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CSX Dispatcher Desk Codes

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Central Division — (was: Baltimore Division) Baltimore, Maryland, where it all began with the B&O

Chicago Division — Calumet City, Illinois

Carolinas Division — (was: Florence Division) Florence, South Carolina

Florida Division — (was: Jacksonville Division) Jacksonville, Florida

Great Lakes Division — Indianapolis, Indiana

Gulf Division — (was: Atlanta Division) Atlanta, Georgia

Huntington Division — Huntington, West "by God" Virginia

Nashville Division — Nashville, Tennessee

New England Division — New England, duhhh!

Northern Division — (was: Albany Division) Selkirk, New York

Southern East Division — (was: Florence Division) Florence, South Carolina

Southern West Division — (was: Louisville Division) Cincinnati, Ohio

Appendix - Railroad Line Prefix Codes

Got Corrections? Updates?

Please send any corrections to bote.prodigy@gmail.com.

The table is ordered by Dispatcher Desk, the left-hand column. Use your web browser's page search function (Control-F) to find subdivision names quickly, or just browse the table to see how things are laid out. If I ever figure out how to program up fancy web pages this might be more fancy, but for now this will have to do.

It has some glaring inaccuracies since I don't have all the changes that CSX has made since the Conrail split, the decentralization and re-centralization of the Dufford dispatch center in Jax, so I need your input to keep it accurate.

Entries that do not conform to standard CSX notation are usually former Conrail territory. Otherwise, it's probably an error.

Please send any corrections to bote.prodigy@gmail.com.

There is not enough room for thanks to all those who have contributed to this work. Keep those cards and letters coming. THANK YOU!

Bote
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A.

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Change Log

Updated 2024.11.17 — Add EA, EB desks from former Pan Am Railways; radio channels might need correction?

Updated 2024.06.15 — Framingham and Middleboro subs were sold to Massachusetts long ago, now dispatched by the Mass Coastal RR .

Updated 2024.02.24 — Add Etowah yard channel AAR022.

Updated 2023.12.14 — Corrected CN&L sub road and dispatcher channels.

Updated 2023.09.30 — I have started, but not finished, changing to the new division names. The Florence and Louisville divisions were parted out, so I don't know how to find out the new homes of the old subdivisions. They couldn't have done this in a simple way, could they?

Updated 2022.10.28 — AF desk abolished; all its subdivisions plus the Camak sub were moved to the AD desk; please verify road and dispatcher channels.

Updated 2022.07.29 — Corrected W&W dispatcher channel to 46 (160.8 MHz).

Updated 2021.09.07 — Corrected Winston-Salem Southbound subdivision code to WD, milepost prefixes, and frequencies thanks to a reader e-mail.

Updated 2021.08.01 — Moved NB desk to NF desk after receiving word that it had been abolished some time ago.

Updated 2021.03.27 — Moved KD sub and Corbin Terminal from HI desk to AC desk, bringing its own dispatcher channel with it.

Updated 2019.11.23 — I learned that the abolitionists got the FD desk a while back, so the S-line subdivisions moved to the FF desk.

Updated 2019.09.19 — Moved CN&L, McCormick, and Spartanburg subdivisions from FF to FG desk. Moved Kanawha sub from FG to FH desk, Kanawha sub dispatcher remains AAR020.

Updated 2019.05.22 — Moved Boston and Berkshire subdivisions from NB to NC desk. note 21

Updated 2019.04.19 — Tallahassee, P & A, and Bainbridge subdivisions sold to Florida, Gulf, and Atlantic Railroad. note 20

Updated 2019.04.02 — Moved Selma sub (SA) from SD to AB desk, changed dispatcher channel to AAR074, 161.22MHz.

Updated 2018.12.08 — Added AAR165, 161.0925MHz as Queensgate Yard departure in Cincinnati, O.

Updated 2018.11.26 — The FC desk was folded into the FE desk some time ago. Thanks for the update! Keep those cards and letters coming!

