Eastern Railroad Discussion > Newcomer to Chatanooga

Hey guys,

This coming week I'll be down in the Chattanooga area for the Private Railcar convention and I was also hoping to get some railfanning in. I am completely unfamiliar with the area and would really appreciate some help! Where would the best spot be to go to see the most amount of action (NS and CSX together maybe?) and also if there are any photogenic spots that shouldn't be missed?

Also any radio frequencies and what signals being called to listen out for would be fantastic? Thanks!


Additionally, I will be stopping by Vanderbilt in Nashville TN and I may have time for some trainwatching there as well. Similar information like I asked about above (spots, radio freqs. etc) would be greatly appreciated!


Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Davis

Coffeys Clff at the corner of Stuart St and Sholar Ave. CSX W&A main (Chatt - ATL) next to NS's Debutts yard.

If you have a GPS use this address to navigate to Coffeys Bluff: 1907 Stuart St. Chattanooga Tn. It's the last house on Stuart St., just a few hundred feet from the bluff. Or if you want non-stop action and have the time, drive 25 miles south of Chattanooga to Dalton, Ga. There's a diamond where CSX & NS cross. You'll see about 50 or more trains per 24 hours. Back in Chattanooga don't forget the TVRM. If you're museum inclined the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is well-run and worth the effort. A great museum and tourist train operation. I don't know where AAPRCO is parking their train, maybe at this site, but you should check out the Chattanooga Choo Choo, a hotel complex. It's worth a visit, if only to see the parts of the old Terminal Station that have been saved. Plus there's a great HO gauge train layout upstairs. The whole place is railroad themed, as you might expect. For a quiet and peaceful trainwatching spot you can try Riverpark at Chicamauga Dam on the Tennessee River. There you can see (at a distance) the NS trains cross the river on the long trestle. That's the southern terminus of the fabled NS Rathole line. Speaking of the Rathole, you can drive north out of the city 25 to 30 miles to Dayton, on US route 27. A good place to catch NS action. There's Ooltewah, there's Cleveland, both with shared trackage, CSX & NS. There are many other places, both in and around town. Chattanooga is a great railroad town, and I'm sure others will chime in about it.

Edit: The frequencies for NS (at least for the Rathole) are Ch 56 - Road, Ch 9 - DS to train, & Ch 48 - train to DS.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/12 23:59 by moltensulphur.

moltensulphur Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If you have a GPS use this address to navigate to
> Coffeys Bluff: 1907 Stuart St. Chattanooga Tn.
> It's the last house on Stuart St., just a few
> hundred feet from the bluff. Or if you want
> non-stop action and have the time, drive 25 miles
> south of Chattanooga to Dalton, Ga. There's a
> diamond where CSX & NS cross. You'll see about 50
> or more trains per 24 hours. Back in Chattanooga
> don't forget the TVRM. If you're museum inclined
> the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is well-run
> and worth the effort. A great museum and tourist
> train operation. I don't know where AAPRCO is
> parking their train, maybe at this site, but you
> should check out the Chattanooga Choo Choo, a
> hotel complex. It's worth a visit, if only to see
> the parts of the old Terminal Station that have
> been saved. Plus there's a great HO gauge train
> layout upstairs. The whole place is railroad
> themed, as you might expect. For a quiet and
> peaceful trainwatching spot you can try Riverpark
> at Chicamauga Dam on the Tennessee River. There
> you can see (at a distance) the NS trains cross
> the river on the long trestle. That's the southern
> terminus of the fabled NS Rathole line. Speaking
> of the Rathole, you can drive north out of the
> city 25 to 30 miles to Dayton, on US route 27. A
> good place to catch NS action. There's Ooltewah,
> there's Cleveland, both with shared trackage, CSX
> & NS. There are many other places, both in and
> around town. Chattanooga is a great railroad town,
> and I'm sure others will chime in about it.
>
> Edit: The frequencies for NS (at least for the
> Rathole) are Ch 56 - Road, Ch 9 - DS to train, &
> Ch 48 - train to DS.

If you go to Coffey's Cliff bring a friend and don't stay after dark, not exactly the best part of town.

Dalton GA is the best place by far. Both NS and CSX and a safe location. Railfan platform and a place to eat on the east side of the tracks. Public crossing to cross tracks if you need to.

gmojim

I agree that Dalton is an excellent railfan location, and I second everything that gmojim said about it. However, I was just trying to list the many options for a railfan in and around Chattanooga.

I vote for Dalton, plus the Freight Depot usually has ATCS running which is a plus.

I love going to Point Park on top of Lookout Mountain. It's by no means a location that puts you next to the trains, but it does give you an excellent bird's eye view of Chattanooga. You can see NS's DeButts Yard, CSX's Wauhatchie Yard, and the entire city of Chattanooga from this spot. I've spent hours there with binoculars watching the action. If you have a camera with a good telephoto lens, you could get some interesting shots.

Andrew

Posted from iPhone

Thanks guys for all of the info, keep it comin! Would anyone happen to have the NS/CSX frequencies for the area?

Thanks!

Davis

The CSX channels are: Road - Ch 84 and Ch 32. For Ds - Ch 94 and Ch 20. These and the NS channels I gave you above should cover the Chattanooga area. If you need the actual numerical frequencies, PM me and I'll give them to you.

Edit: Here's another resource - google "chattanoogarailroadfrequencies", then click on the top one which will bring you to "RadioReference.com". That site has all the frequencies specific to the Chattanooga area.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/12 11:22 by moltensulphur.

Thank you very much!

Davis

Also check out Google Earth. You can scan the whole area. There are some areas where the NS crosses the river north of the yard heading up the 3rd District of the Rat Hole. I haven't been there for several years so I don't quite remember where "good" places are. Naturally a lot of areas near the yard are "questionable".

The CSX yard is around on the back side of Lookout Mountain. Take I24 from downtown - west. Also west on I24 you can go out to Nikkajack Lake where CSX runs on the south shore,(NS has trackage rights).

Again check out Google Earth it is fabulous-you can push pin areas to mark that you want to keep and reference later, it's great and if you have a "smart phone" you can "Take it with you". (Not sure if you can do the push pins on the phone though-I haven't tried it on the phone).
Mike