Amtrak Radio Frequencies
For Scanners
This page provides information about radio communication channels and
frequencies used by Amtrak, including information on where to learn more
about railroad communications.
Warning
It is a federal crime, with severe punishment and/or fines, to:
(a) divulge what you hear to anyone who is not a party to the broadcast;
(b) make use of any broadcast information for your own personal gain; or
(c) make use of any broadcast information for illegal purposes or to
commit a crime. Any such violations may be investigated by the FBI and
prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Many state have laws prohibiting the installation of a scanner in an
automobile, or in some cases, just the possession of a scanner. You should
consult your local authorities for an interpretation of your state's laws.
If you do bring a scanner with you on a train trip, I urge you to use an
earphone even if you are in your own private accomodation. I can only
imagine how unsettling it must be to a crew member of a train to walk by
a passenger compartment and realize that this passenger is listening to
communications that are intended between crew members only. I'm sure that
all crew members do know that train buffs are frequently on board and have
scanners. However, I don't think they give it any more thought than you
give to security cameras that you know are in most stores, except when you
see one pointed right at you ... or worse yet, when you see your imagine on
the security monitor by the checkout register. We don't tend to think about
things unless they are brought to our attention, even when we know they exist.
My own personal opinion is to keep scanners out of sight and out of hearing
of anyone around you as much as possible. As far as I know, there are no
rules against them other than the same rule about all radios, tape players,
and games ... that they be used with an earphone to not disturb other
passengers. Use a great deal of discretion before passing on information
to other passengers that you obtain while listening to your scanner. First,
it is likely that the crew would have made an announcement if they wished to
pass that information on to all passengers, and second, you could be in
violation of federal or state law to pass on such information. Also, if
your activity on the train creates a disturbance, the Conductor has the full
legal authority to put you off the train ... even between stations and
without a refund! For the continued enjoyment of all of us that use scanners
while traveling, use common sense and don't do anything that would cause
Amtrak to create or enforce rules against the use of radio scanners.
Railroad Channels & Frequencies
Ch.--Freq. ......Ch.--Freq. ......Ch.--Freq. ......Ch.--Freq.
02--159.810......26--160.500......50--160.860......74--161.220
03--159.930......27--160.515......51--160.875......75--161.235
04--160.050......28--160.530......52--160.890......76--161.250
05--160.185......29--160.545......53--160.905......77--161.265
06--160.200......30--160.560......54--160.920......78--161.280
07--160.215......31--160.575......55--160.935......79--161.295
08--160.230......32--160.590......56--160.950......80--161.310
09--160.245......33--160.605......57--160.965......81--161.325
10--160.260......34--160.620......58--160.980......82--161.340
11--160.275......35--160.635......59--160.995......83--161.355
12--160.290......36--160.650......60--161.010......84--161.370
13--160.305......37--160.665......61--161.025......85--161.385
14--160.320......38--160.680......62--161.040......86--161.400
15--160.335......39--160.695......63--161.055......87--161.415
16--160.350......40--160.710......64--161.070......88--161.430
17--160.365......41--160.725......65--161.085......89--161.445
18--160.380......42--160.740......66--161.100......90--161.460
19--160.395......43--160.755......67--161.115......91--161.475
20--160.410......44--160.770......68--161.130......92--161.490
21--160.425......45--160.785......69--161.145......93--161.505
22--160.440......46--160.800......70--161.160......94--161.520
23--160.455......47--160.815......71--161.175......95--161.535
24--160.470......48--160.830......72--161.190......96--161.550
25--160.485......49--160.845......73--161.205......97--161.565
UHF Channels used by Railroads:
452.900/457.900.....Amtrak
452.925/457.925
452.950/457.900
452.9125/457.9125
452.9375/457.9375
Amateur Radio Frequencies For Railfans
146.490 2 meter Primary channel
146.565 2 meter Secondary (backup) channel
466.050 70 cm
223.620 1.25 meter
1294.425 23 cm
Useful Amtrak Frequencies
Coast Starlight
Ch. Freq.