Updated 2018.09.10 — Danville Secondary and Decatur Subdivision sold to Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad, a WATCo subsidiary. This was the first spin-off by CSX initiated by the Hunter Harrison regime. Also corrected Woodland sub from RB to SB desk; it moved back in January, 2018 but nobody told me :-(

Updated 2017.11.02 — IE desk abolished, subdivisions moved to ID desk.

Updated 2017.09.26 — LCL subdivision dispatcher channel updated to AAR 80.

Updated 2017.09.01 — Great Lakes IH desk abolished; all CSX territories from CP15 in Bayview, NY to Greenwich, O. moved to IG desk.

Updated 2017.08.19 — Albany ND desk going away, its subdivisions moved to other Albany desks.

Updated 2016.12.30 — Many updates in Baltimore and Florence divisions; re-assigned former Huntington territories.

Updated 2016.07.05 — Moved HA and HJ desks into combined new LE desk; HD desk moved to new LF desk.

Updated 2016.06.18 — Huntington Division abolished with falloff in coal traffic, dispatchers moved to other divisions. Florence desks updated with best information available.

Updated 2015.06.04 — Fostoria Tower closed last month and is now remotely controlled.

Updated 2015.05.02 — Thanks to a tip I have added the new BF desk that controls the Fairmont, George's Creek, Mountain, Stony River, and Thomas subdivisions. I have no idea if the frequencies listed are accurate, but they pass the sniff test for the B&O anyway.

Updated 2014.12.10 — Split AB desk by moving Abbeville, Gainesville Midland, and Georgia Road subs back to AF desk.

Updated 2014.08.24 — Corrected Keystone sub from BA to BB desk, corrected Fulton and Newport News yard channels (per Trey Biscoe)

Updated 2014.04.06 — LH&StL line through Owensboro, KY moved from SA desk to LD desk in Cincinnati.

Updated 2014.01.10 — Merged Harrisburg sub into Trenton sub on the NI desk.

Updated 2014.01.04 — Changed the abolished JH desk to Central Florida Rail Corridor as dispatching the Orlando sub.

Updated 2013.11.17 — Updated some Jacksonville Division notes.

Updated 2013.08.16 — A week after hacking off the east end of the Boston sub, the remaining CSX part of the line has been transferred to the NB desk (per Joshua M.). We'll see how long THAT lasts; this is CSX after all.

Updated 2013.08.03 — MBCR took over dispatching Worcester Line from Cove to CP45 exclusive. NA desk retains CP45 west. Thanks to Dan H. for the heads-up.

Updated 2013.05.18 — Extended NG desk territory, shrunk NF desk territory.

Updated 2012.12.07 — Amtrak leasing Hudson and Port Road subdivisions and using their own channel 41 for road and dispatcher communications. CSX retains freight rights.

Updated 2011.12.20 — Added ch. 10 yard master channel to new North Baltimore, O. container facility; ch.65 is used for remote control locomotive switching jobs.

Updated 2011.11.03 — Activated JH desk to handle Orlando sub on new narrowband radio channels listed.

Updated 2011.10.14 — Changed Monroe sub dispatcher channel to 54, changed Terrell sub dispatcher to ch. 59

Updated 2011.03.12 — Added AAR ch.65 for new NorthWest Ohio Container facility in North Baltimore, Ohio which just opened.

Updated 2011.01.26 — Eliminated Fall River and New Bedford subdivision from NA desk (Albany Div.)

Updated 2011.01.22 — Moved abolished NE desk territories to ND desk along with new Syracuse Terminal sub; moved Mohawk sub from ND to NC desk. Only CSX knows if I got it right! Mercy!

Updated 2011.01.02 — Added new Oakworth yard ch. 22 on S&NA subdivision.

Updated 2010.11.02 — Added new Orlando subdivision (formerly the south end of the Sanford sub) and JH desk on AAR channel 41; limits are SE Deland to Poinciana holdout (new signal); the new dispatcher desk and channel will not be activated until the SunRail commuter train begins operation.

Updated 2010.09.01 — Corrected terminus of Fernandina Rocket from Busch to Yulee.

Updated 2010.07.07 — Changed SV&E sub road and dispatcher channels to 8 and 14 respectively.

