Railroaders' Nostalgia > Use of the railroad radio

There have been several comments recently which led me to recall several incidents which occurred during my time at Barstow. As in any new railroad facility, the newly opened yard at Barstow was inundated with comments and sarcasm on the radio. Now every trainmaster is supposed to do what he can to keep the conversations related to the work at hand but what can you do if you are seated in the high tower and someone a mile or so away is not identifying himself or making unnecessary comments, possibly overriding someone else who is making a coupling.
On one particular evening, the wise comments were really getting out of hand. I finally punched the radio button on the console and called the radio shop on the radio " Santa Fe high tower calling the radio shop, over". The reply was crisp and clear " Radio shop, over!" "Do you have the recording machine and the direction finder turned on?" I asked.
The reply was clear as could be " Yes, I do high tower". The entire yard fell dead silent for several minutes. Finally, someone used the radio to direct a switching move. Then the radio stayed silent for a few more minutes. The quiet was astounding.
Do you suppose the radio shop really had a recording machine and a direction finder? I'll never tell, but it sure worked!

TIOGA PASS

Can radio transmissions these days be traced to their user?

RRTom Wrote:
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> Can radio transmissions these days be traced to
> their user?


I think that they can on some trunked systems, but am not sure about ordinary 2-way radios.

Bnsf radios send a data packet at the end of transmission. Thats the noise you hear on the radio after the key is released. Ive not come accrost any others that do it. But some people have a distinct voice and attempts to throw there voice dont work. ( I fall in this catagory lol )

Posted from Android

Our FD radios are equipped with software IDs so we can tell whose radio is making the transmission. Granted is may say E101 instead of a given person's name but... I suspect the same could be done for RR radios if the owner so desired.

Bruce

Years ago when radios were rather new to some crews on the newly formed Conrail (not all the predecessor roads used radio on a regular basis with many 5 man crews still in the field on locals) one particular local arrived at Utica, NY the Mohawk-Hudson Division headquarters, which were in the big Union Station building. Said trainman after a long day was probably tired and wanted to go home. The crew was yarding the train and for some reason the guy didn't think he was transmitting. Well he let out some oaths on what he thought of radios, anyone associated with radios, Conrail, Conrail management and anyone associated with them - all in the shadows and earshot of the Supt,Asst. Supe, DS, clerks, etc., etc.

The movement had stopped and everyone was rolling on the ground busting a gut as they tried to get to him and let him know EVERYONE was hearing him LOUD & CLEAR. It was a pretty funny production and a little embarrassment.

Another one from Erie Lackawanna days.

Train NE74 was departing EL's Binghamton YO yard for Utica and points east on PC about 1975. It was a heavy train with probably an assortment of 2500 series GP35's and U25B'on the lead with Ray Kaminski as engineer. On the lead unit was Neil Thomas and Ponch Whitehill. On the pusher (two 1200 series GP-7's) was an engineer named Dave Hodge. Dave was a former trackman and had a bit of a country slang to his speech but a rather resourceful guy and good engineer although aging and hard of hearing. Kind of borderline hearing to remain in engine service maybe and everyone was aware of this.

Engine radios were not of the technology of today and some worked, some sort of worked and some not at all. The crews did not have portables. Somehow Hodgie was apparently not paying attention to what was going on and before Ray was ready on the head end Hodgie started digging in with those Geeps. The head end felt the nudge and Kaminski got on the radio and called to him to stop shoving. What the two trainmen knew and the engineer did not was that the lead engine radio was inoperative. The engineer thinking that he did have an operating radio started screaming into the dead radio thinking the problem was Hodgies hearing. "Not Now !!" Not Now !!" STOP ! "STOP you stupid deaf SOB" All of course to no avail and the entertainment of Neil and Ponch who were laughing hysterically. I think one of them reached over and dumped the air which shut down Hodge who was back there digging in with wheelslip and sand.

Which is probably why for many years and into Conrail many of the old timers never trusted the radios and used hand signals. Once a trainmaster stopped by the Norwich, NY freighthouse home to a local freight and asked if the crew had the issued radios since they were observed using only hand signals. The old conductor a veteran of the New York, Ontario & Western said indeed they did have the issued radios. "Well, where are they?" asked the official in condescending tone. The conductor went and opened up an unused desk drawer and there were about 3 of the big oversized lunch box radios. "What are they doing in there?" he asked. The reply was that the TM's a** was too far away at the time to shove them up, but since he was now nearby, well it might be a good time. The TM suggested that they might be better used and found other places to go. I was in the office at the time and was witness. After the TM left, the conductor turned to me and said "Young man, our communication amongst the crew is just fine (wink). The conductor was a big, big man and was within retirement and it would not have been a stretch to imagine him performing such surgery with the radios to the TM !

I believe that nowadays the entire radio traffic is recorded in somebody's office somewhere, channel by channel.

I also remember the times when radios weren't as reliable as they might now by. We had one engineer who always sounded like he was excited about something. Well, something was wrong with the radio on his unit...not sure just what, but kept trying to explain: "I can hear, but I can't receive!"

That expression lasted much longer than the engineer in question, usually referring to some of the more dim-witted among us.

Carl Shaver
Lombard, IL

Not everything is recorded everywhere and some smaller railroads DS calls and radio are not recorded.

