Northern Berkshire County Railroad Operations

Northern Berkshire Rail Ops feed (North Adams)

This feed currently uses two 27-inch antennas with a USB software defined radio module, broadcasting from a Raspberry Pi 4B using RTLSDR-Airband. Antenna elevation: 1103 ft ASL / 13 ft AGL.

Monitored frequencies

Receiver 1:

• Berkshire & Eastern Patriot Corridor Railroad Operations – 161.25 MHz
• Berkshire & Eastern Patriot Corridor Dispatcher – 160.98 MHz
• Berkshire & Eastern Maintenance of Way – 161.235 MHz
• Berkshire Scenic Railway / Zylonite Operations/Dispatcher – 161.40 MHz
  On certain days, this channel picks up switching comms at the Holland plant ("Zylonite") and Specialty Minerals in Adams, usually corresponding with AD-1 or an Extra taking chemicals and lime between Adams and East Deerfield.

Most chatter occurs between operators and the Berkshire & Eastern (B&E) dispatcher when trains are being held on the siding at North Adams for other rail traffic heading to or coming from the Hoosac Tunnel. Other transmissions occur during switching in the Adams yards or between the Adams Spur and the main line. Trains passing through the defect detector will often sanity-check the detector on the road channel. Detector transmissions are clearer from late fall to spring when the leaves are off, although this may improve with a tuned antenna. Transmissions are sparse but usually occur multiple times per day.

These feeds are still in development, so it will take some time to fine-tune the gain and squelch values. Some transmissions may be garbled in the meantime.

Defect detectors heard

• PAR (B&E) MP 424.4 (161.25 MHz)

Commonly heard terms

• "B&E" or "B&E dispatch" – the dispatcher
• "CPF [number]" – Control point near the milepost at the number specified. CPF 421 is near the tunnel west portal; CPF 423 is near the center of the town of North Adams.
• "Form DG" – Required paperwork for the transport of dangerous goods
• "B100" / "B101" – Daily train between Mechanicville, NY and Ayer, MA yards
• "EDMO" / "MOED" – Daily westbound/eastbound trains between the East Deerfield, MA and Mechanicville, NY yards
• "EDRJ" / "RJED" – Daily westbound/eastbound trains between East Deerfield and Rotterdam Junction, NY
• "AD-1" – Weekly industrial transport bringing chemical cars and empties to Adams and hauling lime or chemicals from Adams to the East Deerfield yard
• "Deerfield Extra" – Occasional additional transport of either lime or chemical products from Adams to East Deerfield