Garrett, Indiana

Overview

Garrett is located in De Kalb County about 20 miles northwest of downtown Fort Wayne. Through Garrett passes CSX's appropriately named Garrett Subdivision. This line is the CSX mainline from Chicago to the East Coast.

Operations

This line and the nearby NS Chicago Line are the busiest mainlines in the Fort Wayne area. A typical 24 day at Garrett will easily yield 40 trains. Garrett Yard is used primarily as a setoff yard by trains that are passing through. However, there are a few trains that originate/terminate here, including locals and freight trains such as Q508 and 509. Some engines are stationed here. A wye exists on the south end of the yard and is used mostly for turning around locomotives. Due to the yard proximity, speeds through Garrett are 30 mph or less. Garrett is a CSX crew base and there are several through trains that recrew here daily.

Historical Aspects

This is the ex-B&O mainline between Chicago and Baltimore MD/Washington D.C. It was single tracked across Ohio and Indiana by the B&O but CSX put the adjacent track back beginning in 1997, in anticipation of the forthcoming Conrail acquisition.
Amtrak trains once stopped at Garrett, but the station stop was eliminated in 1995 along with the Broadway Limited. After the Three Rivers returned Amtrak service to the B&O routing, the Garrett passenger stop was eliminated. Amtrak finally terminated the Three Rivers itself on March 7, 2005.

Frequencies

160.230 MHz - CSX Road
160.290 MHz - CSX SC Dispatcher (west of Auburn)
161.370 MHz - CSX SC Dispatcher (east of Auburn)
161.160 MHz - Garrett Yard Office
160.320 MHz - Garrett Yard (switching ops)

Hotbox Detectors

BI 121.0, about 7 miles east near St. Joe, Indiana.. [MP3 format, 157K, 19 sec.] Since I made this recording, this detector now gives the train length and speed.

BI 138.4, 10 miles west near Ripley, Indiana

Other

You can park right at the train station/museum parking lot and usually be okay. Access is from the north side of the underpass off of Railroad St. Since this is on the north side of the tracks photos are not so good. Also the light pole line along the tracks does not help. Nonetheless, it is a good place to just watch trains go by. Stay off of the tracks. Unless you have permission do not go into the yard or the crew building area.

Pictures

The restored Garrett B&O freight depot is a very nice museum. It is usually only open on weekends in the afternoons. Behind the building you will find a B&O caboose and a passenger car, among other relics both inside and outside the depot. Residing in the basement of the museum is a large wall running HO scale layout, home to the Greater Midcontinent Railroad Company.

CSX Q390 runs eastbound on track 1 on March 6, 2002. The signal bridge displays eastbound lineups for tracks 3 and 1, while track 2's signal is a few hundred feet to the east. Q390 frequently has Union Pacific power and runs to Selkirk, NY.

Q387 runs westbound with a blue CEFX unit in the lead.
March 6, 2002.

Q110 is a former Conrail TV train that used to run on the nearby Chicago Line (ex-NYC) before the Conrail acquisition. This train runs to North Bergen, NJ via CSX and here is being pulled by 3 C40-8Ws. March 6, 2002.

INDEX