Updated 2010.06.14 — Moved Coal Run, Dawkins, and Middle Creek subdivisions from defunct AO desk to HC desk; numerous updates to milepost prefixes in Huntington Division.

Updated 2010.05.20 — Changed Greenwich sub dispatcher channel from 25 to 46.

Updated 2010.05.17 — Changed Scottslawn Secondary dispatcher channel from 33 to 25, belatedly. Railpace reports that as of 2010.03.15 the Lake Shore subdivision has been moved from the Albany to the Great Lakes division IH desk, and the NH desk has been abolished.

Updated 2010.04.20 — Corrected "train to dispatcher" notation to read simply "dispatcher" on former Conrail lines in the Albany division, such as the NF desk. The original announcement of these new radio channels stated that they would be half duplex train-to-dispatcher talkback channels, but that does not seem to be the case in actuality.

Updated 2010.03.26 — Changed Illinois sub dispatcher channel from 14 to 58; corrected Danville Secondary road channel frequency to match channel 08.

Updated 2010.01.05 — Changed Danville Secondary road channel from 17 to 08. Happy New Year!

Updated 2009.11.13 — Moved Keystone sub from BB to BA desk. Need limits of territory covered, BA might end at Connellsville, PA.

Updated 2009.10.16 — Updated HH desk subdivisions and footnotes.

Updated 2009.08.13 — Changed all HA desk channels to 84 road, 94 dispatcher.

Updated 2009.08.03 — Moved Big Sandy (BS) sub to HC desk; still don't know if AO desk even exists and if so, what territories it covers. Please advise.

Updated 2009.06.13 — Nashville Division dispatchers began working from Nashville today. No change to desk assignments (yet?)

Updated 2009.06.07 — Confirmed listings for ID and IE desks.

Updated 2009.05.27 — Nope, S&NA North dispatcher channel is still 20, hasn't changed yet. Moved Birmingham Mineral and Boyles Terminal to Atlanta Division AB desk, confirmed channels. Clarified(?) Decatur Secondary and Fort Wayne subdivisions.

Updated 2009.05.26 — Corrected IE desk to Great Lakes Division; folded IF territories into ID & IE; noted downgrade of Carrothers and Danville Secondaries; noted sale or lease of Lake Erie, Olin, W&P, Wabash subdivisions.

Updated 2009.05.25 — Corrected Greenwich sub to IG desk; corrected JC and JE desks; sorted remaining desks by Dispatcher Code, whether it makes sense under the new regime or not. This is how glaring errors can be seen readily, so please send corrections. Thanx.

Updated 2009.05.23 — Changed BA dispatcher channel from 14 to 37 (Pittsburgh, et al subdivisions).

Updated 2009.05.22 — Moved Dothan sub from JE to JC desk. Did Thomasville also move to JC desk?

Updated 2009.04.28 — In Huntington Division, moved Bridgeport, Short Line from HC to HH desk.

Updated 2009.04.02 — Changed Eastover sub disp. ch. from 94 to 39.

Updated 2009.03.30 — Florence division dispatchers will move from Jacksonville to Florence, South Carolina in early April.

Updated 2009.03.22 — NJ desk abolished, lines moved to NI desk; Monon sub moved to RB desk and channel; PD sub moved to AA desk (dispatcher channel too???)

Updated 2009.01.22 — Upon further review: AG -> AA desk after all; but perhaps they split the duties across AA and AH desks depending on time of day or day of week?

Updated 2009.01.15 — NJ desk overnight shift eliminated certain days, NI desk picks up the slack certain times; most confusing. See Note 8 and go figure it out.

Updated 2009.01.12 — CORRECTION in the Atlanta Division: AG -> AH desk, as far as everyone is hearing on the radio. Anybody know if there is an AA desk and what subdivisions it covers?

Updated 2009.01.11 — Big doings in the Atlanta Division: AG -> AA desk, AF -> AB (now with S&NA South), AI -> AC, BG -> AD, CN -> AE desk. The $64 question is: Do these desks still control the same subdivisions?

Updated 2009.01.05 — Alabama Mineral sub struck off list, leased to Omnitrax years ago; why didn't somebody tell me sooner? :-) Also updated lease information on Selma and Southern Alabama subs.