22 160.440 On-board Manager: Portland to Klamath Falls, Oregon
23 160.455 On-board Manager: Klamath Falls, OR to Oakland, CA
22 160.440 On-board Manager: Oakland to Los Angeles, California
Southwest Chief
Ch. Freq.
23 160.455 On-board Manager: Los Angeles, California to Kingman, Arizona
94 161.520 On-board Manager: Kingman, Arizona to La Junta, Colorado
San Joaquins
Ch. Freq.
22 160.440 San Joaquins - Oakland to Bakersfield, California
Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle
Ch. Freq.
49 160.845 On-board Manager: New Orleans,LA to Los Angeles,California
22 160.440 On-board Manager: East of Alpine, Texas
36 160.650 On-board Manager: Alpine, Texas to Phoenix, Arizona
42 160.740 On-board Manager: Alpine, Texas to Phoenix, Arizona
23 160.455 On-board Manager: Phoenix, Arizona to Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, California
Ch. Freq.
-- 452.900 Car Dept.
-- 457.900 Car Dept.
23 160.455 Terminal switching
63 161.055 Police
91 161.475 Police
Other Amtrak
Ch. Freq.
-- 452.900 Terminal services
13 160.305 West of Chicago, Illinois
81 161.325 Maintenance of way
How My Scanner Is Programmed:
Banks 1 through 5
Channel 01 is the Priority Channel. My scanner will automatically check
this channel in between scanning each other channel. I set this to
whichever channel I'm most interested in and turn on the PRIority feature.
If I'm riding on the train, I usually set it to the channel being used by
the Engineer and Conductor. This is also the channel of the Hot Box
Detectors (HBD) along the Amtrak route. The Hot Boxes automatically check
the speed of the train, the length of the train, the number of axels, and
other conditions and then transmit this information using a synthesized
voice as the train passes.
Channels 02 through 97 programmed to correspond to
AAR Channels 02 through 97.
098 452.900 Amtrak Terminal Services
099 457.900 Amtrak Terminal Services
Bank 6 - Southern California Metrolink
101 161.415 Ch. 01 Road, Pomona to Mission Tower
102 160.815 Ch. 02 Yard and mechanical, Taylor Yard, primary
103 160.545 Ch. 03 Road, Palmdale Subdivision
104 160.995 Ch. 04 Yard, secondary
105 160.320 Ch. 05 SP Road, Burbank Jct. to Santa Clarita
106 161.550 Ch. 06 SP Road, Mission Tower to Moorpark
107 160.515 Ch. 07 UP Road, Los Angeles to Riverside
108 160.560 Ch. 08 ATSF Road, Mission Tower to San Bernardino
109 160.650 Ch. 09 ATSF Road, Mission Tower to San Diego
110 161.190 Ch. 10 ATSF Road, Lambert - San Bernardino
111 160.455 Ch. 11 Amtrak yard
Bank 7 - Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (Los Angeles)
121 160.650 Road
122 161.190 Ch 4 Road
123 161.010 Maintenance of Way
124 160.260 PBX Mobile Phone
125 161.490 PBX Mobile Phone
126 161.205 Police
127 161.370 Hobart Yard
128 161.070 Hobart Car Dept
129 160.440 Hobart Car Dept
Bank 7 - Southern Pacific (Los Angeles)
130 161.550 Road
131 160.320 Road (alternate)
132 161.205 Police
133 161.220 Police
134 160.530 Intermodal Facility Shop Yard
135 161.100 Shop Yard
136 160.305 Wilmington Light Rail Operations
137 161.310 Wilmington Light Rail Operations
138 160.350 Wilmington ICTF Yard Intermodal Facility
139 161.205 Wilmington ICTF Yard Security
140 161.400 Wilmington ICTF Yard Switcher
Bank 8 - Amateur Radio Frequencies For Railfans
141 146.490 Primary Channel
142 146.565 Secondar (backup) Channel
143 466.050
Bank 8 - Amtrak (Los Angeles)
144 160.455 Terminal switching
145 161.055 Police
146 161.475 Police
147 452.900 Car Dept.
