161.010

Hi,
Old guy here, was a sigmalman way back, had scanners for long time but just recently started listening to RR!
I'm confused by what I'm hearing on 161.010; Amtrak/Union, "Seatac Gate"???, Also the other night when Amtrak 2126 had a problem and the catenery
came down it sounded like the same voice as Amtrak/Union but now he was "Section B". I'm soooooo confused, thanks.

joesirr wrote:Hi,
Old guy here, was a sigmalman way back, had scanners for long time but just recently started listening to RR!
I'm confused by what I'm hearing on 161.010; Amtrak/Union, "Seatac Gate"???, Also the other night when Amtrak 2126 had a problem and the catenery
came down it sounded like the same voice as Amtrak/Union but now he was "Section B". I'm soooooo confused, thanks.

Those are the dispatchers on the Corridor: Transit deals with CETC-6, CETC-7, and CETC-8, Section A, Section B, and PSCC.

CETC-8 (pronounced "c-tec") covers Union(excl) to Ham(excl), Section B overlooks Union to Hudson, and Section A covers Hudson(excl) to Bergen(excl).

I say Section B overlooks Union to Hudson because Union and Elmora are still controlled by Union Tower, and Lane, Haynes, Hunter, Cliff, Rea, and Hudson are controlled by Dock. However, Section B acts as the "boss" of these two towers, chiming in only when necessary. Like when all hell breaks loose.

Thanks! Can you clarify PSCC and (excl).

Section B is a "paper" dispatcher and does not have console to operate directly. "Excl"(exclusive) refers to the limits of a dispatcher's territory. CTEC-8 for example controls the railroad in between Union and Ham but does not control Ham and Union so hence the "exclusion" moniker. PSCC is Penn Station Central Control, which is the operating console in the CTEC office in NY which controls between Bergen and Gate (including Penn Station.) During the day there are four operators that run the PSCC console which is jointly operated Amtrak and LIRR personnel.

NJ Transit also deals with CETC-5 into and out of Philadelphia 30th Street Station. Sometimes CETC 5 and 6 will refer to themselves as Section 5 or 6.