AAR 12 CSX Monon Subdivision RB Dispatcher Jacksonville

AAR 50 NS Lafayette Distric Dispatch / Road Detectors MP 225.5 (Clymers),  236.7 (Delphi),  250.3 (East Yard), 260.7 (Shadeland)

AAR 84 CSX Road Defect Detectors MP 92.8 (Between Reynolds and Monon), 113.3 (Battleground - weak), 130.6 (South Raub - weak)

AAR 22/39 NS Frankfort Branch/ Frankfort District Road/Dispatch - Defect Detector 242.5 (Mulberry - occasional)

Thanks for checking out this feed. Our main interest is the Amtrak Cardinal passenger train PO50 southbound from Chicago, and PO51 northbound from Indianapolis and other points . Note that both the CSX (former Monon) and NS (former Wabash) cross time zones here. NS changes between eastern and central time at the Illinois state line, while CSX changes at the Jasper County/White County, Indiana line just west of the town of Monon.

There is a VR camera at Lafayette which favors the CSX main line at around milepost 119  (NS main is usually blocked by cuts of cars on yard tracks). If the cam operator zooms under Salem Street bridge (MP119.4), Amtrak's 3 times a week Cardinal can be seen passing the camera and making the Lafayette downtown station stop in the distance (milepost 120.1).

Amtrak times are mornings Monday, Thrsday, Saturday northbound (PO51), and evenings on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday southbound (PO50). The Cardinal utilizes part of the Monon subdivision between Munster (MP25.7) at the north end, and Crawfordsville(MP148.2) on the south end. It makes station stops at Dyer, Rensselaer, Lafayette, and Crawfordsville. From Munster, Amtrak uses several different Chicago-area railroads to get to/from Union Station.  At Crawfordsville on the south end, the Amtrak line switches to the Crawfordsville branch for the treck to and from Indianapolis and other points. In addition to the defect detectors mentioned in the heading, additional detectors are at 36.8 (Cedar Lake), 54.1 (Thayer), and 75.7 (Rensselaer). On a rare day we might hear them, but not usually. Amtrak's consist here usually includes two or three Amfleet coaches, a snack car, at least one viewliner sleeper, and trailed by a baggage or crew/baggage car.

Amtrak still makes non-revenue equipment moves between Chicago and Beech Grove on trains 50/51. Usually when additional locomotive equipment is in the consist, the conductor will be in an Ivy City originating locomotive. The axle count will also be higher than the normal 28 when extra equipment is moving. So far, equipment for repair still goes to Chicago first, and normally is on the head end of the Cardinal train 50 consist, with the Ivy City locomotive and the Cardinal's cars trailing. Beech Grove still has the only full service paint booth in Amtrak's system. Freshly overhauled equipment generally rides in the front of train 51. Newly delivered Siemens Chargers now are moving on train 50 between Chicago and Ivy City (Washington DC). Amtrak's Cardinal now normally can have either a GE P42 locomotive or a Siemens ALC-42.

This radio feed tends to pick up regional dispatcher towers and Lafayette yardmasters, but not always crew shuttle vans and usually none of the handhelds. If correctly following procedure rules, engineers will call signals on the road. What is heard depends a great deal on various factors: techqnique of the operator, condition of the locomotive radio/antenna set up, terrain, other radio traffic, and of course weather conditions. The most common intelligability issue is with operators failing to speak clearly into their handsets in what is typically a noisy environment. 

As side notes, channel 84 is also in use across other portions of Indiana, especially on CSX Garrett. If skip conditions are in effect, there will be stray signals coming in from up north. Technically, mileposts on CSX Monon are prefized by a Q, while on the Garrett they are prefixed with BI. Dispatcher ID's and mileposts given are also different even if the radio frequency is the same (Garrett is RM while Monon is RB). Also it is significant that CSX detectors give axle counts, while NS detectors usually do not. Finally, we note that there are two other regional railroads in the area that run infrequently, and do not use radios much: KBS and TPW. There may be rare traffic or references to one or both.