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You need more than just an AM/FM (or even shortwave) receiver. For example, commercial FM radio runs up to about 105 Megahertz, but most train communications in the US and Canada are in the 159-161 MHz range, and there are literally hundreds of channels available in that narrow range! Another important frequency is up in the 400s, where most RR's channel their robot-loco communications. I paid about eighty bucks for an entry-level scanner from Radio Shack. All scanners bring in pretty much the same frequency (a long slide of Megahertzes, except cell-phone channels are forbidden). However, not all scanners are equally easy to use. My Radio Shack I am prograrmming in very, very slowly because the standard scanning in that range skips over frequencies between about 150 to 200 MHz. They're there, but they have to be programmed in; the radio never stops on those signals however strong. It's a pain in the butt! You could spend several hundred dollars on a weather-resistant Motorola, or pick one up at a yard sale for cheap. There is even a sales website with a name scanners dot com or something very similar. I recommend a handheld model, and most experts advise that you'll probably want to equip the unit with a better and longer antenna than the one that came standard. There's nothing at all occult or illegal about owning and using a scanner. Now, if you equipped a walkie-talkie to listen AND BROADCAST in the railroad bands, that would be illegal -- and very dumb in today's security-conscious climate. Let us know how things proceed, will ya? allen
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