Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Anything pertaining to railfanning in Michigan.
PrairieKnight
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Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by PrairieKnight »

I received a Bearcat BC125AT scanner for Christmas. I am looking for frequencies that will let me listen to Amtrak and NS traffic that passes through Dowagiac, Michigan. I also like to travel up to Decatur, Michigan to watch the grain trains switch out that originate in Burns Harbor, Indiana. My son and I are also interested in any Grand Elk radio traffic we can find in Kalamazoo. I would also like to be able to hear any radio traffic while I watch the rail traffic going into and coming out of the Elkhart yard in Indiana in front of the Amtrak station. I looked on the radioreference.com website for railroad frequencies in Indiana and Michigan. I was not able to tell which of the frequencies listed would work in the areas where I want to monitor rail traffic. I am reading the instructions and watching Youtube videos on programming the scanner. One thing that is suggested is to replace the antenna that comes with the scanner with a Diamond RH77CA antenna for better reception. Any advice or suggestions on frequencies and operating this scanner are greatly appreciated.

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Saturnalia
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Re: Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by Saturnalia »

My suggestion is to simply program all of the AAR channels into Banks 1 and 2, and just let it scan all of the channels all of the time - then you never need to know what channel you need. That’s the same scanner I’ve had, and that’s how I’ve had it setup for almost 8 years now. Just scan them all and I never have to look up local frequencies.
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Tom49801
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Re: Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by Tom49801 »

PrairieKnight wrote:
Sat Dec 25, 2021 11:41 am
One thing that is suggested is to replace the antenna that comes with the scanner with a Diamond RH77CA antenna for better reception. Any advice or suggestions on frequencies and operating this scanner are greatly appreciated.
The Diamond RH77CA antenna is close to being 1/4 wave resonant for 160MHz (VHF) railroad frequencies & is a nice antenna that's flexible & rubber coated. Great when listening to your scanner outdoors & outside of your vehicle. Inside a vehicle, the reception range for scanners is greatly reduced when using an antenna that's directly connected to your scanner. Reception range can be 5 to 8 miles depending on the area you're in. Trees & buildings do affect the range for VHF.

A quality magnetic roof top scanner antenna for you car or truck will give the best possible receiving range for your scanner. Again, depending on the terrain & listening area, you can expect 12 to 15 miles range. For your scanner, The Antenna Farm has a chrome magnetic mount that's rated for vehicle speeds up to 90mph & sold separately is the stinger antenna that screws onto the magnetic base www.theantennafarm.com

Stinger antenna for railroad frequencies: Laird Technologies part # QW152 for $16.95

Chrome magnetic base mount: Laird Technologies part # G8BI (includes 12 feet of co-ax cable & connector that fits your scanner & shipped assembled & ready to go). Note: the last character in the part # is the letter i. Just feed the cable at the top of your open vehicle door & close the door - that's how it's done & won't harm the cable. Cost is $39.95

Diamond RH77CA scanner antenna: just enter RH77CA in their search window, their cost is $22.95 (cost is $26 on Amazon).

Some freight rail lines may not have much radio activity while running their trains. You can listen for the "chirps" that occur about every 40 seconds if the train is running with an EOT. The EOT's radio output is only 5 Watts & depending on the area you're in you might have about 3 to 5 miles reception range.

EOT unit's transmitter frequency from the rear of the train is 457.9375 MHz
Locomotive's EOT equipment transmitter frequency is 452.9375 MHz

Here's an excellent YouTube video made by Distant Signal that covers your scanner model & the antennas mentioned:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXDYgbQehv4

Dowagiac Train Dude
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Re: Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by Dowagiac Train Dude »

It’s to bad that there are no more rail customers in Dowagiac. The Dorel company (Ameriwood) is still there but they have not received rail service in over two years now even though it’s a distribution center. It’s all done by trucks but the spur is still there. My hopes were that a company would come in and take over that plant but that hasn’t happened. All we can do now is get lucky when a NS unit train heads up to Cargill in Decatur or the local goes through on its way to and from Lawton and Decatur.

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Ben Higdon
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Re: Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by Ben Higdon »

Thats a bummer - doesn't seem like that long ago that Dowagiac and Niles had a decent number of customers.
Tom - thanks for all the scanner info! I need to get a new one and that is very helpful.

