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[quote]QUOTE: <i>Originally posted by rich747us</i> <br /><br />[quote]QUOTE: <i>Originally posted by tree68</i> <br /><br />[quote]QUOTE: <i>Originally posted by trainjunky29</i> <br />2.) If I'm railfanning, and I see a locomotive with a smoking traction motor, or a freight car with a derailed wheelset, or something similar, is it permissible for me to transmit on my scanner on the line's frequency to let the railroad know? <br />Sincerely, <br />Daniel Parks <br />[/quote] <br />First of all, I've never found a scanner that would actually transmit. They may generate some "birdies" (stray frequencies), but none of the scanners I've ever owned had a "transmit" button. <br /> <br />Second (and this is not opinion), if you have a transceiver capable of transmitting on a frequency for which you are not authorized operation (which would be the case in the example you give) and transmit on that frequency, that's a violation of federal law, punishible by, among other things, a fine of $10,000. Don't get caught (which you won't if you don't do it in the first place). <br /> <br />Use your cell phone. The number to call is posted on every crossing. <br /> <br />[/quote] <br /> <br />I couldint agree more. Just call the number posted on, near, or around the crossing gates from your cell phone. I actually had a ligit reason to do this once. I was railfanning at the Donahue Rd. crossing in Batavia, NY, one December night back in 2002. I witnessed the passing of a eastbound intermodal and noticed that while all the lights on both the north side and south side gates turned on; the gate on the south side of the crossing did not go down. Anybody who is a regular at Donahue Rd. knows this particular crossing gate system always seems to be malfunctioning. So I walked up to the gate to get the 1-800 number, and I called. I explained the problem, and they transfered me to the Jacksonville signal maintenance desk, and I explained the problem once again. After I hung up, I went back to my car and continued to listen to my scanner. I heard NF dispatcher call the intermodal that just went through the crossing. "Uh, yeah, we had a report from a citizen (that's me! [:D]) saying the gates at Donahue Rd. didint go down when you went through. Did you see if the gates were down?" Oddly, the conductor of the train reported no problems. Hmmmm. Well, I left to go drive around and I continued to listen to my scanner. Imagine my surprise when I heard the dispatcher giving an order to protect the (Donahue Rd.) crossing to a westbound Amtrak! Cool! [:D] <br />[/quote] <br /> <br />Cool [:)]. In my personal experience, I have found that railroads will accept information given to them by the public that may adversely affect the safety of their train operations, but as everyone else has said on here, such things need to be reported to the railroad's appropriate 1-800 phone number (i.e. railroad police, maintenance department or if in doubt, call the local terminal yard office). If you are not near a crossing where an 800-phone number is posted, there are also available on most railroads' websites and / or the local telephone directory, if you have ready access to either one of those. <br /> <br />Even if you happen to have equipment that will transmit radio messages on that railroad's particular frequency, as everyone else here has said - DON'T DO IT.... first it will be ignored because it will sound very suspicious (i.e. terrorist act), and second, it is VERY likely that you will end up with the FBI or the RR Police pressing federal charges against you (as previously discussed) regardless of the good reason you made the original radio transmission.
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