Best Phone Service for Sheepscot

[Ed Lecuyer]

What carrier(s) seem to work best along the railroad?
-Ed

[Jeff Schumaker]

My TracFone seems to get service almost anywhere along the line.

Jeff S.

[Harold Downey]

There is definitely NO AT&T service at Sheepscot, and very faint signal at TOM.   

[Ed Lecuyer]

Yes, AT&T seems to be an issue.

My understanding is that Tracphones can use any of the major carriers; it depends on the phone and vendor (Walmart, etc.) This applies to "SmartTalk", MyFamilyMobile, etc.

It is difficult, but not impossible, to ascertain which carrier a specific tracphone will use. For example, I used to have a SmartTalk tracphone that worked intermittently at Sheepscot and up and down the line; I think it was using 2nd-tier Verizon (which means that you get bumped for regular Verizon customers when necessary.) My current phone (which recently got damaged and needs to be replaced, hence the question) uses MyFamilyMobile and AT&T as the carrier; it is completely worthless at Sheepscot or anywhere on the RR.

[Bill Piche]

I get decent reception with Verizon on the main campus in Sheepscott. I get ok reception at TOM and just above minimum down in the cuts on the mountain extension. You probably won't find a better major carrier to get reception with even being as close to Route 1 as the railroad is.

You also might wanna try looking into US Cellular. I heard they have good reception in the more rural areas of the state, but I couldn't find their coverage map anywhere.

[James Patten]

I have Tracfone (maybe it should be referred to as "Track phone?"), and I believe the local carrier is US Cellular.

Service is poor at Sheepscot itself, depending on where you are.  North of the car barn, in the shop, you'll probably miss calls.  In the parking lot it gets much better.  Elevation seems to help.  As we go north the service seems to get a little better.  I've even had good service at ToM.  I suspect as we descend into the river valley it will peter out, although I got a call from my wife during FWW partway down the hill.

I think that there's a cell tower somewhere on the hill above Head Tide.

[Ed Lecuyer]

I think the (now non-functional) railroad cellphones used US Cellular.

I found a coverage map for them at:
https://www.uscellular.com/coverage-map/coverage-indicator.html

The WW&F from Sheepscot to TOM is shown on the map, which is convenient :-)

The gist is that US Cellular claims "Fair" coverage at Sheepscot, and "Fair" to "Good" out on the line. That seems to match James' observations.

[Dave Buczkowski]

Ed;
I switched from the old Cellular One (now AT&T) long ago because of the poor service in the Greater Sheepscot Area. I find that my Verizon Wireless works fairly well.
Dave

[Bob Holmes]

Verizon is about the best, but it's not good anywhere on the railroad.  Also, remember Verizon abandoned Maine and left us with spotty carriers such as Tidewater Telecom.

[Rick Sisson]

Ed -
I had T-Mobile years ago and it wasn’t too good as I recall
I’ve had Verizon for several years now and I can usually find a spot to carry on a conversation nearly any place on the railroad (including the current end of track.
Amazingly enough, I’ve experienced FaceTime conversations at several locations along the railroad as well. Don’t know how that works, but it does.

[John McNamara]

I've used Tracfone and Verizon at the Museum and have found Verizon vastly superior. Of course MagFone is best of all .

[Bill Reidy]

I have an iPhone with Verizon and have have found coverage along our rail line spotty -- perhaps a statement more on iPhone reliability than Verizon.

And yes -- the mag phone generally works best.  How can we help you extend the phone line down the mountain, John?

[John McNamara]

And yes -- the mag phone generally works best.  How can we help you extend the phone line down the mountain, John?

A trench about 6-12 inches deep across the Fossell Road would be a big help.
Thanks!
-John