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NS3322
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Re: Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by NS3322 »

Ben Higdon wrote:
Thu Dec 30, 2021 5:31 am
Thats a bummer - doesn't seem like that long ago that Dowagiac and Niles had a decent number of customers.
Currently only 3 remaining...

Buchanan - Co-Alliance (Seasonal/Infrequent)
Decatur - Cargill (Regular)
Lawton - Welch Foods (Regular)
Last edited by NS3322 on Fri Jan 14, 2022 6:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by Dowagiac Train Dude »

NS3322 wrote:
Thu Dec 30, 2021 3:00 pm
Ben Higdon wrote:
Thu Dec 30, 2021 5:31 am
Thats a bummer - doesn't seem like that long ago that Dowagiac and Niles had a decent number of customers.
Currently only 4 remaining...

Buchanan - Co-Alliance (Seasonal/Infrequent)
Niles - Treadstone (Infrequent)
Decatur - Cargill (Regular)
Lawton - Welch Foods (Regular)
That’s really too bad. It just goes to show how many factory jobs have left the area.

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NS3322
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Re: Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by NS3322 »

Dowagiac Train Dude wrote:
Thu Dec 30, 2021 8:06 pm
NS3322 wrote:
Thu Dec 30, 2021 3:00 pm
Ben Higdon wrote:
Thu Dec 30, 2021 5:31 am
Thats a bummer - doesn't seem like that long ago that Dowagiac and Niles had a decent number of customers.
Currently only 4 remaining...

Buchanan - Co-Alliance (Seasonal/Infrequent)
Niles - Treadstone (Infrequent)
Decatur - Cargill (Regular)
Lawton - Welch Foods (Regular)
That’s really too bad. It just goes to show how many factory jobs have left the area.
Yes that is part of it, but there was never a ton of customers on the line to begin with.
I think NS has chased away a few, for example, French Paper used to transload boxcars at the old Simplicity plant in Niles.
And National Standard in Niles does not like to ship by rail for some reason.

Did National Copper Products in Dowagiac use rail before closing in 2008? (This is now The Business Center of Southwestern Michigan).

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Re: Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by Dowagiac Train Dude »

NS3322 wrote:
Fri Dec 31, 2021 2:30 pm
Dowagiac Train Dude wrote:
Thu Dec 30, 2021 8:06 pm
NS3322 wrote:
Thu Dec 30, 2021 3:00 pm


Currently only 4 remaining...

Buchanan - Co-Alliance (Seasonal/Infrequent)
Niles - Treadstone (Infrequent)
Decatur - Cargill (Regular)
Lawton - Welch Foods (Regular)
That’s really too bad. It just goes to show how many factory jobs have left the area.
Yes that is part of it, but there was never a ton of customers on the line to begin with.
I think NS has chased away a few, for example, French Paper used to transload boxcars at the old Simplicity plant in Niles.
And National Standard in Niles does not like to ship by rail for some reason.

Did National Copper Products in Dowagiac use rail before closing in 2008? (This is now The Business Center of Southwestern Michigan).
My dad used to work at Simplicity up until they closed their doors. I remember watching the Con-Rail switch them out on the west side of the plant.

Dowagiac used to have Ameriwood, Jessup Door(plant is no longer there except for the part that Fryman recycling occupies) and National Copper used rail. When I was a kid the Con-Rail came to town every Tuesday and Thursday. I remember riding my bike to the three factories to watch them get switched out. My grandparents lived on East Railroad St close to the Ameriwood plant. I used to love it when they would leave empties sitting in front of their house because I would go over to them and explore but only once did I get into one of the cars. When the movie Stand By Me came out a friend of mine and I wanted to walk or ride the rails east not even knowing where it ended. We were 10.

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Saturnalia
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Re: Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by Saturnalia »

Part of the problem too is that you’re very unlikely to see any new customers come online due to the HUGE costs of putting in a switch in ITCS territory. I’ve heard Amtrak wants well, well north of the million bucks for the privilege. So, they’re pretty much limited to what exists now.
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Dowagiac Train Dude
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Re: Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by Dowagiac Train Dude »

Saturnalia wrote:
Fri Dec 31, 2021 10:54 pm
Part of the problem too is that you’re very unlikely to see any new customers come online due to the HUGE costs of putting in a switch in ITCS territory. I’ve heard Amtrak wants well, well north of the million bucks for the privilege. So, they’re pretty much limited to what exists now.
Luckily the switch to the spur for Ameriwood is still there. They could still return to using rail at some point but I am not sure it’s in the plans. The switch for the old National Copper spur was removed about 2 years ago. The spur leading into the building is still there but the switch is gone.

