Hamilton is a railfan favorite in Southwest, Ohio and a destination I frequent myself. This location is where four major railroad lines meet:
- CSX Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision
- CSX Indianapolis Subdivision
- CSX Toledo Subdivision
- Norfolk Southern New Castle District
CSX Road Channel
The CSX routes that travel through Hamilton use AAR Channel 8 160.2300. This channel serves as the road channel. This is where the overall railroad operations can be heard along the route. The following things can be heard on the road channel; Milepost callouts, defect detectors, engineer-to-conductor, and train-crew-to-dispatcher communications.
| CSX Road | AAR 008 | 160.2300 |
CSX Local Defect Detectors
Depending on the location in Hamilton the following detectors can be heard on the CSX Road Channel 008:
CSX Toledo Subdivision
| Milepost 22.7 | Hamilton Water Plant 1206 N 3rd St, Hamilton, OH 45011 |
CSX Indianapolis Subdivision
| Milepost 25.8 | Rockford Drive Hamilton, OH |
CSX Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision
| Milepost 13.5 | South of Marion Road Woodlawn, OH |
CSX Dispatch Channels
Along with the road channel CSX has a dispatch channel assigned to each subdivision. The dispatcher will instruct the train crew to switch to this dispatch channel. This channel serves as a separate channel outside of the road channel for direct communication between the train crew and dispatcher for special instructions. Switching to this channel will keep the road channel open and free for others to communicate.
CSX Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision
| LC Dispatch | AAR 066 | 161.1000 |
CSX Indianapolis Subdivision
| LB Dispatch | AAR 014 | 160.3200 |
CSX Toledo Subdivision
| LA Dispatch | AAR 012 | 160.2900 |
Norfolk Southern Road & Dispatch
As for the Norfolk Southern New Castle District, There is only one channel and it’s used for both the Road and Dispatch.
| New Castle District | AAR 022 | 160.4400 |
Norfolk Southern Local Defect Detectors
New Castle District
| Milepost 23.3 | Near Route 747 West Chester Township, OH |
To learn more about these lines check out the Train Aficionado’s Ultimate Railfanning Guide to Cincinnati, Ohio. We also have several blog posts about the best handheld scanner for railfans too!
