My son didn't have any afternoon classes at GVSU yesterday, so he dropped in for a visit. We grabbed some fast food and headed to the Holland Depot to eat. Just got ready to take a bite when I heard K357-25 heading west to the depot. Set up the video camera and just barely got it turned on as it passed. My son shot this pic:
Tim- What does the "K357" portion represent? 25 probably is the originating date. But the rest is? The departure yard? Terminal yard? Boxcab E50
Actually, the "K" denotes a unit train on CSX. I saw K650 today; it is the Tropicana juice train. The number refers to the train route & commodity... you'd need a CSX handbook to see where it originates, terminates, and the commodity handled. And yes, the -25 is the originating date. Harold
Yes, they append the train symbol with the date of origination and it is usually called on over the air. For example, today I saw N166-26. A little research tells me that this is a coal train from KY. to FL. It originated on the 26th. The K650 I heard today was actually K650-27. It runs from Florida to New Jersy (loaded). (Sometimes the empties come back as a train K651, sometimes the cars are just returned as emptied). Harold
Here's a great website to help you understand the CSX symbols: http://www.railfanswelcome.com/TrainSymbols.htm There are tabbed pages at the bottom for various railroads. Harold
The Radio Shack scanner shown on the dashboard of the car! I like it.. can't beat it for portability and ease of use. I have the 100 AAR channels programmed into it and sometimes scan, but usually stay on the main road channels to hear the trains call the signals. Harold
The last two digits (in this case, 25) is the date the train is originally authorized to run. The train could have left the original terminal 1 or 2 days later, depending on power and crew availability. "K" trains can be classed as anything other than grain or coal, moving as a unit train. Examples are fertilizer, ethanol, steel coils, steel slabs.
The scanner in the picture is my Radio Shack PRO-83. On a good day, I can pick up the CSX defect detector in Zeeland, which is approx. 10 miles from my house.
Ten miles is pretty bad reception. The problem is the stock antenna that comes with a scanner. They are designed to pick up everything that the scanner will but none of it very well. Your best bet is to replace it with one designed for the 2m ham radio band which is very close to the railroad band. You should be able to get 15-20 mile range regularly for a $25 investment.