen to whats going on. (Also can be used to pick up local police, fire, and ambulance radio signals). Also, the more expensive ones may allow you to talk as well and this is pretty illegal to do if you aren't authorized to talk on that channel, so just go with one of the $80-$150 models, those wont allow you to talk back, just listen.

As for snow, you'll definitely see the snow capped mountains along the route, we saw patches in the Cascades in April on the EB, but nothing for this New Englander to write home about.

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Thank you so much, this is perfect. That scanner looks like it would be easy for him to use and we can get it for him for Christmas

trainfanmom said:

Thank you so much for the input. We will definitely take a look at scanners for his Christmas present. He will use his earbuds when using it, for sure (he already travels with his iPad so he is used to always using the earbuds for games, etc).

Thank you for the information about the snow also. We will be travelling the second week of April so hopefully there will be enough snow for beautiful scenery but no flooding. Since we are going back to LA from Chicago, having to fly one portion of the trip would be a bit of a bummer.

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Another stocking stuffer might be the timetables sold at altamontpress.com for the states that you will be passing through in the west. These timetables show the locations of all of the hotbox detectors that broadcast information, and also show the primary radio frequencies used. Some of the hotbox detectors on the Union Pacific rail lines also broadcast ambient temperature, in addition to train speed and number of axles on the train. Your son would become known as the Instant Expert when traveling on the CZ through Utah and a fellow passenger says "Brrr -- looks cold outside!". Your son could pipe up with the actual temperature from 10 minutes or less past.

I always have a scanner and GPS with me as well as maps.

Frequencies for individual routes may be found here...

http://www.on-track-on-line.com/amtrak-freqs.shtml

Also, Altamontpress is no longer publishing timetables although some may still be available.

http://www.altamontpress.com/store/

I use railroad maps produced by Sonrisa Publications...

http://www.djcooley.com/

They are available by state and are printed and bound in a "timetable" format (4.25 x 11 inches).

Have fun!

Great information - thank you all so much! Any suggestions on a good place for him to try it out in the So. California area? We may even take a trip to San Diego and back on the Surfliner, just to try it out before our big trip.