Working the Emporia extra board, I caught a deadhead in my car to Abilene, to get full rested for the Superior, NE local the next morning. The goofy trainmaster from Salina decided to come over and watch us put our train together. He had a packset radio, and carried it with him when he was out in the field like that. One of the brakemen had some sort of intestinal problem, and farted all the time, almost at will if he wanted to. Every time he did, he would put his radio beind him, and key the mic. All of us on the crew were used to hearing it, but this trainmaster would just look at his radio, then put it up to his ear every time he heard it. He bird doged us all the way to Superior, and walked around watching us while we put our train away and did some station work. Every time somebody farted on the radio, he would hold his packset up to his ear and try to figure out what he was hearing. He finally came up on the engine with me, and asked me if I was getting all that static on my radio. I told him no, it just must be his packset. I don't think he ever did figure it out.

RRTom Wrote:
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> Can radio transmissions these days be traced to
> their user?


I have heard that all of the UP channels are recorded...

BCutter Wrote:
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> Our FD radios are equipped with software IDs so we
> can tell whose radio is making the transmission.
> Granted is may say E101 instead of a given
> person's name but... I suspect the same could be
> done for RR radios if the owner so desired.
>
> Bruce


I know several Police and Sheriff's Dept.. have radio ID's> When an officer goes out into the field he or she is logged on to the radio number that they possess. The reason for this in case the red button on top of the microphone is pushed.. it is known as " E Trig" (Emergency Trigger) and the communications center will zero in on the radio and immediately call the radio number and ask what the emergency is.. Many times the triggering is accidental,..

SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
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> BCutter Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Our FD radios are equipped with software IDs so
> we
> > can tell whose radio is making the transmission.
>
> > Granted is may say E101 instead of a given
> > person's name but... I suspect the same could
> be
> > done for RR radios if the owner so desired.
> >
> > Bruce
>
>
> I know several Police and Sheriff's Dept.. have
> radio ID's> When an officer goes out into the
> field he or she is logged on to the radio number
> that they possess. The reason for this in case
> the red button on top of the microphone is
> pushed.. it is known as " E Trig" (Emergency
> Trigger) and the communications center will zero
> in on the radio and immediately call the radio
> number and ask what the emergency is.. Many
> times the triggering is accidental,..

We call our orange/red button the EAB (Emergency Activation Button) and -- thank goodness -- we have only had accidental activations so far.

RRTom Wrote:
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> Can radio transmissions these days be traced to
> their user?

If somebody has a radio direction finder and they can get multiple vectors, yes.
It's not usually something they can do on the spur of a moment.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/13 18:22 by PHall.

RRTom Wrote:
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> Can radio transmissions these days be traced to
> their user?

Actually, the technology has existed for a long time. But it would have taken a database & task force half the size of the FBI to manage it. So, the railroads & most other radio users didn't even consider it. Police Dept's started doing so only after losing some sizable lawsuits due to inappropriate radio use. As usual, indiscretions of a minute faction of any group inflicts grief on all.

RailNet802, out

Back when push-pull operations on the then-SAN DIEGAN were relatively new, the crews had a completely different working environment with the cab cars. When the train was in "push mode", the engineer had his operating compartment at the front of the coach. Similar to a bus driver, if he so desired, he could lean out into the aisle and look backward, getting a full view of the length of the car and its passengers.

One of the engineers, now retired, had an ornery streak when he was working with a particular conductor. When the conductor was working his way through the cab car collecting tickets and conversing with the pretty female passengers, the engineer would emit simulated farting sounds on the radio at the "appropriate" time, i.e., when the conductor was trying to "chat up" a good looking Babe. The noise would come out of the conductor's packset, and the packset was attached to his belt. All of this was at about ear-level with the female passenger who was seated. This caused the conductor much frustration and consternation, and he was continually saying, "Doggone it!!" and adjusting the volume of his radio so the fart sounds wouldn't dominate over his attempt(s) at engaging in conversation with the pretty female passenger.

One time the engineer noticed the conductor engaging in a conversation with a pretty female passenger and decided to "crank things up a bit" in thwarting the conductor's goal of obtaining the woman's phone number. As the conductor was right in the middle of a conversation with this pretty female passenger, the engineer had the following radio conversation with his conductor:

ENGINEER: "Come in, Gaylord*."

CONDUCTOR: "Yeah, this is Gaylord, go ahead."

ENGINEER: "Yeah, your wife just called. She wants you to pick up a loaf of bread and a quart of milk on your way home today."

Now THAT'S ornery!

* Not his real name

Yeah every once and a while someone's mic gets stuck keyed up. Sometimes it's pretty interesting, most times it's idle chit chat.

Then there's the story of some Tom Foolery going on over the radio when the supervisor butted in and wanted to know who was doing what. One guys says, "Do you know who this is?" The answer was "No" and the response to that was "Good!"

The technology is available to ID every radio. In trunking systems, every radio has to ID itself. On analog systems, Hams have been using APRS in some areas (and Mic-e) to ID the user. It is connected to a GPS receiver and also sends the location. It sounds like a little short spurt of data at the end of the transmission and is only 1/4 to 1/2 second long. It can also include telemetry such as engine temperature, oil pressure, battery voltage, etc...

John

There's a story from Barstow many years ago, about the Yardmaster inquiring about how things were going at the east end. The response came back, "We're all f****d up here!" "Unit that was just on the air, identify yourself!" "We may be f****d up but we're not THAT f****d up!"

This is how the ADF systems in aircraft function, tune to a known frequency and the receiving station will be picked up. The system then (with some help from the operator depending on how basic the system is) will point in the general direction towards the source of the transmission. This was originally developed during world war 2 as a navigation aid for long range fighters and bombers.