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Re: Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by CR900945 »

I didn't notice anywhere in the other postings about the road channel Amtrak uses on this line including Dowagiac. It is 161.505. I have no trouble receiving it on a 25 year old Radio Shack Patrolman portable. Yesterday I visited Lawton for the first time in years. Caught #353 kicking up the snow. Siding still in place for Welch's but does not look like any recent use.

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NS3322
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Re: Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by NS3322 »

CR900945 wrote:
Wed Jan 05, 2022 10:28 am
Siding still in place for Welch's but does not look like any recent use.
They are one of the last regularly active customers (the other being Cargill). They get around 3-4 tank cars every week. (You must have missed the list I posted above ^^)

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Re: Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by Dowagiac Train Dude »

NS3322 wrote:
Wed Jan 05, 2022 10:53 am
CR900945 wrote:
Wed Jan 05, 2022 10:28 am
Siding still in place for Welch's but does not look like any recent use.
They are one of the last regularly active customers (the other being Cargill). They get around 3-4 tank cars every week. (You must have missed the list I posted above ^^)
On my way down to Dowagiac I have caught the local switching out Welch’s on Thursdays and a few times on Saturday. I think Thursday is their normal run up to Lawton. Cargill gets some cars every now and then. When they do get cars dropped off its usually 2-4 covered hoppers.

CR900945
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Re: Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by CR900945 »

Thank you NS3322 for that list. Not much left elsewhere on the Michigan Line either.

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NS3322
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Re: Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by NS3322 »

CR900945 wrote:
Wed Jan 05, 2022 1:02 pm
Not much left elsewhere on the Michigan Line either.
Here's everything between Kalamazoo and Chelsea...

Knappen Milling - Augusta
ReConserve - Battle Creek
WestRock - Battle Creek
Post Foods - Battle Creek
Kellogg's - Battle Creek
ADM Sweetener Terminal - Battle Creek
Andersons Ethanol - Albion
Continental Carbonic Products - Albion
Georgia-Pacific - Albion
American Colloid -Albion
Knauf Insulation - Albion
Certain Teed - Jackson
OmniSource - Jackson
Dawn Food Products - Jackson
Gerdau - Jackson
Amerhart - Jackson (Inactive as of now)
Worthington Specialty Processing - Jackson
Miller Truck & Storage - Jackson
Aunt Millie's - Jackson
Chelsea Milling (“JIFFY” Mix) - Chelsea

PrairieKnight
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Re: Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by PrairieKnight »

WOW... I appreciate all the replies to my original post. I looked into downloading frequencies into the scanner from the internet using my laptop but that is more than I can handle. So I will be entering the frequencies manually. I appreciate the Amtrak road channel CR. Much appreciate the information on local industries NS. On my way home this evening I went past the Amtrak station in Dowagiac. There are a few MOW vehicles on the old spur running into Ameriwood. There are also a few pieces of equipment attached to the rails on the Ameriwood spur. There is an Amtrak backhoe on the spur that runs parallel on the east side of the main line and siding. It also looked like some sections of rail stacked in the area as well. I cannot tell if they are replacing rails or tearing out track permanently. I recall not to long ago that the switch located just north of Division St. was replaced. I had hopes this meant that the Ameriwood... oops .. I meant Dorel ....... was going to start using the spur again.

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Re: Scanner for rail fanning in Dowagiac

Unread post by Steamlogger »

I got a BC125AT for Christmas also. I recommend trying the software.
I made a list in a spreadsheet of all the AAR frequencies. And copied them, 50 at a time, to the scanner program. Then uploaded to the scanner.
You can add a frequency description and set the delay in other columns and copy all at the same time.

What helped me was I manually added a couple frequencies then used the software to view them and copy them to the spreadsheet. You can also save a complete backup on your computer as a file.

http://info.uniden.com/UnidenMan4/BC125AT
The software also lets you adjust other features.

For now I put the AAR frequencies in order on the first 100 channels.

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