RE: (erielack) Boonton Line Question

["iu136_@_cleveland.Freenet.Edu" (Gary R. Kazin)]

161.400 is the main frequency in this area; the other NJT main 
frequency is 160.800.  As Paul said, there is little radio traffic
unless 'something happens'.  I don't usually listen as a result -
how long can you listen to nothing?  Train crews, who once called
the dispatcher on the radio from distant terminals to comfirm 
arrivals and departures, now call on a toll-free number from public
phones on the platforms.  The last time I heard anything, I was 
standing at Dover watching a train get ready to leave the yard to
deadhead east, and they had a problem - they called the dispatcher
on the radio because they couldn't get to the platform where the 
public phone is.  They cured the problem but were held until the
next regular train left.

The 'quiet radio' practice goes back to the Secaucus head-on wreck.
At that time, it was found that there was so much routine traffic
on the radio channels that emergency communications suffered.

- --
cleveland.Freenet is a mail-drop.
Gary Kazin, Rockaway, NJ

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