Hi All,
I have been following this thread with interest since I used to know a train 
engineer who ran between Seattle, Portland and Spokane. He had HF gear (I 
think it was a Swan 350) and a Webster band spanner antenna on his train. He 
had a wonderful call, W 7 C F R, (can't find the rails). He was active on 
the Columbia Basin Net on 3960 for more than 30 years.
Best 73's,
Albert, W A 7 F X B

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Duke, K5XU" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2014 6:38 AM
Subject: Re: Running an HF station on a train?


>I seriously doubt that John Q Public Ham would be able to pull off such
> an operation individually.
>
> There would be several hoops to jump through, pretty much like
> operating from a ship.
>
> Also, like everything else, trains have become RF noise generators,
> especially in the AM radio spectrum. I suspect this noise goes well
> into the HF ham bands, although I have not tried listening to a short
> wave receiver while on a train.
>
> I recall that for several years, there was an annual operation from a
> circus train somewhere in the mid west, but that was years ago.
>
> As an SWL in the late 1960's, I also remember listening to a ham on 40
> meters who was a railroad employee somewhere in Texas. He had an HW22A
> and mobile antenna on his train, and was a regular on the 7290 traffic 
> net.
>
> For those who don't know what an HW22A was, it was a 40 meter single
> band SSB only transceiver from Heath kit.
>
> -- 
> Mike Duke, K5XU
>