148 457.900 Car Dept.
Bank 8 - UHF Railroad Frequencies
151 452.900 Amtrak Terminal Services
152 457.900 Amtrak Terminal Services
153 452.925
154 457.925
155 452.950
156 457.950
157 452.9125
158 457.9125
159 452.9375
160 457.9375
Bank 9 - Union Pacific (Los Angeles)
161 160.515 Ch 3 Road
162 160.290 Administration PBX Mobile Phone
163 161.520 Administration PBX Mobile Phone
164 160.665 Maintenance of Way PBX Mobile Phone
165 161.025 Maintenance of Way PBX Mobile Phone
166 161.205 Police Mutual Aid
167 160.710 Motor Freight
168 160.410 East Yard Hump
169 160.680 East Yard
170 161.340 East Yard Car Dept.
171 160.590 East Yard Car Dept.
172 160.980 Waterfront Area Harbor Channel
Bank 9 - Miscellaneous Amtrak (Los Angeles)
173 160.980 Harbor Belt Line General Operations
174 161.130 Los Angeles Junction General Operations
175 151.715 Metropolitan Stevedore Co. Plant Switching
Bank 10 - Amtrak (Los Angeles)
Scn Freq... Ch.
181 452.900 -- Terminal services; Los Angeles Car Department
182 160.305 13 On-board Manager: West of Chicago
183 160.440 22 On-board Manager: Coast Starlight: Oakland to Los Angeles
184 160.455 47 L.A.Yard:Amtrak/Metrolink/On-board Mgr:Southwest Chief
185 161.325 81 Maintenance of way
186 160.845 49 On-board Manager: Sunset Limited
187 160.455 23 On-board Manager: Phoenix to Los Angeles
188 457.900 -- Los Angeles Car Department
189 161.055 63 Los Angeles Amtrak Police
190 161.475 91 Los Angeles Amtrak Police
191 161.550 96 Southern Pacific (north & east from Los Angeles)
192 160.320 14 Southern Pacific (south from Los Angeles)
193 160.740 42 Union Pacific (east from Los Angeles)
Frequencies of interest in Los Angeles, California
Ch Freq... User
87 161.415 San Bernardino Sub
If you see a crew member with a radio and the display shows "1414", that
means that their radio is set to transmit on Channel 14 and to receive on
Channel 14. Generally, transmit and receive are set to the same channel
for communications with a few exceptions. Thus, you don't need to go out
and buy two scanners to get both sides of a conversation.
One of the easiest places to find where you can purchase scanners is
Radio Shack. They have a great diversity of scanners in a range of prices
from the most economical to the very expensive. The more you pay, the more
channels your scanner will be able to store and you will find many advanced
features in the more expensive receivers. I have the Raido Shack "PRO-51
Hyper Scan" which can store and scan all of the railroad frequencies
simultaneously and very rapidly. It lists for $199 but is often on sale
for quite a bit less.
I wasn't a scanner buff before I found my interest in Amtrak and I still
do not enjoy listening to the scanner except in regards to Amtrak. If you
are not already experienced in working with a scanner, then you might find
using some of the more advanced scanners a bit challenging! If you know
someone that can help you, definitely ask them to help you both in your
purchase and in how to use the scanner. I had to learn how to use this
one on my own. It took several readings of the instructions and a lot of
experimentation before I figured out how to program it just the way I liked
it.
One thing I was extremely surprised about was the great amount of
railroad communications that I can receive from my home! I am about
2 miles from the nearest track. The Southwest Chief and the
Desert Wind are the only Amtrak trains that travel that track other
than quite a bit of freight. I am a few miles from the nearest train yard,
but I receive a tremendous amount of railroad communications all day long
from a number of sources. I've identified some of them. I'm definitely
receiving communication from the yards where they load and unload the
truck trailors from the flatbed train cars. I also receive communications
from several dispatchers and from Metrolink. I'm just guessing, but if
you are less than 30 miles from a train yard, you will probably be able
to receive railroad communications from some source.
If you are interested in more information about railroad communications,
then get a copy of these books:
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