What Am I doing wrong?

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Sounds like my youth.  Every now and again, I would let Mom know what I was going to do and would walk about a mile and a half to Burnham crossing.  With three parallel main lines crossing the PRR Bernice cutoff, I never had long dead periods between trains.

[Dardanellerambler]

All of the advice I have read from others is good.  The key thing I would say is Patience.  I had similar issues growing up (50-60 years ago) plus lack of a good camera for the times I could get a photo.  I did what I could with my old box Brownie camera.  Don't get discouraged the time will come when you are able to pursue railfanning more easily with access to your own transportation and set your own schedule at least to a degree.

[Harrison]

nyoandw

Harrison, I don't know how close you live to the tracks, but in warmer weather is bicycle railfanning an option?  I lived about 3 miles from the Water Level Route in Rome growing up, and spent a lot of time riding my bike downtown to watch trains.   I also had my parents drop my bike and me off about 15 miles from home a couple times so I could see trains while riding home.

 

The closest spot for me to bike to is South Junction Road (on the south end of the Bluff Point siding). It is 7.6 miles and (according to google) 34 minutes. If I chose to do that (when there's no snow of course) it will be because I want to get out early in the morning (like 7). Two of the four regularly scheduled trains come through between 6 and 10 AM, along with the southbound Ethanol train (a few days a week, but not regulary scheduled).

[tree68]

When I was in junior high I crossed paths with the C&O on my way to and from school. About half my route was within sight distance of the ROW.  

In the morning, C&O was kind enough to fleet three trains south through town during my walk to school.  I wasn't the railfan then that I am now, but I still got to see trains!  I especially recall seeing smoke eminating from the smoke jack on the caboose on cold mornings...

[tpatrick]

Here is a note of caution for you: It is illegal in  New York to use a mobile scanner which can receive police frequencies. That includes hand held units. If your mobile scanner is programmable it is illegal even if you have not programmed police frequencies in it. I have never heard of a railfan being questioned by police in NY, but it is certainly possible. So if you use a scanner do so carefully so as not to draw attention to it. A large antenna on your car might draw attention. Just to be sure I confirmed this info with my local police dept.  

[Cwoodruff75]

The end of train device also has a frequency that it transmits on. There is a tone it gives off so that is all you’ll hear but at least you’ll know a train is close by. If you can only hear two or three miles on the handheld then you’ll need to be quick with these long trains. But at least you’ll know one is in the area.

[tree68]

tpatrick

Here is a note of caution for you: It is illegal in  New York to use a mobile scanner which can receive police frequencies. That includes hand held units. If your mobile scanner is programmable it is illegal even if you have not programmed police frequencies in it. I have never heard of a railfan being questioned by police in NY, but it is certainly possible. So if you use a scanner do so carefully so as not to draw attention to it. A large antenna on your car might draw attention. Just to be sure I confirmed this info with my local police dept.  

This is, indeed, true.  There is a way around it, however.  With a little bit of study, and a few bucks for for the 35 question test, (and I believe they are again charging a small fee for the license) you can attain an amateur radio license and listen to whoever you want. 

In general, though, unless you are somehow committing a crime, you won't be hassled by the police. 

There are ham frequencies often used for railfanning.  I don't know what they might be for your area.  

I also have local railroad frequencies programmed into my professional quality railroad handheld (which I use on the railroad), so I listen with that occasionally.

[2010Challenger]

Harrison

I just got home from a trip to my grandparents. We did some railfanning both ways, between Schenectady and Catskill (on the CSX). I caught four trains, and missed (didn't see engines/pulled off the road when I saw them, etc) 6 trains. Well, ok, one of those trains I missed because there was roadwork and we had to detour, but I am seriously depressed. What am I doing wrong? I have a scanner and I am listening for Defect Detectors/crews calling signals, but my handheld can only pick up stuff a couple miles away, and by the time I figure out where it is it's already passed. The other problem is I can't drive, so my time is dictated by the drivers/complaining little brother. If I was driving myself I would just sit back, relax, and wait for them, but I can't do that. What can I do to not miss so many trains?

 

If you can't drive, for whatever reason, I don't think you're doing anything wrong at all. I grew up next to fairly busy tracks, Toledo Terminal RR, and between the TTRR trains and run arounds, mostly C&O, I would say there were about 30-35 trains a day, everything from little short locals to 100+ car grain and coal trains with the newest road power. We moved away from there when I was about to turn 9, just far enough to still hear the horns, but too far for bicycle travel in time to catch the trains I could still hear. So from 9 until 16, I was severely limited in regards to train watching. My parents wouldn't cooperate at all, especially my dad, and my mom was only slightly better. My sister just didn't get it, but would occasionally indulge me, but it wasn't often. I subscribed to Trains, and would ride my back back to my old neighborhood as often as possible, but as others have told you, it's like fishing, and sadly, as time went on, the TTRR had less and less traffic on it. When I was about to turn 19, I moved to Las Vegas, and being able to drive and a best friend who was a railfan too, I saw a lot of trains, with Cima Hill on UP being a good spot and the DD40AX's being based in downtown Vegas were a bonus. But we spent many days/nights on Cima with very little traffic, it is just like fishing. Back in Toledo after 1981, I moved back to near the TTRR, but literally days later, there was a wreck which ended the use of a bridge and in 2018, it was removed. I spend most of my railfanning time on the NS Chicago line, and last week I spent almost 3 hours and saw ZERO trains. As soon as I left, the dam broke and it was non stop for quite a while. That's how those tracks have been since the NYC and PC days. With your driving situation, you will always be somewhat at the mercy of whoever drives you around, but you can always move eventually to somewhere in sight of the tracks, solving the problem. Good Luck!

[Overmod]

Cwoodruff75

The end of train device also has a frequency that it transmits on. There is a tone it gives off so that is all you’ll hear but at least you’ll know a train is close by.

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