Updated 2009.01.04 — Changed dispatcher channel to 74 for Birmingham Mineral, Boyles Terminal, Nashville, S&NA north, and S&NA south subdivisions.

Updated 2009.01.02 — Huntington div.: changed AM to HK desk.

Updated 2009.01.01 — more BIG updates to the Huntington division dispatcher desks. Happy New Year!

Updated 2008.12.30 — moved Gainesville Midland subd from FB to AF desk; Nashville div: changed AH to SE desk.

Updated 2008.12.21 — extensive updates to Huntington division (mostly revising outdated C&O and Allegheny entries); Nashville div. AJ to SC, AY to SD desks; Louisville div. AR to LA, CF to LB, CK to LC, CL to LD; I also grouped together the Baltimore, Florence, Huntington, and Jacksonville divisions. The remainder will have to fend for themselves until they get sorted.

Updated 2008.12.10 — extensive updates to Florence division dispatcher territories, please check and correct me; Atlanta division changes as well. There still exist inconsistencies that need attention, please advise me.

Updated 2008.10.10 — corrected C&O division to Huntington West in HD desk only; I still need to know the new division names for old C&O territories. Thanks! Updated Athens subd to Athens Industrial Track.

Updated 2008.09.01 — updated AL desk to HG desk designator, CI desk to HH desk, CR desk to HD desk; dispatchers now in Huntington, WVa.

Updated 2008.08.18 — updated AQ desk to HI desk designator, dispatcher still in Jax.

Updated 2008.06.25 — moved AO and AP desks to Huntington Division HB desk to control the Clinchfield subdivisions of Blue Ridge and Kingsport.

Updated 2008.06.24 — updated Baltimore Division desks to new prefixes used in Halethorpe office; PLEASE verify frequencies and other notations for accuracy, especially the old NI desk, thanks.

Updated 2008.06.08 — updated most Florence Division desks to new divisional prefixes; CU desk eliminated, its territories merged back into FF (former CE) desk

Updated 2008.06.07 — updated most Jacksonville desks to new divisional prefixes; corrected IB & IC desks' territories; moved Richmond Terminal sub to AE desk; CN dispatcher channel

Updated 2008.02.16 — dispatcher channel moved from 94 to 59 in the Charlotte sub; dispatcher channel moved from 94 to 39 in the CN&L sub.

Updated 2007.05.06 — extensive re-alignment of dispatcher desks and frequencies: AR, AT, BD, RL, RM, IB-IF desks; many thanks to Greg Zoll.

Updated 2007.04.28 — moved Brunswick sub from AZ desk to AC desk; updated dispatcher channel for AE desk subdivisions.

Updated 2007.03.04 — changed dispatcher talkback frequencies for NA-NI desks in Albany division; a work-in-progress by CSX.

Updated 2006.06.02 — added new CU desk that handles CN&L sub on 1st & 2nd tricks; 3rd trick still handled by CE desk; changed dispatcher channel for CN&L sub to AAR94.

Updated 2006.04.10 — musical dispatcher desks in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan; God bless if you can figure out all the changes--corrections most welcome

Updated 2005.05.04 — major format overhaul; update Cowen, Kingsland, Fernandina, Piedmont subs

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Appendix 1

Railroad Line Prefix Codes

Here is Steve Miller's summation of how these line prefix codes came to be, with a few additions by me:

CSX adopted the former Seaboard Coast Line system of assigning prefixes to track segments. On the SCL all Seaboard Air Line track was prefixed “S” and all Atlantic Coast Line track was prefixed “A”. For instance, the ex SAL main (mostly abandoned, but might be coming back) from Richmond, Virginia to Hamlet, North Carolina and on south is the “S” line. Each branch would then pick up an additional character such “SA”, “SB”, “SAA”, etc.

Former Chessie territories were assigned prefixes similar to the Seaboard method above. “C” prefixes are used for all C&O lines including Hocking Valley, Pere Marquette, NF&G, etc. “B” prefixes are used for all B&O and Western Maryland lines.

All Conrail prefixes begin with “Q” and in most cases the second letter has some relation to the lines previous name. For example the Rochester Subdivision, part of the Conrail Chicago Line, has the “QC” prefix.

