I'm in the Birmingham, Pelham, Alabaster area of Alabama. Through Pelham and Alabaster there are several raillines that have regular use of all types of freight, auto racks, coal and of course empties. On Hgy 52 a double rail line sometime has a train (no Locomotive) sitting on one rail for one or two days before it's gone. I never have my little Nikon Cool-Pic with me at the right time to get pictures of the mostly CSX and NS trains as they move through. Is there some on line radio broadcast of the engineers in this area that I can lissenin to and get a lead time to get out with my camers for some shots. I've tried calling.emailing but in this day and age they don't giv information out as in times past. Any suggestions or help is appreciated. See ya Ron
Pick up a scanner and program in all the AAR frequencies. Then just listen in. There might be a group for fans in your area that can give you some insight Good luck in finding some groups in your area.
Definitely get a scanner. Once you've got one,you'll wonder why you ever tried to railfan without it. Happened to me. Heck,I've got a scanner antenna on order this week that can hopefully receive more from further out than my current antenna. I live 20 miles from a CSX line and I can occasionally hear the dispatcher talking. The scanner also helped me catch the local shortline here in Bardstown. Check out RailroadRadio.net and see if they've got something in your area to listen to at home as well.