The one major difference in this system is the former L&N territory. For some reason the policy of putting an “L” in front of the former L&N prefixes wasn't enacted, instead zeros are used to fill the leading blank spaces. For instance the former Monon trackage has the “Q” prefix on the timetables but in reality the prefix is “00Q”, the LCL Subdivision is “00T”, the Bruceton Subdivision is “00N” etc.

The “Z” prefixes denote former C&EI territory.

On original L&N territory all mileposts are measured from the former headquarters of Louisville, Kentucky. For instance the Main Line Subdivision starts at Louisville and goes south to Nashville, Tennessee. At Park City, Kentucky (MP 90.7) a branch goes east to Glasgow, Kentucky. On most other CSX predecessors the junction switch would be milepost 0 for the branch and would increase to the end of the line. Instead, on the L&N, the milepost continues increasing from 90.7 to the end of the track, with the only change being a different prefix.

Zero-Prefix Lines

The following lines have an “invisible” string of zeroes preceding the alphabetic codes. The zeroes are replaced from right to left, so the PD subdivision, for example, will be properly coded 00K, with K replacing the rightmost zero. The St. Louis line is coded 0ZJ, with two alphabetic characters replacing two rightmost zeros, and so forth. Many of these lines are in former L&N (Louisville & Nashville) territory, others came from C&EI.

000 LOUISVILLE TERMINAL
000 MAIN LINE
000 RADNOR TERMINAL
000 NASHVILLE
000 S&NA NORTH
000 BIRMINGHAM TERMINAL
000 S&NA SOUTH
000 M&M
000 NO&M
00C CC
00C KD
00C ETOWAH
00D O&N
00E MAIN LINE
00F MEMPHIS
00H HENDERSON
00H EVANSVILLE TERMINAL
00H ST LOUIS
00J RADNOR TERMINAL
00J CHATTANOOGA
00K PD
00K PA
00L BIRMINGHAM MINERAL
00N BRUCETON
00N MEMPHIS
00Q MONON
00Q LAFAYETTE
00Q LAFAYETTE
00Q HOOSIER
00R SOUTHERN ALABAMA
00T LCL
00T CINCINNATI TERMINAL
00W OLD ROAD
0AE KD
0AG ALABAMA MINERAL
0AM ALABAMA MINERAL
0BA RADNOR TERMINAL
0BA S&NA NORTH
0CC LCL
0CN MAIN LINE
0CO KD
0CQ CV
0CR LCL
0CV CV
0GE LOUISVILLE TERMINAL
0HC HENDERSON
0HE HENDERSON
0HR LH&STL
0HT EVANSVILLE TERMINAL
0JG CARTERSVILLE
0KA ETOWAH
0KC CINCINNATI TERMINAL
0KC CC
0KW KD
0KX
0LB BIRMINGHAM MINERAL
0LC BIRMINGHAM MINERAL
0LE ALABAMA MINERAL
0LF ROCKHOUSE
0LK BIRMINGHAM MINERAL
0MB HENDERSON
0MF HENDERSON
0NC BIRMINGHAM MINERAL
0ND MEMPHIS
0NG MEMPHIS
0NI MEMPHIS TERMINAL
0NK BIRMINGHAM MINERAL
0QA MONON
0QB MONON
0RS SOUTHERN ALABAMA
0SC CV
0SF CV
0TR LOUISVILLE TERMINAL
0TY W&A
0VB OLD ROAD
0VB EK
0VB ROCKHOUSE
0VD EK
0VE EK
0VG ROCKHOUSE
0VI ROCKHOUSE
0VL ROCKHOUSE
0VM ROCKHOUSE
0WA ATLANTA TERMINAL
0WA W&A
0WB CV
0WC CV
0WD CV
0WH CV
0WI EK
0WM CV
0WN ROCKHOUSE
0WV EK
0ZA WOODLAND
0ZA CE&D
0ZA EVANSVILLE TERMINAL
0ZC EVANSVILLE TERMINAL
0ZG EVANSVILLE TERMINAL
0ZJ ST LOUIS

END

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